Samsung Readying to Mass-produce 70-inch LCD

Samsung Electronics plans to produce in volume its much publicized 70-inch LCD TV panels expected to start in February, according to published reports. While a couple of the firm's 70-inch 1080p demo monitors made the rounds of various trade shows in late 2006, Samsung had not planned on producing such large units en masse until 2007 at the earliest.

Samsung will produce the mammoth screens (cut from larger substrates, too, than used in previous production schemes) at its second 7th generation (7G) line, which reportedly will be able to manufacture up to one million 70-inch panels annually, according to DigiTimes.com.

The 70-inch LCD panel will reproduce "full HD" at 120 Hz, giving it what Samsung says is a technological edge over plasma displays. The firm said since most currently available LCD panels of various sizes have 60 Hz refresh rates, its upcoming 70-inch units, in theory, should be twice as fast as other LCDs.

When first shipments might reach various regions of the world will be announced later.