KEY POINTS:
Couch potatoes may no longer have room for the couch. Stand well back for the world's biggest television, a 150-inch (3.8m) plasma screen that towers 1.8m high and stretches 3m wide.
The monster was launched this week by Panasonic as one of the star attractions at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
It reportedly weighs more than 227kg and is expected to cost about £50,000 ($126,500). Although it can show footballers in actual size, you would need to sit more than 9m away to watch it in comfort.
Two years ago Panasonic demonstrated a 103-inch TV at the show. Last year Sharp went bigger with an LCD flatscreen measuring 108 inches. Panasonic insists that the 150-inch set is not merely a novelty show-stopper but intended for sale. Spokesman Jeff Samuels said: "Because we were hoping to keep this as a surprise to be introduced on January 7 we have very little information, other than that it exists and will eventually be a viable commercial product."
James Beechinor-Collins, editor of Republic Publishing and co-founder of the gadget website ElectricPig, said: "This will be the Formula 1 car of TV.
"It's pushing the boundaries of technology and it's only this way they can improve effectiveness and efficiency. But how many people are going to buy a 150-inch TV for £50,000? These things are always about awe and wonderment. Once you get TVs that are 80, 90, 100 inches, you're compelled to go and see them." He added that the general guidance for watching a TV is to check the size then sit at a distance that is two-and-a-half times away. "If you're too close, the picture isn't very good and you end up playing TV table tennis."
By this formula, a 150-inch TV requires a viewing distance of 9.5m.
"I don't know of any 31-foot (9.5m) living rooms," said Beechinor-Collins.
Experts have warned that the trend for jumbo-size screens and home cinemas will result in more energy consumption and carbon emissions.
Plasma sets can use up to four times as much electricity as the old-style cathode-ray tube models. Joseph Reger, chief technology officer at Fujitsu Siemens Computers in Munich, said: "A 50-inch TV consumes about 300 watts today.
"If the Panasonic is three times bigger, the energy consumption is likely to be a magnitude higher."
- Observer
