Letter from the Editor: Is Bigger Really Better?
May 1, 2008
When Panasonic revealed their 103-inch television at the Consumer Electronics Show two years ago, only to be bested by Sharp’s 108-inch last year, I wondered what their next screen might measure—110? 120? Try 150 inches of liquid crystal joy to open the same show this year. The "Life Screen," as Panasonic has dubbed it, is rumored to have a price tag of around $100,000—that is, if it ever comes out of the show-stopping, one-off concept level and onto the assembly line.
A television of this magnitude is all well and good if you’re into bragging rights, or if your great room is simply ginormous. But for this issue dedicated to home technology, we looked for quality, not quantity, and found solace in the quiet efficiency of Panasonic’s much more humble, 42-inch flat panel (page 44), which uses a modest 75 watts of power to charge its crystal-clear picture.
In "Audio File," our feature on the best new high-tech home must-haves (page 102), our tech guru, Brent Butterworth, touts the impressive sound and sleek design of Bang & Olufsen’s BeoVision 8. Designer Amy Finley chose to surround the flat panel in the guest bedroom of her wired Rancho Santa Fe home (above) with a luxurious wallcovering. It is the perfect marriage of technology and design, which is what we sought to showcase in this issue.
I promised myself a good while ago that when my trusty old picture-tube Sony—which emits the best stereo sound I have ever heard from a television—in my living room finally breaks, I will, at long last, purchase the flat screen of my dreams. Well, I am still waiting, and—after seeing all the new models—growing more impatient by the day. Threatening to live forever, that aging Sony is in danger of having a very bad "accident" next time I dust.
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