Philips Essence super-skinny TV confirmed

IFA 2008: Launch of new minimalist LCD

28 August 2008 14:05 GMT / By Chris Hall

Confirming the news we bought you at the beginning of August, Philips today confirmed the launch of their Essence model of LCD TV, at IFA in Berlin.

The new 42-inch Essence TV (42PES0001), Philips say, will deliver the performance of the 9000 series of LCD TVs, but critically, will only be 38mm thick, with a svelte 17mm bezel surrounding the screen, formed from polished black aluminium.

Backing-up the emphasis on the screen above everything else, the Essence will have a range of features to help you keep things minimal. The most significant element being the separate "connectivity" box, which will attach to the screen via a single 4m cable. Peripheral devices can then be attached to the three HDMI connectors on the box to avoid living-room clutter.

This cable will supply power to the screen, as well as audio, video and, excitingly, as claimed by Philips, a link for your remote controls, allowing you to put all your connected hardware in a cupboard and still have control without line of sight.

Keeping with the clean design, the Philips Essence will come as a complete package with a removable sound bar (delivering 2 x 15 watts) as well as an easy wall mounting system, allowing the TV to be hung virtually flush to the wall – for that complete picture frame effect. Uniquely, you’ll be able to level the TV by hand, rather than needing to perform a contortion act with a pair of hex keys. As all the technology is off-board, the screen only weights 16.5kg.

Packed into the screen will be Philips Perfect Pixel HD engine ensuring the screen delivers great performance through a combination of advanced technologies to remove motion judder, providing perfect natural motion and using Philips’ 100Hz ClearLCD. The Essence will also be DNLA certified, featuring Ethernet connection, allowing you to stream media from a UPnP source.

To get your hands on all this goodness you can expect to pay out 2500 euros.

But how will this fare against Sony's newly announced EX-1, featuring wireless HD? Well, you'll still need to plug the power in...

We will keep you posted.