Thinner is better when it comes to flat screen televisions at the 2009
Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 7-8, 2009) REUTERS -
With much of the world grappling with recession, technology giants
at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas eschewed the
one-upmanship that had characterized past gatherings and focused instead on
unveiling slimmer, energy-saving televisions with Internet bells and
whistles.

Sony, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Sharp and others trotted out
high-definition TV screens designed to pull videos, photos and other content
off the Web and into the living room.

"There's a huge focus on LED back-lit TVs partly because you can
make them nice and thin. Samsung has a one-inch TV," says Molly Wood of
CNET. "But also because they're very energy efficient. I think every
press conference I went to, they said "This device is Energy 3star
compliant." It almost got a little boring."

Many stressed the eco-friendly, power-saving abilities of their latest
TVs -- a key selling point at a time when households are tightening their
belts. Unlike in past years, not one company tried to outshine the competition
with the physically biggest screen.

Gone were the 150-inch TV behemoths that once lorded over the show
floor and attracted hoards of curious.

Instead, executives sang a different tune, preaching smaller and
sleeker is better, as Samsung did with its one-inch thick TVs that use
light-emitting-diodes (LEDs) rather than cold cathode fluorescent lamps as
their primary light source. Sony estimated that such screens use 40 percent
less power than traditional LCDs.