The Sony Bravia ZX1: prepare for the world's thinnest television yet

Less than a centimetre wide, the Sony Bravia ZX1 hits shelves this week. But other manufacturers are set to be thinner still

The world's thinnest television, with a screen no thicker than a piece of toast, launches tomorrow as rival manufacturers rush to release even more slimline sets in the coming months.

The wafer thin LCD TV from Sony measures just 9.9mm wide, smaller that the size of a CD case. However, though the Bravia ZX1 is the first that people can buy, it is unlikely to stay the flattest flatscreen on the market for long.

Companies such as Philips, Samsung and JVC have managed to shave a few more millimetres from the prototypes of their newest models, as manufacturers battle to produce the thinnest, lightest and smallest products possible.

The new ultra-thin TVs are possible by using side-mounted LEDs to illuminate the screen instead of the usual backlighted television sets.

Philips unveiled an 8mm streamlined model of an LCD TV last year, and Japanese manufacturer JVC has a 7mm set to launch, but the smallest yet will be South-Korean maker Samsung, which showed off a 6.5mm set at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas earlier this month.

Experts say that the innovation means that a screen as small as 3mm, the same thickness as a wedding ring, will soon be possible.

With the global economic downturn reducing consumer demand for luxury goods, TV makers are battling hard to give their latest products a superior edge over the competition, no matter how small a difference it makes.

This month, electronics giant Toshiba unveiled a television that ensures that adverts are not louder than TV programmes, a bugbear many viewers have had to cope with for years.

The Regza televisions use Dolby Volume technology, which equalises the sound level across all channels and programmes. With other TV sets, those watching may experience a jump in volume as a show moves to a commercial break, or switching between old analogue signal channels and new high-definition digital ones.

Philips will soon also launch their “super wide-screen” TV sets. Shaped like a letterbox to replicate a cinematic panorama, the 56-inch screens will be available across Europe later this Spring.

Televisions are not only expanding in all directions, they are also making use of extra dimensions. The race is on to create televisions that can handle a 3DTV signal.

Sky announced last month that it had developed the technology and infrastructure to beam 3D images to a television set. The broadcaster will continue to develop the project over the next few years, while the TV screens required to handle 3D television become more affordable and readily available, and programme makers and broadcasters film more of their content in 3D.

Hyundai has released a model that costs £2,500, about 25 per cent more than a comparable flat-screen television, but would require the viewer to wear polarised glasses. Philips has created a 3DTV that does not require glasses, but would currently cost about £7,500.