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CNN Live Today
61 Inches of Entertainment
Aired May 29, 2002 - 11:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: You've got your HDTV, not HGTV -- HDTV, your DVD, your PS2. That's tech talk for Sony PlayStation2, for those of you who didn't know. Don't worry. I didn't know. I had to ask.
Now, wouldn't it be nice to see that kind of high-tech alphabet on a nice big television screen?
CNN tech guru Daniel Sieberg is here with 61 inches of sheer entertainment pleasure. And I'm talking about a TV screen.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Yes, if only could you afford this, right? That's the idea behind it.
Now, this is actually the 61-inch plasma monitor from NEC. And they bill it as the largest in the world. Now, there is technology behind it that I wanted to get to first. You are looking at this whole screen of this 61 inches from corner to corner. And on it, what there is, is tiny little glass bubbles that are filled with this gas- like substance.
Within each of those bubbles, there are, again, three more little bubbles for red, green and blue. And once you've got it up there -- I am going to switch over to DVD now. This is "Blast From the Past." Once you have got it up here, this visual here is clearer and it has got a better definition because of these millions of tiny little bubbles, or you can think of them as pixels.
Now, when we say plasma, we're not talking about the same type of plasma you might think of getting from your blood. This is a whole different type of plasma. Plasma is actually one of the four states of matter other than gas, liquid and solid. So, this is something a little bit different than you might have seen before and course much bigger than you might have seen before as well.
WHITFIELD: But doesn't that screen look a little distorted? Hasn't that also been the complaint of other flat-screen TVs?
SIEBERG: Well, you might be thinking of liquid-crystal display or a cathode ray tube, which is what, typically, people have on their computer, these sort of bigger, bulkier monitors that you have got on your desk for your PC.
The idea, actually, behind a plasma is that the viewing area is improved. In other words, if you are at an angle, it doesn't distort it as much. And I am standing here. And I can actually see it much clearer than if you were looking at a liquid-crystal display or something like that. And if I move over into the center, it doesn't seem to change all that much.
The other thing that's important to point out is, it is actually thinner what you might expect. If we can see it from the side, it is actually only about 6 inches deep from the front of the screen here to the back of it. And I should also point out that it is technically considered a monitor. You would have to get a TV tuner to go with it if you wanted to watch television.
WHITFIELD: OK, now, I want to talk about this $20,000 price tag. So, this is not for your ordinary home usage out there, is it?
SIEBERG: Right.
WHITFIELD: Who gets these?
SIEBERG: If you are a real home theater buff, then this is something you would want to go after. Of course, $20,000 would be prohibitively expensive for most people. It has come down in price since last year, when it was about $27,000, $28,000.
NEC admits that it's expensive for any consumer who wants to buy it. They are billing it more for the commercial market, for advertising, for video conferencing, for all sorts of different purposes that involve the business environment. They understand that people may not be able to afford this $20,000 price tag.
As well, this stand that you see on it here, that would cost an extra $800.
WHITFIELD: Oh, brother.
SIEBERG: And it doesn't come with audio, with any speakers.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my God.
SIEBERG: So, if you really want to set it up, you're going to have to pay. But, you know, some people, that's what they want to do.
WHITFIELD: What a ripoff.
SIEBERG: Now, I will show you a couple of other things we have got hooked up in here. We have also got a PlayStation2, as you mentioned off the top. Right now, this hasn't gone into the demo version yet of this "Spider-Man" game from Activision. Actually, we're going to go into it right now. So, this, for gamers, of course, would be huge if they wanted to get something where they could really see what they are doing -- but, again, a little expensive for the average gamer.
And I am also going to show you an example of just high- definition TV. WHITFIELD: OK, well, while you are punching that up real quick, Daniel, you are the gadget guru. We have got a gadget gal as well, Orelon Sidney, in our Weather Center. She has got a question for you on this rather interesting piece of equipment.
ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Daniel. I hope I don't put you on the spot here.
SIEBERG: Go right ahead.
SIDNEY: If I do, just slap me or something. That's fine.
(LAUGHTER)
SIDNEY: But I'm wondering. Now, you said this is a plasma screen. It's one of the four states of matter. Isn't plasma, like, really hot?
SIEBERG: Well, that's a very good question. The way that they have got it, they are containing the plasma within these tiny little bubbles.
So, whether it's hot, it's not going to be affecting -- I mean, I'm putting my hand right here and I'm not feeling too much heat from it. So, I don't think that's a problem, if that's what you mean, in terms of it overheating. I haven't heard anything about that. But the plasma itself is, again, within these tiny little bubbles. There are literally millions of them all over the screen.
WHITFIELD: But she didn't mean hot because of the guy running by on the...
(LAUGHTER)
SIDNEY: That's not the kind of hot I meant.
SIEBERG: It's a good question, though, good question.
SIDNEY: Thank you. Thanks, Daniel.
SIEBERG: Sure.
WHITFIELD: OK, so, if you are going to get a $20,000 screen -- because it's not really a TV if you don't have the speakers, right?
SIEBERG: Right.
WHITFIELD: Then you have to invest at least another $5,000 or $10,000 in the speakers alone.
SIEBERG: Potentially, yes.
And, again, if this was being used for a business, they would incorporate that, or at a stadium or for advertising.
Something we can point out right now is that you can also divide this screen up and have half of it as a picture and half of it as a computer for a high-tech presentation -- so, back to you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot, Daniel Sieberg, with that very interesting piece of viewing equipment.
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