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£50,000 plasma TV is widest in the world
Last updated at 10:49am on 05.12.06
Window on the world: a viewer sizes up the screen at John Lewis, which is more than 8ft wide and costs £50,000 - plus installation costs of £5,000
It will surely be top of every egotistical Premiership footballer's Christmas list - a TV on which they can watch themselves play life size.
The Panasonic plasma screen - a monstrous 103 inches (8ft 7in) wide - went on display at John Lewis in Oxford Street at the weekend.
It is claimed to be the world's biggest and costs £50,000 but if you thought that might include installation, think again.
It will cost as much as another £5,000 to get the quarter-ofatonne TV delivered and set up.
It is the only one in Britain and John Lewis does not expect to get many orders. John Kempner, John Lewis's central buyer for vision, said: "I can't imagine many people will find the room or be able to afford it. It's really there as a statement to show off what plasma technology can do and to say 'this is the ultimate'."
Asked who he thought were likely buyers, Mr Kempner said: "It will have to be someone with a huge house with a significant amount of money to spend and probably a home cinema - a Premiership footballer certainly comes to mind."
The screen takes pride of place among John Lewis's growing range of flat screens - its last traditional cathode ray tube TV was sold almost a year ago.
Sales have almost doubled since last year, with the most popular size increasing from 26in last year to 32in this year with the 37in model not far behind. Prices for a 32in screen have come down to between £750 and £1,250.
The Panasonic beats the former world record by an inch but an even bigger TV is expected to be on the market before too long.
But for anyone hoping to have one in time for Christmas Day, it is already too late. They have to be ordered from Panasonic's factory in Japan and there is a waiting time of at least three months.
Reader views (5)
Put this on the wall of some of the newer timber frame houses and you will find it lying on the floor in the morning with a sodding great hole in the wall.
Well they say size is everything.
- Kenny, Hampstead, London
Well it doesn't really matter what size a TV is... as long as there is something worthwhile to watch. Perhaps this innovation will inspire programme-makers to come up with something rather more imaginative than the usual diet of banal Z-listers on chat shows, reality TV shows - of any description - and mediocre soap operas.
Because, let's face it, unless they do, television has a very bleak future indeed!
- Christopher, London
Hooray! I've always wanted a TV that I could live under in case I got evicted trying to pay it off! But how can I get my hands on one? I know, I'll stick it on credit and then when I can't afford to pay it back I'll declare bankruptcy. Works for everyone else at the moment, why not me with this TV?
- Snoozie, Bank
50k seems an awful lot to pay, even for a TV this size. I think anyone who buys one of these monsters today will really come to regret it as the price no doubt comes crashing down in a year or two. Hell I'm sure you would lose 20k of its value just by taking it out of the box!
- Ernie O, Camden
Imagine the heat a TV this size must produce! It must totally negate the need for a radiator in the room!
- Conrad, Wilsden
