Samsung to make more energy-efficient LED TVs

LAS VEGAS, USA: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Wednesday showed off a new line of high-end, ultra-slim, energy-efficient televisions and said it planned to increase the proportion of TVs it makes using LED technology.

In the face of the global economic slowdown and a pullback in consumer spending, the world's largest maker of LCD screens told a news conference at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that people are still willing to invest in home entertainment.

Samsung's new Luxia high-definition TV line, at just over 1 inch thick, will be the third generation of LED TVs, which use light-emitting-diodes rather than cold cathode fluorescent lamps as their primary light source. The company says such devices can reduce energy consumption by 40 percent over traditional liquid crystal display models.

The South Korean company declined to give pricing on the new Luxia line that will launch later this year, but said they will be more expensive than current LED models.

Tim Baxter, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Samsung, said after the news conference that he hopes the proportion of LED TVs on Samsung's production line will be greater than 10 percent. Less than 10 percent of the current market is LED, he said, declining to give a specific figure.

The Luxia 8000 series, the top of the new line, will feature a refresh rate of 240 hertz, more than four times the speed of other HD TVs.

"We'll continue to offer consumers the ability to trade up or trade down," Baxter said.

Samsung also unveiled new LCD and plasma TV models, along with a flagship HD camcorder, the HMX-H106, which is the first to feature an internal 64 gigabyte solid state drive. It also showed off what it called the first wall-mountable Blu-ray disc player.

In addition, Samsung gave more details about its deal with Yahoo Inc to bring the Internet to its TVs. Starting in the spring, the proposed service will allow people to stream video, share photos, track stocks and news and do an array of other online activities on their TVs.