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While most people are content with their big flat screen TVs, some can only think of making them bigger and wanting them "screenless." The Dongguan Institute of Optoelectronics at China's prestigious Peking University announced on Tuesday, Jan. 20 that they have developed a "Fourth-Generation Semiconductor" TV that will hit the market in March.

Liu Ming (L1), head researcher for the project and deputy chief of the institute, introduces the Fourth Generation Semiconductor TV at the product's launch in Beijing on Tuesday. [Photo by Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn]

The seemingly plain brand name "Fourth Generation" references the three types of older TVs, namely black-and-white CRT TVs, color CRT TVs, and the current flat screen TVs, which can be further divided into plasma screen TVs, LCD TVs and LED TVs.

The Fourth Generation TV set features a small box that is 20 centimeters by 20 centimeters in dimension and is similar to a small image projector, but it does not have a physical screen frame. Instead, it projects the TV image onto a white wall similar to the way in which films are shown, although Liu Ming, head researcher for the project and deputy chief of the institute, insisted it was "far different from a regular TV-enabled projector."

"Our Fourth-Generation Semiconductor TV uses an LED light source while most home or office projectors use a single incandescent lamp. This means ours has a longer life. And our TV set can project an image between 40 to 150 inches from a fairly close range; by contrast, a regular projector requires up to 5-10 meters for a similar projection," Liu said, at the product launch in Beijing.

Although manufacturers are able to produce a flat screen TV this size, the prices are astronomical. An 89-inch LED TV costs 139,999 yuan (US$22,764) on a reputable Chinese online department store. "Average consumers wouldn't pay that much for a TV," Liu said, adding that his product, which only costs between 6,000 and 7,000 yuan (US$976-1,138), would be "quite acceptable."

He said that the essential difference between the two devices, however, lies in the fact that the Fourth-Generation Semiconductor TV incorporates Android functions in addition to all the features of a regular TV, something a TV-enabled projector does not do.

"It means you can use Android apps on this TV in the same way you use them on your smartphone," said Liu, who noted that such features are "temporarily prohibited" on a regular TV set as per the regulations of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, possibly out of fear that video content on the Internet might impact cable TV service providers. "With a Fourth Generation TV, you won't have such problems. You can enjoy content from both cable and the web," he said.

Referring to their product as "the terminator of flat screen TV," researchers were confident that the new TV would get a positive reception in the market. However, questions still remain whether the web bandwidth in China – which is "unacceptably slow" according to many Internet users – would affect the performance of the new TV.

A more important question – whether the TV will sell well – will soon be answered in March once the first batch of products becomes available for purchase in Beijing.

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