LG preps 52, 84-inch multi-touch LCDs, more
LG Phillips LCD has today revealed some of its first multi-touch displays and is targeting them at users who want to bring the technology to large rooms and public spaces. At 52 and 84 inches, the two new displays are the largest yet to allow …
Context & Ripple Effects
The large-display race through late 2007 was fought on desktop terms — Dell's November 30-inch monitor with DisplayPort and HDMI marked the high end of what sat on a desk. LG.Philips LCD is answering from a different direction: 52- and 84-inch multi-touch panels aimed at whole rooms and public spaces, with the company itself confirming the CES 2008 unveiling on its own site.
The move matters because it takes touch — until now a handheld feature, as in LG's Viewty and Chocolate phones — and scales it to surfaces people gather around, opening a commercial-installation market that desktop-monitor rivals have not addressed.
First-order effects
- Venue operators, kiosk builders, and corporate AV integrators gain multi-touch input at 52 and 84 inches — sizes where touch was not previously offered — making boardrooms, lobbies, and public installations interactive out of the box.
- LG.Philips sidesteps the desktop size war with Dell and other monitor makers entirely, selling to public-space buyers instead of desk-bound ones.
Second-order effects
- Rival panel suppliers face pressure to add multi-touch to their own commercial-display lines or concede the emerging interactive-signage niche before it standardizes.
- Software houses and systems integrators building multi-touch applications acquire a hardware substrate at room scale, widening demand for touch UI work beyond phones and tablets.
Third-order effects
- If large-format touch finds buyers, commercial displays shift from passive signage to interactive surfaces, and panel makers begin competing on input technology rather than resolution and inch counts alone.
- Interaction design splits along form-factor lines — pocket devices for personal touch, wall-scale panels for shared touch — echoing how LG already segments its phone lineup from its display business.
The trend: Display makers are starting to compete on interaction rather than size and resolution, pulling touch out of handhelds and into room-scale commercial panels.