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Philips Introduces Mirror TV

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the tv-tv-on-the-wall dept.

UnknowingFool writes "PCWorld.com is reporting that Philips is introducing mirror TV. It is a combination mirror with LCD monitor that will be rolling out to hotels. The screens will be 1280 x 768 resolution and come in 17, 23, and 30 inch sizes. It reminds me of TV PiP where the main part is the mirror and the smaller part is the monitor. Philips hopes to install it in homes later."

6 of 223 comments (clear)

  1. And the point is...? by dvk · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I can sort of understand it used in hotels, where you may not want to waste room space by a monitor, and the monitor is used for some minor task such as weathcr-cheking/orders/etc...

    But why would anyone want a monitor in their mirror at home???

    --
    "The right to figure things out for yourself is the only true freedom everyone shares. Go use it"-R.A.Heinlein
    1. Re:And the point is...? by silas_moeckel · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Acutaly when I was a kid I did high end finish work and we got asked to do this often enough with one way mirrors. You make a frame and build a space behind it to put a normal size tv. Philips seems to just be making it in a package. This allow a room to look good without having a big fugly TV sitting around. Granted this was the old days of 3 CRT projection TV's that were just massive but it still works even with Plasma TV's and LCD's. You do loose some brightness and viewing angle but a nicly framed mirror looks a lot better than a plasma TV over the mantle at easter dinner for some people. Add to that the fact that hit the remote and the game is on it's a win win for some people.

      --
      No sir I dont like it.
  2. Classic case neat technology, but no market by NumberField · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Technically, this sounds quite cool. I think they are playing tricks with the polarization. (LCDs typically change the polarization of the photons by 90 degrees. A polarizing filter then blocks either the rotated or unrotated photons.) I think the "Mirror LCD" technology can make the polarizing filter reflective, instead of just blocking photons going through. This would give a slightly dark mirror, but satisfactory for bathroom-type purposes. On the other hand, the business people behind this have been, um, watching too much TV. A normal 17" LCD TV runs about $475 and a 17" mirror about $25, so Philips thinks people will pay more than $1000 per square foot for wall space. If wall space was this valuable, wouldn't hotels would hang better paintings?

  3. They're building it, but is anybody gonna come? by LostCluster · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You know, for some odd reason shower radios have been around for years, but shower TVs have been technically possible for a good while but nobody bothered to make it. Why? Because most people don't exactly want a TV in their bathroom, the idea of watching a newscast while naked and showering just doesn't seem appealing to most people.

    I expect that people who discover the Mirror TV at their hotels (because this is not a feature the participating hotels will bother to advertise) will be given a feedback card to send to Philips as they leave, and a majority will be returned with the box for "I don't know whether it works well because didn't feel like using it." marked.

  4. THINK! silly.... by arcite · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How much space does a regular run of the mill cheap 25-30inch crt take up? You have the tv and then you need a big stand to put it on. With this new mirror thing, its all in the wall, flat...out of the way when you don't need it. Redesign the hotel rooms around this new technology and not only do you have more options with what to do with the space in the room, but the rooms could actually be made smaller, yet seem to be bigger due to hiding the tech in wall. The hotel could make an extra couple rooms per floor, I am sure that this fact alone would more than make up for large up front costs.

  5. Playing off an inferiority complex? by Cycon · · Score: 4, Insightful
    this is just great.

    not only can we turn on the tele-mirror and see all of the beautiful people running around doing beautiful people things wearing beautiful people clothes, but we can immediately see how much less beautiful we really look when compared to those idealized images.

    then we can watch commercials featuring make-up and creams, clothes and other products that we need so that we can be beautiful too.

    reminds me why i don't own a tv anymore...

    --Cycon
    http://www.deltaflux.org

    --
    Your Brain + EEG + LEGO Robots = Brainstorms