Hitachi gets thin and stylish with their Wooo HDTV series

At CEATEC 2008 in Japan late last week, Hitachi showed off several prototype LCD HDTVs in their recently announced Wooo flat panel line including LCDs with panels a razor-thin 15mm deep (0.6 inches!), plasma panels as thin as 35mm (1.4 inchs) and a 32-inch ultra-light LCD model weighing in at a tiny 10 kg (22 pounds). Thin will be getting even thinner, and more thrifty with your energy bill as well.

Low power utilization will be a primary feature of these TV’s as well. The ultra-light is said to consume about half the power of conventional LCD sets. Hitachi’s goal is to cut power usage of their televisions at least 50% in all their models beginning in 2009, a good point considering large Plasmas and LCDs tend to be quite greedy with power consumption.

Hitachi also showcased several unique and stylish “frames” for their LCD sets which replace traditional black or silver bezels with more unique and creative colors/designs, to help blend your TV in with your interior design. Odds are this will be have some popularity everywhere (depending on the price) but Hitachi is still weighing what options to market in what territory.

One thing is for sure: the flat-panel TV design standards currently in place will need to get a makeover with other companies as well. No pricing details were released as of yet.