Panasonic launches conventional TVs for screen smashing Wii gamers

With Nintendo Wii gamers smashing plasma TV screens when the remote slips from their grasp mid-game, Panasonic is making use of old-style TV tube-making technology for making TVs with tough-screens that do not crack if force is applied.

London, Mar 12 : With Nintendo Wii gamers smashing plasma TV screens when the remote slips from their grasp mid-game, Panasonic is making use of old-style TV tube-making technology for making TVs with tough-screens that do not crack if force is applied.

The conventional cathode-ray tubes have a vacuum, thus they are made from a thick toughened glass so that they do not end up imploding if hit by an object.

These days, the state-of-the art plasma and LCD screens just have a thin glass faceplate as it's just the cells inside the screen that need to be protected from the air, and thus they do not need a vacuum.

So, the gamers using the motion-sensitive Wii remote to play tennis or golf games may crack the screen and reduce to rubble an expensive TV if in case they lose their grip.

Therefore, Panasonic is planning to use high-strength CRT glass across its range of flat-screen TVs to make its TV sets less vulnerable.

The company conducted a demonstration at a seminar in Valencia, Spain, where they hung a 250-gram steel ball on the end of a cord and made it swing 40 centimetres onto a screen to create an impact equivalent to the Wii remote being thrown hard at the screen from across a room.

But the glass remained intact and unmarked even after 100 such strikes on the same spot.

However, on the other hand, a usual flat screen cracked just after a single strike, exposing its electronic insides and stopped working.

Though, this novel idea will not only benefit Wii users but might also prove to be useful to others.

"Even if people don't have a Wii, children throw TV remotes at screens," New Scientist quoted Michael Price of Panasonic, a saying.

ANI