Hang on the wall screens may seem like the next big thing to most consumers, but Philips is already celebrating ten years of flatscreen technology.
The Dutch giant says that this year is the 10th anniversary of its first ever public demonstration of the original branded ‘FlatTV’.
Philips unveiled its prototype 42-inch (107cm) gas plasma FlatTV on 27 August 1996 at the German trade show CeBIT Home, heralding “the world’s first TV you can hang on the wall like a painting.”
The prototype, which was shown 70 years after John Logie Baird’s first TV demonstration in 1926, created a predictable media storm.
The mainstream press marvelled at the idea of a TV which, for the first time ever, didn’t have to be located in a corner of the living room. Without a bulky cathode ray picture tube, the FlatTV only needed to be four inches (10cm) thick. Flat plasma display panel technology also enabled the set to have a widescreen viewing angle of 160 degrees.
The first 42-inch Philips FlatTV to go on sale arrived in stores in the spring of 1997 and was priced at the 1997 equivalent of Eur 15,000. Today virtually all TVs sold by big name brands in Europe are either LCD or plasma; the company says that this year flat panel TV sets will account for almost half of all TVs sold in Europe
Over the last ten years Philips has continued to push the technology envelope with technologies such as Ambilight, Pixel Plus and ClearLCD.

Philips FlatTV milestones
• 1996: Prototype Philips FlatTV unveiled at CeBIT Home in Hannover , Germany
• 1997: First Philips FlatTV goes on sale
• 1998: Philips wins European Imaging & Sound Association (EISA) ‘Flat TV System, 1998-99’ award for the 42PW9982
• 1999: Philips introduces second FlatTV screen size – a 32-inch (81cm) model
• 2000: Philips has a worldwide hit with its FlatTV television commercial, in which a young couple choose the best location for their FlatTV – their bedroom ceiling!

• 2001: Philips adds smaller screen sizes, including 15” (31cm) and 23” (58cm), to FlatTV range
• 2003: Philips introduces its largest-ever FlatTV range – 23 models ranging from 13-inch (33cm) to 42-inch screen sizes
• 2004: Ambilight introduced to Philips FlatTVs
• 2005: Philips announces ClearLCD backlighting enhancement for LCD TVs
• 2006: The Philips 37PF9731D FlatTV is named “High End LCD Television of the Year, 2006-2007” by EISA – the ninth EISA award for a FlatTV or related technology in ten years