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At CES, A Super Screen Goes Commercial

If you like wide-screen TVs and computer monitors, check out Hiperwall's video wall technology. The startup has demonstrated its system running on 40 LCD monitors combined into a display that's 10-feet-high and 27-feet-across. Now, Samsung Electronics has agreed to distribute and support the super-sized, high-resolution displays.

Hiperwall is a spin-off of the University of California at Irvine. The technology was developed at UC Irvine's California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology. Hiperwall, the company, was created a year ago to commercialize the technology, which goes by the same name. The deal with Samsung represents its first OEM distribution agreement.

Hiperwall announced the OEM deal yesterday, and its technology was on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I'm not there, so I can't vouch for what the system looks like in person. Hiperwall CEO Jeff Greenberg says his company demonstrated the 10' x 27' setup last year at the InfoComm show. The Hiperwall system actually scales to even more monitors. "There's no limit," Greenberg says.

Who would use such a mega monitor? Greenberg foresees two scenarios: control room displays for airline, trading floor, and utility grids; and scientific and medical imaging. In addition to sheer size, one of the primary advantages of a wall display like this is its resolution. Hiperwall doesn't have any customers yet, but Greenberg says an early version of the system is in use at Stanford Medical Center. Consumer applications are at least 10 years away, he adds.

UC Irvine researchers have posted images and videos showing Hiperwall (the product) in action, including Guitar Hero 2 and Google Earth on the big screen. Take a look.

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