Shinoda Plasma Japan has unveiled a prototype film-thin giant plasma display. The plasma screen--2 meters tall and 3 meters wide--has a display portion just 1 millimeter thick was created by joining six sheets of film. It uses slightly less than half the electricity consumed by existing models of comparable size from other companies.

Shinoda Plasma plans to sell the sheets to electric appliance makers for around 5 million yen ($51 010) a piece, and expects to see the first products using the screens on the market this autumn. The display unit weighs between 80 and 90 kilograms.