Ears On

The most dressed-up flat-panel TV in the universe has to be the Trithon REYN, displayed in the Leon Speakers booth at this week's CEA Line Shows in New York City.

Take a close look at the edge of the set. That's python skin.

The product is derived from three chapters of design history. The first is the Moisse Phantascope, a French 18th century magic lantern projection device which was used for Phantasmagoria, a forerunner of modern movies. The tripod is derived from an early American film camera from California circal 1910. Finally, the panel itself is dolled up to look like Philco's 1959 Barber Pole Predicta with its tiltable mounting bracket.

For surround accompaniment, the panel comes with one of Leon's ultra-thin soundbar speakers built into the bottom. If you want something bigger, that'll probably be the Leon 7 LCR speaker, on righthand side of top pic, which comes in a variety of wood and paint finishes.

The price is $30,000-40,000 for this version. Other REYN panels start at a mere $20,000 and can be customized to a designer's specs or work within the aesthetic of an existing design. We'll post a link when one becomes available.