Flat LCD televisions, which are widespread today, would not exist were it not for liquid crystals.

The trend toward ever-larger screens for LCD TVs continued in 2007. Asian manufacturers are investing substantial sums in production facilities for large-format displays, so-called eighth- or even tenth-generation panels. Consumers around the world want ever-larger screens with diagonal sizes of 42 inches and more. At the same time, there is also a noticeable trend toward increasingly flat panels. These open up a range of totally new possibilities, for instance in interior design of homes, where flat televisions can be hung like pictures on the wall. The flattest LCD TVs that are commercially available at present are less than four centimeters thick.