Among the selling points: The sets are about 1.2 inches thick. They also are backlit by energy-efficient light-emitting diodes instead of the standard fluorescent tubes. The higher-end models can connect to the Internet and PCs.

Because 1-inch-thick TVs are relatively new and cost so much, it is too early to tell when super-slimness will trickle down to the mass market. Paul Gagnon, an analyst with market researcher DisplaySearch, estimates that ultra-thin sets make up about 2 percent of the overall TV market. In North America, it's about 5 percent.

Toshiba Corp., for one, is not bothering with slim models, at least for now. Its latest flat-panel TV is 4 inches thick.

"We don't believe, especially in this economy, that people are willing to pay extra for ultra-thin," said Scott Ramirez, vice president of TV marketing at Toshiba America Consumer Products. "No one is complaining about their sets being 3 or 4 inches thick."

Making a thicker set helps Toshiba control the way the screen is backlit, yielding deeper black images and better contrast in dark scenes.

Even so, the long-term trend is probably toward skinnier and skinnier sets, perhaps eventually down to less than half an inch. To get significantly thinner than that, the sets probably will need a different display technology, such as organic LEDs, or OLEDs, which generate light on the display's surface and don't have to be illuminated from behind. Sony Corp. has an $2,500 TV that uses OLEDs, a first for the industry, and is just 3 millimeters thick (less than one-eighth of an inch). But for now the screen is only 11 inches on the diagonal.

Gagnon expects ultra-thin models to be at a premium for another year or two, while manufacturers wring as much as possible from customers who are wealthy, or early adopters of gadgets or especially design-conscious.

Of course, after that, once ultra-thin TVs become the norm, manufacturers will once again have to come up with another way to lure big spenders.

AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson contributed to this report.