Plasma TVs can also display art

For most people, hanging a Picasso, Monet or Renoir on their wall is just a pipe dream.

But two new companies within the past month have begun selling technology that brings the work of world-famous artists and photographers to a digital canvas — flat-panel television monitors that can be mounted on almost any wall.

Roku LLC of Palo Alto, Calif., and RGB Labs of Seattle both offer consumers and business a way to use their pricey LCD and plasma-screen monitors to display the high-definition video reproductions of paintings such as Van Gogh's "Starry Night" whenever the screen's owners seek a respite from watching TV sitcom stars.

Both firms see a business opportunity in a growing market of consumers and businesses that are replacing their big, bulky TVs with sleek, expensive flat screens. And now, they can be as much a wall decoration as an entertainment and information portal.

Despite a substantial fall in price, plasma screens are still an expensive item, costing thousands of dollars more than conventional television sets. That's why companies like Roku and RGB are developing other value-added uses for the screens.

"They paid a lot of money for (the flat-panel screen), but most of the time, they're not watching TV, so you have a blank canvas on the wall," said Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood, who invented the ReplayTV digital video recorder.

In September, privately held Roku unveiled its first product, the HD1000, a slim $500 box designed specifically to plug into a high-definition TV. When the monitor is not in use, the unit, which looks like a digital cable box, takes over and displays still photos and paintings or moving "live art" such as video landscapes that are similar to computer screen savers.

The art is stored on $70 "art packs" and recorded on removable flash memory cards that must be purchased separately. Roku offers four sets of packs, including classic paintings, artistic photographs, 3-D computer-rendered clocks and nature videos.

While Roku is going after the first wave of consumers who are buying expensive flat-panel monitors for their homes, RGB is focusing on the commercial market, such as offices and hotels, where rotating video art can be used to enhance the environment just as conventional art can.

RGB's GalleryPlayer service, launched in October, charges $195 per month for 60 to 100 different digital images of classic paintings and photography, which change slowly but constantly over a month's time. The gallery is updated with new images each month.