Samsung Electronics' LCD president and CEO Sang-Wan Lee predicted yesterday that a "third wave" of liquid-crystal display screens would push flat-panel LCD TV sales to 100 million within the next five years.

In his speech delivered at the Society of Information Display Conference in Boston, Mr Lee said he believed the production of screen sizes exceeding 100 inches was also imminent, giving a shot in the arm to the industry.

"LCD technology breaks all preconceived size limits," said Mr Lee, "There are no size limits anymore," he said.

However, Mr Lee argued that the industry needs to officially settle on a set of standard sizes in order to bolster the market.

He suggested 32-, 40-, 46-, 52-, and 57-inch screens for primary TVs, 26- and 32-inch sizes for secondary TVs, and a 23-inch size for personal TVs. Screens 80 inches and bigger would be used for applications like public information displays.

Mr Lee also said Samsung was working on next-generation production concepts, and that generation 9 would allow would allow fabricating six 57-inch panels from a single substrate.

Market researchers at Strategy Analytics Connected Home Devices have predicted that global sales of flat panel TVs will rocket by 66 per cent this year, with the use of pgms in the manufacturing process potentially yielding rewards for platinum producers.