SEOUL: South Korea's LG Display said Tuesday it has developed a liquid crystal display (LCD) television panel that is thinner than a pencil, describing it as the world's slimmest.

The panel, which can be 42 or 47 inches wide, uses an edge-lit light emitting diode (LED) backlight system that allows it to achieve a thickness of just 5.9mm (0.2 inches), LG Display said in a statement.

The world's second biggest LCD maker said the product weighs 6.1 kg (13.4 pounds) and 7.3 kg, about half as much as a conventional panel.

"The displays can reproduce a rich range of natural-looking colours with a colour saturation level of 80 percent," it said, adding the televisions can eliminate motion blur and boast full high-definition resolution.

Executive vice president Chung In-Jae said the new products demonstrate "our leading edge-lit LED backlight technology that enables thinner designs." LG Display and local rival Samsung Electronics have led the global flat panel screen market and are now competing to produce thinner panels for high-definition televisions.