Entertainment art
Artistic touch adds new dimension to flat-screen TV
By Renee Tomell GateHouse News Service

Catching up to the wave of flat-screen TVs washing up on walls as austere black geometrics are companies offering to change the look to suit consumers' tastes.

The switch in aesthetics can be threefold:

• Adding artful framing to match decor from contemporary to baroque.

• Styling screen images to enhance the ambiance.

• Disguising a television's true identity with a mirror effect.

"TVs have become flat and wide, and the ability to put them in armoires anymore is kind of decreasing," said Ben Huth, an owner of P.M. Bedroom Gallery in Illinois, which last year began offering the Mirropane, based on twoway mirror optics.

"The concept is real simple," Huth said of the screen-tomirror function. "When the TV is on, you can see the TV with quite explicit clarity, and when the TV's off, you can't see it at all."

Huth said a component deck has been added for people who want to keep digital video disc players and other electronics out of sight. They are placed behind a flip-up panel disguised as a drawer.

Such television-andmirror alchemy is produced by various manufacturers.

Kevin Hancock, owner of Frame My TV in Massachusetts and a fan of the feature, emphasizes that lighting has to be considered.

"The mirror is recommended for a setting where the room has lower lighting, or light is controlled," he said.

The price range is between $700 and $2,000, depending

on size and added features, Hancock said. Working with clients around the world, the company has framed flat screens sized to 108 inches for penthouses in Las Vegas.

"The most common call we get is from a spouse, usually the wife," Hancock said. "The husband has brought home a plasma TV he wants to put over the fireplace, and she says, 'Absolutely no way - it's going to look horrible.' They compromise on a mirror solution. It's a great meeting of the minds."

Lombard Spectator