JAPANESE electronics giant Sony is to launch a personal liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor later this month that will allow individual viewing of movies and video discs.

The PLM 50 Glasstron, to be introduced in Japan on June 21st, will feature a display monitor contained in special headgear, and play back images from a videocassette recorder or a video compact disc (CD) player. Stereo earphones will relay the sound.

Used in conjunction with a battery pack and a lightweight CD player, the new product, like the Sony Walkman, is a portable, individual entertainment system that viewers can use without disturbing those around them, Sony said.

It measures 20 cm (7.9 inches) by 12 cm (4.7 inches) by 26 cm (10.2 inches), weighs 310 grams (11 ounces) and will be priced at £518 sterling.

By changing the degree of transparency of the liquid crystal shutter, viewers can enjoy the impression of being in a cinema or alternatively, of watching a screen hanging in mid air, Sony said.

With a lithium ion battery pack, the system allows two hours and 20 minutes of continuous playback in a portable setting.

Sony plans to produce 5,000 of the LCD monitors a month and may consider marketing the monitor outside Japan if it is well received.

A Sony spokesman said the company would be the first to introduce this kind of personal monitor to the huge Japanese consumer electronics market, although several companies have developed head mounted monitors in the USA.

Sony also announced that it will launch a new portable video CD player, priced at 36,000 yen that could be used in conjunction with the portable LCD unit.

The new portable video compact disc player can provide four hours of playback with a lithium ion rechargeable battery and will be produced at a rate of 4,000 players a month.

Sony said it expected the Japanese market for video CD related products in 1996 to reach four million units, four times as many as last year.