Depends what kind of flatpanels you are talking about.
NXT panels which are used by chameleon audio and many other manufacturers use the entire surface to produce sounds rather than a VC. I will try to get the technical details. Until then you can read about them at
www.nxt.co.uk Planar speakers use a thin metalic diaphragm suspended between two magnets. The entire diaghram moves linearly and should produce less distortion (if made correctly) then a pistonic speaker.
http://www.audiovideo101.com/learn/articles/speakers/speakers08.asp Electrostatics are similar to planar speakers but instead of the diaphragm being suspened bewteen magnets, it is driven by an electrical charge being created by a power supply.
http://www.audiovideo101.com/learn/articles/speakers/speakers07.asp Bonus question:
Well, in Rowland's case, he had a donkey/moose (canadian mule) half breed so it was able to accept 4 little people. Typically, a donkey can only fit one fat midget or 2 skinny midgets.
