When customers walk into the sales center for Platinum — a 43-story condominium complex in Midtown West that will open for occupancy in 2008 — they are treated to a digital representation of the building set against real photographs of the natural surroundings, courtesy of 195 inches of flatscreen televisions, complete with surround sound.

Buyers can then enter a fully furnished representation of a 25th-floor room, with panels in the windows that depict the building’s actual views.

At sales centers like Platinum’s, full-scale models and sophisticated audio-visual presentations, along with elaborate décor, are taking the place of floor plans and blueprints in an attempt to convince consumers to buy apartments that have yet to be built.

With high-end condominiums becoming increasingly luxurious, their sale centers are following the trend, as developers try to give customers not only a realistic representation of how their apartment will look, but also a feel for the “lifestyle” the customer is considering paying millions of dollars for.

Though the specifics vary across developments, marketers say that in each case they are trying to give buyers a real sense for the building.

At the Setai New York, in Lower Manhattan, the sales center — referred to as a “sales lounge” — looks like a club and features a bar, wine cellar, and candlelight, according to vice president of sales for the Marketing Directors Inc., Martin Brady.

The Gramercy Starck project’s sales office features “iconic design elements” — including a blackand-white color scheme — from design partner Philippe Starck.

Gramercy Starck, like other centers designed by the SHVO Group, does not offer a full-scale model, preferring instead to present its offerings through advanced audio-visual presentations, according to a SHVO vice president for communications, Arthur Gallego.

And though not all high-end condominiums are buying into the high-tech, fully accessorized sales centers, even those that aren’t admit that they have to do something to give customers a feel for the apartment.

The Sky House — a 55-floor development that will be open for occupancy in early 2008 — will unveil its sale center this week in a hotel next to the building site.

“We just wanted to be as close to our site as possible,” said the director of sales for Clarrett Group, David E. Perry.

The sale center has a scale model of the building as well as floor plans to show potential buyers. There is no full model but customers can also walk next door to see a finished apartment in the building.

Perry said that in the past the Clarrett Group had set up sales centers farther away from the actual building site. “We had to do all the razzmatazz, and all the smoke and mirrors, and now we don’t have to do that.” he said.