AfterDawn: News

Panasonic unveils new 37" LCD TV

Osaka, Japan based manufacturer Matsushita, maker of the Panasonic brand of televisions and worlds largest supplier of plasma TVs has announced that it will revamp its policy about providing televisions at and larger than 37 inches in LCD. Previously, Matsushita had held fast to the belief that anything larger than 32 inches would be better served up as a plasma display. Subsequently, they've been losing out on a strong market growth while the demand for large LCD TVs has risen.

With this announcement, Matsushita has unveiled its latest 37-inch LCD television which will go on sale in Japan on September 1st. Price is estimated at 300,000 yen ($2,500) and is expected to be offered to oversees markets by as early as the end of this year.



At one time, plasma displays had dominated the large flat television market with cheaper prices and better picture quality. Recently however, LCD has gained a lot of ground by offering bigger models at cheaper prices thanks in part to companies introducing larger more cost-efficient production lines.

The global market for LCD sales was up 54% from last year to $13.6 billion for the period of January to March. In contrast, plasma TV sales have fallen 9% to $3.6 billion, according to DisplaySearch. With this type of change in market trends, its no wonder why Matsushita wanted a piece of that action.

Source:
Reuters

Written by: Dave Horvath @ 9 Aug 2007 8:26

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• 25 comments

• albino92

  a 37 in. for $2500 thats overpriced! i think plasmas should be about 47in or over not 37. Panasonic should stick to what they do best, plasmas. In my opinion plasmas are better because they're cheaper and offer better quality and i don't have a well lit room for lcd. The only reason i wouldn't get one now is because know one knows how long they'll last being new tech and all. Expense is one of the reasons i'm waiting to purchase my first hdtv set and when you look at it standard def is still better where like 80% of channels are aired in it. If RPTV weren't huge and old i'd probably have one by now. Because what's the point of buying a rptv if the new flat panels is what people will be wanting and have better style not to mention better picture quality (sometimes).

  9.8.2007 11:03 #1

• vinny13

  I like Plasmas... I haven't seen any in a while... Which of the 2 are better?
  
  And aren't those Super High Definition TVs supposed to be launched next year?

  9.8.2007 13:09 #2

• albino92

  Like i said plasma has better quality for the better price, especially if you don't have a well lit room,and they can go very big a lot bigger than lcds, but it is too new to see how long it will last. And i'm not familiar with "Super hi-def tvs" but you may be thinking of OLED hdtvs. These tvs will bring superior image quality to the ones we have now, but like LCD their drawback is that they can't be too big, their biggest tv is like 32in and they're very expensive. Google oled tvs and it's on Cnet somewhere.

  9.8.2007 13:34 #3

• hughjars

  If you're really going to get into the whole HD thing you need a real big screen - especially if you're going to be making a big deal about '1080p'.
  
  37" is too small, even 42" is too small.
  
  I know not everyone wants their living room dominated by a humongous TV but the facts are the facts about HD, screen sizes and viewing distances......and too many people are swallowing a heap of marketing BS and remain ignorant of those facts and how they relate to the physical capabilities of the mk1 human eyeball.
  
  You need at least 50".
  
  When they're prepared to talk sane pricing over screen sizes that make sense for HD then I'll be interested.

  9.8.2007 15:45 #4

• petersov

  Wow, did any one read the news release?? Panasonic is not releasing a "PLASMA" TV they are going to make and sell a 32" LCD TV! Class! Lets review, a 32" LCD TV! Not a 32” Plasma TV. I whish they would make a smaller plasma TV/Monitor, because a LCD at 32” still sucks (you can still see the PELS in the display)unless you are 6 to 8 feet away.
  
  My Two Cents

  9.8.2007 20:24 #5

• itago

  Originally posted by petersov: Wow, did any one read the news release?? Panasonic is not releasing a "PLASMA" TV they are going to make and sell a 32" LCD TV! Class! Lets review, a 32" LCD TV! Not a 32” Plasma TV. I whish they would make a smaller plasma TV/Monitor, because a LCD at 32” still sucks (you can still see the PELS in the display)unless you are 6 to 8 feet away.
  
  My Two CentsActually it's 37" LCD TV.

  9.8.2007 20:39 #6

• petersov

  your right my bad! It is a 37" LCD, but still not a plasma.

  9.8.2007 21:22 #7

• albino92

  By the way i phrased it, it seemed like i was saying a 37in plasma was overpriced but i was just saying a tv for 2500 is overpriced i knew it was an lcd and then i just went on to talk about panasonic plasmas.

  9.8.2007 21:26 #8

• petersov

  Understood! You are right my son just bought a 19" LCD monitor with TV inputs for $200.00 (no tuner), but who needs one, with all the TViO's, DVR, settop boxes and PC's with "medida edition" feeding them.

  9.8.2007 22:29 #9

• albino92

  alright then

  9.8.2007 22:37 #10

• sammorris

  Ahhh, look at all these people who think Plasmas are best...
  Wake up and smell the coffee guys...

  10.8.2007 02:04 #11

• albino92

  why what's better in lcds, except for being older and more reliable?

  10.8.2007 10:29 #12

• sammorris

  Higher resolution, longer lifespan, in a large number of cases lower cost, lower noise, and with the good examples better picture quality.

  10.8.2007 13:41 #13

• albino92

  yeah but everywhere i go plasmas are still alot cheaper

  10.8.2007 19:10 #14

• vinny13

  Brighter too... That's why I want one.

  10.8.2007 20:20 #15

• albino92

  yeah they are brighter and better for well lit rooms

  10.8.2007 20:35 #16

• vinny13

  Originally posted by albino92: yeah they are brighter and better for well lit roomsYou mean non-well lit rooms?
  
  I have a 47" Panasonic 1080i Projection with progressive scan or somethin'(I didn't buy it, my parents did, 4-5 years ago), and it' just too dark, especially if there's company over and we're all watching something and the people like 2 feet away from it can't really see lol.
  
  Even if we do get a new TV, it'll be going in my basement because that TV is in the family room and it takes like 3-4 people to cary it down a set of stairs.

  10.8.2007 21:08 #17

• borhan9

  Not bad not bad at all. The price is high but give it time and it will drop.

  17.8.2007 17:52 #18

• albino92

  Quote:Originally posted by albino92: yeah they are brighter and better for well lit roomsYou mean non-well lit rooms?
  
  I have a 47" Panasonic 1080i Projection with progressive scan or somethin'(I didn't buy it, my parents did, 4-5 years ago), and it' just too dark, especially if there's company over and we're all watching something and the people like 2 feet away from it can't really see lol.
  
  Even if we do get a new TV, it'll be going in my basement because that TV is in the family room and it takes like 3-4 people to cary it down a set of stairs.Well i take back what i said because now lcds are getting brighter than plasmas, but yeah apparently if you have a well lit room you'll want a well lit tv as well. Your tv is too dark because it's an old crt rptv. And last of all if your tv is 1080i that would mean it's interlaced and not progressive scan. Sorry.

  17.8.2007 18:48 #19

• albino92

  Originally posted by borhan9: Not bad not bad at all. The price is high but give it time and it will drop.
  Yah all prices do drop, but i wonder if thier lcds will be better than thier plasmas?

  17.8.2007 18:48 #20

• albino92

  Originally posted by sammorris: Ahhh, look at all these people who think Plasmas are best...
  Wake up and smell the coffee guys...
  I don't really think plasmas are the best but i think they're good for their buck and besides if i were to buy a new tv it'd be a lcd since plasmas will be getting less popular. But i think overall lcds are better and it really matters on how your tv will be in your room.

  17.8.2007 18:52 #21

• sammorris

  LCDs are brighter, don't suffer from any kind of burn in, have a far higher resolution in most cases and in many instances are actually cheaper.
  DLP TVs are better still, but they are of course larger.
  The only thing Plasmas have going for them is contrast.

  20.8.2007 03:03 #22

• joumbie

  regarding the advantages of lcd's-they are also much more energy efficient (less heat production) than plasmas and significantly lighter. Contrast on lcds is also improving. The olivia line of lcds, available up to 47 inch, have a contrast of 1600:1; are very inexpensive, unless you buy their top model, and are viewable in a bright room. I have had a 37 inch unit for over a year and it works well on both sd and hd. Contrast is not as good as plasma but is still ok. Lcd is the future even for big sets. Plasma won't exist, to any substantial degree in 5 years. Plasma, however, is still good at dimly lit bars.

  20.8.2007 10:19 #23

• albino92

  The thing i don't like about dlps is that you have to change the lamp.

  20.8.2007 17:26 #24

• sammorris

  That's true, but it's simple, and they last a very long time nowadays, arguably longer than a lot of people keep their TVs.

  21.8.2007 05:13 #25