AfterDawn: News

Matsushita shifts focus from plasma to LCD

Panasonic is going to be selling 37" LCD televisions starting in September. This reverses a policy of only selling plasma models at that size and higher.

Plasma's higher profit margins have fueled interest in the success of the technology by Japanese companies who have a hard time competing with Korean competitors for LCD sale.



While this policy has been in place, Panasonic has missed out on the growth of larger LCD display sales.

The 37-inch full high-definition LCD TV will go on sale in Japan on September 1 for an estimated price of 300,000 yen ($2,508). Osaka-based Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. aims to offer the model in overseas markets by the end of the year.

After surrendering to Korean manufacturers in the war for CRT televisions, Japanese manufacturers rely on flat panel displays for television revenue. As the largest electronics manufacturer in Japan, Matsushita's decisions are closely watched by the entire industry.

Source: Reuters

Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 11 Aug 2007 8:32

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• 6 comments

• Unfocused

  Anybody know about their quality? I know that they have been making computer drives for a long time now.

  13.8.2007 21:26 #1

• borhan9

  I am pretty sure i read this same article just before.

  17.8.2007 18:33 #2

• jwerner

  By what I read LCD technology is poised to leap-frog plasma. In a few months the first large screen lcds will appear with superior LED backlighting. This will finally address the two areas where LCDs have not been quite as impressive: motion and reproduction of low light/blacks. It's true Sony had an LED backlit LCD (Qualia 005) almost two years ago, but so few were made and sold it seemed to be more vapor than actual product. Now the new units, though pricier than plasma and comparative sized lcds, are "mass market" items. This should be the beginning of the end of the more problematic (runs much hotter and at higher voltage, not to mention the spector of burn-in) plasma since they will no longer have picture superiority. I had a 50" plasma, I won't mention the brand, and after the forth replacement unit I decided the technology, no matter how wonderfully implemented has the potential for disaster either now or later. I'm sure this is no longer true, but burned once twice shy.

  18.8.2007 07:05 #3

• malves

  The reason they want to sell more LCD's is because it is cheaper for them to manufacture then Plasma's. LCD quality will never match Plasma's because Plasma technology keeps getting better. Such as the point said about burn-in. It is now no longer necessary with the Pannies. I have the 50" and it is beautiful. Panasonic issued a notice early this year saying their plasmas do not suffer phosphor burn anymore and do not require burn-in either so your argument bares no merit.

  19.8.2007 16:08 #4

• jwerner

  I do believe that currenty plasma, in general, has better black reproduction and good response to quick changes in the picture being reproduced. However, I have noticed that LCD has closed the gap to such a small margin that the best of the LCD's are sometimes better overall. This is a casual observation and is in no way scientific. I will say that the finest Pioneer plasmas are jaw-dropping in their reproduction and are likely the "yard-stick" by which to measure all flat panel tvs. In LCD's the finest I've seen have been Samsung and Sony. Both can be quite remarkable in their smoothness, brightness, and quality of detail and color. If they continue to improve at the rate they have done so in the last two years I truly believe they may finally at least tie the finest of the plasmas if not surpass them. With just a little faster response time and the realization of LED backlighting LCD's should really become true state-of-the-art for flat panel video reproduction. The first LED back lit sets are as of today available at one of the West's largest electronics dealers on the web. If they weren't so expensive I'd be the first to take the plunge. Like most things these LED sets will come down and improve at the same time. So, I agree that the best plasmas, as of today, are better than the current crop of LCDS. I disagree that LCD quality will never match plasmas and I believe that LCD panels are just as expensive, if not more so than plasma glass to manufacture. It's not arbitrary that a Samsung 52" LCD is quite a bit more expensive than a Samsung 50" plasma.
  
  In closing you may be surprised that I will likely give plasma another try ( I think I'll buy a 1080P Samsung Plasma). It's reasuring to know now that if I pause a movie with a lot of white highlights against a dark background,, leaving it for 15 minutes or longer (while I talk on the phone or whatever), the white won't be scorched in the screen. That's good because on my old 50" plasma if you paused the credits for longer than a minute you could read some of it for the next 20 to 30 minutes.

  20.8.2007 01:29 #5

• Unfocused

  I thought that burn in was a thing of the past across the board...
  
  I remember this being a huge problem with all of the 80's video games, early CRT's, and rear projection TV's.

  22.8.2007 16:49 #6