|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
71.96.149.139
I'm not trying to cry wolf here. I far prefer plasma to the currently available display technologies, and may buy one this year.But Sony stopped making plasma several years ago.
And now Fijitsu, who at one time were considered to make some of the best plasma displays, has recently plugged the plug on their plasma division (see link below).
And as you well know, Sony also announced earlier this week it would stop making RPTVs.
Are we seeing the beginning of a consolidation in display technologies?
Plasmas were finally getting rather affordable and I guess they became so affordable they were not longer profitable.
The one display type that seems to being going strong is LCD, which I don't care for. It certainly is highly functional in bright lighting situations.
Edits: 12/29/07Follow Ups:
LCD is still more expensive than plasma to manufacture hence the price reflection.
If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well
(Proverb)
Not for a long while.
There were only around 3 major manufacturers of plasma glass, so all the others - such as Sony and even Fujitsu were essentially OEM marketers. Fujitsu used Panny glass and Panasonic is still very strongly committed to plasma, as are Hitachi and Pioneer (and their new Kuro panels are gorgeous - they've taken over the top spot previously held by Fujitsu). There is the 10 lumen tech coming as well from the aforementioned three, plus plasmas are still better sellers at the 50" and above sizes.
Sony in particular is banking on their properietary OLED technology to be something special for flat anels in the future - that's a typical strategy for them. Plus RP is dead or dying as far as consumer appeal. As is so typical of these sorts of trnasition, RPs are great bang for the buck. But they're not as sexy as thin panels. And OLED has a ways to go.
I feel the same about it as you. The blacks are getting better on the best LCD flat screens but the blacks and especially the shadow detail have a long way to go to surpass plasmas, much less CRTs. I can't live with the motion blur on the budget LCDs either. The shadow detail alone is a deal killer for me.
I wouldn't worry about buying a plasma in the least. Buy the display that looks best to you.
It's hard to say what is the inherent capabilities of a particular technology, so one cannot say how much plasma can be improved. Still, one can expect some new technology to eventually surpass plasmas. For example, Sony is banking on OLED (organic light emitting diode), which supposedly has an extremely high contrast ratio. But, who knows when that will be available in larger size screens at a cheap price. Toshiba appears to not be able to bring its SED technology to market (superior version of plasma).
The most likely near-term technological breakthrough is locally dimming backlighting of LCD sets. This technology involves the use of LEDs as the backlighting source and having a large number of individual light sources covering the whole screen. In dark portions of the screen, the LED will be emitting less light than areas that are brighter. This has the potential to decrease power consumption, vastly increase contrast ratio and vastly improve black levels.
-------------"I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." -Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982)
Plasma will be around for a while yet. LCD's only real advantage, is that its cheaper in the smaller sizes, and available in tiny sizes. As Joe said, Plasma has the advantage in the larger sizes.
Jack
(nt)
Plasma displays will be around for years to come, even though it faces stiff competition from LCD. The technology still beats LCD and DLP in rendering the more faithful image (only CRT is better) and costs less than LCD in the all important 50" and up category. You can expect minor break-throughs (less power consumption, half-brightness rated at 100,000 hours) for the next few years, with a major change every so often (ie, 1920x1080 screen resolution, Pioneer's Kuro line for black levels).
Sometime in 2008, look for Pioneer to release a 70"-75" model and the Panasonic/Hitachi collaboration to bring an 85" plasma to the consumer livingroom. If that's not big enough, Matsushita (Panasonic) recently announced that they'll be showing a 150" plasma at an upcoming electronics show.
The next step will arrive in 2009: it's called 10-lumen tech and will allow plasma technology to surpass CRT in black levels (it will be at least equal to and possibly better than SED) and drop power consumption and heat generation by several levels. Panasonic, Hitachi and Pioneer joined forces to make 10-lumen tech a reality.
nt
Best Regards,
Chris redmond.
Benefits of the collaboration efforts between the 3 companies (Matsushita, Hitachi and Pioneer) on 10-lumen tech will begin appearing later in 2008. However, the best use and advantages of the technology won't be fully realized until 2009.
I do think it's an endeavor worth applauding: 3 manufactures coming together to work on advancements in a technology that will benefit the consumer in a real and qualitative way on many levels. Marketing departments will have it easy: the advancements will speak for themselves.
Where did you get this information.
All of it? Some of it? A certain bit?
I'm talking about the 10 lumen tech. I have a Pioneer elite 1080P 50 inch plasma now and was thinking about upgrading to the new one. The blacks are a little bit better. What your saying is to wait until next year for a huge increase in blacks, correct.
It's killing me, but I think I will have to hold off on a plasma purchase in 2008. While 10-lumen tech will begin appearing later this year, all of its positive attributes won't be realized.
The Kuros are indeed nice, though not perfect (ligh output needs some work), and 2008 models will begin to incorporate some of 10-lumen technology. If you really want one and will clearly see the difference in an upgrade (if your Pioneer isn't one of their Kuro models, you definitely will), why deny yourself a year's worth of visual pleasure?
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: