It seems like LCD will take all the TV glory from plasma in 2009 with features like LED backlighting and 240Hz right? Here’s why you shouldn’t write-off plasma, the big daddy of home theatre.
With Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Toshiba and NEC unveiling new LCD TVs with features like LED backlighting and Internet connectivity, you’d be forgiven for thinking plasma was on the backburner in 2009.
While we’ve already reported on LED and higher Hz rates for LCD, plasma manufacturers are pushing their own big screens to shine brighter than ever.
Plasma: no longer an electricity bill?
And goal #1 seems to be to turn around the lingering perception of plasma TVs as a power hog that will put an ugly dent in your electricity bill.
To see what plasma TV makers are doing to fix this, take a look at this demo of Panasonic’s new "NeoPDP" plasmas at their stand at CES. On the left is a conventional plasma, on the right, a new power-efficient Neo prototype that can display brighter pictures using less power.
The Panasonic demo gets a Neo screen prototype down to 31% power consumption, without any significant degradation of the picture (to our eye at least).
Panasonic’s Paul Reid told us the new Neos have three times the brightness. This can be used on a few ways – either to apply much brighter images at full power, to save power, or a combination of both.
Plasma TVs will also have to comply with upcoming energy ratings in Australia. Energy rating labels similar to the ones you see on fridges should arrive sometime later this year, while the MEPS (Minimum Energy Performance Standards) will mean the most power hungry TVs potentially won’t even be on sale.
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| Panasonic's "NeoPDP" plasma aims to cut down power usage. On the left, a TV running at 100% power consumption. On the right, Panasonic's NeoPDP at 32% power consumption |
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| No longer a power hog? Panasonic's new Plasma promotional material |
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| Panasonic's "NeoPDP" is one of the new generation of plasma TVs appearing in 2009 |
40,000:1 contrast ratio
One of plasma’s key advantages over LCD is the contrast ratio. For it’s 2009 lineup, Panasonic has increased this yet again, with native contrast ration (as opposed to the inflated dynamic contrast ratio numbers) increasing from 30,000:1 to 40,000:1. The numbers are massive, but in short, the pictures looked truly stunning – though as you’d expect, this was all in darkened rooms constructed by Panasonic specifically to show off plasma pictures.
Moving picture resolution
One of the big developments in LCD screens over the last couple of years is the arrival of 100Hz and 200Hz TVs, which remove the blurring effect on fast moving action.
The plasma answer seems to boil down to something called “moving picture resolution” – another selling point of Panasonic’s 2009 plasma lineup. We couldn’t see any drastic improvement in the demo we saw, but it’s something to watch out for if this is a concern.
Plasma gets thin, sexy
There’s nothing like a super thin screen to impress the neighbours, and LCD makers have been impressing us at CES with incredibly thin screens like Sony’s ZX1 and LG’s 1.7in LGX TV, and a 6.5mm thin LED TV from Samsung.
The good news is that big screen plasma buyers are not being left out of the super-thin party. Among the jaw dropping plasmas on display here, Panasonic is showing off the Z1 NeoPDP which is a 1in thick, 54in monstrosity that makes some LCDs look chunky.
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| Really, really thin - Panasonic's 1in Z1 plasma |
Interestingly, one of the tricks behind the slim-down is the same wireless-HD technology used by Sony in its ZX1. The processing and connections are contained in a separate box, which you can sit somewhere in the room nearby, while your TV sits or hangs almost flush against a wall.
The big screen dream
Far from it. Despite the period of bad press over power usage, and reports that LCD and plasma sales are sliding globally, the platform itself is in find shape, says Panasonic’s Reid, who says sales have been stronger than ever recently.
Good news that if you’ve been keeping the dream alive of a really big 50+in home cinema setup.