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EngadgetHD: It’s no secret that we’re big on plasma picture quality around these parts, but with the average cost of a 50-inch set coming in $300 (€210) cheaper for plasma than LCD, there are some other reasons to consider the older technology as well.

Among the myriad of plasma misconceptions, fear of burn-in is the gift that keeps on giving to LCDs, even as they move into the 40-inch regime largely vacated by plasmas.

At the more pricey end of the spectrum, dynamic LED backlighting has narrowed the performance gap, but those LED backlit sets are still quite pricey. In the end, it’s good to have choice — and as much as we support plasma, we just can’t agree with the zealots that claim “death” to either technology.

The competition between LCD and plasma is exactly what has brought better performance and lower prices to everyone, so we’re hoping this fight goes as many rounds as possible.

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HDTVNews: The economy hasn’t quite recovered yet. But this recent news from Sharp is definitely a positive sign. Even with the volatile market, consumers can’t seem to get enough of LCD flat-panel televisions. This prompted Sharp to increase their production of flat-panel sets.

Again, this is due to the ever increasing demand for LCD televisions in the first half of this year. First up is their Kameyama factory in western Japan. The company planned to increase glass substrate production from 90,000 to 100, 000, starting in August.

These glass substrate are the main components in manufacturing LCD televisions. Each substrate measures 2.16 meters by 2.46 meters and can be used to up to eight 40-inch class or six 50-inch class LCD panels. Basic mathematics would give us an idea of how many actual sets those 100,000 glass substrate could produce.

Of course, the Sakai factory, which is larger than the Kameyama factory, will naturally produce even more. It will handle even larger sheets of glass. I don’t know when the economy will completely stabilize. But this news is certainly one of the better signs.

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DigiTimes: HB Chen, vice-chairman and CEO of AU Optronics (AUO) has pointed out that with the China’s current 500 million CRT TVs needing to be replaced by LCD TVs in the next 5-10 years, he forecast China will surpass the US and become the largest LCD TV market in 2010 or 2011.

Chen explained he is assuming that 10% of the 500 million CRT TVs currently in the market will be replaced each year, equating to demand for an additional 50 million LCD TVs. He also indicated that LCD market still has significant room for growth amid the introduction of new technologies.

In terms of panel pricing, AUO president LJ Chen noted that the recent panel price recovery has only boosted prices by around 10%, a lot lower than the drop of 50% from last year. Panel makers’ priority should be getting panel prices back to a reasonable level, but not necessarily to 2008 prices levels since costs have dropped amid decreasing component prices and improving production processes, he explained.

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Gizmag: Could the end be nigh for plasma and LCD screens? Seiko Epson has recently announced a further development in ink-jet technology, which does away with some of the problems still dogging the much-vaunted organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display technology. In particular, Seiko Epson has signaled it is moving toward a 37-inch HD OLED screen by creating a uniform deposit of organic material while removing the uneven layering of the ink-jet method.

To date, OLED technology has been used for smaller-scale screens, due to an inability to reliably form uniform organic layers on larger panels or substrates, as they are known. Until recently the most widely used process for depositing organic materials was vacuum thermal evaporation (VTE). This method, however, is fraught with technical complications and is one of the main reasons that mass production has been hindered.

Read more at Gizmag 

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DigiTimes: Around 1.4 million LCD TVs were sold during the three-day May Day holiday in China, up 75% on year, with local vendors dominating sales, according to industry sources in China.

Sharp was the only international brand that made it to the top-five ranking for the three-day sales, which the Japanese vendor shared 12%, the sources noted. The rest of the top-five were all China-based vendors:

1. Hisense with 14%,
2. TCL with 12%,
3. Skyworth with 11%, and
4. Konka with 10%.

In terms of screen sizes, 32-inch was the most popular with 33% of the May Day LCD TV sales, followed by 42-inch with 19%, 46-inch with 10%, and 37-inch with 9%, the sources added

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Engadget: Looks like we’ve got a new record holder for world’s thinnest LCD, as LG pegs its new 42- and 47-inch models at only 5.9mm thick.

Apparently lacking an iPhone for the accepted measurement of thinness, this model was reduced to holding up a coin for an example of LG’s edge LED lit prowess.

Though you may prefer local dimming LEDs, DisplayBlog is hopeful we’ll see a combo of the two lighting schemes bringing thinness and high picture quality next year. Meanwhile, compare these to JVC’s magnetically mounted former champ, measuring a now-widebody 7mm thick, but at only 5kg, still holding a weight edge over these two at 6.1 and 7.3kg, respectively.

LG promises 120Hz refresh technology and 80% of the NTSC color gamut, up from 72% on standard models, on these, but we’ll wait for them to go from the demo stand to the store shelf before revisiting the question of whether thinner and more energy efficient is actually better.

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Sony: Sony’s new BRAVIA Z4500 takes you to record speeds. As the first ever TV to come with 200Hz technology, the BRAVIA Z4500 brings you the clearest, most vibrant, fast-action shots ready to burst out the screen.

Their latest technology Motionflow 200Hz is taking the new BRAVIA Z4500 Series to amazing new heights. One up from the original Motionflow 100Hz, the frame rate has been doubled yet again to create the first ever quadrupled speed frame rate for TV.

Now, three new scenes are intelligently created, predicting movement in all directions, to smooth out every element of the action including flicker so you never miss a single detail. Whether you’re a sports fan, movie buff or hardcore gamer, this TV will blow you away.

Find out more about Motionflow 200Hz.

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EngadgetHD: Make a little more space on the wall, Sharp announced that its new 10G plant, will open in October. Originally scheduled to open next year, the new process can produce 6 60-inch LCDs in one substrate, 60% larger than the old 8G plant.

When it open it will be capable of manufacturing 36,000 substrates per month, and go up to 72,000 later, which should mean nothing but bigger and cheaper HDTVs on store shelves.

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HDTV News: According to shopping site Reevoo-com, the plasma TV sector lost 50% of its market share at the end of last year, falling from 22% in October to 8% in December.

The fact that some manufacturers are pulling out of plasma will do nothing for consumers’ confidence, but Reevoo.com’s research pinpoints a number of other factors in the technology’ decline.

Flat screen TVs have been a success story, and are now found in most UK homes. Many people aren’t ready to replace their main TV just yet, but an increasing number are purchasing LCD TVs, which are available in smaller sizes than plasma, as a second set, for a bedroom, or even a caravan.

The recession is another factor in pushing people towards cheaper LCD TVs in preference to the more expensive plasma option. TV buffs were willing to pay a bit more for a plasma set when the quality gap was bigger, but there is now little difference in the picture quality provided by LCD TVs and plasma.

Sam Bostock, category manager for televisions at Reevoo.com said: “This shift to LCD is inevitable given the relative flexibility in the production process. “LCD panels now exist in a huge range of electrical products and with that versatility they were always likely to out-do plasma,” he said. “Customer reviews prove that LCDs perform just as well as plasmas, and the great thing is they’re more environmentally friendly too,” Bostock added.

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Electronista: Toshiba is in negotiations to buy out Panasonic’s stake of a joint LCD venture, claims the Financial Times.

Panasonic currently controls 40 percent of Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology, which produces smaller LCDs used in products like cellphones. The venture has been hit by falling product prices however, and is predicting an operating loss of approximately 30 billion yen ($309.6 million) in the fiscal year ending March 2009.

The deal is said to have been instigated by Panasonic, and should be worth “several billion” yen when completed. While refusing to comment on the possibility of a Toshiba buyout, Panasonic has nevertheless admitted that its current strategy is to focus on larger plasma and LCD panels.

The Times notes that Toshiba Matsushita Display is one of the leading companies in OLED technology; divesting from TMD could be a sign that Panasonic feels OLED is not making rapid progress, although it funds an OLED initiative of its own. Toshiba is meanwhile expected to absorb a net loss of 280 billion yen for FY08 as it engages in major expansions.

The company has agreed to buy Fujitsu’s hard drive division, and is also developing a new business in lithium-ion batteries. Weakening of the tech industry due to the economy has allowed a number of corporations to make otherwise unaffordable acquisitions.

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Electronista: The long-standing legal battle over a patent related to liquid crystal displays between Samsung and Sharp has been settled, as a Tokyo court upheld Samsung’s countersuit, filed back in 2007.

Samsung noted on Friday that allegations in a June countersuit were upheld in a Japanese courtroom. Sharp initially sued Samsung, the world’s largest display panel maker, over similar though unspecified alleged infringements in August of 2007.

Samsung filed two countersuits, one in a Tokyo courtroom, the other in a Delaware house of justice, and has also requested an investigation by the US International Trade Commission.

The outcome of either the Delaware lawsuit nor the investigation request were not made public. Such lawsuits are fairly common in the display panel manufacturing industry, as competitors try and gain an advantage over one another by forcing licensing or settlements.

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Akihabara News: Here are the New AQUOS A Line-up, a series of 3 LCDs TV with a 40”, 42” and 52” LCD Full HD Panel (15000:1 contrast ratio and a brightness of 450cd/m2).

While this TVs are “fully loaded” (HDMI, 120Hz…), Sharp’s goal on this series was to drastically reduce their power consumption with an improved Backlight and overall power consumption system capable to bring to 175kWh/Year for the 52”, 145kWh/Year for the 46”, and only 120kWh/Year for the 40” model.

Prices are to be expected around 200 000 yen (€1535) for the 40”, 260 000 yen (€1995) for the 46” and 390 000 yen (€3990) for the 52”.

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