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Engadget: No two ways about it, 2009 was a bad year for plasma. How else could you describe a year where the so called king of plasmas — and to many, HDTVs — exits the market? It was a hard enough hit when Kuro lovers learned that Panasonic would be manufacturing ‘em instead of Pioneer, but when at the last minute Pioneer canceled the plan before the first Panasonic-branded-Kuro ever shipped, plasma lovers everywhere died a little inside. But all was not lost and Panasonic, Samsung and LG proudly continued on and didn’t miss a beat when Vizio joined the quitters of 2008 — Panasonic even opened the biggest plasma plant yet in 2009. Panasonic did step up, and by some accounts filled the void left by the Kuro by managing to win most of the best of awards of 2009; only to be tarnished by reports that the black levels were depreciated faster than expected.

But the year wasn’t all bad, as plasma prices dropped and in the second quarter of last year it actually did pretty well. Then at CES 2010 Panasonic’s 3D plasma demo stole the 3D show, and early reports showed that the new line offered even better blacks and a better 3D effect than LCD TVs. So while there are no signs that plasma will ever be the king of flat screen TVs, it has proven for yet another year that although LCDs garner the lion’s share of HDTV sales, plasma still owns a piece of the market and offers some advantages over the competition. So while the LCD vs plasma debate has never been as fun or as meaningful as a format war — after all it isn’t like choosing one excludes you from viewing content — it is an interesting battle to follow. In the coming years we expect LCD to continue to push plasma up in size and plasma to push LCD blacker and faster. So the great news is that in the end it is the consumer that is getting better HD viewing options.

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Engadget: Over the last several months complaints that Panasonic’s plasma HDTVs experience sudden adverse changes in their black levels after a certain number of viewing hours have been piling up in an AVSForum thread, and now that behavior has been confirmed, though not very well explained, in a response the company sent to CNET today:
“In order to achieve the optimal picture performance throughout the life of the set, Panasonic Viera plasma HDTVs incorporate an automatic control which adjusts an internal driving voltage at predetermined intervals of operational hours.

As a result of this automatic voltage adjustment, background brightness will increase from its initial value … The newest Viera plasma HDTVs incorporate an improved automatic control which applies the voltage adjustments in smaller increments. This results in a more gradual change in the Black Level over time.
Especially considering many buyers purchased their televisions specifically for those deep black levels, you can see why a TV suddenly going Sammy Sosa overnight would be upsetting.

One of the reigning theories in the thread indicated by poster & calibrator D-Nice has been that this is by design, but a flaw in the settings caused the large jumps (around double the brightness, as measured by several owners light meters) instead of a much more subtle change. So what now for owners or potential buyers?

Without more details about what is going on and whether or not anything can be done about it, like CNET’s David Katzmeier, it’s hard to see how we can continue to recommend these HDTVs for purchase without knowing what they will do months or years down the line.

The ball is in Panasonic’s court now, a speedy response could do a lot to assuage the concerns of current and potential owners.

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DisplaySearch Blog: In December, I wrote about the most important challenges for the FPD industry in 2009. Now we are in 2010, the year of Tiger, which represents a vigorous spirit and a ferocious mind-either positive or negative.

If the energy of the Tiger fuels FPD market growth, then the whole supply chain will have a prosperous year. The downside risk is that panel or set prices fall in a ferocious way.

What are the top questions to be answered in the year of the Tiger?

1. Panel prices are set to increase in January 2010, and it is likely that they will rise through Q1′10 due to the strong demand to build inventories. How long can prices stay strong?
2. When will we see new fabs and capacities? Encouraged by strong demand, panel makers are starting to pull in their new fab schedules and capacity additions.
3. Will there be more consolidation and alliances? If so, who will swallow whom?
4. Most TV brands are targeting 30-50% LED backlight penetration in their 2010 business plan; will they be able to achieve that? How fast will LED backlight LCD TVs grow?
5. E-book readers are a promising new application category, attracting new entrants and stimulating technology evolution. However, there are still doubts about consumer acceptance of these devices. Will e-book readers become an accepted consumer electronics device? Or it will be just a fad? Is color required for broad acceptance?
6. 3D can provide inspiring and thrilling experience, but there are uncertainties about the availability of content, the technological readiness, and acceptance in the living room. Can we move away from the requirement for glasses?
7. Except for Panasonic and Chinese makers, plasma panel makers have stopped investing in new capacity. Even Panasonic is shifting resources into LCD. What can change PDP’s destiny in 2010? Can plasma survive in the TV market? Or can it find a new niche?
8. Among the many potential projects for Gen 7/8 fabs in China, which ones will eventually come true? How will they influence the 2011 supply/demand balance?
9. Panel costs fell sharply in 2009 due to depreciation and changes in components. Will this reduction continue in 2010? How profitable will companies in the LCD supply chain be?
10. Will the small/medium FPD panel price collapse due to the newly ramped Chinese Gen 4 fabs and the Korean/Taiwanese Gen 5 fabs shifting to the to the smaller-than-10″ production?

Certainly, there are many questions to be answered, such as the mini-note outlook, touch panel development, LCD monitor market maturity, Windows 7 influence, high transmittance technologies, glass substrate capacity constraints, TV specifications and roadmaps, mobile phones, pico projectors, 21:9 aspect ratio, and so on.

You certainly have your own list of questions for 2010: let us know what they are! At DisplaySearch, the most exciting part of our job is to help you explore the answers of all of these questions. Stay tuned, within this year, DisplaySearch will give you definite answers and in-depth analysis.

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Oh Gizmo: Remember back when the Nintendo Wii came out, how there were reports of idiots tossing their Wiimotes through their fancy TVs?

Well that sort of thing is still an issue for people with LCD and Plasma TVs, and not just from flying game controllers. Since the screens are easily harmed, one company has decided to specialize in protecting these expensive pieces of equipment.

TV Armor is a simple way to prevent objects from impacting (and thus ruining) the screen of your HDTV. The solution is about as low-tech as it gets, consisting of a thin layer (¼-inch) of acrylic held on by Velcro straps. The acrylic is considered optical-grade so that it won’t reduce the quality of the image.

The TV Armor won’t win any awards in the looks department, but it isn’t hideous by any means. The acrylic blends in rather well, and the Velcro straps are barely visible. You’ll need to set back $69-$289 (47-198 euro) depending on the size of your TV. It’s a little salty, but far less than you paid for your fancy-pants TV no doubt.

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About: Panasonic has been pushing hard, really hard, to get 3D into the home. In the past year or so, Panasonic has been on the road and at trade shows demonstrating its 3D technology to manufacturers, dealers, press, and potential consumers. I have actually seen Panasonic’s 3D demonstrations during this time period and have been impressed with the results. However, good results are only part of the equation, cost and movie studio content support are even bigger factors, especially in current economic times.Keeping all this in mind, Panasonic has announced that it will be taking the first step into the consumer market in 2010 with a 3D-enabled 50-inch Plasma Television and, hopefully, a companion 3D-enabled Blu-ray Disc player (…).

This is especially important as a new breed of 3D-enabled Blu-ray Disc players would be required to view 3D content using Panasonic’s system. Also, no price or content information is available yet, but I am sure this system will be displayed at the annual CES in January and information on pricing and content should be forthcoming by that time.

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JCNNetwork: The world’s No.1 plasma TV maker Panasonic Corp reported a net loss of 52.98 billion yen ($559 million) in April-June 2009, down from a 73 billion yen profit a year earlier.

For the year to March, the company kept its net loss forecast of 195 billion yen (US$2.0 billion), half of last year’s 379 billion yen loss (US$4 billion), but worse than analysts’ estimate of a 185 billion yen loss (US$1.5 billion).

Revenue for the April-June quarter fell 26% to 1.595 trillion yen (US$16.8 billion) from 2.152 trillion yen (US$16.7 billion) a year earlier, partly because of slow sales of digital cameras and flat-panel television sets.

Panasonic is still targeting TV sales of 15.5 million units this fiscal year, up from 10.05 million last year, to lift its market share to 12%. As part of its TV, Panasonic will aggressively push plasma TV sets greater than 50-inches diagonal in the U.S., Europe and China given such screen sizes earn higher margins. It also will seek to cut production costs

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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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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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Electronista: Samsung recently announced some specs of what looks like the 8-series plasma HDTV first shown at CES. The 50-inch 850 PAVV is just 1.14 inches (29mm) thick and houses the tuner.

Samsung says it’s also 40 percent more energy efficient and, at about 57lbs, 20 percent lighter than the corresponding previous-generation model.

The TV has 1080p resolution and has DLNA support. Along with the necessary software and USB 2.0 ports, this allows users to watch DivX videos, view photos or play MP3 audio files from external drives or flash memory sticks.

These features are expected to carry over to a 58-inch plasma model Samsung is also readying, though no specifics other than that it is 50 percent slimmer than the previous-generation TV and weighs about 80lbs.

Pricing or a release date for either model is likewise unknown. Samsung does not currently offer any 8-series plasma HDTVs in North America, and it is unknown if these set will be the first to come to the market.

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TGDaily: Plasma TVs look set to enter the history books and perhaps remain as a footnote to the chequered history of displays, starting with the cathode ray tube (CRT).

Market research firm Displaysearch said that panel shipments fell for the second straight quarter year on year, even though units grew strongly during 2008.

Plasma sales fell 28 percent in the first quarter of 2009, and 22 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Worryingly for the plasma players, it was not just smaller panels that declined but the great big things such as 42-inch and 50-inch 720p models.

Pioneer is getting out of the market this year, but here are the top five plasma players right now, courtesy of Displaysearch.

Needless to say, some of these players have a foot in both the plasma and LCD TV camps, because this is one of those two horse races which it’s a near certainty that the LCD sector will win.

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DigiTimes: Global PDP module shipments decreased 19% on year to 2.86 million units with revenues of US$1.014 billion, down 34% on year in the first quarter of 2009, according to Displaybank.

Japan-based Pioneer already stopped shipping PDPs in the first quarter, the research firm noted. Hitachi has also announced its exit from the PDP market.

With the withdrawal of Pioneer and Hitachi, only three makers from Japan and Korea are expected to continue the PDP business in the second quarter of 2009, but the number will increase to four in the second half of 2009 when China-based COC kicks off PDP production, Displaybank noted.

PDP module shipments are expected to increase in the second quarter, the research firm said. Panasonic plans to increase shipments of its Neo PDP, while Samsung SDI and LG Electronics are also planning to increase shipments in the second quarter.

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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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