DisplaySearch White Paper Outlines Bright Future For Plasma HDTV

White Paper Findings Show Strong Improvements In Performance, Superior Motion Resolution and Cost Advantages Among Key Factors

October 30, 2007

A bright future lies ahead for Plasma HDTV according to a white paper co-authored by Ross Young, founder and President of DisplaySearch, a leading display industry research firm, and YS Chung, the firm’s Director of FPD Material and Technology Analyst. The paper also includes an article by Charles Annis, Director of FPD Manufacturing Research on his recent field trip to Panasonic’s Plasma Display factories in Amagasaki, Japan. Panasonic is the market and technology leader in Plasma HDTV’s. The paper, which is now available at the Panasonic Document Library, cites a variety of factors including luminous efficacy (the relationship between brightness and power consumption), motion performance and cost advantages as top contributors of Plasma’s success. “The most exciting advancement in Plasma TVs is occurring in luminous efficacy,” states Young in the paper. “As luminous efficacy improves, higher brightness can be achieved at the same power levels and lower power can be achieved at the same brightness levels. But the effects of higher luminous efficacy are not just limited to brightness and power. Improvements in luminous efficacy will have far reaching effects… in areas including power consumption, brightroom contrast, heat, reliability/lifetimes, and total costs. As a result, increases in luminous efficacy should dramatically boost the competitiveness of plasma TVs vs. competing TV technologies. “In addition, Plasma TVs have inherent advantages in motion performance which have been difficult to quantify until recently…” according to the paper. “Plasma panels are known for their ability to reproduce fast-moving video images, resulting in smooth video images of sports and other action content. This ability is not a strength of LCD TVs…” also cites the paper. The DisplaySearch report comes on the heels of a strong surge by Plasma HDTV which, according to a recently released DisplaySearch report, saw sales rise 33 percent in the third quarter. The report credits increased availability of 1080p Plasma models and the fact that many Plasma HDTVs are priced 20 percent lower than similarly-sized LCD models. “We have enjoyed very strong sales that have driven us to more than 50 percent market share over that past three weeks,” said Hide Harada, President, Panasonic Display Company, the market and technology leader in Plasma HDTV. “Our Plasma HDTVs also have enjoyed very strong acclaim in the media for their picture quality and superior motion performance,” added Harada. “The DisplaySearch White Paper coupled with the solid media reviews on Plasma is perhaps the strongest indicators of the health of Plasma TV and its future as a dominant force in the display industry.”

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