CES Theme: Plasma Not Dead

 
 
 
Samsung and Panasonic, along with Vizio and others continue to work on Plasma.
 
Here is Samsung's release:
 
SAMSUNG Launches High Performance Plasma HDTVs At CES 2009
on Jan 09, 2009
 
Electronics Trendsetter Delivers Energy Efficient and Wireless DLNA-compliant Plasma HDTV
 
 
 
LAS VEGAS, January 7, 2009 – Samsung Electronics America, Inc.,, a market leader and award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, today unveiled two series of advanced plasma HDTVs. Delivering full HD 1080p resolution, increased energy efficiency, breath-taking design and deeper levels of black performance, Samsung’s latest plasma line sets a new standard of excellence in the Plasma HDTV category.

The entire line-up will be on display at Booth #11033 during the International Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center, January 8 – 11, 2009.

“Samsung is taking bold steps forward with its 2009 plasma line-up,” said Steve Panosian, director of Visual Display Marketing at Samsung Electronics America. “By combining superior picture quality, energy efficiency and networking options with the latest audio-visual technologies, the Series 8 and 6 plasmas are sure to become the model of excellence in plasma HDTVs.”

Luxurious Design
Measuring just over an inch in depth, Samsung’s Series 8 Plasma HDTVs is the world’s slimmest 1080p resolution plasma sets to feature built-in ATSC tuners.

Featuring a New ToC™ treated chassis, the Series 8 sports a chrome-like translucent surface, which encases the bezel. This unique treatment contrasts the TV’s black bezel to enhance its ultra-slim depth. Additionally, the outer edges of the bezel resemble a prism, magnifying light in such a way that its color intensity changes depending on the viewing angle.

In the case of the Series 6, a specially-designed, semi-transparent rose black hue lends a seductive hint of color to the TV’s glass-like frame. Each of the HDTV’s gracefully curved edges is transparent, creating the illusion of a display floating in mid-air. Further enhancing the design, the sets are also supported by a clear, reinforced glass stand giving it a “barely there” appearance.
 

Breathtaking Picture Quality

Despite their slim design, Samsung’s Plasma HDTVs harness the latest display technology to produce unmatched picture performance and deliver the ultimate in HDTV viewing experience.
These advancements include an extremely high dynamic contrast ratio along with Ultra FilterBright technology, which uses arrays of black-coated color enhancement film to minimize glare and maximize contrast. Additionally, Samsung’s Ultra Filter Bright Plus reduces the luminance in black levels by 50 percent over previous models for one of the darkest blacks ever seen on an HDTV.
 

And Samsung’s exclusive Wide Color Enhancer 3 maps HD or SD signals to the panel’s native color space, which covers 110 percent of the HD specification, helping the set portray hues in lifelike brilliance.


Sophisticated Multimedia and Networking Skills
The Series 8 and 6 plasma HDTVs are also equipped with the Internet@TV – Content Service platform that brings the best of the Web to the television. Powered by the innovative Yahoo! Widget Engine, Samsung’s Internet@TV – Content Service enables users to access internet based multimedia content from their favorite Internet sources . They’ll not only be able to take care of everyday tasks like tracking stocks and staying on top of headline news, but users can also browse videos, share photos and interact with friends. The suite of services ranges from a host of Yahoo! properties (Flickr, News, Weather and Finance) to third-party content from well-known names including USA Today, YouTube and eBay.

Samsung’s newest plasma displays are among the first TVs to be wireless DLNA-compliant, allowing consumers to enjoy their entire library of media content that may exist in various locations around the house without the hassle of extra cabling. Additionally, users can connect storage and mobile devices to the USB 2.0 port to play a variety of multimedia files via USB 2.0 Movie. An expanded list of supported codecs, which will also include 3GPP, MKV, WMV9 and DivX, gives consumers even more freedom to easily access and share nearly all forms of digital content.
 

The Greenest Plasmas Yet

Samsung has gone to great lengths to make all the new Plasma HDTVs the most eco-friendly plasma line yet. Engineered with high-efficiency panels, these sets intelligently conserve power and as a result meet the stringent Energy Star® 3.0 efficiency standard. In addition, these HDTVs are constructed using lead-free materials, making them even more environmentally friendly than the competition.

Here is Panasonic's Plasma release:
 
PANASONIC DEVELOPS SUPER HIGH-EFFICIENT
THIN-PROFILE PLASMA AND LCD HDTV DISPLAYS
 
Prototypes On Display At 2009 International CES
 
Las Vegas, NV (January 7, 2009) – Panasonic, the industry and technology leader in HDTVs,  has developed new thin-profile display panel technologies for both Plasma (PDPs) and LCD HDTVs, achieving further advancements in picture quality and environmental performance. These prototypes will be featured at the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week.
 
 
The newly developed NeoPDP technology has been incorporated into two types of PDPs.  The first is a super high-efficiency 42-inch PDP that achieves triple luminance efficiency, while reducing the power consumption to 1/3 of the 2007 models*1 yet achieving the same brightness. The second is an ultra-thin 50-inch PDP just 8.8 mm (approximately 1/3 inch) in profile*2. This ultra-thin panel delivers the world's highest moving picture resolution*3 of 1080 lines.
 
 
Panasonic's newly-developed NeoLCD technology is integrated into a super energy-efficient 90kWh per year 37-inch LCD panel, that achieves moving picture resolution*3 of 1000 lines, close to that of a PDP.  It has the lowest energy consumption of any LCD HDTV in the world*4, cutting the energy requirement almost in half compared to the previous model.
 
 
With the growth of digital broadcasting services worldwide, the flat-panel TV market has been rapidly increasing and is expected to exceed half of the global TV demand in the fiscal year 2008 ending March 2009. The TV market is expected to continue its growth with the increase of digital broadcasting, the increased popularity of flat panel TVs, continuing need for replacement TVs and increased demand for business, educational and medical applications.  As people’s awareness of the need to improve the environment increases, it is vitally important that TVs be designed with their impact on the environment in mind.
 
 
Panasonic’s newly developed technologies have achieved the world’s highest level picture quality as well as exceptional environmental performance through energy conservation and thin panel design in both PDPs and LCDs.  Panasonic names these technological developments “NeoPDPeco“ and “NeoLCDeco”.  By taking advantage of the vertically integrated business model for PDPs and LCDs, Panasonic continues to accelerate its technology development, according to characteristics of each device, in order to facilitate the continuing evolution of flat-panel VIERA TVs and to respond to the ever-diversifying needs of its global customers.