VIZIO Abandons Plasma, Focuses On LCD TVs

According to a New York Times article and confirmed by a company PR representative, VIZIO is pulling out of the plasma business. Going forward, the company will concentrate on further developing its LCD technologies.

The Times article says that according to Laynie Newsome, co-founder of VIZIO, the fact that plasma sets don’t show well in big box stores gave impetus to the company’s decision. Newsome is referring to the way that chain stores’ extremely bright halogen or fluorescent lights cause plasmas to look less exciting than LCDs, given that LCDs typically can be set for much higher light output (with some sets even offering ultra high-output “Retail” modes of operation). VIZIO plans to devote its shelf space to the best selling technology, though it will continue to sell its remaining inventory of plasmas.

Though VIZIO’s decision to focus on LCD TVs is understandable, videophiles may regard it as an unfortunate turn of events considering that VIZIO’s VP505XVT plasma TV “sets the standard for affordable plasma excellence” as David Birch-Jones said in his Playback review.

According to Birch-Jones, the 50-inch VIZIO plasma set also handily outperforms the firm’s 47-inch SV470XVT LCD model, also recently reviewed, in terms of picture quality and usable viewing angle.

For more information, visit www.vizio.com.