Tube TVs did best weathering an overall decline in television sales during the first quarter, largely due to a softening economy and a lower price point than their plasma display panel and liquid crystal display TV competitors.
Total North America TV shipments declined 34 percent in the first quarter over the previous quarter, according to recently released results from
But in comparison, shipments of the old CRT (cathode ray tube) TVs slipped only 14 percent in the quarter, the study found.
"We were initially surprised by what we saw. But when we thought about it a little more, it made sense," said Paul Gagnon, director of DisplaySearch's North America TV research. "Consumer spending is down, but people still need to shop for a digital TV, because of the regulatory changes that are coming. And when they shop for an LCD TV, even a small one, they find they're quite a bit more than a CRT and they can't afford a LCD."
Come February, the nation will be transitioning to digital broadcasting. As a result, consumers who own an analog-only TV will need to use a converter box after February 17, or own a television with a digital tuner.
But in searching for a replacement TV, consumers will find the price divide between a CRT and LCD is wide. For example, a 20-inch CRT carries an average selling price of $155, whereas a 19-inch LCD can cost an average of $376, according to DisplaySearch.
"In tight times, when money is scare but you have to buy a new TV, CRT sales will do well," Gagnon said.
During the first quarter, CRT regained its No. 2 position in the North America TV market, representing a 12 percent slice of the overall pie. LCD TVs, as usual, carried the largest slice with 77 percent market share, while plasma's brief flirtation with the No. 2 spot in the fourth quarter fell by the wayside in the first quarter with 9 percent of the market, according to DisplaySearch.
Given economic predictions are calling for continued sluggishness through the third quarter, CRT sales will likely perform better than expected during this time, he added.
That should bode well for major retailers that bill themselves as discounters, such as Wal-Mart and Target, which are a few of the places that carry the older technology CRT sets. Other major retailers carry mainly plasma and LCD TVs.
YouTube and Picasa services are available right from the TV in Panasonic's flagship TH-PZ850U.
(Credit: Masa Fukata, Panasonic)
We detailed Panasonic's full plasma lineup earlier this year, but having just returned from a press event devoted to the flagship TH-PZ850U series, it feels incumbent to reiterate some of the cool new features of these expensive sets.
The coolest? A demo at the event proved that the 850Us can stream YouTube videos, right on the TV screen with no PC required. The TV's "Viera Cast" interface allows you to search YouTube by keyword, sort videos by popularity, or access your own list of favorite videos, for example. During the demo we were treated to a video of a laughing baby, the (no-surprise) current champ of the popularity list. According to Panasonic, the entire catalog of YouTube videos is available on the TV, although it may take a day or two for a new one on the site to appear on Viera Cast. The TV can also access Picasa, Google's photo sharing site, so you can view digital photos stored at your (or someone else's) Picasa account directly on the big screen.
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Panasonic has been tapped to pinch-hit for Pioneer.
The two television makers said Wednesday they had come to an agreement in which Panasonic will produce the panels for Pioneer's plasma televisions.
(Credit:
Pioneer)
The news comes a month after reports surfaced that Pioneer was pulling out of the plasma business. When Pioneer confirmed it would be finding someone who could make the panels more inexpensively than it could, there was a sense of dismay and disappointment among fans of its Kuro technology. Pioneer plasma TVs are generally regarded by experts--including CNET Reviews' David Katzmaier--as having the blackest black levels of any TV on the market.
In a joint statement, the two companies said they will build a new type of panel that integrates Pioneer's Kuro technology and Panasonic's NeoPDP, which it currently uses in its Viera TVs. Panasonic will have the panels sporting the new, combined technology ready for Pioneer by the second half of 2009.
Panasonic is the largest producer of plasma TVs, so the panels should be more affordable for Pioneer, which is trying to cut costs. Neither has said how much the panels will cost.
Even though news sites are touting the eventual release of new HDTV technologies and calling them the saviors we've been waiting for, the simple fact is they're not anywhere close. And to make matters worse, many of these are nothing more than proofs of concept that have no marketability. In other words, don't start trashing your plasmas and LCDs just yet because they'll be around for quite a while.
On Monday, I had the opportunity to interview Bob Perry, Panasonic's senior vice president for its display division, for the next episode of my CNET Digital Home podcast. During the interview, I asked him what the future of the HDTV market looks like and what we should expect.
Much to my chagrin and certainly some of those who will listen to the interview, he said that the chances of a new HDTV technology hitting store shelves anytime soon are slim. According to Perry, we're still at least a decade away from the next real HDTV technology that could actually supplant LCDs and to a lesser extent, plasmas.
Suffice it to say, it's a sad day for those of us who want to see the next big thing.
... Read moreDon Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Pioneer plans to let someone else make its plasma TV panels, according to several reports.
Reuters reported Tuesday that the company will cease production of its own plasma panels because that portion of its business continues to lose money. The company will still sell plasma sets, but plans to get its plasma panels from Matsushita, parent company of Panasonic, the Nikkei business daily reported. Panasonic is the biggest plasma TV vendor in the world, shipping nearly 40 percent of all plasma displays, while Pioneer ranks fifth, shipping just over 6 percent of plasmas worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to DisplaySearch.
(Credit:
Pioneer)
So far, Pioneer isn't confirming or denying the reports ("Our headquarters are planning to publicly discuss our TV strategy at the end of this week, so we'll have no information until then," said a spokesperson), but it doesn't look good.
As CNET colleague and resident TV expert David Katzmaier put it, this news amounts to "a black day for black levels."
Pioneer has been repositioning its plasma business over the last few years as a premium brand, most recently pushing its "Kuro" technology, which emphasizes deep black levels and contrast, at CES 2007 and 2008. CNET Reviews ranked the 50-inch plasma from Pioneer as "the best it's ever tested" last year.
Though it appears Pioneer will continue to sell plasmas sets, if it's not making the panels, it seems unlikely that it will prolong the life of its Kuro technology. Pioneer is, however, already planning to buy liquid crystal display panels from Sharp in order to start selling LCD TVs. LCD sets have quickly become the fastest-growing TV technology, displacing traditional cathode-ray tube sets, as well as rear-projection and plasma.
(Credit:
Oklahoma State University)
Researchers at Oklahoma State University are working with DARPA to deliver a sophisticated, unmanned aircraft small enough to fit into a soldier's pocket, reports the Daily O'Collegian.
A state-of-the-art propulsion system, one that uses plasma thrusters with no moving parts, could provide power for micro and nano unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV.)This class of airplane can measure anywhere from a foot to less than 6 inches long.
"What we want the infantrymen to be able to do is pull a pack of six or so out of their pocket and have them ready for use," Jamey Jacob, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering told the Daily.
The new line of aircraft would take over some of the duties performed by today's UAV fleet, mainly surveillance of hostile areas, and would be a significant improvement over the UAV equipment available to soldiers today, according to Jacob. OSU students are working on another DARPA project, an aircraft that can stay aloft for five years at a stretch.
(Credit:
Oklahoma State University)
The recording DVD player. These have been popular in Europe and Asia but have fallen flat in the U.S. Most companies don't even bother to put much effort into marketing them in this country.
The same phenomenon will likely hold true for recording Blu-ray and HD DVD players.
Makato Ebata, CEO of the consumer business group at Hitachi, gave us an explanation in a recent interview. Cable TV penetration is far higher in the States than Asia or Europe. With cable, the same show can appear on a channel several times. In Europe and Japan, you need to grab it when you can.
"The non-recording DVD player is quite popular in this country (the U.S.), but they are not popular in Japan at all," he said. "Here, you use them for the rentals. In Japan, they use it for recording."
TiVo also took off more rapidly in the States and elsewhere. TiVo, he added, is also one of the reasons selling TVs with embedded hard drives in the States remains a challenge. Selling these on the other two continents is far easier. Consumers interested in digital video recorders (a) already own one or (b) have more options on how to put one in their living room.
Of course, the recording debate doesn't apply to video cameras. Americans are shifting from tape to disc and hard drive camcorders.
Other notes from Ebata:
IPTV will become a more dominant theme for TV manufacturers. All of the major manufacturers will add content providers and services to their sets. So far, the manufacturers are avoiding the mistake of putting the whole Web on your TV, and instead popping up windows for must-have information like local sports and weather, or entertainment modules with wide appeal.
The question, though, will be how TV manufacturers can earn money from providing content.
OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TV is great and the technology will likely come to market, but it will take years to figure out ways to mass-manufacture large sets. (Panasonic, Sharp, and Samsung hold a similar opinion, but Sony says you will see it quicker. More here on the debate.) Another challenge lies in the fact that LCD and plasma continue to come down in price.
Plasma will survive. It doesn't have as many manufacturing backers as LCD and the public perception isn't great, but it remains competitive for large TVs. Hitachi makes plasmas.
LAS VEGAS--Pioneer's latest plasma prototype: you could even say it glows.
The high-end audio and video company is showing off two new Kuro concept TVs at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that push the barriers of thin and light, the company says. The Extreme Contrast TV gets to absolute black, says Pioneer. No light leaks out from the back of the TV.
That's because there is no backlight. Chemicals embedded in the panel emit the light to illuminate the images. Thus, when there is no signal, no light gets generated and absolute black, created by a complete absence of light, occurs. ("Kuro" in Japanese, by the way means "deep, penetrating black." I love the idea that there's a name for the concept.)
Sony's OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TVs work in the same way but the two technologies are different. Pioneer's is based around plasma technology. Sony's OLED TV is already out, but it's expensive. Pioneer's may come out in a few years and will no doubt cost a lot. While Extreme Contrast will improve plasma performance, it's a wait-and-see to as to whether it can help boost the format.
Pioneer's thin Kuro TV measures less than an inch thick.
(Credit: Michael Kanellos )The demonstration was pretty impressive. When the lights go out in the room, any tone difference between the TV panel and the bezel disappear. As a result, images on the TV almost seem 3D. The two giant goldfish in one segment of the demo? It looked like they were floating on air. I thought they were going to rip my throat out.
The company also showed off a Kuro concept with a 9 millimeter-thick panel. The whole TV measures less than an inch thick. It also weighs 41 pounds, although it has a 50-inch diagonal screen.
Pioneer launched the Kuro program last year at CES. The concepts shown off last year actually made it to market later in 2007.
View complete CES 2008 coverage from CNET.
LAS VEGAS--How do you bring a 150-inch plasma TV from Japan to the U.S.? One plane at a time.
The 150-inch plasma TVs that Panasonic is showing off this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas can only be carried in the storage container in the nose of a 747, said Toshihiro Sakamoto, president of Panasonic AVC Networks company.
Watch the Panasonic TH46PXZ850 video on CNET TV.
And only one TV fits at a time. The TV has to go in the middle of the storage unit. There isn't enough clearance on the edges. Panasonic has three of the sets at the show, so three planes were used.
Panasonic expects to sell these commercially in the future. Most of the time, these big TVs get bought by hotels or stadiums. Some people, however, buy big TVs for their home. Mark Cuban owns a 100-inch plus Panasonic plasma.
Thin is in for Hitachi.
The Japanese conglomerate will unveil a 50-inch plasma TV that measures only 1.5 inches thick at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week.
The prototype TV is less than one-third of the usual thickness of a conventional plasma of this size, which ordinarily clocks in at around 5 inches or more, according to Bill Whalen, director of product development at Hitachi.
It will come to market in 2009, he added, and weigh around half as much as a standard plasma. Typically, a plasma of this girth might weigh 90 pounds, he added.
"It could be a new category in plasma," he said.
TV manufacturers still use the conference to compete over who can come out with the biggest TV. Last year, Sharp bested competitors with a 108-inch LCD TV. This year, Panasonic is expected to unfurl a 150-inch plasma TV.
But thinness and industrial designs are heated battlegrounds too. JVC has a 42-inch LCD coming out this year that measures 22 millimeters thick, while Sharp has a 52-incher that measures only 20 millimeters thick. (Release date is as yet unknown.)
Hitachi, though, seems to be putting the most emphasis on the subject. It has 35-millimeter thick LCD TVs coming out this year and 19-millimeter thick LCDs coming in 2009. (Hitachi, however, adds that these thin TVs technically aren't TVs. They are displays. The TV tuner card is in a separate box. Together, the two make a TV.)
A thin plasma will also help Hitachi. The company has been one of the primary backers of plasma. LCD, however, has outsold it.
