Panasonic develops world's biggest plasma TV

The Japanese maker of the Panasonic brand today announced it has developed a prototype of a 103-inch (2.6 meter) plasma display panel with 1080p (progressive) HDTV resolution. The prototype can deliver more than two million pixels (1,920 x 1,080) of performance. Panasonic will show this super-large-size prototype at its booth at the 2006 International CES to be held in Las Vegas from January 5 to 8.

Until now 102-inch plasma televisions developed by two South Korean companies were the biggest in the world.

In flat panel displays, plasma has technical advantages over other technologies, including LCD, when it comes to making larger size panels. Nevertheless, there are numerous technical challenges in making plasma panels that are larger than 100 inches measured diagonally while maintaining stable discharge and high picture quality across the entire surface of the panel.

Panasonic has overcome these technical hurdles by developing a new rib* and phosphor for these super large panels. The 103-inch 1080p plasma panel, equivalent to four 50-inch panels in size, features consistent and uniform discharge, delivering the same accurate images from the center to every corner of the screen and brightness as the current 50-inch HD model (TH-50PX500). The panel incorporates Panasonic’s 1080p HD high-speed pixel drive. The same high-speed pixel drive is used in the TH-65PX500 65-inch 1080p Plasma TV, which has been well received in Japan since its introduction last November, and the 50-inch 1080p Plasma unveiled at CEATEC JAPAN 2005 in October 2005.

Mr. Hiroyuki Nagano, Director, PDP Device Business Unit of Panasonic AVC Networks Company, said, “Demand for large-screen and high picture quality TVs is expected to further increase as digital HD broadcasting service continues to expand throughout the world. Also penetration of HD contents as well as Blu-ray Disc recorders and players will drive demand. Since Plasma is a self-illuminating device, it offers superior characteristics on several measures including dynamic contrast, true-to-life color reproduction, quick response time for sports and programs with fast-moving images and a wider viewing angle, an important factor for large screen display. These features make the Plasma panel an ideal device for a large screen TV, and, as a result, global demand for Plasma TV is growing rapidly.”

“Until now, the market for 100-plus-inch screens was dominated by front projection TVs. Panasonic now realizes another option in this sector. Our 103-inch 1080p PDP promises high quality images with high brightness, dynamic contrast, high resolution and excellent color reproduction that projection displays cannot match. We believe it will create strong demand as a multipurpose display for business, educational and medical applications as well as home theater use,” said Mr. Nagano.

*Note: A “rib” divides each gas cell and prevents interference between adjacent cells to produce clear images.