| Editorial February 2004
The Flat-Panel Revolution
Each year, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las
Vegas, Nevada, seems to have an overriding theme. At CES 2004, it was clear that the race
is on to give consumers more viewing area in as thin a TV display as possible -- LCD,
plasma, LCoS (liquid crystal on silicone), or some other technology. The goals that
engineers will labor over in the coming years are bigger, cheaper, cooler, with more video
resolution. Flat-panel digital televisions will take over the world.
The folks from the traditional consumer-electronics firms
-- Samsung, Pioneer, Sony, and others -- are making their expected plays for your
flat-panel dollar, but perhaps much more significant is that the computer companies have
come in as ringers. They want to expand their market share into traditional electronics
territory. When Gateway debuted their 42" plasma monitor at $2999 (now $2499), a new
price point was achieved. Granted, that display is not HD-capable, but it sold enough
units for Gateway to drastically expand its lineup of monitors intended for home-theater
enthusiasts.
The fact that the Gateway plasma sold in large numbers
meant that its reason for being wasn’t just about the rush for high-definition,
though that’s certainly an important market factor. Two more factors are at work that
will allow flat panels to eventually triangulate the market: function and price.
Obviously, with flat-panel prices falling within reach of a new market segment, there are
new consumers to market to. And with the current prices of quality +40"
direct-view sets, it’s no longer an outrageous price jump to a plasma.
Perhaps the more important factor, however, is the
functional-aesthetic-décor trump card so obvious to those who arrange the nation’s
living rooms. Does anyone out there really want a huge, shiny, rear-projection TV
in his or her living room? Even the nicely finished, shiny black Pioneer Elites look like
horse coffins. Even so, until now, such a behemoth was the obvious choice (except for a
projector-based setup) if you wanted a big screen. But when you can hang a sizable plasma
TV on the wall while losing zero floor space, the argument ends.
Lest you think I’m still talking about 42"
screens, I have a close friend to whom a 42" screen would be an insult. His 64"
Pioneer Elite has spoiled him. When I told him that Samsung displayed an HD plasma
prototype at CES that stretched the tape at 80", he uttered one word:
"eBay" (search for "Pioneer Pro-720HD"). He, too, instantly recognized
that the era of the huge RPTV is coming to an end. If you still want one, wait about a
year and you’ll be able to pick one up for a song.
There’s such a mad scramble in the marketplace for
flat-panel TVs that even the manufacturers are falling over themselves. One company hung a
banner hundreds of feet wide across the front of a hotel right outside the Las Vegas
Convention Center (the CES venue), proclaiming "The World’s Biggest Plasma
TV" -- a 70-some-inch model. They must have been upset when they heard about
Samsung’s 80-incher.
The last laugh might be heard from the computer companies.
With Intel entering the DTV fray with their inexpensive LCoS chips -- designed to be
smaller and lighter than conventional RPTV technology so that the new products will be
competitive, size-wise, with LCD and plasma -- things are going to get really interesting.
Intel will almost single-handedly be able to drive the prices of DTVs way down. If that
happens, keep an eye peeled -- if you don’t, you’re likely to get bowled over by
the flat-panel revolution.
...Jeff Fritz
editor@hometheatersound.com |
