Samsung, Panasonic Increase Plasma TV Screen Sizes

An inch will go a long way in telling the story of plasma TV market share this year.

Panasonic and Samsung narrowed bezels and cut depth, producing a 1-inch increase in screen size from 2010 and producing a new crop of 43-, 51-, 59-, 60- and 64-inch plasma sets, industry officials said.

Samsung reduced bezel width to slightly less than 1.5 inches from 2 inches and depth to 2.5 inches from 3 in entry-level models, company officials said. Panasonic accomplished a similar reduction. The sets’ overall dimensions haven’t changed much, but the narrower bezels allow for a larger display area, Panasonic and Samsung officials said.

Despite the increase in screen size, there will be little change in prices from those for 2010 models, said Jim Sanduski, senior vice president of sales at Panasonic. Panasonic bumped up screen sizes in five or six 43-, 51- and 59-inch models, he said. LG Electronics won’t change its plasma screen sizes “in the near future,” a company spokeswoman said.

"We're reducing the bezel to expose more glass area, which allows us to print the phosphors in a larger area of the screen, and the by-product of that design is we are able to offer 1 inch more viewing area,” said Steve Panosian, director of marketing for plasma at Samsung. “All things being equal, when you put the products side by side, with the 1 inch, you see the difference. It’s all about trying to offer for the same value an increase in the viewable screen and a larger picture experience."

The increased screen size comes as CE manufacturers try to end a fall in prices, through instant rebates, that has gripped the flat-panel TV market in recent years.

"We're not increasing price, but rather just maintaining price at no extra cost,” Sanduski said. “It’s the never-ending battle of more for the same, or more for less. There is no change in retail positioning and we're just trying to maintain where we are by adding more size year over year."

The larger sizes and 3D will show up in most of Samsung’s 19 plasma TVs ($599-$3,599) this year, starting with 43- and 51-inch 720p models at $799 and $999, Panosian said. The company dropped a 50-inch 720p 3D TV into its line last year at $999 as it sought to drive sales of the technology. Samsung also is adding Bluetooth to the active-shutter glasses that will be sold and packaged with its LCD and plasma TVs, company officials said.

"As much as we would like to focus on the higher end, we don’t see any reason why the value consumer can’t take advantage of 3D, and we're putting them in the position to do that,” Panosian said. “What little ghosting could be perceived in the 2010 3D models, we've made adjustments in the way the panel operates to reduce that. Wait for the reviews. They shouldn’t see any ghosting in the 2011 models all the way down” to the entry-level HD models.

Panasonic has no plans to introduce 720p 3D plasma sets this year, since “we are trying to stand for picture quality,” Sanduski said. He added, “We're all about picture quality and that’s where a 720p 3D, we think, would be a compromising experience for the consumers. We're not planning to go down that path."

Samsung doesn’t “believe the average consumer is going to see a resolution difference when they are viewing 3D,” Samsung’s Panosian said. Panasonic would be served to “focus on manufacturers that are introducing 3D products that aren’t using active-shutter glasses” rather than Samsung’s 720p plans, he said.