Panasonic Pushing Forward With Built-in 2D/3D Conversion

Panasonic is spreading 2D/3D conversion across its TVs and Blu-ray players, the company said at a New York line showing Tuesday, capping a year in which it gradually softened its opposition to building conversion chips into its products.

Panasonic has deployed 2D/3D conversion chips in most of its 14 3D-capable LCD and plasma TVs and two of its three Blu-ray 3D players, it said. Its increased use of 2D/3D conversion is a response to competitors that never shied away from using it and fear that conversion chips are necessary to spawn 3D hardware product sales in a market plagued by a dearth of 3D content, Panasonic executives told us.

A year ago, Panasonic was among the few suppliers to pooh-pooh conversion chips amid warnings to TV makers from ESPN executives not to use them (CED March 11 p2). Panasonic subsequently backed off those assertions, saying it wouldn’t rule out conversion chips in future 3D TVs (CED May 20 p1). The 2D/3D conversion in Panasonic’s 3D Blu-ray players and TVs is being handled by Panasonic’s 500 MHZ UniPhier processor.

"We are obviously working with studios, broadcasters and others to grow 3D content so clearly we want ESPN to be broadcasting in 3D and people to watch live 3D broadcasts,” said Alex Fried, Panasonic national marketing manager for Blu-ray players. “At the same time, we recognize there is a tremendous installed base of content out there that is in 2D and may never be in 3D. We're kind of doing this tango between the retailers, manufacturers and studios. Obviously we want more content, the studios want more players and retailers are waiting for both of us to make it more of a market. It’s happening and we're all pushing in the same direction."

The conversion technology is in Panasonic’s first 32- and 37-inch LCD 3D TVs and represents the company’s first big LCD push since Panasonic took control of an 8.5-generation LCD panel plant from joint venture partner Hitachi. Panasonic has said it’s spending $2.6 billion through 2013 to expand LCD production of 32- and 42-inch panels (CED Aug 24 p6). Monthly capacity is about 810,000 panels, industry analysts said. The factory in Himeji, Japan, also can produce 47- and 55-inch LCDs, which may be considered for TVs in 2012, said Jason Gastman, a senior product manager in Panasonic’s Display Group.

The TC-L37DT30 37-inch ($1,299) and TC-0L32DT30 32-inch ($1,199) LCD TVs will ship in April featuring an LED edge-lit design, 1080p resolution, 240 Hz panels and an in-plane switching (IPS) panel using technology licensed from Hitachi. The sets will sport Panasonic’s new Viera Connect Internet service that launches in April with such third-party applications as Netflix, Amazon VOD, Best Buy’s CinemaNow, Gameloft games and out-of-market packages for Major League Baseball, the NBA and the NHL.

Whether Panasonic moves its LCD TVs to larger sizes in 2012 will depend largely on sales volume this year, Gastman said. In addition to LED-backlit models, Panasonic will carry CCFL models with 60 Hz panels, will introduce its first 19-inch LCD TV, and will shift to a 24-inch LCD model from a 22-inch last year. Panasonic is building most of its own LCDs, but is sourcing some 42-inch panels from LG and the 24-inch from AU Optronics, Gastman said. Panasonic is assembling 37- and 42-inch LCD TVs in Tijuana, Mexico, but will import 32-inch and smaller models from its factory in Malaysia, Gastman said. “If we can show them that we can sell a certain amount of units in an annual time frame, we can try to negotiate with them to go to larger sizes,” Gastman said of his company’s Panasonic parent. “It comes down to sales volume and there also is a political aspect where we don’t want to cannibalize our PDP sales as well."

In plasma, Panasonic will have 12 3D-capable models, up from seven a year ago, anchored by the top-end VT30 series 65- ($4,299) and 55-inch ($2,799) models with fast-switching phosphors, Viera Connect, built-in Wi-Fi and Skype. At the low-end in non-3D plasma, Panasonic will field four 720p models, up from one a year ago, in 60- ($1,899), 50- ($1,099), 46- ($949) and 42-inch ($799) sizes. The high-end sets also increase brightness 15 percent from their predecessors and have anti-reflective louver filters.

Panasonic is expanding its offering of Blu-ray 3D players to three from two a year ago. They add built-in Wi-Fi, 2D/3D conversion and a touch-free sensor for activating the players. The top two, the BDT310 ($249) and BDT210 ($199), have Viera Cast with Skype. The BDT310 also includes dual HDMI 1.4 outputs. The entry-level BDT-110 ($149) requires a Wi-Fi adapter ($79), while the DSP-BD75 ($99) is a standard Blu-ray player without 3D. Panasonic also cut its line of standard portable Blu-ray players to a single model, DMP-B200, but increased the screen size to 9 inches from the 8.5 inches in the model it replaces. Panasonic is dropping the DMP-B500 portable it fielded a year ago, Fried said.

After the average selling price for Blu-ray players fell into the $100-$200 range in 2010, there will be a “leveling off” in price erosion this year, Fried said. U.S. Blu-ray player sales are expected to rise to 11-12 million units this year from 8.5 million in 2010 as DVD players decline to 5.7 million from 7.7 million units, Fried said. “We're reaching the bottom” of Blu-ray player pricing and “none of us want to go to zero,” he said.