Matsushita Electric Industrial, the parent company of Panasonic, has announced that they will launch a new 37 inch LCD TV in September - modifying their original policy of only selling LCD TVs for the 32 inch and smaller TV market. Matsushita was attempting to segment the market by reserving plasma television sets for those who wanted larger form factors and keeping the LCD market down at the low end. Unfortunately this policy resulted in Matsushita missing out on the growing demand for large screen LCD TV’s with companies such as Sony and Samsung eagerly fulfilling the consumer demand. Matsushita’s attempt at market segmentation was doomed to fail as LCD panels dropped in price and consumers increasingly saw less of a difference between plasma TVs and LCD TVs. It all boils down to money for Matsushita of course. Plasmas have higher gross profit margins than LCD panels so why not try and sell plasma displays right? Unfortunately it appears this decision has backfired on them and Matsushita now finds itself needing to catch up in the LCD market.

The new 37 inch LCD TV will be unveiled in Japan on September 1st for a price of $2508 (300,000 yen). No word on actual specs at this time but for that price, it better be a 1080p display.

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Technorati Tags: Matsushita, LCD TV

Pioneer Japan announced on Thursday that it would be launching its first full high definition plasma television sets this coming October. The company is playing catch-up with other rivals including Matsushita Electric Industrial which has already released their own full HD plasma display lineup.

Pioneer will be releasing a new 50 inch and 60 inch 1080p displays capable of reproducing deeper blacks than ever before. The new 50 inch 1080p plasma display is expected to sell for 720,000 yen or $6,060 dollars while the 60 inch 1080p plasma is expected to go for 990,000 yen or $8,340 dollars.

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CrunchGear also reported on a new LG plasma display which debuted last week called the 50PY3D. This 50 inch beauty features 1080p support, Simple Link connectivity, three HDMI inputs, a USB media hub, integrated ATSC/QAM/NTSC tuners, and the latest VSB circuitry. The display comes with side speakers with micro-perforated speaker grills. The LG 50PY3D will come out in September for $3499.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: LG, 50PY3D, HDTV, 1080p, Plasma

Thinking about buying a new HDTV set? You might want to briefly check out this list of top rated HDTVs over at SFGate.com (the list is actually provided by CNET.com). This isn’t necessarily the definitive list of displays of course but it does serve as a nice guide to displays that are undoubtedly top notch. When purchasing an HDTV, always do your research. When I purchased my Samsung LN-S4695D 46 inch 1080p LCD display, I spent months looking into user reviews, product reviews, and specifications. I looked at prices.. I looked at what people were saying about the display months into owning the display.. and I looked at connectivity options. Remember - always cross check reviews with other reviews. Don’t just solely rely on a single persons’ statements.

Here’s the list of displays that CNET thought were “top-rated”:

• Pioneer PRO-FHD1 (8.7 out of 10)
• Mitsubishi WD-65831 (8.6 out of 10)
• Pioneer PDP-5070HD (8.4 out of 10)
• Samsung LN-T4665F (8.3 out of 10)

[Check it out via EngadgetHD]

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Hitachi updated their entire flat panel lineup this past week with the introduction of 10 new HDTV sets that span both plasma displays as well as LCD displays. The new displays all share the following characteristics:

• They’re all 1080 displays
• They’re all flat panels
• They’re all large screen displays (42 inches to 60 inches)

The ten new models are as follows (there’s not much info as of yet)

• 60-inch Director’s Series plasma (model P60X901)
  • Supports Reel60 technology
  • Full HD 1080 capability
  • Available in August for $7999.95
• 50-inch Director’s Series plasma (model P50X901)
  • Supports Reel60 technology
  • Full HD 1080 capability
  • Available in August for $4299.95
• 55-inch H-Series (model P55H401)
  • 1280 x 1080 resolution
  • Available in September for $2999.95
• 55-inch T-Series (model P55T501)
  • 1280 x 1080 resolution
  • Available in September for $3299.95
• 50″ S-Series (model P50S601)
  • Available in July for $3499.95
• 50-inch V-Series (model P50V701)
  • Supports Reel60 technology
  • Full HD 1080 capability
  • Available in August for $3999.95
• 47-inch S-Series (model L47S601)
  • MSRP of $2999.95
• 47-inch V-Series (model L47V651)
  • MSRP of $3199.95
• 42-inch S-Series (model L42S601):
  • MSRP of $2299.95
• 42-inch V-Series (model L42V651)
  • MSRP of $2499.95

Sorry - no pictures and detailed specs as of yet.. but stay tuned for more info!

Technorati Tags: 1080, HDTV, LCD television, Plasma Television