Samsung to unveil large LCD TVs

by Eric A. Taub

Samsung, the world's largest seller of televisions, will introduce at next week's Consumer Electronics Show a new line of rear-projection liquid crystal display televisions that will not be much thicker than flat-panel TVs but will cost about 30 percent less.

The new sets, aimed at those who want a bigger set but cannot afford a plasma TV, will come in 50- to 60-inch sizes. At 10 inches deep, they can be hung on a wall.

While consumers are embracing LCD flat-panel TVs in ever-larger sizes, Samsung has also recommitted itself to plasma TV and will double its current plasma production capacity later this year, said G.S. Choi, the company's president for digital media, in an interview from South Korea.

Plasma will continue to dominate in larger sizes, and the company will add an 80-inch model to its lineup this year, Choi said. To help consumers fit these larger sizes in their homes, Samsung said it was redesigning the TV frames to make them up to 30 percent thinner.

At the electronics show, held annually in Las Vegas, Samsung will also introduce a wireless plasma TV that will be able to receive HDTV programming sent from an HD DVD or Blu-ray player or set-top box. Because there will be no cables to hide, consumers may be more likely to hang such a plasma display on a wall.

The company, which was the first to introduce a Blu-ray high-definition DVD player last year, will announce its second-generation player next week. The new model is expected to cost about 20 percent less than the current version, but will have more interactive functions.

Although LG will introduce a dual format HD DVD/Blu-ray player, Samsung has no plans to do the same. "If the market is still divided, we could do a dual-format player, but we will wait and see," Choi said.

Entire contents, Copyright © 2007 The New York Times. All rights reserved.

Forget L.C.D.; Go for Plasma, Says Maker of Both

What kind of company takes out ads in daily newspapers attacking one of its own type of products? In the case of Panasonic, the answer is a company that has significant investments in a rival technology.

Panasonic, the consumer electronics company owned by Matsushita Electric Industrial, is the world’s biggest seller of plasma TVs. And it has long extolled the benefits of that technology compared with L.C.D., another flat-panel TV product. At the same time, the company sells a full line of L.C.D. sets.

But the company believes that plasma technology is under unfair attack from competitors making “desperate attempts” to denigrate what it sees as plasma’s superiority, according to Bob Greenberg, Panasonic’s vice president for brand marketing.

There is another issue as well, which is that the profit margins on L.C.D. TVs have fallen sharply because of competition.

To demonstrate plasma is better, the company has offered picture comparisons for journalists at electronics shows. And it has developed marketing materials that dispel some of the myths of plasma’s limitations, like how often to refill the plasma gas (never) and the problems with picture burn-in (none anymore).

This holiday, Panasonic went a step further, running an ad in newspapers around the country under the heading “Six facts you need to know before you buy a large flat-panel TV.” The ad points out plasma’s superior contrast, color rendition, crisp motion, viewing angle and durability when compared to L.C.D. TVs.

Not so fast, says Sony. The company, which exited the plasma TV market to concentrate on L.C.D. sets, is running its own series of sportslike newspaper and magazine ads that promote what it calls an HD challenge. Once consumers see reflections of fluorescent lighting in the plasma set, they will opt for L.C.D., the ad contends.

While most people do not have fluorescent lights in their living rooms, Sony believes its challenge shows how bright light bulbs and other reflections can spoil a picture.

“The showroom is the only place where a consumer can compare two TVs,” said Phil Abram, the company’s vice president of product marketing.

To help Panasonic maintain sales of both technologies, it sells plasma sets from 37 to 65 inches on the diagonal, while its L.C.D. TVs can only be purchased in sizes from 23 to 32 inches. Sony, Sharp and other manufacturers sell L.C.D. sets from 19 to 65 inches on the diagonal.

Panasonic also looks to segregate the market. The company argues that L.C.D. TVs, which look brighter in daylight, are the right choice for kitchens and other rooms that need smaller sizes. But in larger sizes and for fast-moving sports scenes, plasma is the right choice, said Mr. Greenberg. Since the ad campaign began, “field research shows that the dialogue is changing. Once you point out that the blacks in plasma are blacker than in L.C.D., it is like pointing out the rabbit in the painting.”

Both technologies are gaining market share at the expense of traditional tube sets, with L.C.D. sales this year overtaking picture tube sets for the first time.

According to data compiled by the NPD Group, L.C.D. TVs held 49 percent of the market in 2006, compared with 26 percent last year. Plasma’s market share increased to 10 percent from 5 percent. At the same time, sales of picture tube TVs dropped by more than half, to 21 percent this year from 46 percent in 2005.

Does Panasonic’s strong support of plasma technology mean that it will never sell a very large L.C.D. TV? Well, not exactly.

“Panasonic in Japan is studying L.C.D. in its larger formats,” Mr. Greenberg said. “If we introduce larger-sized L.C.D. TVs, we will have overcome the problems in that technology.”

(c) www.nytimes.com

LG to launch a new 'TVPC' supporting powerful PC performance

by Rose Kim

SEOUL, Korea (AVING) -- <Visual News> LG Electronics presented 'TVPC series' a sort of intelligence TV that embraces powerful PC inside while maintaining almost the same size of regular LCD TV.

It enables users to watch TV while they do various PC work like surfing the internet or editing documents. It can jump from TV-mode to PC-mode or vice versa easily with a touch of a button on remote control and provide instant access to web content related to the program that is currently on the screen, and allow users to move to the sites directly.

For PC-side, it features the same platform of LG's Xnote - intell celeronM 430 CPU, 160GB HDD, i945PM chipset, Intel GMA950 graphic chip, and 1GB DDR2 553 memory. WiFi access and wireless keyboard with mouse-function are provided as well.

Suggesting price is 1,850,000(KRW).

Meanwhile, LG anticipates rolling out another new 'TVPC' lineup that will support 'Time-machine' function and increased PC performance by the end of this month.

(C) www.aving.net

Foreigners 'power space industry'

Foreigners 'power space industry' Britain's space programme is becoming increasingly reliant on scientists from India and China, MPs have been told.

The Commons science and technology committee heard there was a shortage of high-end science graduates from the UK.

MPs are examining the future of the UK's space industry, which is worth an estimated Ј120m in exports.

Avanti chief David Williams said 80% of its graduates are from India and China, adding: "They are the best qualified and hardworking and they turn up."

"There's a lot of work needs to be done to encourage young people to come in this industry," Mr Williams, who is chief executive, added.

Satellite technology

Avanti owns the Hylas spacecraft, which will deliver broadband internet services to rural Europe.

The satellite, which should launch in the November 2008, will cost Ј75m (110m euros) and will be built by EADS-Astrium. It should deliver hundreds of high-definition TV channels.

The MPs' inquiry comes a week after science minister Malcolm Wicks met Nasa chief Dr Michael Griffin to discuss the possibility of Britain's involvement in further Moon exploration.

Nasa has said it plans to start work on a permanently-occupied base on the Moon after astronauts begin flying back there in 2020.

[original post: www.hitech-news.info]