Rich Fiscus
6 Jan 2008 18:28
Despite recent consumer trends that have pushed HDTV manufacturers like Panasonic to all but abandon plasma technology in favor of LCD, Pioneer is determined to stay the course. Today the company announced plans to for a new prototype Plasma display they will be showing off at this week's CES show with improved black and contrast levels.
One criticism of every technology that's followed CRT (used for almost all analog TVs) is in the area of reproducing blacks. Although plasma displays were already capable of more accurate reproduction of blacks than LCDs, even the most expensive models haven't been able to match CRT technology in this regard. Russ Johnson of Pioneer says this new prototype doesn't emit any light at all in black areas, which would mark an improvement over even the most expensive plasma HDTVs being sold now.
"There's so much Noise getting around about all these technologies, we thought it was important to show what (plasma) displays can do today," said Johnston. He also noted that the technology isn't quite ready to be used in an actual product that will be available this year. "It's close, but not that close," he said in an interview.
Source: Associated Press