Pioneer has confirmed rumors that have flared this week and will be dropping out of the TV business altogether.
The move follows the $1.44 billion USD loss the company has taken in the past year on its LCD and Plasma operations. Two factories will be shut down immediately and the company will completely phase out TVs by the Q1 2010.
Additionally, the company said it will cut costs by cutting 10,000 jobs, mainly in Japan.
In the TV business, Pioneer is best known for its high quality Kuro plasma TVs which enjoy high contrast ratios and color replication. Back in March however, the company said it would halt Plasma production to focus on LCD production.
Result for: contrast ratios
Samsung has introduced its Touch of Color LCD line for desktops which claims to have the same excellent visual effects as its 6 series HDTVs.
Each LCD will have the same “blown glass effect with red accents at top and bottom” but what should be most notable is the very high contrast ratios. Samsung claims dynamic lighting lets “every display output up to a 20,000:1 contrast ratio,” a much higher ratio than most LCD monitors or even HDTVs.
Another very interesting feature is that the displays will offer a “virtual screen effect that lets users split multiple video sources across one display.”
The line will include 19-inch (T190), 22-inch (T220), 24-inch (T240), and 26-inch (T260) screen sizes. The smaller sizes offer a blazingly fast 2ms average pixel response time and the larger models output at 5ms. The larger models however also have an HDMI input and will allow for full 1080p video from Blu-ray sources and other full HD video.
The T190 and T220 will retail for $259 USD and $359 USD respectively, while the larger models will retail for $499 USD and $599 USD.
Result for: contrast ratios
Panasonic has announced that it is in the final stages of drafting plans for a new, cheap 37-inch, OLED-based HDTV that should have a price comparable to today’s plasma and LCD displays.
The company says the actual designs and development have still not begun, but the TV should be commercially available in 2011 and will cost about $1300 USD.
Panasonic also noted that it hopes to enter the OLED TV business soon but that decision would mean releasing a smaller TV at a higher price.
Currently OLED TVs are still in the growing stages, and the only commercially available TV is the 11-inch Sony XEL-1. OLED TVs could be more mainstream in the upcoming years however as prices drop and the technology matures, especially given its advantages over LCD and plasma technologies. OLED displays will have much stronger contrast ratios, usually 1,000,000:1 or higher and produce true blacks as well as a lag-free image.
