Category: The Front Line

Panasonic Shows Best Plasma TV Set the World has ever Seen

Published on Thursday, 18 April 2013 18:28

Ken Werner

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Some Asian news organizations published stories earlier this year that Panasonic was leaving the plasma TV business, leaving the plasma panel business, getting out of the TV business entirely, or just getting out of the panel business and buying panels from outside to put into its TV sets.

None of these stories were or are true.

It was one of the first questions I asked at the Panasonic line show held in New York last week. Far from avoiding the question, Satoshi Kitamura, Bill Schiller, and others gathered around to give me the clearest possible, “No, Panasonic is not exiting the plasma business.”

Schiller started by reminding me of an earlier statement from Panasonic President Kazuhiro Tsuga, who said (approximately): 1) there is no plan to exit plasma; 2) there are no plans to close an additional plasma panel fab; and 3) the sources for the stories were never substantiated.

Everybody in the industry knows that the market share of plasma TV is in the single digits and has trended downward over the last several years, and nobody predicts that plasma will last forever. Still, sales have not declined this year, and Panasonic’s plasma TV team would surely agree with Mark Twain’s, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

One indicator of commitment to a technology is how much the company is willing to invest in further development. In this, Panasonic is persuasive.

A company rep demonstrates a pen wand with the 50-inch model in Panasonic’s ST60 plasma TV series. The photocell pen technology works only with the company’s plasma – not LCD – sets. (Photo: Ken Werner)

The companies plasma TVs have a new red phosphor this year, and the premium models have more color gradations and faster image update. A touch pen is available for the premium plasma sets. The pen consists basically of a photocell, said Schiller. Because of the sequential pixel scanning of plasma panels, a signal from the pen indicates exactly when the scan has reached the pixel it is pointed at. With that information, the set can determine where the pen is pointed, and any of the usual pen and touch functions can be implemented, including writing on the screen. Schiller observed that the panel requires no modifications whatsoever to enable this feature.

Really impressive was a dark-room, side-by-side comparison of one of the last Pioneer Kuro plasma TVs and a model from Panasonic’s new top-of-the-line ZT Series. The Kuro, famous for its inky black level, remained just barely blacker than the ZT, but the ZT was dramatically superior in other major categories.

The company’s 3000Hz focused field drive (FFD) compares with last year’s high-end 2500Hz and the 600Hz sub-field drive (SFD) typical of plasma panels in recent years. The result is extremely fluid motion that was subjectively free of motion artifacts during the time I spend with the set. The Kuro, suffering from being designed in what was clearly a different era, showed serious motion artifacts.

The new subfield technology also allows the panel to express 30,720 gray levels, compared to the 6144 levels in conventional PDPs (such as the one in Panasonic’s own value-oriented S series). The comparison here between the ZT and the Kuro was dramatic. In a close-up of the fur of a black cat, complex patterns in the fur and individual strands were easily seen, although the entire image was in dark levels. The Kuro cat’s fur was largely undifferentiated. Both the 3000 FFD and 30,720 gray levels are also available on the VT – the next series down in the range.

A new red phosphor, combined with a front surface filter redesigned so that it would not interfere with the purer red, allows the ZT and VT to produce color gamut that covers 122% of the ITU standard and 98% of the DCI standard.

In the ZT only, the front picture filter is laminated to the plasma panel to further reduce reflections. The filter contains louvres that help the set produce good images even in moderate ambient light, which was not the case with early PDPs.

The day after the line-show, I received this “clarifying statement” from Panasonic’s press rep:
“This week in New York City, Panasonic demonstrated the latest development of our gapless Plasma panel technology in our 2013 Smart VIERA ZT Series Plasma HDTV. The technology incorporated into our ZT Series Studio Master Panel will be the basis for continued plasma display panel development and production. While the Smart VIERA ZT Series introduces a new level of Plasma picture quality, we believe there is still room for further improvement and intend to continue to research ways to take our Plasma technology to even higher levels where it also has the potential to be applied in our other Plasma series in the future.”  The statement was signed by Henry Hauser, Vice President, Merchandising Group, Panasonic Consumer Marketing Company of North America.

Panasonic calls the ZT a “reference monitor” and prices it accordingly. But, as Hauser hints, high-end technologies have a way of migrating down the model series structure, sometimes quite quickly.

Ken Werner is Principal of Nutmeg Consultants, specializing in the display industry, display manufacturing, display technology, and display applications. You can reach him at ken@hdtvexpert.com.

Samsung features Smart TV and Kate Upton — both impressive — at New York Line Show

Published on Tuesday, 02 April 2013 00:37

Ken Werner

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On March 20, Samsung held its New York line show at the Museum of American Finance on Wall Street. The event featured Samsung’s new line of smart TVs and three celebrities — model Kate Upton, Eli Manning, and rapper Flo Rida — and it was hard to tell whether many of the media types were more interested in the TV sets or the celebs. Of the celebrities, who drew the most attention? Clearly, it was the comely Miss Upton, especially for the guys carrying pro-level cameras.

Samsung’s New York Line Show was lavish and well produced. (Photo: Ken Werner)

Model Kate Upton and Samsung Electronics America EVP Joe Stinziano (Photo:  Ken Werner)

Despite the temptation, I kept my focus on the technology.

Although Samsung was emphasizing Smart TV, the biggest attention-grabber was the company’s new, very high-end, 85-inch UHD-TV. Apparently figuring that LG and Sony had underpriced their 84-inch UHD-TV offerings (at $20 thousand to $25 thousand), Samsung’s MSRP is $39,999. If you can get past the fact that this big TV costs as much as a small BMW, you will appreciate the beautiful image and the advanced technology.

Native 4Kx2K images on Samsung’s 85-inch Ultra High Def TV were beautiful. (Photo: Ken Werner)

A relatively small area of the UHD-TV screen. (Photo: Ken Werner)

Samsung National Trainer Jesse Rowe fielded overlapping questions from several press people, and did it knowledgeably and with good humor. The LCD panel for the set is made on one of Samsung’s Gen 8 panel-manufacturing lines. The finished TV “floats in its frame,” which is Samsung-speak for the user being able to move the screen vertically in its frame-like stand, as well as being able to tilt it.

As with all of the company’s premium smart TVs, this 9000 Series UHD-TV has all of the Smart TV bells and whistles, including voice control, gesture control, facial recognition (so the TV will present your preferences intstead of your significant other’s) and a touch panel on the remote control. When you first turn on the TV, you see the “Smart Hub” by default, which provides access to five different file folders of content, which Samsung calls “panels.” The five panels are Social (social media), Apps (such as Netflix, Pandora, TED, Fitness, etc.), On TV (live TV shows and movies), Movies & TV Shows (from streaming services), and Photos, Videos, & Music (your own media stored on your network). There are different ways of exploring each panel.

“S-Recommendation” learns your viewing habits over time and offers customized recommendations that span all the panels and present the choices independent of their source. With voice control, you can tell the set how to narrow down the options. ”Smart View” can push content to the TV from your tablet, smart phone, smart camera, etc.

All sets at the 7500 model level or above make use of the Evolution+ kit. Each set can be upgraded to the specifications of subsequent models for four years after manufacturing date by buying a $299 module that replaces the module on the back of the set. The module contains hardware as well as firmware updates. For instance, the module that updates 2012 sets to 2013 specifications contains the new quad-core processor. The kit also contains the latest touch remote control.

The 84-inch UHD-TV performs video processing in 720 different cells. Here are the cells and the local-area-dimming backlight. (Photo: Ken Werner)

Even in this drastically pixel-reduced version of the original photo, you can still some of the effects of Samsung’s video processing. (Photo: Ken Werner)

Let’s return to some of the specific features of the UHD-TV set. It has 2GB of memory for app storage and storing downloads, and, significantly, has a full-array backlight with local area dimming — which Samsung calls “Precision Black Dimming.” The UHD-TV set does three stages of video processing within 720 cells based on local color, contrast, and detail, and combines it with the local area dimming. (Smaller non-UHD sets use a smaller number of cells, with the cell size being roughly the same independent of screen size. With these other sets, the number of levels of video processing depends on where the set sits in the model line-up.

FHD premium sets have edge backlighting (or edge-lighting) and do local dimming of the LEDs in the edge-light. The F8000 level is the only FHD LCD-TV with all three levels of dimming.  Note: Samsung was not stating the number of cells used in the video processing, but had no objection to my taking a photo and counting. Regardless, the video processing was demonstrated in detail on the UHD-TV set, and it does its job very well. Native 4K static images were beautiful, and 2K to 4K up-conversion was impressive. Pre-orders for the set are being taken now, and the set will be in 30 specially selected retail locations by the end May.  A 110-inch version will be available late this year, Rowe said.

Samsung is still making plasma TVs, and the premium F8500 uses a “Deep Black Algorithm” to deliver impressive black levels. The set contains a quad-core processer, native support for HEVC-encoded content, and all of the Smart TV features. The set produces excellent images.

I’m a great fan of plasma television technology, but the handwriting is on the wall. Plasma TV market share is in the single digits and falling. It is just a matter of time before manufacturers will not be able to sell enough units to justify the cost of running their factories. But that time is not yet, at least as far as Samsung is concerned. A company rep told me, “Samsung does not see any end to plasma at this time.” Samsung, he said, sees two robust markets for plasma: 1) videophiles, and 2) people looking for the largest screen they can get for their dollar.

Samsung’s HT-F6500W 1000-watt, 5.1-channel home theater system with vacuum-tube pre-amp. (Photo: Ken Werner)

Samsung was also showing some high-end audio products. A wireless audio system and dock (for both iOS and Galaxy devices); a 2.1-channel, 310-watt soundbar; and a 5.1-channel, 1000-watt home-theater system (with access to Samsung’s smart TV system through the integrated Blu-ray player) were interesting primarily for their vacuum-tube pre-amps. The tubes were used as a prominent feature of the industrial design, as well as for their purported improvements to the audio quality. (The tube-vs.-transistor debate has been going on for decades and is not likely to stop anytime soon.)

The vacuum tubes in the pre-amp are used as a prominent component of the industrial design. (Photo: Ken Werner)

Finally, there was the MX-FS9000, 2560-watt Giga Speaker system with dual 15-inch sub-woofers and lighting effects suitable for the Starship Enterprise entering warp drive — or maybe for DJs. (Promoting the speakers was Flo Rida’s part of the program.) The system has Bluetooth connectivity. The idea of 2560 watts from a teenager’s iPhone is truly frightening.

 
Ken Werner is Principal of Nutmeg Consultants, specializing in the display industry, display manufacturing, display technology, and display applications. You can reach him at ken@hdtvexpert.com.

With Galaxy S4, Apple Eats More of Samsung’s Dust

Published on Friday, 22 March 2013 14:24

Ken Werner

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Samsung’s new high-end Galaxy S4 smartphone was introduced last week with an over-the-top, broadway-style extravaganza at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.

The 5-inch, Full HD (1920×1080) AMOLED display has a pixel density of 441 pixels per inch (ppi), which makes the 326 ppi of Apple’s newest, the iPhone 5, look decidedly unimpressive. You may appreciate the irony: With its “Retina Display,” Apple established high pixel density as a marketable specification, and it now trails its primary rival in ppi as well as screen diagonal. By the way, several panel-makers have shown 5-inch, 440-ppi LCDs for smart phones, so look for more display-related sand to be kicked in Apple’s direction.

Samsung’s new Galaxy S4 smartphone with Full HD 5-inch AMOLED display.

It was widely predicted that the S4 would use eye-tracking to scroll the screen, but Samsung execs said the technology wasn’t ready yet. Instead, scrolling is controlled by tilting the phone (“Smart Scroll”), and the phone decides whether to dim or not to dim based on whether you are looking at the screen or away from it, which is a carry-over from the S3. In addition, a video will pause if you look away from it, a feature called, rather unimaginatively, “Smart Pause.” The phone will also respond to voice and to non-contact gestures.

There are new sensors for temperature and humidity – as well geomagnetic and proximity sensors, accelerometer, gyroscope, and barometer carried over from the S3. A new infrared (IR) gesture sensor has been added to support the non-contact gesture interface. The phone also contains an IR LED so the phone can be used as a TV remote control. (All TV brands are supported.)

The phone has a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. I know it’s a waste of time, but I can’t resist saying the obvious: That 13 (or 10 or 8) megapixels on a tiny cell-phone camera chip is nonsensical since the microscopic receptor sites that result are necessarily noisier than larger ones would be. What is clever, though, is that the two cameras can be fired simultaneously and their images combined in various ways. One is that the front-facing image of the photographer can be embedded within the photograph he or she has just taken.

All of this is supported by an octo-core processor (in some markets) and an impressively large 2600mAh (9.9 Wh) battery.

The OS is Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. That’s the latest Android version, but the phone is upgradable to Key Lime Pie, the next Android version, which should be introduced mid-year.

The Galaxy S4 is an impressive phone with an impressive display. We’ll have to see if Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 5S upgrade shifts the balance, but Apple’s ability to produce exciting new products seems to have died with its founder. Or perhaps that product-development imagination is just buried in the lower echelons, where it has not yet been recognized.

Ken Werner is Principal of Nutmeg Consultants, specializing in the display industry, display manufacturing, display technology, and display applications. You can reach him at ken@hdtvexpert.com.