Panasonic, the former plasma king, will no longer make its own TVs

(arstechnica.com)

30 points | by mroche a day ago ago

13 comments

  • smackeyacky a day ago ago

    So the Japanese TV industry was decimated in almost exactly the same way that the US industry was in the 1980s with the loss of RCA and Zenith.

    That’s a pretty impressive run. Panasonic TVs were good though to see them finish is a shame.

  • miguel-muniz a day ago ago

    TVs have just become a commodity, there's very little incentive for the technology to continue to get better. Everyone just competes on size and price, and every manufacturer has turned their TVs into marketing platforms. The state of the market is so sad.

  • andrewstuart a day ago ago

    I really liked the old Panasonic analog TVs and own a couple of them.

  • almosthere a day ago ago
  • SilverElfin a day ago ago

    I thought they had already quit when plasma became the obvious worse choice.

    • nirvdrum a day ago ago

      What makes plasma the obvious worse choice? I have a 50” plasma that still looks better than just about any non-OLED TV I’ve seen. I understand price was a concern, but OLED TVs sit in that price category now.

      The only real downside with the TV is that uses more power than I’d like and, consequently, throws off more heat than I’d like. Otherwise, it’s been very reliable and looks fantastic. I’m curious what I’m missing.

      • nerdsniper a day ago ago

        As an apartment dweller, I’m glad I don’t need a heavy plasma anymore. Moving them was a bit of a chore. Also the burn-in issue for things like game overlays is less of a concern in OLEDs. Still happens, but much more slowly.

      • Markoff 21 hours ago ago

        dimensions

        power consumption

        burn-in

        do they have any other benefit besides black color?

        • nerdsniper 13 hours ago ago

          Also plasma tends to lack HDR does it not?

    • undefined a day ago ago
      [deleted]
  • shablulman a day ago ago

    It’s a bittersweet milestone in the commoditization of display tech; Panasonic’s engineering-first approach, especially during the plasma era, consistently pushed the entire industry toward better color accuracy. Hopefully, they can maintain their internal image processing teams, as their color science was often what truly justified the premium over more generic panels.