Researchers at Panasonic have no plans to stop their plasma-based HDTV research or production. Panasonic USA vice president of merchandising Henry Hauser on Friday said plasma development is still taking place.
News of Panasonic’s plasma shutdown originally arrived by comments from Panasonic Display vice president Kiyoshi Okamoto. According to Okamoto, the company had “researched its last plasma display.”
Speaking about the technology’s future, Hauser said:
“The technology incorporated into our ZT Series Studio Master Panel will be the basis for continued plasma display panel development and production.
Hauser then added that there is “still room for further improvement” on plasma panel picture quality.
Panasonic will now continue its Plasma technology research to “even higher levels” than it has in the past. The company hopes to use what it learns in “other Plasma series in the future.”
Okamoto said during a 2013 HDTV presentation that the 65-inch ZT60 would use the “last plasma panel” from Panasonic’s R&D section. Okamoto at the time admitted that Panasonic would continue to product Plasma TVs through at least 2014. However, those newly produced TVs would be supported by already existing technology.
Panasonic may be at least slowing down Plasma screen research and development. The company recently re-positioned may of its top engineers to work on OLED R&D.
Panasonic’s top officials have claimed on numerous occasions that its future remains in OLED production. OLED displays have eclipsed Plasma displays over the last several years. At CES 2013, The Inquisitr team witnessed a boom in OLED technologies as companies showcased their ultra-slim displays and ultra-HD resolutions.
With the company debuting OLED 4K-based TVs, I don’t see much of a future in the aging Plasma TV infrastructure. Do you think Plasma TV technology is dead, or will Panasonic bring the technology back to the mainstream?
