- Wednesday, 2 December 2009
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What's the definition of a heatsink for a hot journalist? Answer: the local boozer
Panasonic shows off 150-inch TV
PANASONIC UPPED THE stakes in the stupidly big TV stakes, and instead of doing it in 1-3 inch increments, they upped the ante by 42 inches, a decently sized TV in and of itself.
Now the significance is not that they made a huge TV or they will sell these things by the 10s if and when they come out. No, the significance, and also the technical reason why they can do it are the same, a new back end process and tools from companies like Applied Materials.
My card for size reference
All big TVs are made from a sheet of mother glass, a massive sheet of glass that is cut up into smaller pieces. The older generation process had glass in the 100-110 inch diagonal size range. The new process has tools that can handle glass in about the, wait for it, 150 inch range. Guess what this means?
What you will see from this 150 inch monster is the same thing you see when Intel and AMD went from 8 to 12 inch wafers, more chips at a lower cost. The 150 inch mother glass means more and larger monitors at a lower cost. Added capacity changes the supply and demand curve.
Overall, don't expect to see many 150 inch TVs cropping up at the local Crazy Al's TV shop, but do expect the monitors you buy to go up an inch or two for the same money. That is a good thing. µ
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The idea that bigger screens must be better is flawed. 

With most viewing in the UK still based on Standard Definition (non-HD SKY, Freeview and broadcast), going bigger just makes it more likely you'll see digital artifacts - if sitting at the same distance to the screen.

Already you can see that smaller (20") screens cost almost the same as 40" ones - the size of the panel itself seems to be pretty irrelevant.

A similar thing is happening with digital cameras - people are assuming that higher resolution = better, and then finding that the inevitable increase in noise is if anything making their pictures worse...
Might work well for the back garden, assuming you have a big one. I wonder what would be the hardest, paying for it or lifting it? Perhaps the electricity bill would follow a close second.
Seriously, good for function rooms, small theatres and for the fact they are able to actually make one that big. 
Now that really wonderful high def flat panels are here, all we need now is some decent stuff to watch on it. Dont hold your breath.
hang it on a wall like a picture window and view web cams of national parks or video of parks, ski slopes and beaches, it would be like being there while sitting home safe and sound
Not too shoot down your idea, but perhaps in the UK HD is not prevalent, but in Canada I have at least 20 HD channels and I know there are more channels my cable company are not broadcasting.
On the digital artifacts argument, my new 42 Panasonic TV displays a better picture in standard definition than my old 29” CRT.
Just my two cents
Would be sweet for gaming if it had say _at least_ 3840x2400 pixels, then again, what can drive that?
Do you think that just maybe the target market for huge, high definition displays is - get this - people who have access to high definition content?

It boggles my mind to see the number of people who still say, "Only an idiot would want this product because I, personally, do not have a use for it."
I'd suggest that despite a lot of content on television being of such low defenition that bigger screens will make it look crap, you also need to think of the (rather large) percentage of people who will buy PC monitors made in the same factories. 24"+ really does make a difference in productivity, and the more affordable it is the better. Similarly people are buying big screen High def panels to play their shiny new 360/PS3 on. Not much fun on a 22" monitor from your sofa. Being able to get a 37" for the price of a current 32" (which you can already get for about £220 if you know where to look) can't be a bad thing. Particularly if that 37" also marks a step up from 720p to 1080p.

The cheaper the gear to upgrade is, the more people will be able to take advantage of the 'HD revolution', and the less excuse people have to carry on using what is fast becoming hugely dated tech.
This tv is pretty alright. I like it.
and how much does this baby suck ? my guess 2000 WATT ? and how hot will it make your room ?