Posted on Saturday, December 29 2007 @ 12:00 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
According to Japanese media reports
Panasonic is going to show off a 150" plasma display at CES 2008 in Las Vegas.
Two years ago, Panasonic stole the lead on two South Korean rivals, Samsung and LG, by unveiling a 103-inch PDP screen. The two Korean companies had previously shown 102-inch panels. With the new screen Panasonic captured by an inch the title of "world's biggest flat-screen" and held that title until CES 2007 when Sharp unveiled a prototype 108-inch LCD (liquid crystal display) panel. Panasonic's display remains the biggest PDP in the world but not the biggest flat panel.
Panasonic declined to comment on its specific plans for CES 2008 but did say that say it is "putting its efforts in developing larger screens" because the 103-inch was well received.
If the 150-inch screen does appear at CES it is likely to be an early prototype from the company's ¥280 billion ($2.5 billion) state-of-the-art PDP production line in Amagasaki, in western Japan, that is due to start production sometime in the year from April 2008. The new production line is a step more advanced than Panasonic's current line and should be able to make more advanced PDPs at lower costs.
