Multivax.ca

If you have been dreaming about watching that Big Game, Matsushita can make that game even bigger.

The company announced yesterday that its new 103-inch Panasonic Plasma High-Definition TV will go on sale in early 2007. The flat-screen gargantuan is the world's largest plasma TV set, and was first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year in Las Vegas.

It measures 94 inches by 55 inches and weighs a tabletop-crushing 413 lbs. As a reference, this is larger than a double-sized mattress and nearly as heavy as an upright piano. As a high-definition set, it will be able to display up to 1,920 by 1,080 pixels resolution, and has a brightness rating of 3000-1.

Ahead of Samsung

No price has been announced. But, by comparison, the giant's smaller sibling, a 65-inch plasma TV that is the largest Matsushita currently offers, sells for about $7500 in Japan.

Matsushita said it has already taken orders for the 103-inchers from business customers intending to use them as broadcast studio monitors or electronic billboards, and will begin delivering them this fall, before it goes into general retail. It said it expects to sell about 5000 units annually, with about 20% in the consumer market and the remainder for business users.

In the worldwide race for largest plasma TV, Matsushita is a nose ahead of Samsung. The Korean company has shown a 102-inch screen, although it apparently was developed for bragging rights and not for sale. Matsushita is the world's leading provider of plasma TVs, with about 21% of the market, followed by LG Electronics at about 18%.

Although the largest LCD screens are less than half this giant's size, like plasmas, they are also moving up in size. Sharp Electronics has announced that it will open a new plant in October that is capable of making LCD screens using eighth-generation glass. This new glass allows manufacturers to make larger LCD screens economically.

'Death Throes' of Plasma

At least one industry observer said that this 103-inch set marks the "death throes" of plasma TV, not a new phase. "Ultimately," said Paul Donovan, an analyst at Gartner, "plasma TV as a technology will be overtaken by LCD TVs."

He noted that, above 50 inches, projection TV is king. "LCD TVs will possibly go to 50, maybe 55 inches with 8th generation glass," he said, "and, eventually, to 60 inch."

He said that this 103-inch plasma TV is not intended primarily for the consumer. "Plasma manufacturers," he said, "haven't invested as much in production as the LCD makers, so they can't benefit from economies of scale in bringing prices down. As a display technology in the home, plasma TV is not long for this world."