LCD vs. PDP Part #2 (Battle of 2007)

July 16th, 2007

By Eddie Taylor, Vice President of TV Market Research

2006 was clearly a winning year for LCD technology. In Q1’06, LCD had 35% revenue share of the North American TV market, which grew to a 58% share by Q1’07. Meanwhile Plasma (PDP) TV lost share, moving from 25% to 22% revenue over the same time period. (Data is for sell-in based share).

LCD’s ability to do the following made LCD a winning technology in 2006:

  • Offer a wider range of screen sizes than (i.e., 10”-65”+)
  • Offer 1080p TVs at a much more profitable margin for both manufacturers and retailers
  • Attract consumers in brightly-lit retail environments

However, plasma TVs are in some ways a better technology (e.g., deeper blacks, no motion compensation required, etc.). Also, in Q2’07, plasma manufacturers began shipping 1080p models at a reasonable premium that will offset some of LCD’s advantage this year. Finally, LCD panel price stabilization has helped plasma regain some momentum in the US TV market.

So, the stage is set for a battle this 2007 holiday season. Does Plasma now have what it takes to be a winning combination for both retailers and manufacturers? How will traditional retailers (e.g., Best Buy, Circuit City) adjust their strategies to take into account these changes as well as meet challenges to their television turf (e.g., Wal-Mart, clubs)?

  1. 4 Responses to “LCD vs. PDP Part #2 (Battle of 2007)”

  2. By Paul Gray on Jul 20, 2007 | Reply

    I would disagree that “no motion compensation is required” - it’s just much more noticable on LCD. However all the artefacts of 3:2 pulldown and deinterlacing exist. For a really good (even better?) PDP image, all the motion processing is still advantageous.

  3. By Paul Gray on Jul 20, 2007 | Reply

    As a European, PDP is just not a consideration - at current UK energy prices an extra 200W consumption adds $800 to the lifetime energy cost - LCD looks a bargain.

  4. By CJ Homan on Jul 21, 2007 | Reply

    You are way off on the power consumption. I have a 50″ plasma Zenith (LG) HDTV and it is using between 200 and 400 watts
    depending on the program. A plasma TV only uses power for pixels that are lit versus LCD which keeps the lamps lit at all
    times. Here is a link showing power consumption per sq. in. of screen size.
    http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6475_7-6400401-3.html

  5. By Paul Gray on Jul 23, 2007 | Reply

    Yes, and my LCD uses around 70-90W, measured with a plug-in wattmeter.
    LCD does not necessarily have all the pixels lit - mine has an active backlight.
    In order to narrow the gap with PDP on real contrast I expect that this will be the norm in the next couple of years - if only because it probably enables slightly cheaper inverter and PSU designs!

    Even if it’s only 100W it’s still a sizeable lifetime cost. As an aside, I also evaluated the standby power cost between “no-name” brands and a good Japanese design - the difference in standby consumption (28W vs 0.2W) more than made up for the difference in purchase price over 5 years.

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