If you’re a fan of movies like Poltergeist or Videodrome, in which people get really “immersed” in their television-viewing experiences, then you’ll probably like the latest news from Panasonic - it’s developed the world’s largest full-HD 3D plasma display TV. As presented at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the one-off behemoth sports a 152-inch, 4K x 2K (8.84 million pixel) screen, plus a host of other complicated-sounding technical marvels.
The big TV is actually just an oversized example of Panasonic’s existing Full HD 3D PDP (Plasma Display Panel) line. PDP utilizes a new process called super-efficient quadruple luminance efficiency technology. This means it can achieve the same brightness as a conventional full-HD panel in about one-quarter the amount of time, allowing it to keep up with rapidly-moving 3D imagery.
It also incorporates crosstalk reduction technology, which minimizes the amount of overlap between what is seen by the viewers’ left and right eyes. This, in turn, reduces double images. Other systems alternately display their left- and right-eye images one line at a time, meaning that within one frame of video, every other line is going to be directed at either the left or right eye. PDP, however, displays one full frame per eye at a time, reducing overlap and increasing resolution. Crosstalk reduction technology also incorporates newly-developed phosphors with one third the decay time of conventional phosphors, AND something called illumination control technology. The upshot is, you’ll see Freddy Kreuger flinging one hatchet at your face, not two.
Although Panasonic has not said whether the 152-inch PDP will ever be commercially available, the company will be producing glass panels of that size, which will be cut up for use on smaller models... But those smaller models still won’t be exactly tiny. Although not yet confirmed by Panasonic, the 103-inch PDP they presented as a concept in 2008 has now made it to market - for a cool $US70,000.