Plasma TVs are just about
dead

By James O'Toole @jtotoole July 3, 2014:
1:03 PM ET

It's the end of the line for Samsung's plasma TVs

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The plasma TV business is fading to
black.

Samsung confirmed Thursday that it was
shutting down its plasma TV business "due to
changes in market demands," choosing
instead to focus on curved and ultra-high-
definition models that use LED technology.

The news was first reported by Reuters.
Samsung's announcement follows news last
year that Panasonic had decided to stop
making plasma panels. Seoul-based LG, the
last major international plasma TV
manufacturer, is also planning on shutting
down plasma production, according to South
Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

Manufacturers are increasingly looking to LED
and LCD screens as they develop the next
generation of TV sets. Veronica Thayer, a
consumer electronics analyst with IHS, said
the last shipments of plasma TVs for American
retail shelves will come by the end of this year.

There are still a few Chinese companies
producing plasma TVs, Thayer added, but
those too will likely be gone by 2016.
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Plasma TVs are composed of pixels filled with
gas that light up in different colors when
they're hit with an electrical current. LED and
LCD televisions uses screens made of liquid
crystals that are lit up from behind to create
images.

Plasma TVs offered what many considered to
be the best picture quality on the market in
the past few years, albeit at higher prices than
LCDs. They gained favor thanks to their
brighter images, warmer tones and wider
viewing angles.
But plasma screens are now being supplanted
at the high end of the market by LED
technology, which offers comparable picture
quality on thinner screens that use less power.
IHS reported last month that plasma TV
shipments dropped 16% globally in the first
quarter versus a year prior, and that they "are
on their way out of the industry permanently."

First Published: July 3, 2014: 12:00 PM ET

I'm still not changing my LCD bro, thank god they are returning to it