Plasma TV monitors still too expensive

Rikza Abdullah, Contributor, Jakarta

As television technology is in the midst of a digital video revolution, plasma TV monitors offer superb quality of image, as compared with conventional and projection TV sets, but their sales on the Indonesian market are still very limited.

Plasma TV monitors are termed thus because they have plasma panels -- an array of tiny cells, known as pixels, which contain phosphors corresponding to the colors red, green and blue.

Sandwiched against these cells is a thin layer of gas in a plasma state. Electrical impulses enter the gas, which emits bursts of ultraviolet light at precise locations and intervals.

The phosphor cells absorb these signals and then re-radiate the energy as visible light, producing the vivid images that appear on screen.

They offer superb image quality because they have a perfectly flat screen, wide viewing angle, uniform screen brightness, slim and space-saving design, immunity from magnetic fields, as well as higher resolution than conventional TV sets, better color accuracy and a better widescreen aspect ratio.

In Indonesia, demand for plasma TV monitors is, however, very weak due to their high price, according to Jentri Mitmarliandi, a product supervisor at PT Sony Indonesia.

Budi Pramono, marketing manager of Samsung Electronics Indonesia, shared Jentri's view, saying that the total sales of plasma TV monitors of various trademarks in the country might have reached only 150 units last year.

"Therefore, we are not yet interested in supplying plasma TV monitors to the Indonesian market," he said.

Jentri said the price of plasma TV monitors on the Indonesian market could be twice that quoted in other countries because the import of plasma TV monitors by authorized dealers would be subject to import duty, value-added tax (VAT) and a tax on luxury goods, besides transportation costs.

"The high costs for tax and duty make it difficult for authorized dealers to compete against smugglers who sell their goods through electronics stores," he said, adding that Sony Indonesia, therefore, did not include plasma TV monitors in its list of dealership products.

"However, we can provide plasma TV monitors on the basis of buyer demand," he said.

Budi said those interested in buying plasma TV monitors could find them at shopping centers in Jakarta's Chinatown, such as Glodok and Mangga Dua.

Lilis, of PT Satyasukma-Eluxindo, said her electronics store at the Harco Mangga Dua shopping center in West Jakarta offered 42-inch Philips plasma TV monitors at about US$11,000 each and similar products with a Panasonic trademark at Rp 85 million (about $9,130).

PT Sony Electrindo, also at Harco Mangga Dua, offers 42-inch Sony plasma TV monitors at $6,500 each, excluding the cost of speakers and other optional facilities.

PT Adab Alam Electronic on Jl. Cideng Barat, Central Jakarta, offers 43-inch Pioneer plasma TV monitors at about $6,800 to $7,600 and 50-inch models at around $11,900 to $11,950, according to marketing officer Melda.

According to the U.S.-based Flat TV Buying Guide Review, plasma display monitors have screens that are perfectly flat, with no curvature whatsoever. This eliminates edge distortions.

They offer a viewing angle of 160 degrees (top to bottom and left to right) -- much better than rear-projection TVs and LCD displays. This allows a larger number of viewers to enjoy proper image reproduction from a wider variety of locations throughout the room.

Unlike some rear- and front-projection televisions that suffer from uneven screen brightness -- seen as "hot spots" in the middle of the screen or a darkening near the edges and especially corners -- plasma displays illuminate all pixels evenly across the screen.

Plasma display monitors are only a few inches thick -- providing installation options never before possible. In addition to stand mounting, they can be hung on a wall or from a ceiling, allowing viewers to enjoy big-screen home theater impact from a component that does not dominate floorspace.

Conventional TVs and front projectors, by comparison, take up far more space and are much more limited in placement flexibility.

Because they eliminate the need for a front-projection unit and a projection screen, plasma display monitors are also ideal for use in a wide variety of business and commercial applications where the use of a front projector would not be feasible.

And because plasma displays do not use electron beams, as conventional TV sets do, they are immune to the effects of magnetic fields. Components such as loudspeakers, which contain strong magnets, can distort the picture if placed too close to a standard TV. On the other hand, plasma displays may be placed in close proximity to any type of loudspeaker and not experience image distortion.

Plasma display devices have higher resolution than conventional TV sets, and are capable of displaying full HDTV and DTV signals as well as XGA, SVGA and VGA signals from a computer. For example, plasma displays may have a 1024 x 1024 pixel high- resolution that can display images at true 1080i and 720p HDTV resolution, as well as 480i and 480p HD signals.

High-end plasma displays are capable of displaying 16.77 million colors -- providing superb color realism with exceptionally subtle gradations between colors.

Plasma display devices have a wide-screen 16:9 aspect ratio -- the relationship between the screen's width and height. This is the proper aspect ratio for HDTV, and also allows many DVD-Video movies to be viewed in a wide-screen format, as originally seen in the theater.

Plasma technology is becoming more uniform as different manufacturers integrate the best features from one another and some of them cooperate with each other in production. Hitachi, for example, owns 50 percent of a plasma screen factory in Kyushu, Japan, along with Fujitsu, but makes its own internal components. Meanwhile, Fujitsu buys some of the internal components (chipsets) but produces most of the internal component boards.

Sony makes its own boards and chips but uses Fujitsu/Hitachi plasma screen glass, while Philips uses Fujitsu/Hitachi glass screens and most internal components as well. However, Philips makes its own bezel with built-in speakers.

Panasonic operates its own glass factory and engineers its own internal components. Pioneer also operates its own plasma screen glass plant and produces almost all boards and chips utilized in the plasma monitor.

However, there are major differences in quality regarding contrast, black levels, up and down conversion techniques, interpolation, scaling, power consumption, white balance, menu adjustments and options, and many other features.