Hitachi debuts world's first 32-inch HDTV-ready full-resolution plasma TV

Hitachi, Ltd. today announced that on April 10 it will release the world's first 32-inch plasma TV, the High Definition Digital TV (HDTV), W32-PD2100 in Japan. On June 11, this will be followed by the release of the W32-PDH2100, a HDTV plasma TV with built-in BS (Broadcast Satellite) digital receiver.

This will make Hitachi the first company to market a 32-inch plasma TV. The HDTV-compatible plasma display panel (PDP) has a visual size of 32 inches (82 centimeters diagonally) and employs ALIS (Alternate Lighting of Surface Method) technology. Image resolution is 852 pixels horizontally and 1024 pixels vertically. This PDP overcomes the problem that previous plasma display panels had with respect to the ability to display high-resolution HDTV images within a compact configuration.

The TV is provided as two separate units: the monitor section, and the audio-visual control (AVC) station unit, which includes the tuner and picture processing circuitry. This enables the monitor and AVC station to be flexibly positioned to match various room layouts, helping to utilize the full merits of the slim design (just 9 centimeters deep) that is the feature of a plasma-screen TV.

PDPs are thin, light and bright, and have a wide viewing angle. These features make the PDP one of the leading contenders among next-generation display devices, generating rapid market growth. With PDPs, it is also relatively easy to fabricate large screens, overcoming the size limitations of the CRT. So far, the main demand for such products has come from commercial applications that want to catch the attention of large numbers of people, or from the large-screen home theater market.

In order to grow the market for PDP products in ordinary homes, however, the task has been to implement smaller PDP screens. This led Hitachi to develop a 32-inch HDTV PDP for home use, which could also handle the high resolution of BS digital HDTV broadcasts, which started last year. The W32-PD2100 TV is the first result.

With 32 inches having become the mainstream size for wide-screen TVs, PDPs are offering what CRT TVs cannot: thin screen size. This is likely to stimulate the move to large-screen home TVs. The ability to display BS digital HDTV pictures in the original high resolution mode means that HDTV PDPs with ALIS technology provide a level of performance befitting a new generation of TVs.

Hitachi is also planning to introduce a 37-inch (95 centimeters diagonal) HDTV plasma TV. Hitachi will continue to expand its lineup of PDP-based TV products to meet the needs of the new era of digital HDTV broadcasting.

For overseas market development purposes, monitor units used in plasma-screen TVs developed for the Japanese market have been designed for worldwide use. The AVC station system is modified for overseas models. Looking to the future, Hitachi intends to focus on using the European market as a launch pad for the creation of a new, worldwide market for plasma-screen TVs.