alt.hn

2/24/2026 at 2:50:21 AM

Panasonic, the former plasma king, will no longer make its own TVs

 https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/02/panasonic-the-former-plasma-king-will-no-longer-make-its-own-tvs/

by mroche

2/24/2026 at 3:18:23 AM

So the Japanese TV industry was decimated in almost exactly the same way that the US industry was in the 1980s with the loss of RCA and Zenith.

That’s a pretty impressive run. Panasonic TVs were good though to see them finish is a shame.

by smackeyacky

2/24/2026 at 4:35:59 AM

TVs have just become a commodity, there's very little incentive for the technology to continue to get better. Everyone just competes on size and price, and every manufacturer has turned their TVs into marketing platforms. The state of the market is so sad.

by miguel-muniz

2/25/2026 at 7:44:25 PM

Panasonic consumer electronics products always had the best UX - talking 80s through early 00s products here. Visual feedback (when available) was always immediate. Button schemes etc were well designed.

by lysace

2/24/2026 at 4:35:24 AM

I really liked the old Panasonic analog TVs and own a couple of them.

by andrewstuart

2/24/2026 at 3:17:22 AM

I thought they had already quit when plasma became the obvious worse choice.

by SilverElfin

2/24/2026 at 4:17:11 AM

What makes plasma the obvious worse choice? I have a 50” plasma that still looks better than just about any non-OLED TV I’ve seen. I understand price was a concern, but OLED TVs sit in that price category now.

The only real downside with the TV is that uses more power than I’d like and, consequently, throws off more heat than I’d like. Otherwise, it’s been very reliable and looks fantastic. I’m curious what I’m missing.

by nirvdrum

2/24/2026 at 4:36:59 AM

As an apartment dweller, I’m glad I don’t need a heavy plasma anymore. Moving them was a bit of a chore. Also the burn-in issue for things like game overlays is less of a concern in OLEDs. Still happens, but much more slowly.

by nerdsniper

2/24/2026 at 8:44:51 AM

dimensions

power consumption

burn-in

do they have any other benefit besides black color?

by Markoff

2/24/2026 at 4:18:58 PM

Also plasma tends to lack HDR does it not?

by nerdsniper

2/24/2026 at 3:21:35 AM

It’s a bittersweet milestone in the commoditization of display tech; Panasonic’s engineering-first approach, especially during the plasma era, consistently pushed the entire industry toward better color accuracy. Hopefully, they can maintain their internal image processing teams, as their color science was often what truly justified the premium over more generic panels.

by shablulman

2/25/2026 at 1:39:53 PM

[dead]

by Rakshith