Fujitsu General America Details Plasma Plans
Fujitsu General America will introduce the first of its CableCARD-equipped plasma TVs this fall, as it begins a transition to integrated HD models, National Training Dir. David Fink said. While the sizes haven’t been set, Fujitsu showed a prototype 50W model at CES and the addition of CableCARD technology isn’t likely to carry a premium, Fink said Fri. It also will ship an 80W plasma TV this fall using a Samsung-sourced panel that features 1,920x1080p resolution.
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“With these introductions we will transition to a TV company” from one that fields HD monitors, Fink said. With CableCARD, “everybody is going to want it, but nobody is going to use” the one-way version of the technology and meaning likely continued reliance on separate set-top boxes for HD, Fink said. The market for CableCARD isn’t likely to emerge until 2-way capability arrives, he said.
The transition to integrated HD plasma TVs will be a major move for Fujitsu General, which currently fields 42W, 50W, 55W and 63W monitors priced $3,999-$17,999. It also will mark the first change in its product line since parent Fujitsu Ltd. announced plans to sell back to Hitachi a 30.1% stake in the companies’ 6-year-old plasma manufacturing joint venture. All current models also have added the 2nd generation of Fujitsu’s Advanced Video Movement processor (AVM-II) -- except the 63W, which will make the change with deliveries of a new model in March, Fink said. AVM - introduced in Fujitsu plasma monitors in 2001 -- is designed to eliminate most flicker and motion artifacts while improving vertical resolution. The AVM-II also features Picture Text Optimizer, designed to recognize on-screen text and graphics and process them separately.
Despite the sale of Fujitsu Ltd.’s stake in Fujitsu- Hitachi Plasma Display (FHP), Fujitsu General will likely continue source about half its panel requirements from Hitachi. But it also will continue to source panels from Matsushita and Samsung, Fink said. In seeking to expand its product offerings, Fujitsu is continuing to market an LCD-based front projector ($25,000) that uses three 1.3” Epson panels to deliver 1,920x1080p resolution, Fink said. Fujitsu has no immediate plans to use the 0.9” LCDs with 1080p resolution that Epson is expected to start manufacturing in May, Fink said. The projectors are being sold to a subset of Fujitsu’s CEDIA dealers. The company sells 3,000-4,000 dealers in the U.S. and Canada directly and through distributors, Fink said.
Fujitsu also is developing plasma tube arrays that can be fastened together to form displays 80W and up, but they to start becoming available in the consumer market for at least 4 years, Fink said.