Plasma TV boosts Gateway picture - (42 " HDTV flat-panel display for $3,000)

The San Diego Union Tribune ^ | December 28, 2002 | Bruce V. Bigelow

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Plasma TV boosts Gateway picture

Low-price strategy, booming sales make some analysts enthusiastic

By Bruce V. Bigelow
STAFF WRITER

December 28, 2002

When Richard Doherty learned that Gateway, the build-to-order computer maker, was introducing a 42-inch plasma television for the holidays, he thought, "Oh, that'll be a good adjunct to their stores."

When he found out the Poway company would sell the giant flat-panel display for $3,000, Doherty thought, "Oh my God. They're going to change everything."

Though precise sales numbers on the plasma TV haven't been released, it's apparent that the computer maker has scored a coup – at least with analysts like Doherty.

Perhaps more importantly, Gateway might now have a product with the potential for sales growth not seen since the mid-1990s, when runaway personal computer sales drove double-digit revenue growth for the company.

As new government standards for broadcasting digital TV signals go into effect in coming years, some analysts predict the demand for plasma TVs could grow by 70 percent a year through 2008.

"We are constantly looking at the type of new product categories that made us so successful in the PC business," said Gateway's Gui Kahl, a digital solutions manager who guided the plasma TV launch.

In terms of current sales, Kahl and other Gateway officials will say only that holiday sales of the new TV have been running "significantly ahead" of their own internal forecast, whatever that may be.

Yet market researchers like Doherty, who works for the Envisioneering Group of Seaford, N.Y., say they're impressed, and that's a yuletide blessing for Gateway, which has been struggling to shake off losses for the past two years.

"The $3,000, 42-inch plasma TV turned a lot of heads here at Aberdeen and in the marketplace," echoed Peter Kastner, who heads the Boston-based Aberdeen Group's digital consumer technology practice. "The reason is the price point, plain and simple."

With Gateway's plasma TV priced at $2,999, analysts said the company is underselling similar-sized products by 30 percent to 50 percent.

The new TV uses plasma – a mixture of gases – arrayed in tiny gas-filled cells sandwiched between two thin sheets of glass. Using advanced electronics, an electrical current stimulates each cell, or pixel, to produce light and color – creating a vivid, steady picture.

Gateway does not make the flat-panel TV – which is thin enough to hang on a wall – and some analysts believe the original supplier is Sampo of Taiwan. In any event, the timing of Gateway's entry was impeccable.

"Retailers are telling us the Gateway entry this fall has cut in half the sales of similar-sized plasma TVs on both coasts," Doherty said.

Doherty also was enthusiastic about the consistent approach Gateway takes in educating consumers about digital TV on its Web site and in the company's nationwide chain of 272 stores.

Unlike big box consumer electronics retailers, Gateway also ensures that the digital electronic products it sells will work together when consumers get home.

"The second-biggest problem for high-definition TV in America, after confusion over cable and broadcast standards, has been the horrible experiences at consumer electronics retail stores," Doherty said. "Gateway makes sure that everything plays together."

In the last three months of 2002, Doherty estimates, total sales of plasma TVs in the United States could reach 25,000 – equivalent to all previous plasma TV sales. Gateway "clearly stands a chance to get up to 20 percent of that," Doherty added.

Still, other analysts caution those are small numbers – even for a high-priced product.

"It is a 'wow' item, and as prices come down, they will become more popular," said Michelle Abraham, a multimedia analyst for In-Stat/MDR near Phoenix. "But I don't see where they ever move into the mainstream in the next 10 years. It's always going to be more expensive than a comparably sized TV."

Josh Bernoff of Boston-based Forrester Research agreed, saying, "Even at $2,999, there aren't very many people willing to buy" the product.

He also doubts that sales of plasma TVs will come anywhere close to 70 percent compounded annual growth.

Nevertheless, Bernoff conceded that Gateway's sales approach can be an advantage as consumers who want their own home theaters "get into that zone where it gets complicated to hook up."

Besides, Bernoff added, "one of the reason retailers have big, fancy expensive products is that it gets people into the store so they can see all the other neat, fancy equipment that's on sale."

In the end, Bernoff said, Gateway's tactic makes sense for a company that is heavily dependent on consumer sales.

"They're just looking for other stuff they can sell," he said. "Clearly anyone who only sells computers is going to have trouble right now, and diversification is the only solution."

---

Bruce Bigelow: (619) 293-1314;

[badfreeper]

"...you can laugh at everyone in 5 years when you're buying an OLED display for 1/5 of the price of the LCD systems."

Cool! I learned in a long time ago to wait before buying any new technology. Spending an entire summer job's wages in 1987 for an Amiga 500 system made me very vary. I didn't spend much more than that for my first car!

[badfreeper]

"I remember vaguely when for color TV's, 23" screens were the biggest until the 25" screens came out."

Yeah, when I told my mother about my new TV her response was, "Why do you need a big screen?" The old TV probably would have lasted longer, but it spent much of the '90s on almost continuously becuase I had a cat that would get really lonely when left by herself. She was much calmer after I started leaving the TV on while I wasn't home.

[bonesmccoy]

Hi Gracey,

Yes, 14 feet diagonal.

The LCD projector from InFocus is about $1600 from dell.com.

The projector has input for S-video, RCA/Composite video, superVGA, and USB (also audio). The little unit's lamp is the only concern... a couple thousand hours. You'd have to buy a new lamp if the old one burned out (like an overhead projector bulb?).

Still, if you're only using the projector a few hours a night and a few nights per week, you're talking about 1000+ hours per year. So, it would take a couple of years before the bulb blows.

Still, the diagonal viewing is wider than any plasma display.

[bonesmccoy]

your comments on the acoustics varying with manufacturer and speaker location are well-noted. I'm currently using one larger center speaker and four matching LR/surround. Admittedly, this is a stop gap and meant to "test" the ability of a cheap system to match theatre quality.

My goal wasn't to get precise acoustics, which would require technicians to balance and a stronger amp/receiver combo.

The goal was to simply permit me to have a cheap and functional way to watch great movies and host my friends in the process. Because the system has the added functionality to be portable, we're not stuck in one room. We can move the laptop, LCD projector, and speakers/boxes in one trunk load.

With this kind of technology around, pass the Jiffy Pop stock. The Regal Cinema/Krikorian/AMC stocks are gonna drop like a meteor.

[bonesmccoy]

"computer tecknobabble"?

"providing the AB test is done above 20 decibels which is all your old Advent speakers are probably capable of"

LOL

You're hilarious.

A laptop PC has more signal processing capability than your hi-fi receiver.

Plus, my laptop PC is portable. What else do you use your receiver for? FM or 8-track?

20dB? What size room are you generating the sound? The energy output from the speakers is related to the acoustics of the room. Giving a simple number like "20dB" is utter nonsense. A room that is 10' x 10' requires lower energy output from certain speakers than a room that is 100' x 100'. The number of people sitting in the room and the types of wall coverings also matter.

When you go to your local theatre, look at the walls. Are they flat white concrete or are they covered with thick, heavy drapes? You and I both know the answer. They have thick heavy drapes because they want to absorb the sound in the walls so it doesn't bounce.

At 20 dB in a room the size of yours (guessing at max 20' x 20'), you have sensorineural hearing loss levels for any kid in the room.

"most of us who want a home theater actually want the theater experience and feel the bombs explode, not hear them pop."

If you can "feel the bombs explode", are you saying that you have spent money on sub-woofers at each speaker?

What for?

Low-frequencies in small rooms bounce so readily that extra money spent on sub-woofers is totally unnecessary. The reality is that low-freq/sub-woofer generated sound is not localized nearly as well as high-pitch frequencies.

It's hilarious to hear you attempt to belittle my comments. For one thing, I've not posted any specifics on the exact brands involved or screen resolution.

The LCD projector units clearly surpass the screen resolution of any plasma. The pixel depth clarifies the standard. Neither NTSC or HDTV match the pixel depth of a standard $1600 LCD InFocus projector. Frankly, your comments are laughable. The DVD in my laptop has enough screen resolution that when I load the DVD "Patton" and project the output with my LCD projector, the grains on the film (and occasional dust/hair in the studio analog film copy) are visible.

Film is not the best media for recording and display. TV is no longer the best media either.

Digital is. You can "hi-fi" your expertise all you want. Digital PC technology is setting the leadership curve. You can either get with the programs (WINDOWS) or you can live in your 8-track world.

George Lucas set the new digital standard with Attack of the Clones. AOTC was filmed on totally digital cameras and the editing was done almost immediately by their production team.

If you want to watch "Navy Seals" on celluloid, be my guest.

As for me, pass me Attack of the Clones.

[bonesmccoy]

Eddie... your comment on sound reproduction for fine music is appropos. The sound system I describe is not meant for such, though is definitely acceptable and excellent for it.

I was mainly describing the cheap and cost-effective way that you can assemble home theatre fun.

By the way, neither of you have posted how much you have actually spent on your systems. I asked it two messages ago. But, you have both apparently chosen not to make such estimates.

[bonesmccoy]

I wonder if any of the new Windows Media Center PC's can hook directly to digital cable.

Hauppage has consistently innovated solutions to bring TV broadcast experiences to the digital desktop.

I'm sure that they have to be working on both digitalTV tuner cards for PCI slots and surround sound audio cards. I've not looked at Creative's website for a while, but the innovation in surround sound will translate to the ability to capture real world environments and project it to any room.

Picture this one: A high-resolution camera on the ground facing the Pyramids. 3 mic's pick up surrounding sound. The load is fed to a webserver. You've got the ability to basically look and hear at any point on earth with true sound reproduction around you.

[bonesmccoy]

Neat idea re: ad broker...

how would that work?

You'd have to junk the Nielsens and institute a whole new mechanism for relating ad revenue to sales.

Ebay?

[bonesmccoy]

It's actually OK. Even if the studios kill HDTV standard, can your system handle VGA output from a PC?

If so, you can get a MediaCenter PC and hook it to your HDTV. That would mean you have an enormous monitor for your PC, plus the ability to Freep from your sofa in widescreen.

You may not want to see Jim Rob in widescreen, but then again you got those Bush babes running around :)

Do you have a VGA input?

[bonesmccoy]

I noticed the shadows and lag also.

[eddie willers]

What I would like and what I can afford are two very different things.

My monitor is a 6 year old 32" ProScan ...$ 800
6 y/o old Denon AVR 5600 receiver...$ 2800
4 Polk LS90 floor standing speakers....$ 800 each
Polk CS 350LS Center speaker...$ 400
Boston Acoustic THX sub....$ 1200
Mitsubishi HSU 760 SVHS...$600
Sony SACD/DVD...$ 300
Dish Network's PVR 501 and 7100 Dishplayer satellite receivers...around $ 500.

Keep in mind that I paid about 50% of these prices by collecting "points" and purchasing through salesman accomodation programs and that most were aquired 6 years ago. The price of DD receivers have plummeted since then. Though Denon's flagship AVR 5803 is $4300 their AVR 3803 is fantastic at $1300.

[eddie willers]

Also keep in mind that I am trying to reproduce music at high definition.

For movies you can spend 1/4th of what I did and get virtually the same impact.

The higher priced Denons (and certainly the Adcoms and other fine separates that A Navy Vet mentioned) have massive Torodial (sp?) power supplies, large capacitors, expensive D/A converters etc. that do very little in distinguishing between a Glock and a Colt, but will show the difference between a Steinway and a Bosendorfer.

[Hunble]

Now that this thread has degenerated into a debate about who's dick is bigger...

Can anyone let us ignorant masses know how to actually use this LCD screen technology to create a HDTV system?

This got my interest, but looking at the websites provided, they have told me nothing.

First question, even if I have a LCD screen with an over-head projector, how do I get a HDTV receiver to display on the LCD screen? Is this something I plug into my computer?

[July 4th]

I'm guessing the time when digital cable will go directly into the PC is a ways off at this point. The digital cable box is an addressable terminal with security, authorizations, etc. I'm guessing it's something the cable company doesn't want circumvented.

What I would see as more of a reality would be some kind of digital-out connector on the cable box to plug into the PC. But right now it's all academic, at least where I live. We have digital cable, but only on the channels not provided by analog cable. All of the analog channels are the ones I watch.

[bonesmccoy]

Whats the story with dolby vs. thx standards?

I went to Fry's. The audio guy said there were no 5.1 surround features for Windows Media Center. I went to the other side of the store and saw the 5.1 Yamaha system and a Creative THX system for sale.

How does an analog receiver distinguish the differences between 5.1 surround encoding vs. dolby surround?

[bonesmccoy]

LCD projectors are great for use with DVD's loaded and playing via WinDVD on WindowsXP.

The anti-MSFT whackos here want to spend $10,000-$15,000 to do what we do with $2000.

I guess if you want to part with that much cash you can buy "their" solution.

If you want to watch DVD's in widescreen, hook the VGA output from your PC box to your standard LCD projector. Make sure there are Microsoft drivers for the projector (so, don't spend time jury-rigging...just buy a projector).

Now, you have a system that can do both projection of powerpoint presentations and video files.

To do TV projection, you need a Windows Media Center box. The HP, Gateway, and Alien boxes all have TV tuner cards.

It sounds like the cards won't let you project High Def TV yet. I haven't scoped out the cards yet, but Hauppage must have a HighDef card in work.

If not, no big deal. After all, how much High-Def TV can really be under production and broadcast. At this point, not much.

If you really want to spend $10,000 for a "HDTV" plasma, go ahead.

If you want a spend $2000 for the LCD Projector, you'll get higher resolution than plasmaHDTV and you'll be portable for work.

[goldstategop]

Its said to be practically life-like. And with HDTV you won't need an antenna for crystal clear reception. Either you'll either get the picture perfectly the first time you turn on the TV or you won't get it at all. Right now its in its infancy and few TV stations broadcast in digital - upgrades are expensive and the networks will switch over once the current analog equipment wears out. But you're right the HDTV era will make us wonder why we had to put up with analog TV for such a long time.

[Hunble]

I understood how to use a projection system to project computer video upon a wall. Outstanding idea, and I thank you for telling us about that.

I was asking a even more basic question. How can I display HDTV on my computer screen?

If I can not display HDTV on my computer monitor, then any projection setup would be no better.

Thanks, until you started this thread, I never considered using an SVGA projection screen for television viewing. I have used them often for company presentations of Power Point charts, but never made that mental leap.

Probably, because nobody has ever shown me how I can display HDTV on my computer screen.