"People want bigger and bigger all the time. There is a degree of one-upmanship" ? Thomas Baker, 2½, tries Panasonic's new 261-centimetre TV for size.
Photo: Steven Siewert
Photo: Steven Siewert
THEY call it plasma envy. When the 106-centimetre plasma TV screen hit the market a few years ago it was hard to imagine anyone wanting a bigger set. Now, sales of 127-centimetre plasma TVs are on the rise and yesterday the mother of all screens hit the market.
Panasonic is said to offer the world's largest plasma screen, 261 centimetres diagonally (2.4 metres by 1.4 metres), weighing 220 kilograms and costing $105,000 (excluding installation).
The trend for ever larger screens is also sending home power bills sky high. TVs are fast overtaking fridges and freezers as greenhouse gas culprits.
The 261-centimetre screen was ideal for clubs and pubs broadcasting sporting events, said Panasonic's director for consumer electronics, Paul Reid.
"But we have installed some in high-end luxury homes in Sydney," he said. "The trend is increasingly to larger screens. People want bigger and bigger all the time. There is a degree of one-upmanship."
The trend carries an environmental cost. Based on specifications for its smaller models, Panasonic's 261-centimetre screen could be consuming as much as 1.08 kilowatts of energy, estimated an energy expert at RMIT, Alan Pears. That compared with anywhere between 50 and 200 watts for an 80 centimetre conventional TV, he said.
Mr Pears said the range of energy consumption across brands, models and sizes made it hard for consumers to judge the efficiency of a particular TV. He called for energy labelling.
The larger plasma TV screens also came with speakers, further fuelling the energy bill, said Clare Donovan, of the Australian Conservation Foundation. She estimated that a 165-centimetre Panasonic plasma TV selling for about $15,000 would consume 280 watts,and 100 watts for each of the three speakers that came with it.
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