The Plasma Coalition sent out the following press release providing their take on the latest trends in flat panel._Dale Cripps

New York, NY, December 18, 2007 - As another record breaking year for television sales comes to a close, one thing is certain -- flat panel displays are the clear consumer choice, with Plasma HDTV sets dominating the 50-inch and larger category. Plasma sales are accelerating from the introduction of Full HD in screen sizes ranging from 42- to 71-inches, and it is expected that the 21 percent growth achieved in the third quarter of 2007 will continue. To keep up with increasing demand, members of the Plasma Display Coalition expect to have produced more than 15 million plasma panels and displays worldwide this year.

Reinforcing their commitment to plasma, the four premiere television manufacturers who make up the coalition - Hitachi, LG Electronics, Panasonic and Pioneer - continue to expand the manufacturing of plasma panels and displays at their respective facilities, which total 20 locations in Japan, Korea, China, Poland and Mexico.

With an eye towards the future, each manufacturer has made substantial investments to ensure consumer demand for their products can be satisfied. In fact, in the past two years, these four companies have invested in total over one billion dollars to expand capacity and improve efficiencies.

"Plasma is an evolving technology and while it is the best technology on the market for the large screen home entertainment experience, our industry strives for continued innovation," said Jim Palumbo, President, Plasma Display Coalition. "The investments that PDC members are making in manufacturing will continue to propel this display technology forward."

The investments made have already resulted in the introduction of more than two dozen Full HDTV 1920 x 1080 plasma sets, which allow consumers to take full advantage of Blu-ray disc or HD DVD movies. Additionally, improvements have been achieved in resolution, brightness, contrast, and reduced power consumption as well as cost efficiencies to develop and deliver the highest quality home entertainment products with the greatest value.

"Consumers are embracing plasma HDTV in record numbers," commented Palumbo. "They recognize the home entertainment experience that plasma delivers with outstanding picture quality and color reproduction, very high contrast and deep black levels, wide viewing angles, and rapid response time resulting in the best display of motion scenes," he added.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the Plasma Display Coalition
The Plasma Display Coalition was formed to promote the growth of Plasma TV in the United States as well as encourage the understanding of the benefits and future potential of Plasma TV. Founding members are Hitachi Home Electronics, LG Electronics USA, Panasonic Corporation of North America, Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.