Color TV Market in 2014: Accelerated Popularization of 4K Ultra High Definition Television

At the beginning of 2013, domestically produced TV brands took the lead in launching 4K ultra-high definition television with a resolution of up to 3840X2160, which is 4 times the resolution of 1080P full HDTV. At the beginning of the listing, the price was high, more than 100,000 yuan. In less than a year, prices quickly fell. At the end of last year, the price of the 55-inch large-screen 4K TV had dropped to around 10,000 yuan. By the end of this year, the price has dropped to around 5,000 yuan. 42-inch 4K TV, double 11 promotional prices, has dropped to 2,700 yuan to 3,300 yuan, fell by 30% than 51.

The new products released by TV companies in the first half of this year were mostly based on 4K TVs, including Skyworth, Hisense, TCL, Konka, Changhong, Samsung, and LG. All of them were based on last year and launched a new generation of 4K TV products. The new 4K TV not only has a better picture quality, but also has a significant drop in price, creating a convenient condition for the popularity of 4K TV. Last year, the domestic market 4K TV sales 900,000 units this year is expected to reach 10 million units.

At present, 4K TVs still face problems such as lack of film sources and difficulty in popularizing 4K TV signals. Most of the 4K TVs purchased by consumers are used to watch regular full-HD TV programs, or they can watch 4K on their own. However, many televisions have increased the ability to watch 4K online.

Plasma TV curtain call

In November, Sichuan Changhong, the world’s last plasma TV manufacturer, announced that it would peel off its plasma business. Since then, global plasma TVs have been announced.

Ten years ago, plasma TVs took advantage of the advantages of clear display, high contrast, and no smearing on the dynamic screen. The industry has generally believed that "outsiders buy LCDs and insiders buy plasmas." However, Panasonic, Hitachi and other giants have monopolized the plasma technology and upstream panel resources. The entire industry chain completely refuses to openly share with other manufacturers, resulting in more TV companies and only LCD TVs.

Driven by the huge market demand, liquid crystal display technology has achieved rapid development. The display of color, viewing angle, and response time have made great strides. LCD TVs have finally beaten plasma TVs. It can be said that the plasma alliance led by Japanese companies has personally broken their own future.

Laser TV debut

Although it is now dominated by LCD TVs, new technologies are already sprouting. In September, Hisense launched the world's first 100-inch laser theater system, which is priced at 1/10 of the same-size LCD TV.

Hisense's self-developed laser theater, which took seven years to develop, is somewhat projective in appearance, but due to its ultra-short focus technology, it requires no lifting and only requires a space less than 0.5 meters from the wall to project 100 inches. The above screen makes it possible to enter a large screen display into a room of 15 square meters.

Laser TV controls the three-color laser scanning image through TV signals. Compared with ordinary LED TVs, the picture presented is higher and the colors are more vivid. It is equipped with a passive, moderate-gain reflective screen that can perfectly display full-HD pictures. Quality, real and natural, long-term viewing is not dazzling.

Previously, Samsung, LG and other foreign brands have published similar laser television products, but they are only displayed as concept products.

Ultra-thin, thinner than iPhone6

Despite the increasing size of color TVs, they have not become bloated because flat-panel technology is increasingly becoming lighter and thinner, and it is even more daunting than mobile phones.

In December, Konka, which adhered to the "SLED" product strategy, introduced SLED's second-generation ultra-thin light new televisions, including two new TVs, the Easy TV Slim2 and the Easy TV4K OLED organic television.

Easy TV · Slim2, using LGD4 color 4K hard screen, ultra-thin light technology, no border design, thickness of only 7.5 mm, compared to the previous generation TV · Slim, full thin 43%, thinner than the iPhone6Plus 7.78 mm 0.28 mm is expected to create the Guinness record for the thinnest LED TV. In terms of weight, the 49-inch Easy TV Slim2 weighs less than 13.5 kilograms, which is 30% lighter than conventional LCD TVs.

At the same time, Konka released the first 4K OLED organic TV with self-illumination technology. The ultra-thin body is only 5.44 mm thick and 1.2 mm thinner than the i-Phone 6.

As the TV screen became thinner and lighter, curved TVs began to appear. Samsung, LG, Konka, and Hisense have launched curved TVs this year.

Smart, Transformation Internet

Mobile Internet terminals such as smart phones and tablet PCs are rapidly eroding the TV market. This year, domestic color TV companies have significantly accelerated the pace of Internet transition. They have aligned with Tencent, Ali, iQIYI, Youku Tudou, etc., and launched smart Internet TV, focusing on core applications such as video, entertainment, games, and education. TCL even launched the industry’s first TV that actually connected to WeChat, bringing a whole new human-computer interaction and interpersonal social experience.

It is expected that in 2014, smart TV sales will reach 35 million units, accounting for nearly 80% of the entire color TV market.

However, from June to September, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has “continued heavy efforts” to rectify Internet TV boxes. Even so, the huge living room market will still attract a large number of Internet TV manufacturers to follow suit.