70:1 and Still Awesome

It actually started in the ’60s. The technology that eventually became the world's first big screen flat-panel TVs started life as small computer displays—monochromatic computer displays. Like any technology, development continued, and in the mid-’90s several companies started showcasing real, full-color, flat-panel plasma TVs. Fujitsu takes credit for the first available plasma TV, but most consumers will remember the Philips.

The commercials were unforgettable.

A trio of hip 20-somethings moving into a tiny house on stilts. Their cool retro car rolls up, and they have a problem. No furniture, no TV and just this tiny space to fit it all.

So they head back out and get a hip sofa. Then they measure with their arms how big the TV needs to be, and a quick cut reveals them jogging up the stairs with an impossibly thin TV. They toss it on the wall and...

Hold it. Back up.

First of all, that house is ridiculous, but whatever. I've lifted a first-generation plasma, and I can tell you, you're not jogging up any stairs with one of those things. For that matter, hanging a brand new flat panel on a wall and having it work is still science fiction today. Even if you overlook the power cable, where's the signal coming from? Wireless HD is still not readily available.

But that’s right: They weren't HD. The first plasmas were 852 by 480, a resolution known to most as the same as just about nothing (you know, 16x9). Though it didn't matter, as trying to find a decent source was near impossible.

You have to remember, this was 1997. DVD had just launched and HDTV was still years away from wide reception. So these futuristic TVs had to just display NTSC, usually stretched.

And this leads to the real secret of early plasmas: They looked horrible. Fujitsu, in an early press release of their technology, proudly stated a contrast ratio of 70:1—and that’s not a typo. The second generation was much better: 400:1.

Oh, and they cost more than your car.

But it didn't matter. Public demand was near instantaneous and rabid. There was no denying this was the TV of the future, and everyone wanted one.

Thankfully, they got better. It took between six and seven years, but eventually the cost came down and picture quality went up. Products like Pioneer's KURO or the 10 Best–winning G10 series from Panasonic showed the heights that plasma TVs could reach.

Plasma’s demand gave rise to current sales juggernaut, LCD. Within a few years, we'll see even thinner sets and new technologies like OLED and others. TVs will get thinner, lighter, better, cheaper and it's all thanks to the Plasmavision 42/FlatTV.

That, and the 30-plus years of research that led up to them.

Today Fujitsu is no longer in the flat-panel business. Philips has effectively left the U.S. market, selling the rights to their name in North America to the Japanese company Funai. But their work was done. They started a revolution in TV design that was equal parts sci-fi, style and object of desire. It was a long time coming, but now it's hard to imagine a CE world without flat.

PRICE NEW: $14,999 (but free installation!)
LEGACY: The TV of the future, though the rest of us had to wait a few years to be able to afford one.