Panasonic to Intro 150-inch Plasma at CES

So, you think that new 50” flat panel you just got for Christmas is pretty big.

Think again.

Trumping the previous crown holder for largest HDTV, Panasonic is set to unveil 150 inches of plasma display at the 2008 Las Vegas CES.

• EngadgetHD: Panasonic showing a 150-inch plasma at CES?
• Gizmodo: 150-Inch Panasonic Plasma HDTV at CES

Word of the giant screen from Matsushita, the parent company of Panasonic, comes from a report in the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun.  Last year's show had Samsung and Sharp knocking heads at the 102” and 108” respectively.  The largest production HDTVs were 103 inches, which is now trumped by a nearly 50% wider screen.

To get an idea of just how big this screen really is, we will pull out the trusty calculator and compare this behemoth to more common TV sizes that people are more familiar.

Even the pixels at 1080 resolution would be pushing 1/16” verses 1/32” for a 73” HDTV.

So, what we have is a TV with a screen that is over six foot tall and nearly eleven feet wide.  With the frame included, don’t even consider this guy unless the room is at least 11’-6” wide.  Even then, it will barely fit, if at all.  Considering that residential doors are typically no more than 6’-10”, this may lead to some painful stooping to move this beast around. Remember, our numbers above are just the screen and do not include the surrounding frame dimensions.

Do you have 8’-0” ceilings?  No TV stand for you.

Also, consider beefing up the walls and floor joists before mounting this thing.  After looking at average weights for Panasonic plasma displays, the larger units hover around approximately 10 lb/sq ft.  This approximately 11’-0” by 6’-6” HDTV at 71.5 sq ft would then would weigh in at 715 lbs.

The prototype Panasonic with a 12’-6” diagonal would dwarf even the largest HDTVs commonly at retail.

So, what does a beast like this cost?

It is currently quite common to see up to 47” and 50” flat panel TVs at electronics specialty stores after which point flat panel prices skyrocket.  The cheapest 50” 1080p HDTVs we've seen have a retail ofless than $2000, but jump to 58” and the retail can quickly climb to over $4000. 65-inches may set you back more than $8000.

Those same stores commonly carry RPTVs in the 50“ to 73” range that will run as little as $1499.99 for a 50” 1080p HDTV and 65” and 73” 1080p HDTVs for $2221.99 and $3099.99 retail at Best Buy.

Plasma displays have been getting larger and the prices have been falling.  Just three years ago, Samsung introduced an 80” plasma display that was reported to cost $150k and earlier this year those 103” would cost anywhere from $70k to $100k.

So, what does a beast like this cost?

If you have to ask, you probably... no, you definitely can’t afford it.