LG Electronics this week began using a so-called “8-up” processing method for producing plasma displays for HD and other TV monitors, thereby increasing efficiencies and costs by cutting eight plasma panels from each larger-size glass substrate. (Previous production methods had produced six panels per substrate.) In the end, it could mean lower prices for consumers.
Despite LCD technology enjoying a larger share of the HD set market in recent years, plasma growth is also projected by DisplaySearch and others to slowly but steadily increase in the next year or more. LGE said “to accommodate increasing demand for [plasma displays], LGE will maximize its production efficiency, especially in the second half of the year” as part of an ongoing campaign to streamline its production system.
The improved 8-up process will result in LGE growing its total capacity by more than 20 percent--climbing to about 440,000 panels monthly. At the same time, LGE is now in the process of closing some of its older, less efficient production lines.
