The Hindu Business Line : It’s not end of the road for CRT TVs

In 2011, China would have sold more flat panel TVs (including plasmas and LCD TVs) than tube-based TVs. India last year saw LCD TV prices falling by up to 65 per cent to hover at Rs 40,000-a-set levels.

As markets get flooded with swanky flat panel TVs, is their rugged ancestor, the cathode ray tube (CRT) TV, going to perish?

No, not if companies spend some time tinkering with the idiot box, says an article by Mr Satish Kaura, Chairman, Samtel Group, published in the February issue of CETMA News, a journal of Consumer Electronics and TV Manufacturers Association.

For starters, CRT TV manufacturers can look at shedding the flab (doing away with the box) and opt for a slim or ultra slim outlook. Few Chinese companies and others like Samsung and LG have demonstrated success in launching such models of CRT TVs in recent years.

Currently, about 15 per cent of all tube-based TVs in China are slim or ultra slim models, sold at a 40 to 50 per cent premium over regular CRT TVs. The Chinese government is, in fact, looking at reducing VAT on these TVs so as to make them affordable for rural households, the article says.

India is not very different in this matter. Both countries do not have LCD fabs or technology for large scale-low cost manufacture of LCD TVs. TV buyers in both countries only care about how the display looks — size, clarity, strain on eye—and not about what goes into the TV.

Therefore the sleeker the TV, the more attractive it is to be housed in an apartment, which explains why the slim models have been a success.

Did you know that a 20-inch LCD screen displays much smaller picture sizes than a 20-inch CRT TV?

This means if one has been watching a 20-inch CRT, he would have to buy a 25/26-inch LCD paying at least twice as much to get equivalent picture size. This is a strong signal to CRT TV makers to look at value additions to their modest-looking models.

Besides going slim, the article says companies could look at introducing features such as an in-built set top box or better audio.

If produced in large quantities, in about three years’ time, one could see the prices of regular and ultra slim tube TVs would be the same, Mr Kaura says in the article.

That being the case, a majority of India’s population can be expected to opt for the CRT range and not LCD or plasma TVs.

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