Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Daewoo Electronics are planning to launch plasma display panel TVs with lead-free panels in 2007.

LGE schedules to introduce PDP TVs that use bismuth to replace lead in its high-end TV products in mid-2007 while Samsung will volume produce PDP TVs with bismuth before 2008, said the paper.

Panasonic, brand name of Matsushita Electric Industrial, announced in November it has eliminated lead in PDPs. Panasonic has launched a new PDP TV line up in Europe and the US that features non lead-free PDPs in spring 2006, according to a company press release.

Japan-based Hitachi also plans to stop using lead for its PDPs by mid-2007, starting with 50-inch models. Pioneer, meanwhile, has developed a technology for lead-free PDPs and plans to introduce new models featuring the technology, according to a recent report from Forbes, citing the Japanese-language Nihon Keizai Shimbun as saying.

According to the Korean-language Digital Times, although the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) legislation takes effect in the European Union (EU) from July 1, 2006, EU has decided to postpone the RoHS legislation effective time on PDP items until 2010, as the lead oxide material in PDPs is not easy to replace.