Samsung is to stop producing plasma televisions (PDP TVs) by 30 November.

It said falling demand meant it would instead focus on producing curved and ultra-high-definition (UHD) TVs.

"We remain committed to providing consumers with products that meet their need," Samsung told the CNET website.

Panasonic, Sony, Hitachi and Pioneer have also pulled out of the sector in recent years. And, according to the Tech Radar website, LG is expected to follow suit soon.

Plasma screens, which use electrically charged ionised gases, are often applauded for their brightness, deep blacks, and high frame rates, considered ideal for watching sport and films.

But they tend to use more electricity and are considerably bulkier than the now more popular liquid-crystal display (LCD) and light-emitting diode (LED) TVs.

Stylish tellies

TrustedReviews website editor Evan Kypreos said: "It's not at all surprising that Samsung has dumped plasma.

"The main issue is that it's very tricky to make [UHD] plasmas, and [UHD] is the future of big TVs.

"While plasma is a lot better than LED/LCD TVs in terms of image quality, such as contrast ratio, and motion handling, it has a few drawbacks.

"Plasma TVs can't be made a thin as LEDs, for example. People like stylish tellies."

With the introduction of increasingly advanced organic LED TVs, which arguably have better black levels, brightness and colour gamut than plasmas, there was little reason to continue manufacturing plasma screens, Mr Kypreos said.

"Home-cinema connoisseurs will always have a soft spot for plasmas, but they have simply been technologically superseded," he said.