The Death Of Plasma TV/Buying Advice

[techfreak85]

So i saw this link to an article (http://newteevee.com/2009/02/21/pioneers-kuro-killing-a-tipping-point-in-the-plasma-era/) on yahoo about how plasma is (almost) dead. Whats the deal? I have been looking for a new HDTV. Would this new "downfall" of plasma present an opertune time for me to get one?:p
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
thanks:D

[Michael CM1]

I just got a Samsung 32" LCD 720p TV for $500 at Best Buy. You seriously can't beat that for a Samsung model.

I knew one person with a plasma model and he took it back because of how frickin' hot it was. It was probably a bad model, but I have heard many more bad stories about plasmas than LCDs. I'm also a huge fan of DLP when you get to about 50" or larger.

Stay away from plasmas. LCD and DLP seem to be the technologies that are going to stick around. Hunt around for deals, which are EVERYWHERE with sales being way down.

The overall deal just seems to be LCDs selling better. I have stuck with them since the technology has been around for much longer and seems to be good. Just make sure to stick with a decent brand when buying a TV. I recommend Samsung and Sony.

[gkarris]

Plasma screens easily burn-in plus LCD PQ is quickly catching up...

[AnthonyCM]

I don't know if this would be a good time for a deal on a plasma or not. I have an LCD (Samsung 750 series - and I love it), but there are some devoted plasma lovers out there. If anything, I can see them going out to get the latest, and last, model out there before they're gone for good.

And you'll hear a lot about burn-in, power hogs, etc. A lot of that is not as prevalent as it used to be. I'm no expert, though. I would suggest going to avsforum.com (http://avsforum.com) and getting a good feel for what's out there.

Good luck.

-anthony

[basesloaded190]

Plasma screens easily burn-in plus LCD PQ is quickly catching up...

Well speaking as someone who actually has both an LCD and Plasma i can disagree with you. LCD are cheap, yes. You can get a there are a ton of manufacturers out there selling cheap low quality LCD tvs. Great for people who don't care about PQ and all that. I will admit though that the high end LCD is getting darn near the quality of a plasma. Plasma still is going to give you a better picture quality with deeper blacks, and no need to worry about motion blur with plasmas either. Burn in isn't a problem any more. You have to be a real idiot (aka someone who leaves the TV on Pause for a whole day or more for something to happen).
Do i like My LCD or Plasma better? I would have to go with the plasma just because of the Deeper and better colors i can get.

[azdunerat]

That and you can pick up a 50 panasonic plasma for around 900.00 even 800 if you find the right sale. I will be upgrading to a 50 here sooner or later for my theater.

LCD has some huge pluses over plasma first is weight second is efficiency. Plasma tends to be very warm to damn near hot if you are near the screen while lcd's are cool. Power consumption is another, but for all that I will take a plasma over LCD all day long.

[wvuwhat]

It all depends on what you like. Plasmas tend to recreate movies better, while LCD's seem good for brightness. The average American tends to go for the brightest. With LCD prices dropping, it all is going against plasma. I could understand Pioneer getting out, no matter what plasma was doing, because they are amazing, but in this economy, not everyone wants to shell out 5K for a 60", although there are deals on the 5020 for under 2K, which I think is a bargain.

[johnnj]

My main TV is a Pioneer Elite Plasma 50". We also have a Sharp Aquos 42" wall mounted in the bedroom.

I have to say, the plasma BLOWS AWAY the LCD, at least these two models compared to each other. The natural quality of the color and the depth of the blacks are really like night and day between the two. The brightness of the LCD is also a bit too harsh for my eyes. When you crank the brightness down you start losing some of the detail/contrast and it gets a bit washed out.

I think that this article is right, that the wind is definitely blowing in the direction of LCD because of lower cost and good enough performance.

When we were shopping for the bedroom set I did look at the Samsungs. I think they probably were the best in terms of blacks, but (at least at the store default settings), the contrast and color was WAY overblown. Kind of reminded me of the Bose "trying to impress you with how such a small device can pump low frequencies by having the bass cranked up about 4 times too high" syndrome.

Hopefully the Elite will last forever, because by the time it'll be due for replacement I fear that there won't be anything better to replace it with. I wish I had the cash to buy the current equivalent Kuro, but you know... it's not the time for that what with the tiny little problem we like to call "the economy" and all.

John

[ibglowin]

Wow, never seen so much misinformation (on plasma) on a single page.

I have owned every type of flat screen out there in the last 5 years. RPLCD, LCD, and now Plasma. I picked up a 58" Panasonic back in November.

Plasma blows away any other technology out there as far as PQ. My 58" Panny is cool to the touch and whisper quiet.

Burn-in is a thing of the past on these sets. They have pixel shifting technology so that even if you did pause the TV and then walk away for a day with it on it would not burn in. They will also turn themselves off if they detect no signal so you don't have to worry about accidently leaving the TV on and everything else is off.

The colors (blacks included) are so accurate you would think you could reach out and touch the image. Jaggies in fast motion scenes are a thing of the past with a Plasma.

I have a 42" LCD and I am thinking about dumping it and picking up a 42" Panny Plasma for the bedroom as well.

That said, LCD's are better suited to gaming, do use less energy and do work better for rooms with very bright background light and room glare.

If PQ is your highest importance, Plasma is the way to go. If you can live with jaggies in fast motion, have a very bright room with lots of glare, do loads of gaming or want the set that uses the least amount of energy go LCD.

Plasma's are not going anywhere. Pioneer and Vizio are dropping out but Panasonic, Samsung, LG, Toshiba and Hitachi are still dedicated to this technology.

[obey908]

i didn't read the article but, companies are going to stop making plasmas because stores do not have the correct lighting/set ups to show the true beauty of plasmas and they feel they are wasting their time and would rather concentrate on lcd's. vizio has already stopped and pioneer is also

[rogersmj]

Plasma screens easily burn-in plus LCD PQ is quickly catching up...

No, they don't burn in any more and haven't for some time. Most LCDs pale in comparison to plasmas.

I'm so sick of misinfo about plasmas, but it seems it may be too late. That said, buy them while you can. I much prefer my plasma to my LCD, and just because they're a diminishing part of the market doesn't mean your set will stop working if they stop building plasmas.

[pilotError]

Pick up a Pioneer Kuro Plasma before they stop making them. Best investment you can ever make.

[scoobydoo99]

As an owner of a 42" Panasonic plasma, a 50" Samsung plasma (PN50A650), and a 37" Samsung LCD, I can provide my personal experience. As some have noted, there is no issue with "burn in" on Plasma anymore. That is a holdover from very early plasma technology that has long since been corrected. As for weight - why would anyone care? I mean, after I mount it on the wall I'm not going to be picking it up again, so (?) Same for heat - my plasmas don't seem to give off an inordinate amount of heat, but if you're standing close enough to feel heat from ANY TV, I'd say you're too close :)

Finally, as others noted, plasma picture quality is in a different league from LCD. The black levels and color accuracy cannot (currently) be matched or even approached by LCD. And motion artifacts on LCD are, in my opinion, TERRIBLE and a huge distraction - I could NEVER watch a movie on my LCD.

[mchalebk]

While many people state that burn-in/uneven phosphor wear is not a problem on modern plasma sets, that seems to be far from a consensus. I spent a great deal of time researching flat screen TVs last year. As a movie lover, the more natural colors, deeper blacks and better motion handling of plasma really appealed to me. However, as I did my research, it became clear that burn-in is still a huge topic of conversation in the plasma community and there are quite a few people who maintain that burn-in/uneven phosphor wear is still a problem.

Part of me really wanted to buy a plasma, but I watch a lot of 4:3 material and did not want to worry about uneven phosphor wear from the side bars (my CRT-based RPTV had this problem and I didn’t want to run into it again). After doing a ton of research, I finally posted in the Master Burn-in thread in the plasma forum at AVS. I asked if I needed to worry about burn-in if 30% of the material I watched was 4:3. I got many responses, most suggesting that I stretch 4:3 material (no, I won’t do that). Not a single person there suggested it would be okay to watch 4:3 material 30% of the time. The consensus seemed to be that plasma was not for me.

I’m not saying that burn-in is still an issue with plasma TVs, just that there is no general consensus that it’s not. Before someone buys a plasma set, they should do plenty of research and decide for themselves. Burn-in may or may not be an issue with plasma TVs any more, but there seems to be no consensus among plasma owners either way

In my case, it turns out that the new house we bought didn’t have a good place for a hang-on-the-wall TV (the reason I was researching flat screen models) and I ended up buying a DLP RPTV. Amazing picture, no burn-in worries, great motion handling, low price. If you don’t need a really thin TV, you should at least consider a DLP set. It is, no doubt, a dying technology (mush more so than plasma), but there are still great sets out there for really low (comparatively speaking) prices.

By the way, in my opinion, plasma is far from dead. Panasonic makes some really good plasma sets and Samsung has made big advances in recent years. There are many people who thinks Samsung’s plasma sets are as good as, or better than, Panasonic's. If you decide that a plasma set is the best choice for you, I wouldn’t worry that the technology might be dying (which I’m not convinced it is). I’d say get yourself a Panny or Sammy and be happy.

[techfreak85]

yes to answer the question, i do want picture quality over anything. thats why im wanting to get a new TV. Im just getting frustrated with my Hitachi RPTV. If its not bright enough, turn down the lights, and even then its not that big of a difference to me.

[danimals]

oh man. finally something on here i have a clue about. plasmas are, indeed, still better picture quality than lcd's. you should buy a plasma. if you are in the market for a 4k tv, than i would (as someone above suggested) think about buying one of the remaining high end pioneers before they're gone - people who know about this stuff think it could be sometime before anybody makes anything as good. if not, i'd suggest holding off a month or two for the new line up of panasonic plasmas - particularly the S1 and G10 lines, depending on your budget. these look to be pretty sweet tv's from what i've been reading. i'm thinking the S1 myself, which i'm hoping will be priced somewhere in the range of the current pz80 and 85u models. check out hd guru or cnet for more info on specs and release dates (or avsforum, which is, to me, the best resource for this stuff, but requires more proactive searching).

[Superman07]

Advice - buy a Panasonic plasma.

And as a matter of fact Pioneer will still produce their plasma line into 2010 before they stop all production.

[bruinsrme]

I ahve a panazonic and it is very nice.

I also had a NEC MP series and I have to say it was far superior to the panny. But there is a price premium.
the only draw back,not to me, it is a comeercial style tv.

[obey908]

like i said, the stores have played a major role in why plasma's aren't going to be made any more. i found the quote

"According to one of the founders of Vizio, plasmas don't sell as well as they should because TV sets are often displayed in well-lit stores, where LCDs have the edge."

buy yourself a plasma

[harry454]

Get a LCD tv thats pretty much whats good these days, plasmas are okay, but if your gaming = no

[thankins]

Get a LCD tv thats pretty much whats good these days, plasmas are okay, but if your gaming = no

I normally don't post but I had to here...you might want to research your information there. The most common LCDs on the market now are 60 hz which will have noticeable ghosting effects with sports and gaming. The newer 120 hz TVs don't have this issue but cost a little more and are not as common on the market now.

Also you will get darker blacks on plasmas which will in return make the gaming experience better with richer colors. I recently bought a 50 inch plasma last week and don't regret it at all.

[techfreak85]

Well im sold on a plasma now. :D so will the pioneers come down in price or go up from the lack of large scale production? and is it possible for me to get a 46 inch + or less than 1000?:eek:. if not what should i get that wont break my studentish bank?:p

[thankins]

Well im sold on a plasma now. :D so will the pioneers come down in price or go up from the lack of large scale production? and is it possible for me to get a 46 inch + or less than 1000?:eek:. if not what should i get that wont break my studentish bank?:p

I am sure I will get flamed for saying this but you should look at a 720p Plasma if you want something around 1000.00 if you are sitting more than 8+ feet away from it you will not notice a difference between a 1080p and a 720 p that has been calibrated properly. I found a 50 Panasonic plasma for 999.00 at my local Sams Club that was 720p. It is amazing and you would not be able to tell a difference.

[techfreak85]

I am sure I will get flamed for saying this but you should look at a 720p Plasma if you want something around 1000.00 if you are sitting more than 8+ feet away from it you will not notice a difference between a 1080p and a 720 p that has been calibrated properly. I found a 50 Panasonic plasma for 999.00 at my local Sams Club that was 720p. It is amazing and you would not be able to tell a difference.

Well im trying to get away from this Fake 720p/1080i HD that is my hitachi. and second of all i live in oregon were we dont have sams club, but we do have a cool local AV store called video only. a real store where they can cut deals and stuff..;)

[basesloaded190]

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Viera-TH-42PZ80U-1080p-Plasma/dp/B00142MUDS/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=audio-video&qid=1235539331&sr=1-6

Really can't beat that price for that TV. I was looking at that about 6 months ago and that was a $1500-$1600 TV. Seriously consider that.

[yeahhh]

Wow. As someone previously mentioned I continue to be blown away about the mis-information regarding plasmas. I work in the industry and actually distribute both LCD & Plasma TV's to all of the major retail chains. Not all chains are direct with the mfg's by the way.

I own both technologies..each has its purpose. As a main viewing TV for sports, movies and even regular TV...plasma is the way to go. One real advantage of the LCD is they are less reflective...so if your room has LOTS of direct sunlight an LCD might be the better case. My suggestion, get some blinds!

1) Plasmas are far superior in regards to image quality & motion.
2) LCD's have poor response times. Have you ever seen a plasma TV advertise the response rate? No, thats because its like .003ms. The best LCD's are 4ms! Also, LCD's talk about 60, 120 and now even 240htz. Do you know what plasmas are? 460htz!
3) Burn in?? Please. It is not impossible, but highly unlikely. You would have to leave the TV on with a static image for like 48hrs+ straight. I play video games on my 50" plasma all the time. No problems.
4) Cost. Not sure where anyone got the idea that LCD's are cheaper. Inch for inch a plasma is generally always less expensive than LCD. Compare any 50" plasma from Panasonic, Samsung or Pioneer with an equivalent size LCD and 9 out of 10 times the plasma will be less money.
5) Heat. Yes plasma runs a touch warm. But nowhere as warm as I have heard advertised. I can stand next to mine and dont really notice any "heat" coming off of it. Is it warm yes...but compared to my Yamaha amp..now that puts out some heat.
6) Energy. Yes plasmas draw more power. However, each new generation of plasma has dramatically decreased the power consumption. In fact the next generation of Panasonic plasmas draw as much power as current model LCD's from Sharp. Also, for you eco freaks out there. Plasma TV's from Panasonic (not sure about the others off the top of my head) contain ZERO lead or mercury. LCD's can not claim that.

Man, I must sound like a plasma homer. I'm really not, I just get going when I hear the trash about plasma. Again, I do own a couple of LCD's, they are just not my main viewing TV's.

For those that remember the Beta vs. VHS days. Remember which was the better technology?? Beta was. Which format won? VHS. The superior technology does not always win the battle.

Lastly, as a previous poster mentioned. 720p is AWESOME when connected properly and viewing HD content..even blu-ray. If you are sitting 8 to 10 feet away you will never be able to tell the difference between 720p or 1080p. I see them all the time side by side. It is extremely difficult to tell the difference even close up. When you get back to a normal viewing distance it is next to impossible. Also, have you ever considered what is available in 1080p? The only programing available in 1080p is blu ray DVD. The current cable or even satellite providers do not have enough bandwidth to broadcast 1080p. If you're going larger than 50" I might consider 1080p more...but again...You can only take advantage of that with blu ray DVD's. 720p content displayed on a 1080p panel is exactly the same as 720p content displayed on a 720p panel.

[chris7777]

I am by no means an expert, as I am still debating on a set myself, but my parents had an issue with a vertical line on their 32" LG LCD, they bought last jan. Well they took it under warranty in Dec, and upgraded for less to a 42" plasma also LG . And If I cant find a better deal for $600 myself I may get one.

I went with them to keep them from getting took, at brandsmart. and I don't know what the deal was, but they had the unit they bought, a 720 plasma, next to a 40" 1080i pioneer lcd, both connected to a blueray of iron man. and the title screen looked sharper than the pioneer. I even tried to adjust the settings and unless there was something else going on, the plasma kicked its tail.

I didn't intend to influence them like that, but my questions to the sales rep got them hooked.

The more I see it the more I like it myself, but I am so cheap, I am trying to wait it out a bit more, but if they are being phased out, I would definitely buy on clearance, myself. Right now it is my gold standard on price and performance, If I cant find a better deal, when I get ready to buy, I'll just get one myself., but this is opinion. I still do not like the lack of a hard standard for resolution, especially given the "mandate" that has already been pushed back. I also put fourth that both their set, and the set they gave my daughter (19" sharp) both had failures in less than a year, so I am still gunshy about buying, at least w/o a warantee of some sort.

[danimals]

agree w/ the comments regarding 720p. unless you're sitting close to a big tv, you're not going to be able to tell the difference - of course, in your heart of hearts you'll always know. but if you're planning on using the tv as a computer monitor than i think the extra-res of 1080p (1920x1080) could be useful. and if you're planning on watching 1080p content (bluray or otherwise) up close, than 1080p would make sense. there are seating charts around the intertubes that help determine if you'll be able to tell the difference btwn 720 and 1080p based on screen size and viewing distance.

regarding the future price of current pioneers - i don't think they'll be moving much. given your budget, i think you should limit your selection to panasonics, particularly the current pz/px/80U/85U models, or the upcoming S1 and X1 lines (the latter of which looks to have just hit the shelves).

[phrehdd]

So i saw this link to an article (http://newteevee.com/2009/02/21/pioneers-kuro-killing-a-tipping-point-in-the-plasma-era/) on yahoo about how plasma is (almost) dead. Whats the deal? I have been looking for a new HDTV. Would this new "downfall" of plasma present an opertune time for me to get one?:p
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
thanks:D

There are several good posts here and I can only throw peanuts in this gallery...

I have a 720p LCD 37" , 1080p Plasma 50" and various computer monitors including a Wacom Cinteq for my work.

Being rather sensitive to images, I can tell you that it really depends on what you are watching. Candidly, the size as well matters.

If you want to watch mostly hi def movies (Blu Ray and the late HD DVD) then Plasma hands down will give you truly the best image you can get. If you are watching just television with the squashed mutilated HD, then a good LCD should suffice. As for size - plasma owners will tell you <GRIN> that "bigger is better" and there is some truth to that if* you are watching something from a quality source as mentioned above.

Things to consider

Upscaling - if you watch DVD's you may have a choice between your DVD player upscaling (if you have one that does it) and possibly the TV itself. Some LCDs do a fair job and so do not. Nearly all Plasmas tend to do an excellent job from Samsung, Pioneer and Panasonic.

Blu Ray - Assuming you get a plasma I would suggest a Panasonic even though I own a Pioneer Kuro (not the Elite model). Seems that from time to time Pioneers have a "hum" and that is discussed in multiple sites related to AV equipment. My screen has this hum and its something I find unforgivable though the image is outstanding. If you opt for an LCD, it gets tricky as you will give up some of delicate values found in plasma screens but, at times it does look a bit sharper (depending on the particular blu ray).

Size - if you are buying a screen under 40" you pretty much are going to have to get an LCD. The choices of LCD's are staggering. I don't find Sony's top of the line LCDs to be worth the asking price. Samsung's line and pricing seems a bit more in order if you go with their 550 or 650 models. The 4000 series Sony is an excellent screen and while not their top model...its fair priced.

Probably the most overlooked item is power. It would be wise to make sure you provide reasonably clean power to either LCD or plasma. A typical power strip is not a good choice but then again you don't need to spend hundreds of dollars either. Fair units (skip Monster for being over priced like crazy) and check into some of the APS units, Furman, and others. Some folks swear they see the difference. I have yet to see a difference but then again, having gone thru a power outage with three false returns of powers (rapid on of on off on off)...I felt a bit more secure.

Bottom line for me - I watch more cable shows/Tivo on the 37" LCD and all of the DVD and Blu Ray on the 50" plasma.

Last mention - lots of great deals over the net. The real caveat is when you get an item that appears okay then either something happens or you notice a flaw days later. It is not an easy thing to deal with as opposed to a local store such as BB.

Enjoy.

- Phrehdd