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If Plasma is superior to LCD, and cheaper, why is it not selling well?

D

Dari

Lifer
This is a serious question and I'm hoping I can get a serious answer. I don't understand why plasma is not as successful as LCD/LEDs. I mean, anyone that goes into a Best Buy or other electronic shop and look at the LCDs on display can see that a lot of what's showing looks like some type of post-production edit. The quality is incomparable to plasma but somehow people are buying these screens. It would make sense if they were cheaper per size but they're not. So, what gives?
 
When compared side by side in the shop, LCD screens invariably display sharper images (and often more saturated colour). Plasmas in comparison look soft and washed out.

The typical consumer won't know much about the LCD vs Plasma arguments and will go for the sharper-looking display. Manufacturers are also pumping their R&D and advertising funds into LCD, rather than Plasma.
 
People want cheap and big, just like their crappy computer monitors. It's more important that their screen is a sexy 1/2" thick rather than have a better image quality. They can't grasp that you don't watch tv from the side. Duh.
 
Not sure I can add much more.

Plasmas ARE thicker AND heavier. I think my G25 is something like 75lb with just the TV and the VESA mount on it. A matching LCD would be 30lb. Beyond that, burn in myths and power consumption. My 50" 2010 plasma consumed less power than a 32" 2008 sony LCD though.

Also, glare. Most plasma have no matte finish, like CRTs they're just glass. But plasmas were designed to replace CRTs, and in so doing behave very similar to them - something they did well. I think plasmas will continue to exist in some form for years to come, because enough people do care about PQ.
 
bigboxes said:
People want cheap and big, just like their crappy computer monitors. It's more important that their screen is a sexy 1/2" thick rather than have a better image quality. They can't grasp that you don't watch tv from the side. Duh.
Click to expand...

On that same point I see countless "the viewing angle sucks" comments. So...
 
side by side, the consumer will pick the brighter, more exaggerated image. In store the majority of people are fooled by meaningless marketing gimmicks, fancy specs, and want to buy the the latest and greatest regardless of PQ.

the fact that people really think they are buying an LED display, and not an LCD display just shows how ignorant the masses are. it basically boils down to stupid consumers....
 
A few things:
1) Plasmas start at 42", which already negates part of the market.
2) History of burn-in/image retention.
3) Thicker and heavier
4) Use more power
5) "Torch mode" on LCDs make them more pleasing to the eye in a store.
6) The greatest advantage of plasmas, black level, is hard to demo in most stores where there are bright lights everywhere.
7) Paradoxically, most people think the more expensive TV is automatically the better one.
 
Zivic said:
side by side, the consumer will pick the brighter, more exaggerated image. In store the majority of people are fooled by meaningless marketing gimmicks, fancy specs, and want to buy the the latest and greatest regardless of PQ.

the fact that people really think they are buying an LED display, and not an LCD display just shows how ignorant the masses are. it basically boils down to stupid consumers....
Click to expand...

I wouldn't call customers stupid, I'd call them uneducated. There is no place for an average customer to intelligently compare a plasma and LED LCD TV side-by-side, certainly not in a Best Buy. Ideally, you'd want to check out a TV in a dark room and properly calibrated, and that doesn't exist in a store.
 
dagamer34 said:
A few things:
1) Plasmas start at 42", which already negates part of the market.
2) History of burn-in/image retention.
3) Thicker and heavier
4) Use more power
5) "Torch mode" on LCDs make them more pleasing to the eye in a store.
6) The greatest advantage of plasmas, black level, is hard to demo in most stores where there are bright lights everywhere.
7) Paradoxically, most people think the more expensive TV is automatically the better one.
Click to expand...

Torch mode is the worst. First thing you must do to a plasma is turn down brightness and contrast. Second is a break in DVD if you care enough. But yes, black levels ARE hard to demo. When I got my plasma home, closed the curtains and put in planet earth in HD, I remember just being amazed by the black levels and the clarity. I look at LCDs and compare and it's awful - but in a well lit store, that's a hard comparison.
 
Sales people are to blame, as well... I went in to a dedicated TV store to buy a new one few weeks ago, and the first thing that two different sales people took me to is a Samsung LCD. Even after telling them that I wasn't interested in Samsung, and that I wanted to look at plasmas, they still brought me back to the Samsungs.

I found a Panasonic 65" Plasma stuck back in the corner (and ended up bringing it home), but they never voluntarily showed me any plasma models.
 
Its ok, OLEDs will hopefully squash LCD out soon.

Now that's going to be some hilarious marketing. "Wait, don't we already have an LED TV? What's the difference?"
"The "O" factor!"
Or maybe they'll go with the organic approach. "Don't you know what they do to those poor LEDs? Only go for the free range certified organic LEDs!"
 
until you can get a 50 inch OLED TV for 1500$ they are not going to squash anything

and they wont hit that price anytime soon, considering you cant really even but the 10000$ 55inch ones yet
 
I thought plasmas had a limited life to them set by the design of the screen?

This is why I never bought one, besides the old burn in issues.
 
I think it's the poor rep they got at the start, torch making LCD's "look better" in stores, and idiot sales people. Saw and article yesterday that Panny is going to stop plasma production in the next couple of years. I love my Panny plasma and have no desire for an LCD.
 
jaqie said:
I thought plasmas had a limited life to them set by the design of the screen?

This is why I never bought one, besides the old burn in issues.
Click to expand...

everything has a limited life, most plasmas are 100,000 hours to half life,
 
I know everything has a limited life. What I can't stand is things which are unnecessarily designed with a hard limit to their life. I avoid SSDs, memory sticks, CDRW DVDRW, et cetra for the same reason when I can.
 
jaqie said:
I thought plasmas had a limited life to them set by the design of the screen?

This is why I never bought one, besides the old burn in issues.
Click to expand...

the panel will likely outlast the back lighting used in an LCD panel. Longevity is more than acceptable in both technologies.
 
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