Plasma TVs are going away...does anybody care?

[poofyhairguy]

I apply to all of those categories, so yes, LED is really the only technology for me.

And that is what is great about technology if you have choices. The sad part is we are losing choice. I am glad a LED works for you and you have that option.

I have no kids, I almost never game, my wife loves privacy (so my house is dark), and I already blow way too much power every month on my two mediaservers to start feeling bad for Mother Nature about the TV I watch. I therefore am a prime candidate for plasma. Just sad I lose that option going forward...

 

[SickBeast]

And that is what is great about technology if you have choices. The sad part is we are losing choice. I am glad a LED works for you and you have that option.

I have no kids, I almost never game, my wife loves privacy (so my house is dark), and I already blow way too much power every month on my two mediaservers to start feeling bad for Mother Nature about the TV I watch. I therefore am a prime candidate for plasma. Just sad I lose that option going forward...

Well, the good news is that you will only be crying for a year or two until OLED becomes mainstream. :thumbsup:

 

[hawtdawg]

I'm sorry guys, but the pros of LED technology far outweigh the cons. The blacks aren't as good? Well, the whites are brighter. That is all that plasma really has on LED is the black level, and if you get a TV with a good VA panel you will be very happy with current LED technology IMO.

The power consumption is the real deal breaker though. If you add it up over the lifetime of the TV it will cost you big time. I'm currently saving about $60/year by switching from an LCD TV to an LED one. I would imagine that I would be saving about $100/year compared to a plasma. $500 after 5 years is not chump change.

low black level = better contrast. The brighter your LED is, the shittier darker scenes will look.

 

[hawtdawg]

Why would we care about plasma going away? Never seemed any better than LED/LCD anyway. I hear they don't work at elevation as well either though.

Ignorant statements like this are why plasma is going away.

 

[hawtdawg]

Unless you are in a dark room, an LED TV will look better.

No, a plasma will look better unless you're in a really really bright room, and even then, the motion will suck in comparison.

 

[tracerbullet]

I'm on the plasma bandwagon too, and also sad it'll be going away. I'm basically just waiting for one of the 64" Samsung's still available to go on sale. It'll go in my family room so the 50" Panasonic plasma currently there can move down to the basement. My mind's made up, my wife is on board with the TV type choice, I'm just waiting for a sale so she can be on board with the expense of it as well.

 

[Railgun]

I'm sorry guys, but the pros of LED technology far outweigh the cons. The blacks aren't as good? Well, the whites are brighter. That is all that plasma really has on LED is the black level, and if you get a TV with a good VA panel you will be very happy with current LED technology IMO.

The power consumption is the real deal breaker though. If you add it up over the lifetime of the TV it will cost you big time. I'm currently saving about $60/year by switching from an LCD TV to an LED one. I would imagine that I would be saving about $100/year compared to a plasma. $500 after 5 years is not chump change.

Color reproduction, contrast, motion blur (or lack thereof) have typically been wiping the floor with LCD. yep, lcd beats it in power consumption, but unless you're a 600 pound couch potato, who cares. $100/year is $8.33/mo. If that's an issue, watch less tv.

 

[tential]

Well, the good news is that you will only be crying for a year or two until OLED becomes mainstream. :thumbsup:

A long time to wait for an upgrade. Especially when 4K is here.

Depending on the performance of the 390X will decide how much I really want it. If that card does 4K gaming pretty well in Crossfire (60 fps on most games), then I'll be annoyed.

If it doesn't, who cares, won't use 4K without the graphics card to push it.

 

[Meghan54]

We've got a pair of Panasonics, a 50" and a 42". Also have one LED and one LCD. The plasmas are far and away the better TVs. Just no comparison, except for elec. use. But as with anything else, you want the best, you pay for it.

 

[SickBeast]

What about the fact that plasmas significantly degrade over time? Apparently they become very dim and some models exhibit pink "spots" on the screen.

As for picture quality, it really does vary quite a bit with LED TVs. IPS and VA panels each have their own pros and cons. If you're comparing an IPS LED TV to a plasma, then yes, the black level will look very bad in comparison. If you compare one with a good VA panel though, I think you will find the black levels very good.

A friend of mine has a large plasma and quite frankly I was never all that impressed with it. It looked about the same as my LED TV, perhaps better in some ways but worse in others.

 

[Railgun]

What about the fact that plasmas significantly degrade over time? Apparently they become very dim and some models exhibit pink "spots" on the screen.

What about it? You can't compare older plasma tech to newer. Four years so far and mine is still fantastic.

 

[Raincity]

Some people just don't understand the beauty of plasma tech and what its capable of.

 

[hawtdawg]

What about the fact that plasmas significantly degrade over time? Apparently they become very dim and some models exhibit pink "spots" on the screen.

Well, there's the whole part where this isn't true... Any plasma made in the last 5-6 years has been rated at a 100,000 hour brightness half-life, same as any LCD. That's like 10 years of watching tv 24/7 before your screen dims to half its brightness. As for the "pink splotches" this was an issue from 2011 model Panasonics, and it wasn't even noticeable in actual content, just if you had a solid white screen up. I have a 2011 model ST30 that exhibits this issue. You wouldn't notice it in a movie if you were actually looking for it. It was minor and only discussed because plasmas dont generally have any sort of uniformity issues of any kind. By comparison, i'd bet a paycheck that your LCD has backlight uniformity that is far worse by comparison. It was noticed mostly because plasma owners tend to be videophiles.

As for picture quality, it really does vary quite a bit with LED TVs. IPS and VA panels each have their own pros and cons. If you're comparing an IPS LED TV to a plasma, then yes, the black level will look very bad in comparison. If you compare one with a good VA panel though, I think you will find the black levels very good.

Not compared to a plasma. You can barely even tell my ST60 is turned on ,with a solid black screen in a completely dark room. the black is completely uniform as well. There is no situation where you would notice the black bars on a blu-ray movie. VA's have decent blacks in comparison to a typical shit IPS panel that can light a room with its black levels, but not in the scheme of things. VA panels also have bad viewing angles, and they still have the same motion issues as any other LCD.

A friend of mine has a large plasma and quite frankly I was never all that impressed with it. It looked about the same as my LED TV, perhaps better in some ways but worse in others.

All of my friends have LCD's and I'm not remotely impressed with any of them. The only ways in which any of them are better is that they get a little brighter (ST60 still gets brighter than you'd even want, can you say 20,000:1 real contrast ratio?). but that comes at the expense of black levels and is really only beneficial if you have your room lit up like an airport. Plasmas on the other hand, you can turn the contrast all the way up for a brighter picture, and your black level wont budge.

 

[SickBeast]

I don't doubt what you guys are saying, that plasma does have better picture quality overall compared to LED. What I find strange, though, is why everyone has stopped making them if they are indeed the better technology. They must cost too much to manufacture and they likely had to deal with too many warranty issues.

 

[Blanky]

Despite being into lots of tech toys personally, tvs have never been a huge interest. I've always bought the cheapest one i can get at a given size more or less. I assume most consumers are like this, so it sounds like that's why plasma has few followers.

I will say I've always noticed the motion blur any time any movie has any movement--particularly like a helicopter moving over a landscape or camera panning, the entire damn thing is blurry--never thought much on it but assumed we all suffered the same problem. Sounds like plasma people don't. Sometimes it's so bad I even turn away for a moment until the camera stops panning.

I do think curved tvs are stupid, though, and they are likely to be nothing but a fad for most people.

 

[poofyhairguy]

They must cost too much to manufacture

And they couldn't easily go 4k.

 

[hawtdawg]

I don't doubt what you guys are saying, that plasma does have better picture quality overall compared to LED. What I find strange, though, is why everyone has stopped making them if they are indeed the better technology. They must cost too much to manufacture and they likely had to deal with too many warranty issues.

No, the problem is that most people have no clue what they are talking about, example: this thread. That, and plasma's don't shine on a bright showroom floor, an environment that's many times brighter than anyone's living room, and unfortunately the environment that most people decide what TV they're going to buy.

Marketing and lack of general knowledge is why people didn't buy them, ask a random person about plasma and you'll hear stuff like "i heard they dont work well at high altitude"*cough* or "dont you have to refill them every so often?" or "i heard they get dim over time" *cough*. Plasma has always been plasma, LCD's got to be reborn as "LED", and due to the same ignorance, people think they have some knew superior display technology.

 

[Linflas]

Well, there's the whole part where this isn't true... Any plasma made in the last 5-6 years has been rated at a 100,000 hour brightness half-life, same as any LCD. That's like 10 years of watching tv 24/7 before your screen dims to half its brightness. As for the "pink splotches" this was an issue from 2011 model Panasonics, and it wasn't even noticeable in actual content, just if you had a solid white screen up. I have a 2011 model ST30 that exhibits this issue. You wouldn't notice it in a movie if you were actually looking for it. It was minor and only discussed because plasmas dont generally have any sort of uniformity issues of any kind. By comparison, i'd bet a paycheck that your LCD has backlight uniformity that is far worse by comparison. It was noticed mostly because plasma owners tend to be videophiles.


Not compared to a plasma. You can barely even tell my ST60 is turned on ,with a solid black screen in a completely dark room. the black is completely uniform as well. There is no situation where you would notice the black bars on a blu-ray movie. VA's have decent blacks in comparison to a typical shit IPS panel that can light a room with its black levels, but not in the scheme of things. VA panels also have bad viewing angles, and they still have the same motion issues as any other LCD.

All of my friends have LCD's and I'm not remotely impressed with any of them. The only ways in which any of them are better is that they get a little brighter (ST60 still gets brighter than you'd even want, can you say 20,000:1 real contrast ratio?). but that comes at the expense of black levels and is really only beneficial if you have your room lit up like an airport. Plasmas on the other hand, you can turn the contrast all the way up for a brighter picture, and your black level wont budge.

I have one of the Samsungs that has this issue and hawtdawg is correct. It is not at all noticeable until you are watching something like the closing screen of a Progressive commercial where it is an all white background with some text in the middle. Even that issue is fixable with a voltage adjustment or a firmware update.

 

[SickBeast]

No, the problem is that most people have no clue what they are talking about, example: this thread. That, and plasma's don't shine on a bright showroom floor, an environment that's many times brighter than anyone's living room, and unfortunately the environment that most people decide what TV they're going to buy.

Marketing and lack of general knowledge is why people didn't buy them, ask a random person about plasma and you'll hear stuff like "i heard they dont work well at high altitude"*cough* or "dont you have to refill them every so often?" or "i heard they get dim over time" *cough*. Plasma has always been plasma, LCD's got to be reborn as "LED", and due to the same ignorance, people think they have some knew superior display technology.

Well, from what I have read, Sony and Samsung have both abandoned OLED technology and they are focusing on improving LED TVs with quantum dot technology. LED TVs have come a long way and they are a lot better than LCDs. There is no denying that fact. You guys can minimize the burn in, dimming, and artifact issues that plasma has but the fact remains that those problems do exist on plasma and they do not happen with LED panels. If you're going to minimize those issues then we might as well disregard the black performance and motion blur issues that LED technology has.

I understand that you guys are fans of plasma technology but you also need to be more objective and try to understand that LED technology is at least 90% as good as plasma, and it comes with other benefits like a brighter screen that is more reliable and costs less to run.

If Sony and Samsung really think that LED can surpass OLED technology, then that tells you something.

OLED has burn in as well, and from what I've heard it's even worse than it was with plasma.

 

[Raincity]

Only the very top tier LED sets from Sony and Samsung can get anywhere near the 10% margin of a plasma tech and these sets currently cost a bundle of money. Also Sony and Samsung have not abandon OLED tech. Its still too cost prohibitive to produce panels at current consumer pricing. LG will probably be taking a big bath trying to get OLED to the consumers in the next couple of years. Pushing 4K LED on the consumer making them think their two year old active 3D panel is now obsolete is the current game plan.

 

[tential]

Well, from what I have read, Sony and Samsung have both abandoned OLED technology and they are focusing on improving LED TVs with quantum dot technology. LED TVs have come a long way and they are a lot better than LCDs. There is no denying that fact. You guys can minimize the burn in, dimming, and artifact issues that plasma has but the fact remains that those problems do exist on plasma and they do not happen with LED panels. If you're going to minimize those issues then we might as well disregard the black performance and motion blur issues that LED technology has.

I understand that you guys are fans of plasma technology but you also need to be more objective and try to understand that LED technology is at least 90% as good as plasma, and it comes with other benefits like a brighter screen that is more reliable and costs less to run.

If Sony and Samsung really think that LED can surpass OLED technology, then that tells you something.

OLED has burn in as well, and from what I've heard it's even worse than it was with plasma.

Are you sure you understand how this industry works? Because from your posts it seems your just doing quick Google searches and aren't really understanding why companies are doing what they're doing.

 

[Railgun]

No, the problem is that most people have no clue what they are talking about, example: this thread.

Case in point...

LED TVs have come a long way and they are a lot better than LCDs.

LED is LCD...

 

[SickBeast]

Different backlighting buddy.

 

[SickBeast]

Are you sure you understand how this industry works? Because from your posts it seems your just doing quick Google searches and aren't really understanding why companies are doing what they're doing.

Perhaps you can correct me or add something useful to the thread then if you see things differently. Otherwise you are just trolling and you know it.

As for the rest of you, you're really touchy. People point out the flaws in plasma technology and you get all out of sorts, resorting to personal attacks. News flash: plasma is dead because it is the inferior technology. No one wants a TV that suffers from burn in, consumes too much power, and becomes dim over time. These are deal breakers for most people. Who wants a TV where the whites look grey? I could go on and on.

If you want more fragile plasma-like technology, go run out and buy an OLED TV. Just don't come crying to me when your TV suffers from burn in and dies within a year.

 

[hawtdawg]

Different backlighting buddy.

and that's pretty much it. A typical LED TV is still pushing a whopping 1000:1 contrast ratio. My calibrated ST60 is 20,000:1 and can actually go a bit higher than that.