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

[Scarpozzi]

I searched for another thread about this, but didn't see one. I know Panasonic stated they'd stop selling their Plasma lines earlier this year (by March 2014), but heard the other day that LG and Samsung are both ditching their manufacturing of Plasmas. I've been happy with my TVs, so I've not paid much attention to the industry and what's going on.

I've got 2 Panasonic screens in my home and they are excellent. There's simply no comparison for the refresh rate and clarity in scrolling.

I'm a huge football fan and I went to HH Gregg when I bought my first flat screen:
I studied many of the models and found a plasma next to a LCD. Aside from the LCD being much brighter, it was very lackluster in clarity and everything else that mattered at the time. I read up on the QC of the models and Panasonic Plasma was a clear choice.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/07/plasma-tv-is-dead-so-go-buy-one/index.htm

It makes me want to go stock up if I'm able to find any year old units on the market, but a small part of me hopes the industry rolls back the other way if they don't avoid the manufacturing of plasma for the sheer energy savings. I'm assuming the curved 4k screens are going to reign supreme until the next best thing comes out.

 

[DownTheSky]

Yes. I've bought an LCD-TV a few months ago and not a day passes w/o regretting my decision. While during the day the image is spectacular, watching movies at night is simply unbearable. While I kinda got used to it, I will never get around the black not being pitch black. It's not the best LCD (Panasonic 32" E6E IPS) but not the worst either. When I bought it I thought it was something wrong with my TV, but after seeing more models at night (VA panel etc) I knew the problem is general (tons of models had way worse blacks than my tv, and a few better. LGs are horrendous).

This together with the motion problems make LCDs a big FU to consumers.

 

[gorb]

It's defintely a bummer.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Basically the second the last F8500 gets sold we enter a dark age of television for videophiles. Yet another example of inferior technology winning.

I was really upset about this a year ago, but now I have accepted it. I pretty much forced every family member and friend that would even consider buying a TV the next few years to jump the gun and get one of the last Samsungs. I have three plasma myself, I can get through it. It is all those future TV buyers I feel sad for.

The real sad part isn't that plasma is dead, its that these damn companies are trying to kill OLED too because some of them don't have any development/advantage in that area. If five years from now every set on the market is LED/LCD than the loss of plasma will be even bigger than we can imagine today.

 

[tential]

Basically the second the last F8500 gets sold we enter a dark age of television for videophiles. Yet another example of inferior technology winning.

I was really upset about this a year ago, but now I have accepted it. I pretty much forced every family member and friend that would even consider buying a TV the next few years to jump the gun and get one of the last Samsungs. I have three plasma myself, I can get through it. It is all those future TV buyers I feel sad for.

The real sad part isn't that plasma is dead, its that these damn companies are trying to kill OLED too because some of them don't have any development/advantage in that area. If five years from now every set on the market is LED/LCD than the loss of plasma will be even bigger than we can imagine today.

OLED is still bright though if I'm not mistaken? So at least it won't have the same showroom disadvantage plasma had.
Still, companies are trying their best to kill it.
4K OLED 80 inch screen....

I can only dream about the blacklevels/PQ

Edit: Also OLED has gotten some good press as of late and it looks good in a showroom. 4K has the "numbers" advantage which sadly matters a lot. 4k>1080p so many consumers will automatically think it's 4 times better at a minimum. Hopefully consumers use their head and actually look at PQ between sets before making a decision.
Chances are whoever markets and throws more money at the situation wins but we can hope.
Edit2: Another thing that sounds promising though is Samsung is investing in OLED. Not OLED panels but the tech on phones at least so they will have OLED experience. Even when 4K becomes the standard, OLED eventually will be adopted (or some superior tech) as Samsung and other companies can't compete with 4K OLED with 4K LED screens. So the way I see it, OLED has a much better chance than Plasma.

Edit3:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnarc...-explains-how-its-making-oled-tvs-affordable/
Some more reading on OLED yield rates/production increase. 10% in 2012 to 70% in 2015 with a massive increase in product numbers means we might see a lot more OLED screens in show rooms. It all depends on the content shown in the showroom and the salesmen afterthat. I actually was recommended Plasma at bestbuy when I went there so it seems that there might actually be good showroom guys there that will recommend the best PQ quality screens and will be willing to point out why you should get them. OLED will be a much easier sell than Plasma.
I still went with LED though, no Plasma was 70+ Inches

 

[Riverhound777]

I'll just keep hugging my Pioneer KRP-500M until these come down in price.
http://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-65EC9700-oled-tv?cmpid=sem|he|tvao_2014campaign|google|br|4koled

 

[tential]

I hope the 77 inch models hit below $3000. I can't purchase something less than 70 inches. Even going less than 80 is going to make me sad after using an 80 inch screen daily.

 

[cyclistca]

These are dark days. I started the what new in TV thread. Not much of a selection for those of us that are looking for a good quality picture. Either you have to find store that still has a stock of plasma TV or you need to wait a few years until OLED is more established.

The stupid things about plasma is shoot outs are still marking it ahead of LED yet manufacturer are killing it anyway.

Well I need to make a decision soon on plasma as there is not much of a selection in my area.

 

[slag]

I have two plasma tvs in the house. I like the PQ on the 50 inch panasonic plasma over the fireplace much better than the dlp tv in the basement, but for sheer size, the dlp can't be beat. I also have a 60 inch panny 3d with a bad screen I picked up for free. Just waiting a few more years for people to start ditching theirs because of a bum power supply and I'll snatch it up and have a nice 60 inch plasma. We also have a 42 samsung plasma in the bedroom and you can feel the heat generating off it when you walk by it.

 

[poofyhairguy]

OLED is still bright though if I'm not mistaken? So at least it won't have the same showroom disadvantage plasma had.

Agreed, but it will still have to fight marketing FUD from companies that would prefer to crank out cheap to make LED panels.

Edit2: Another thing that sounds promising though is Samsung is investing in OLED.

Yeah, them and LG are the hope.

The problem is that tvs are going the way of computers. CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP sells and quality doesn't. People want to know the bottom line price for how many inches, which is LED's ballgame. Look at black friday- used to be a good time to get a deal on a good TV. Now its "how many crappy sets that were made specifically for black friday can people kill each over for $200?" There might not be a market for a "luxury" television, outside of some branding win like Apple sticks its logo on someone else's set.

MAYBE Samsung and LG can sell people on premium prices for premium tvs, but everyone who has tried to do that previously (Sharp, Panasonic, Pioneer) failed. OLEDs aren't a sure thing, especially if they can't get to 4K soon.

What IS a sure thing is each year the market will get flooded with more and more cheap no-name 4K LED tvs and all the margin for the bigger brands will go away. If OLED can't get to 4K and cheap within a few years they will face a market that is saturated with cheap 4k LED tvs, and little motivation for many to upgrade for another five-ten years.

OLED's hope is that, unlike plasma, it beats (or will beat) LED on EVERY metric. It can be brighter, with deeper blacks, with better motion. The only holdup with OLED is the life of the panel, which they need to get a wrap on before it becomes a "plasma gas leaking out the tv" FUD item. We will see, that is still years away.

From the day the last plasma is sold until we see that first 60+ inch 4K OLED for less than $5k, if you are serious about movies you are buying a projector.

 

[tential]

Agreed, but it will still have to fight marketing FUD from companies that would prefer to crank out cheap to make LED panels.



Yeah, them and LG are the hope.

The problem is that tvs are going the way of computers. CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP sells and quality doesn't. People want to know the bottom line price for how many inches, which is LED's ballgame. Look at black friday- used to be a good time to get a deal on a good TV. Now its "how many crappy sets that were made specifically for black friday can people kill each over for $200?" There might not be a market for a "luxury" television, outside of some branding win like Apple sticks its logo on someone else's set.

MAYBE Samsung and LG can sell people on premium prices for premium tvs, but everyone who has tried to do that previously (Sharp, Panasonic, Pioneer) failed. OLEDs aren't a sure thing, especially if they can't get to 4K soon.

What IS a sure thing is each year the market will get flooded with more and more cheap no-name 4K LED tvs and all the margin for the bigger brands will go away. If OLED can't get to 4K and cheap within a few years they will face a market that is saturated with cheap 4k LED tvs, and little motivation for many to upgrade for another five-ten years.

OLED's hope is that, unlike plasma, it beats (or will beat) LED on EVERY metric. It can be brighter, with deeper blacks, with better motion. The only holdup with OLED is the life of the panel, which they need to get a wrap on before it becomes a "plasma gas leaking out the tv" FUD item. We will see, that is still years away.

From the day the last plasma is sold until we see that first 60+ inch 4K OLED for less than $5k, if you are serious about movies you are buying a projector.

Even with what you said, I think that only furthers the development for OLED. If LG/Samsung/Other big names can't compete with the lowend no name brands then the only market left is the premium market for them. And they'll need premium features to compete at that price point. I'm not purchasing a 1080p HDTV LED from Samsung when Cheapo720 has the "same" for $200 bucks. But when they have a 1080p OLED vs a $200 Cheapo720 then I might see the reason to pay a premium.

The way I see it from your post, the only way for companies like Samsung/LG/etc. to keep selling premium sets is to find premium features that will differentiate them from cheap brands. 4K, and OLED are the two things they can do and 4K is already making its way into "cheaper" brands with Vizio so they need to find one thing companies like Vizio cant get and that's OLED.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Good point tential, I didn't think of it that way. We don't need OLED's to "win" as in majority market share, just be available and cheaper than your average Kuro was.

I bought my ST60, even though I had a ST50, simply as a gamble that OLED wouldn't be ready the next time I needed a TV in a few years. I would LOVE to fail on that gamble, and the market has this awesome sub-$3k 60 inch OLED next year.

As it is I am going to say the word "Vizio" like twenty times over Christmas break.

 

[NutBucket]

I care. I'm really glad I bought a *gasp* DLP set years ago. I would have plasma'd but didn't want to shell out the bucks.

 

[tential]

Good point tential, I didn't think of it that way. We don't need OLED's to "win" as in majority market share, just be available and cheaper than your average Kuro was.

I bought my ST60, even though I had a ST50, simply as a gamble that OLED wouldn't be ready the next time I needed a TV in a few years. I would LOVE to fail on that gamble, and the market has this awesome sub-$3k 60 inch OLED next year.

As it is I am going to say the word "Vizio" like twenty times over Christmas break.

I want the Vizio 4K HDTV. I just don't have $4000 to spend on the HDTV, Graphics Cards, Receiver (and whatever else I might need that probably sends me above that marker) and still wouldn't hit acceptable frame rates.

What would be nice is a 4K HDTV with FreeSync or Gsync. Doubt that ever happens though lol.

 

[VirtualLarry]

You all must still have CRTs hooked up to your PCs too, if you are a PQ purist. Personally, I see nothing wrong with a "good" LCD screen.

 

[poofyhairguy]

You all must still have CRTs hooked up to your PCs too, if you are a PQ purist. Personally, I see nothing wrong with a "good" LCD screen.

CRTs still have their place. I am kinda an emulator guy myself, but for retrogaming nothing beats the real console and a CRT.

I get what you are saying- plasmas are obsolete tech like CRTs- and you couldn't be more wrong. CRTs had a clear FORM FACTOR disadvantage to LCD/Plasma, as well as a size advantage (I don't think they ever made a HD one over 40 inches). Plasma and LEDs have just about the same form factor, with plasma having offerings that matched the most popular LED sizes. Unlike CRTs, which had a great run, plasmas died before their time, before their true replacement became affordable.

You might be happy with a "good" LCD, but that is because quite frankly your standards are low (like most LED consumers). Once you get used to plasma's lack of motion blur, superior colors and dark blacks every single LED you look at just looks like varying degrees of terrible. If all my plasmas broke like in six month when there was no replacement I would probably invest money in movie tickets instead of some LED, it would be that big of a step down.

Plasma going away is a blow to every person who wants the best affordable home theater experience possible. LED only clearly wins for people with bright houses and gamers, and yet now for everyone that is the only choice. Market forces failed this time to give the consumer maximum benefit.

 

[RockinZ28]

I've boycotted purchasing any LCD panel again. My 30" is cool for desktop use, but I'll replace it with an OLED as soon as it's viable.

4k, 8k, 120Hz, 240Hz, LED, GSync. Who gives a damn? End of the day it's still an LCD.

Game/watch movies on my plasma, play around on my OLED phone and tablet.

 

[Anarchist420]

Plasmas suck. LCDs are the best. OLEDs aren't all that LCDs could be

I remember the days when trolling was an art form. None of this crude garbage
-ViRGE

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Hugs panny plasma..

 

[MustISO]

I'm still rockin' a 51" Sony CRT HDTV. Still love how natural the picture looks. I have a Samsung LED/LCD and it's fine but it just looks very digital to me. It's grown on me some but I prefer plasma for a flat panel technology.

 

[boomhower]

I love my nanny plasma. It's an ST30 or ST40, can't remember which. Picture is great and I'd by another when it's time to replace it if it was available. It'll be a few years before it's due so hopefully 4K will be able to help with the LCD/LED replacement.

 

[JAG87]

Yes we absolutely do care. We're all praying that nothing breaks until OLEDs are affordable.

*goes to hug pioneer kuro*

 

[KentState]

If my VT30 went out tomorrow, not sure I would be anything but a cheap LCD at this point. I would hate to spend a lot of money on an inferior technology.

 

[tential]

You all must still have CRTs hooked up to your PCs too, if you are a PQ purist. Personally, I see nothing wrong with a "good" LCD screen.

Dunno why you'd bring up CRTs that's not really something you can easily buy.
Plasma is superior to LCD so up to 70 inches I would buy a Plasma.
However, I won't buy anything less than 70 inches, so LCD it is.

Plasma is great tech but it's being phased out earlier than it should be due to how products are marketed and not due to quality.

But OLED will hopefully replace it so I'll simply wait for that to happen so I can hopefully replace my LED with an OLED. Sharp has 77 inch panels in mass production coming soon, so I just need that to hit a viable pricepoint.

 

[Imp]

Tried plasma once... hardcore coil whine, had to return it. Happy with LCD since.