State of Plasma displays

EightySix Four

Diamond Member
Jul 17, 2004
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Do the newer plasma's still suffer from the issues the old ones had. Such as fading over time, horrible burn in, and quick backlight deaths?
 

kylebisme

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Mar 25, 2000
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There has never been any backlight in a plasma so no worries there. Plasmas do fade over time though and that will never change as it is simply the nature of the technology, and certian parts fading faster than others due to having a bright static image on part of the screen and such is what leads to burn-in. However, modren plasma pixels take about 60,000 hours of use to get to half brightness so they last for quite a long time and there isn't much reason to worry about burn-in. Personally I prefer plasma over the other current large display technolgies and use one for my primary destop as well as for gaming, HDTV, DVDs and the like.
 

Nextman916

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Aug 2, 2005
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thx for the info just wondering approximately how long is 60,000hrs i dont want to do the math
 

xtknight

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Oct 15, 2004
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Originally posted by: Nextman916
thx for the info just wondering approximately how long is 60,000hrs i dont want to do the math

60000/24=2500 days straight (24 hours a day)
2500/365=6.849 years straight (365 days a year)

Let's say you use it 8 hours a day.
(2500/365)*(24/8)=20.548 years!

About 20 years of using it 8 hours each day throughout the 365-day year.

So it'll last you a while.
 

VIAN

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Aug 22, 2003
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I happen to like LCD's better, even picture wise. For some LCDs, not all. What bothers me the most about Plasma is that their pixels are huge and it gives plasmas' a grainy picture. But for blacks, Plasma is better.
 

Nextman916

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Aug 2, 2005
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vian are your eyes really sensitice to panels being grainy because ive never experienced this with any tv. Is that an exaggeration or will i really notice the difference? If picture really much sharper on lcd? my mom wants to get a new flat panel to hang in the living room.
 

VIAN

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Aug 22, 2003
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Sitting far away, you might not notice, but everytime I look at a plasma screen at Best Buy or another retail outlet, and even sometimes at a distance of 5feet or so, I just get disgusted with it's grainy picture quality, also sometimes oversaturated. Don't know who's fault the overstaturated part is.

I know I've also mentioned, in this forum, some 15" and 19" LCD panels being grainy because of too big a pixel pitch, however, I'm not sure that it's dependent on that. My school has 15" HP monitor's where it looks impecable compared to my bros 15" from Dell that has the screendoor effect like crazy. I assume that not all 19" may have this effect as well.

Sharper is another question that I'm curious about, since just about all LCD monitors don't operate at native resolution, Plasma TVs may be sharper. I'd have to check that out sometime.
 

hans030390

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Feb 3, 2005
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I heard that plasmas last roughly 10k hours.

Either way, i'd rather not deal with having to get a new TV, so our family got an LCD projection tv, which will fade over time, but you just buy a new lamp for it ($500? unless its still under warranty) and it works like new...not to mention the lamps last longer.

Plasma DOES look better though...but personally, i actually prefer how the LCD projection screen works (if you get up close)
 

Apex

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Oct 11, 1999
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Originally posted by: hans030390
I heard that plasmas last roughly 10k hours.


That is correct. As long as you manage to find a 1st generation one. This being said, finding one to buy that was manufactured in 1998 or 1999 is going to be difficult these days.
 

edplayer

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Sep 13, 2002
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Originally posted by: VIAN
Sharper is another question that I'm curious about, since just about all LCD monitors don't operate at native resolution, Plasma TVs may be sharper. I'd have to check that out sometime.

What?

just about all lcds don't operate at native resolution

you got that backwards
 

Griswold

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Dec 24, 2004
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Red usually looks worse on plasmas compared to LCD because phosphor shines more into the orange spectrum than pure red. This is compensated by either color filters (reduce the actual brightness by up to 50% and usually is not included in the brightness figure) or differently sized RGB sub-pixels to mix the colors for a better red.

Very dark surfaces on moving pictures also tend to show artifacts on plasma screen because the pixels can only be either "on" or "off" and brightness can only be varied by the duration of the "on" state. Same goes for certain shades of gray and it can also be responsible for flickering color gradients.

Burn-in was, is and will always be an issue for plasmas. The only way to avoid it is by not letting a still picture remain on screen for too long.
 

jasonja

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Feb 22, 2001
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Burn in isn't a big deal on the newer Panasonic plasmas. I don't even concern myself with it anymore after owning my Panny for a year. I play Xbox 360 for 5 hour stretches... pause DVD's and games and TV shows for 30+ mins... never an issue.

Most plasma myths are overblown. Even the half-life thing is out of control. Most newer sets will take 10-20 years to reach half brightness... and even then will still be brighter than almost any other technology you can buy today. Nobody I know with a plasma has their display set to 100% contrast or brightness. Most projection technologies use bulbs that will dim over time and need replacing every few years. Bulbs are expensive at about $250 a pop (assuming you can even find one for your TV 2-3 years after you bought it). One of my co-workers LCOS (JVC) TV's bulbs didn't even last 1 year and he had to wait a week for a replacement bulb because it wasn't available anywhere in stores and was on backorder.
 

videopho

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Apr 8, 2005
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According to what I saw on HDNet channel recently on some sort of HDTV displays consortium. Plasma future is predicted to be brighter than ever. Add to that prices are coming down fast on these displays too.
 

Todd33

Diamond Member
Oct 16, 2003
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Any sort of real digital HD or PC input an LCD is better. Plasma are great for DVDs and TV, but they ahve lower resolutions for PC type input. Compare a HTPC 1024x768 vs 1920x1080.
 

Griswold

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Dec 24, 2004
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Originally posted by: jasonja
Burn in isn't a big deal on the newer Panasonic plasmas. I don't even concern myself with it anymore after owning my Panny for a year. I play Xbox 360 for 5 hour stretches... pause DVD's and games and TV shows for 30+ mins... never an issue.

If you knew why they're called plasma, you wouldnt spread such false information. You will see a ghost image sooner or later if you keep doing what you describe up there.

 

kylebisme

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Mar 25, 2000
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What do you know about why they are called plasma to make you think that? The phosphors that make up each individual pixel loose brightness the longer and hotter they burn, and differences between how much and how intensely pixels are worked will lead to variations in their brightness, but given the 60,000 half life of the modern plasma pixel it takes quite a bit to actually burn anything into one. Beyond that the phosphors wear most when they are new, so Todd33 doesn't have to be nearly as conserned about burn in with his plasma now that it is well past the break in period.
 

Apex

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Oct 11, 1999
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Originally posted by: Griswold
Originally posted by: jasonja
Burn in isn't a big deal on the newer Panasonic plasmas. I don't even concern myself with it anymore after owning my Panny for a year. I play Xbox 360 for 5 hour stretches... pause DVD's and games and TV shows for 30+ mins... never an issue.

If you knew why they're called plasma, you wouldnt spread such false information. You will see a ghost image sooner or later if you keep doing what you describe up there.

I use my Panasonic plasma just as hard. No problems. There are hundreds of people who do the same on AVS Forums without burn in issues.
 

kylebisme

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Mar 25, 2000
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Heh, yeah I have been even harder on mine without any image retion issues, I'm talking about months at a time playing the same game with the same HUD every day and even accedently leaving it on desktop overnight a few times. I just want to know what jasonja means by "If you knew why they're called plasma", I don't rightly follow what he is trying to get at.
 

xtknight

Elite Member
Oct 15, 2004
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Originally posted by: Griswold
Originally posted by: jasonja
Burn in isn't a big deal on the newer Panasonic plasmas. I don't even concern myself with it anymore after owning my Panny for a year. I play Xbox 360 for 5 hour stretches... pause DVD's and games and TV shows for 30+ mins... never an issue.

If you knew why they're called plasma, you wouldnt spread such false information. You will see a ghost image sooner or later if you keep doing what you describe up there.

New plasmas implement techniques to effectively make it a non-issue.