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Plasma reliability?

B

BronxBartoni

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 26, 2005
Messages
410
So im looking to grab a new tv on Black friday, and there seems to be alot of deals goin around for plasmas. I know they have a lil better black level than an lcd, but how is the reliability on the newer sets? I dont want to buy one only to have it break down in 5 years. Should i just stick with an lcd? Also, how is the motion blur on newer plasmas? I know the old ones bad a tendancy to blur during heavy action. But witb 50 inch plasmas goin for less than 900 now a days should i bite?
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Plasmas have come a long way in terms of longevity. These days they are nearly on par with LCDs.

I really love the quality of picture a plasma gives.

But there are drawbacks: burn-in (though it can be avoided if you are careful), they are heavier, hotter and take a lot more energy than LCD.

If you are looking for a plasma, look at some of the panasonics, they make some of the best
 
Yeah, plasma has come along way so you shouldn't worry about anything other than burn-ins and only IF you are gonna use as a substitute PC monitor for a prolonged period of time.
 
Panasonic NeoPDP's (all the current models) have none of the early plasma drawbacks. Their power consumption is slightly higher than an equivalent LCD. They do not burn in (it's very hard to get image retention on them). Motion clarity is awesome (so much so that my neophyte parents immediately picked it out of a whole store of LCD's and plasmas as having the best motion quality), much better than even 120hz LCD's. Response time is like a CRT, no discernable input lag.

You can quibble over color calibration and black levels (with plasmas your black level is directly proportional to the amount of white in a scene); but for the money they're excellent. Weight is the only downside, you don't want to be moving every month with one of these. :) But they should easily last 4-5 years.

They're 100,000hr. panels. Even if you ran it 24hrs a day, they'd last about 11.5 years. Normal use puts this at around 34 years. Considering your set would be half brightness after 17 years of daily use..., your bigger problem is keeping some idiot from throwing a WiiMote at it.
 
The only plasmas worth looking at are the NeoPDPs from Panasonic and the 2009 model year Samsungs. All others I'd stay away from at this point in time (Pioneers are discontinued and expensive, so I doubt you'll see them on Black Friday, otherwise I'd include them in the list of worthy Plasmas.)
 
The life of Plasma screens has far exceeded LCD now.
I bought my Panasonic 1080p Plasma over 1.5 years ago and it has a 100,000hr half life (and a free 5 year warranty).
If used for 8 hours a day, thats over 34 years!
 
I've had a Panasonic plasma for a couple years and love it. Their 720p models have especially been surprisingly cheap for the quality and size.

I found on an AV forum a CD image file that, when burned to a CD, makes a movie that cycles through different colors every 30 seconds. It supposedly helps evenly break in the phosphors for the first couple hundred hours.
 
Ive been using a 50" Pioneer Kuro plasma for over 2 years and its been amazing, We play a lot of games on it and haven't had any issues. (PS3 / 360 / Wii).
 
I picked up a Panasonic 50" G15 1080P with a free Panasonic Blu-ray player and free shipping for just under $1k a couple weeks ago. There was a promo at US-Appliance where you could stack a 5% bing cash back, and an online coupon. Awesome deal

Just finished breaking it in with ~100 hours of solid color slides at low contrast/brightness. To cut the story short, the image quality is pretty amazing. I popped in the Blu-Ray version of The BBC Planet Earth and it is simply stunning.


EDIT: For those who vomited uninformed flames for mentioning my use of a break-in DVD on my PDP screen.
The "to cut the story short" part is that I had my ISF certified neighbor come and calibrate the display and the Blu-ray player. You know the kind that Best Buy charges you $250 for? Yeah that one. It only cost me a beer since we've known each other since college. He spent about 4 hours with a Spectroradiometer and a Colorimeter and some software on his laptop. After he was done, he left me copies of his THX test DVD and a solid color slides DVD that he used on the calibration and on his own equipment. He has a 50" Pioneer Kuro. He recommended me this Panasonic screen and since it was within my budget I pulled the trigger. I hope that satisfies you trolls for why I used the break in DVD.
 
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Love my Panasonic plasma and wouldn't exchange it for any LCD out there. There is just something about that natural, uniform image that makes it a joy to watch :)

Burn-in is not an issue as long as you are reasonably careful about it. Motion handing is very good, not exactly CRT like but a lot better than on an LCD. Viewing angles are amazing, no color/gamma/brightness shifting that every LCD suffers from. The only minor downside in my view is that the flicker is slightly noticeable on bright scenes but I don't really notice it most of the time.

I'd say go for it. As long as you stick to reputable manufacturers like Panasonic, I doubt plasmas are any less reliable than LCDs these days.
 
I have a three year old Hewlett Packard PL5060N 50" plasma that still works flawlessly **knocks on wood**. It is "only" 720p but the SD and HD is great on it.
 
even on older plasmas, image retention was about comparable to CRTs, in other words, unless you're using this as like a kiosk display or to run CNN 24/7, it probably wouldn'tve been an issue

however, modern PDPs don't even have that level of image retention issue, wouldn't worry at all

the black/color level is much better than even VA based panels, partly because you never have to worry about things like backlight bleed, or other uniformity issues

really, for ~$900, I'd go for it, picture quality is great, and the only real downside imho is the pixel density (its never been very high), which is fine for movies/console gaming, as a PC monitor it'll probably be somewhat lacking (an HTPC wouldn't be impossible, but I'm saying, a PDP isn't something you'd want on your desk 2' away from your head for constant use)

only thing I think that even current plasmas will still exhibit is hum at elevations over 10,000ft (I know the older ones did this), this probably isn't even in the realm of a problem for you, but something to keep in mind if you're planning to retire to the alps or something ;)
 
So im gonna go with the panny tcp42s1. Its a 1080p plasma for 649 on bf. Anyone with personal experience with this set? After lookin around all week i feel like this is the best set price/size/pq wise. Anyone with any other good sets for around 700? Should i wait till monday?
 
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If your environment can support it ie(not a lot of ambient lighting), I would go for the PLasma no doubt!

I've had my Pioneer 50" for 7 years now and not a hint of burn in or even decay in brightness.
 
im gonna go with the panny tcp42s1if i can get one. Its a 1080p plasma for 649 on bf. Anyone with personal experience with this set? After lookin around all week i feel like this is the best set price/size/pq wise. Anyone with any other good sets for around 700? Should i wait till monday?
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Plasmas have better reliability than LCD, and have better picture with no blur. They're really like a CRT. Only problem? Burn in and ghosting tendency. And they produce a LOT of heat. I'd still own a plasma if I didn't like to keep static images on my TV all day. :)
 
Bronx,

You're getting the exact same set I have, you'll love it. SDTV isn't the best, but HD looks superb and gaming is perfect. Just note that you should turn down sharpness all the way to 0 if you're connecting a PC via HDMI.
 
I've been looking at a plasma to replace my current Wesy 37". But yeah, Panasonic 2009 plasmas seems to be the leader right now as far as best bang for the buck.

I was thinking about this one (TC-P50G10): http://www.fryelcam.com/product_info.php?products_id=88578 ($699.50 + Free Shipping).
That's the 50" model, which is bigger than the OP wants, and is also the G10 model, which adds THX Mode compared to the S1. I read the website, and supposedly they sell NEW item (not used or open box). It still seems a little fishy, since a Google search didn't give me any results about them. They do accept PayPal, so I guess that adds some degree of security. So yeah, that's another option for you OP.

So, anyone using any of this new plasmas as their everyday monitor? I watch a lot of movies on my Westy 37" but the amount of motion blur and poor black levels are driving me crazy. I don't mind using a 50" as my Pc monitor, since I'm used the 37", which is starting to feel rather small.

Note: Copy and Paste the link directly in your brower, since clicking the actual link won't work. It will redirect you to the main Google Page. Right click it, Copy Link Location, and the paste it in the address bar.

BEWARE: On, finally some results are showing on google. The site seems like a scam, so don't buy there. Wow, I almost fell for it. I will leave the link, so you know what to stay away from.
 
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I picked up a plasma back in '07. It used to have a mild image burn problem, but it went away after about two months, pretty sure it was just a "break-in" period. It's a bit on the heavy side, I can barely lift it, but the picture quality is excellent. It's got crummy black levels though, not all plasma's dominate on that aspect I guess. But it does keep my room nice and toasty in the winter. :D
 
What do U think about using plasma TV for viewing photos taken by digital camera, is a plasma TV better than LCD for viewing photos?
My camera is Olympus SP590, 12-megapixels.
Plasma TVs have fantastic contrast and black level performance which, I suppose, makes them ideal for photo viewing. Is burn-in a real threat during photo viewing and Photoshop working?
I am interested in Panasonic TX-P42G10, it has a built-in SD card slot, though I am planning to use the TV as a PC monitor as well:

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/panasonic-tx-p42g10-tx-p42g10b-20090415146.htm

http://www.avforums.com/reviews/Panasonic-TX-P42G10-Review.html
 
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