Plasma / LED - why do people put up with it?

[roverspeed]

I too, like the chap above, have a 60" LG plasma.


I love it, and oncone set properly delivers excellent pictures on SD and HD sources.

It was one of the very last plasmas they produced. Touch wood it's still fine today, but I dread the day I have to replace it.

[C&C]

Back in 2012 I finally bit the bullet and moved on from our old (now 16 year old) 36" CRT Panasonic - that is still in use - the FiL watches Sky SD on it and the cricket still looks good, although it weighs a ton and is obviously pretty bulky. At the time (2000) only Sony, Philips and Panasonic made a 36" widescreen CRT and the Panasonic picture was the best.

Replaced it with a 42" Panasonic TXP42GT50 in one room and for films/most used in another room, a 55" TXP55VT50.
Blu-ray films via Panasonic BDT500 players (which was their top model at the time).

Especially when calibrated, it has proved to be a truly excellent picture, and like others on here, I hope it will continue to deliver until OLED improves and gets to a more affordable level.

I also appear to be in the minority in that I (and my wife and friends) love the 3D with the active glasses, although we do watch films in near complete darkness so do not have any issues with flickering caused by other light sources.

Only slight regret is not shelling out the extra for the 65" TXP65VT50 at the time....

[ClockworkCupcake]

Has anyone had positive experiences buying used plasmas on eBay?

This thread has got me thinking that I would really like to move up from 720p to 1080p, and from 42" to 50" or more, and there are a few on eBay that are collectable within a 20 mile radius of me.

(Quite how I would get my old one down off the wall mount and get the 'new' one attached to it, all on my own, I don't know. Billie no-mates here. LOL)

[LDN]

ClockworkCupcake said:

Has anyone had positive experiences buying used plasmas on eBay?

This thread has got me thinking that I would really like to move up from 720p to 1080p, and from 42" to 50" or more, and there are a few on eBay that are collectable within a 20 mile radius of me.

(Quite how I would get my old one down off the wall mount and get the 'new' one attached to it, all on my own, I don't know. Billie no-mates here. LOL)

I'd be wary without an warranty... perhaps see if there are any traders / B stock who hold old stock who will include some kind of warranty with it.

[TEKNOPUG]

I wouldn't buy one without a demo. I'd suggest AVF or similar, as they will be private sales by enthusiasts who should be more than happy to demo.

[LDN]

TEKNOPUG said:

I wouldn't buy one without a demo. I'd suggest AVF or similar, as they will be private sales by enthusiasts who should be more than happy to demo.

Yes AVF: https://www.avforums.com/

[TEKNOPUG]

One thing to note is the warranty conditions. I've got a recollection that Panasonic don't allow transfer of warranties between owners.

[Register1]

TEKNOPUG said:

Zoon said:

Plasma TV's are also very power inefficient in comparison to LCD.

I have a 50" plasma which use over 500w in use when compared to just over 100w for a 55" LCD.

Not sure if this has an impact on what manufacturers produce.

I doubt it's as much as 500w but probably twice that of and LCD/LED.

300w Plasma telly, watched for 5 hours a day costs a whopping........15p a day in electricity

So if you went with the inferior LCD set, you'd only be paying 7.5p a day....just think what you could do with that extra £27 at the end of the year!

Just looked at the back of our 50 inch Panny Plasma

265 watts

[jmorgan]

How much was a good plasma new?

[Cupramax]

Too much, thats why they couldnt sell enough to make them viable. My Panny 50VT65 was £1800ish if i remember correctly.

[Digitalize]

My 46G10 was about £800 from memory, but that was the bottom rung of the decent plasma line. From memory they did a G/V/Z and they in theory all had the same panels, it was just different tolerances and then other features etc.

[TEKNOPUG]

That was for a top of the range 65" one though.

My 42" was £600 in 2010 - so call it £700 today with inflation.

I can buy one of these today for £700 http://www.johnlewis.com/panasonic-viera-40dx700b-...

Hardly much progress in 6 years. It doesn't even have HD Freeview & Freesat tuners. The media support is better though.

No rush to replace mine!

[Zoon]

Register1 said:

Just looked at the back of our 50 inch Panny Plasma

265 watts

What year is it?

"One more thing. Plasma TVs are current hungry. This set continuously drinks 750 watts of 120 volt socket juice. Compare that with the same size LCD TV which sips a paltry 265 watts."

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/543228-REG/P...

Edited by Zoon on Thursday 4th August 17:15

[gizlaroc]

Register1 said:

TEKNOPUG said:

Zoon said:

Plasma TV's are also very power inefficient in comparison to LCD.

I have a 50" plasma which use over 500w in use when compared to just over 100w for a 55" LCD.

Not sure if this has an impact on what manufacturers produce.

I doubt it's as much as 500w but probably twice that of and LCD/LED.

300w Plasma telly, watched for 5 hours a day costs a whopping........15p a day in electricity

So if you went with the inferior LCD set, you'd only be paying 7.5p a day....just think what you could do with that extra £27 at the end of the year!

Just looked at the back of our 50 inch Panny Plasma

265 watts

Once set up plasma and LCD are very close consumption wise.

Most people don't watch LCD with backlight on 1 and contrast at at 10, which is where they tend to put the consumption figures for them when testing.

Usually about 10-20% in it between a plasma and lcd with watchable pictures.

[ClockworkCupcake]

Zoon said:

"One more thing. Plasma TVs are current hungry. This set continuously drinks 750 watts of 120 volt socket juice. Compare that with the same size LCD TV which sips a paltry 265 watts."

750W at 120V is 6.25A (IV=W so I = W/V) which is 1.5kW at 240V. I find that very hard to believe.

[RedLeicester]

jmorgan said:

How much was a good plasma new?

£1500-10,000.

[karma mechanic]

ClockworkCupcake said:

750W at 120V is 6.25A (IV=W so I = W/V) which is 1.5kW at 240V. I find that very hard to believe.

That might be true if the set was a resistor. The current is less when it has the higher voltage. It ends up on, er, about 750W to do the work, same as on 120V.

[hairyben]

karma mechanic said:

ClockworkCupcake said:

750W at 120V is 6.25A (IV=W so I = W/V) which is 1.5kW at 240V. I find that very hard to believe.

That might be true if the set was a resistor. The current is less when it has the higher voltage. It ends up on, er, about 750W to do the work, same as on 120V.

Also, current is determined by resistance so it'd scale up with voltage and quadruple the power but as said a plasma panel isnt a fixed load resistor, the panel will requires the same power regardless of input voltage, a 240v set will have a different transfomer (or an adaptive one) and simply draw half the current!

[ClockworkCupcake]

karma mechanic said:

That might be true if the set was a resistor. The current is less when it has the higher voltage. It ends up on, er, about 750W to do the work, same as on 120V.

Actually, that makes sense. I feel a bit silly now.

[Fermit The Krog and Sarah Sexy]

Four and a half years on I'd still say that few TV's can surpass our 46" Samsung D8000. Love it!