Beginning of the end for plasma?

[Morningside]

Another one pulls out.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28143408

[Qwert1e]

I have plasma TVs but TBH I think the technology has been on the way out for some years now. I have a stunning Pioneer (now 10 years old) and a more recent cheap Panasonic which is a bit dim in picture.

[anonymous-user]

Understandable really. Although Plasma is superior to watch, people want thinner TVs and then there is the power consumption to consider. LCD/LED/OLED really is the way forward.

I've got a 55" Samsung F8000 and it's a fantastic set and can only get better.

[Morningside]

garyhun said:

... and then there is the power consumption to consider.

And the HEAT!!
I had an old Pioneer and the heat created by it was just crazy. Plus it needed about 10 people to move the damn thing as it weighed a sodding ton.

[garreth64]

I've just bought a new Samsung Plasma whilst I still can. A relative Bargain and I'm more that happy with it.

Quote from the BBC article:

"While plasma is a lot better than LED/LCD TVs in terms of image quality, such as contrast ratio, and motion handling, it has a few drawbacks.

"Plasma TVs can't be made a thin as LEDs, for example. People like stylish tellies."

So a thin telly is higher priority than deep blacks, image quality, contrast, motion then!

I'll happily watch this for several years until OLED 4K TV's are affordable, reliable and have plenty of source material available.

[garreth64]

I've just bought a new Samsung Plasma whilst I still can. A relative Bargain and I'm more that happy with it.

Quote from the BBC article:

"While plasma is a lot better than LED/LCD TVs in terms of image quality, such as contrast ratio, and motion handling, it has a few drawbacks.

"Plasma TVs can't be made a thin as LEDs, for example. People like stylish tellies."

So a thin telly is higher priority than deep blacks, image quality, contrast, motion then!

I'll happily watch this for several years until OLED 4K TV's are affordable, reliable and have plenty of source material available.

[jmorgan]

garreth64 said:

So a thin telly is higher priority than deep blacks, image quality, contrast, motion then!

I'll happily watch this for several years until OLED 4K TV's are affordable, reliable and have plenty of source material available.

I would imagine most punters are after something nice, and the picture looks good as well...

I don't think the purist or someone after a good picture (that is aware what to look for) has much of a say here.

[BlueMR2]

Morningside said:

garyhun said:

... and then there is the power consumption to consider.

And the HEAT!!
I had an old Pioneer and the heat created by it was just crazy. Plus it needed about 10 people to move the damn thing as it weighed a sodding ton.

Whilst not overly heavy my old LCD TV gives off tonnes of heat, quite a problem in summer, quite the opposite to the newer 32" smart TV my parents have which is cold to the touch at the top bar a couple of inch section which gets mildly warm.

[ClassicMercs]

Morningside said:

And the HEAT!!
I had an old Pioneer and the heat created by it was just crazy. Plus it needed about 10 people to move the damn thing as it weighed a sodding ton.

You are failing to ignore the savings on gas in winter. Our gas bill is practically nothing.

Still prefer the 42 Pioneer that I gave to my mother - the new Panasonic 55 weighs a bit less than the Pioneer, and the energy use / heat is also a bit lower, although I'm still running it in - may crank it a bit more over the next few months.

[giger]

The beginning of the end was when Panasonic pulled out at the end of last year. I love plasma, so promptly changed my old Panasonic plasma for a P50GT60 earlier on this year as I far prefer them to anything else available today. IMHO they won't be beaten for picture quality for many years to come, and by that time 4k will either be bedded in or obsolete, so either way a top end Panasonic plasma was still the way to go for me.

If anyone wants one, act quick. I left it a bit late to buy my Panasonic plasma and really struggled to find one

[Jarcy]

I snapped up a 60 inch Samsung plasma smart doda a couple of months ago, whilst I still had the chance.
Less that £1k, and very pleased with it.
No better than the 7 year old 50 inch Pioneer plasma that it replaced though (moved to another room).

Both are wall mounted, and hence there is no requirement for an ultra slim profile. Deep blacks and no motion blur.
Lets hope both last for another 7 years at least.

But who on earth is buying the curved screen TVs?
If you're wealthy enough to afford the £4k to purchase one, the chances are your house is rather large, and you will be sitting too far away from the screen in the viewing room to appreciate any immersive experience.
If you have a small house, chances are you can't afford £4k for a telly.
I can only see the market to be for London penthouse appartments.

[legzr1]

One thing killed plasma - the fact that 95% of buyers are happy with mediocre picture quality as long as the screen is the size of a decent wall and it costs less than a grand.

The other 5% prepared to pay the going rate for top notch performance don't/didn't spend enough to keep Pioneer and Panasonic interested.

[TEKNOPUG]

What do think the life expectancy of a Panny or Samsung plasma of the last few years will be? CRT's plummeted in price when the lightweight LCD's appeared - you struggled to give them away. May be some bargains in a few years time.

[Morningside]

TEKNOPUG said:

What do think the life expectancy of a Panny or Samsung plasma of the last few years will be? CRT's plummeted in price when the lightweight LCD's appeared - you struggled to give them away. May be some bargains in a few years time.

You may be onto something here.

[TEKNOPUG]

Morningside said:

TEKNOPUG said:

What do think the life expectancy of a Panny or Samsung plasma of the last few years will be? CRT's plummeted in price when the lightweight LCD's appeared - you struggled to give them away. May be some bargains in a few years time.

You may be onto something here.

I have a 3/4 yo 42" Panny which I'm quite happy with but I'd certainly be interested in 50-60" VT model if they dropped considerably in price in the next few years.

[legzr1]

The problem is that most people who buy the top spec plasmas will tend to keep them rather than sell on because it's a 'defunct' technology.

I was hoping the market would be flooded with 600M's when Pioneer announced an end to production - it took years for them to fall to around £2000.

6090's can be had for less than a grand yet people still buy an LCD from Currys for £1500+...

[TEKNOPUG]

legzr1 said:

The problem is that most people who buy the top spec plasmas will tend to keep them rather than sell on because it's a 'defunct' technology.

I was hoping the market would be flooded with 600M's when Pioneer announced an end to production - it took years for them to fall to around £2000.

6090's can be had for less than a grand yet people still buy an LCD from Currys for £1500+...

I'm sure a lot of people bought big Plasma's because they were the latest must have thing and will look to move onto whatever the next must have item.

[RedLeicester]

Qwert1e said:

I have plasma TVs but TBH I think the technology has been on the way out for some years now. I have a stunning Pioneer (now 10 years old) and a more recent cheap Panasonic which is a bit dim in picture.

Likewise. 600M for the lounge and a P55VT50 in the kitchen.

The P55 is very, very good considering it cost a sixth of cost of the Pioneer.... but then it's good, but not THAT good.

I've been struggling for a while with how to replace the Pioneer and there still isn't answer sadly. I'm less than impressed with the Samsung 65"s, and the Panasonics were better but like hen's teeth.

legzr1 said:

One thing killed plasma - the fact that 95% of buyers are happy with mediocre picture quality as long as the screen is the size of a decent wall and it costs less than a grand.

The other 5% prepared to pay the going rate for top notch performance don't/didn't spend enough to keep Pioneer and Panasonic interested.

This, muchly. CD anyone? Uncompressed audio? Hell, Betamax?!

[legzr1]

Porn killed Betamax (well, Sonys refusal to licence adult material on their format killed it).
Sex sells - who'd have thunk?

There are parallels to CD but the hi-res download scene is growing by the minute - classical and back catalogues are well catered for. Now all we need is current and recent material.
I think portability and MP3 was the death knell for CD - most music buyers prefer the idea of carrying files with them and the sound quality takes a back seat.

3D was and is pointless - great for 10 year olds to impress their friends but even there the novelty soon wears.

I think the future could be 4K for TV and film - but, all homes need top spec fibre broadband to get reasonable results when streaming and the industry needs to agree specs (maybe they have, I lost interest a while ago).

I don't buy TV's based on power consumption (if you want to save energy turn the bloody thing off instead of watching inane st 5 hours a day!) or weight or depth of the screen or bezel - I (used to) buy based on picture quality - it's lamentable that Plasma is almost dead and is being replaced by an inferior product pushing 4K that is immature, hard to find source material and agreements on formats and connections yet to be finalised.

[anonymous-user]

The issue with 4K is the distance (closeness) to the screen to really make it tell. Either that or get a 70 inch screen.

I'm not sure how many homes would really see much difference between HD and 4K in their typical living room setup.