Questions about plasmas

[hbk409]

ok so on another website theres this guy bragging about his 50" plasma and i told him its a waste of money for a plasma because you could get a better picture on and crt, dlp, and lcd. Also plasmas lose the gas and have to be replaced every few year(5-10) depending on how much you watch them. and also they are very prone to burn in.

he comes back with this

"LOL... not true... not true... not true. Let me give you a little free "information" on the subject. Don't take it personally.

First off... I already have a 50" plasma. I was looking into getting another since I love the one I have in my living room. So maybe I am a "little" biased. But what I am about to say has been PROVEN FACT which I can back up with links.

Are you aware that most plasmas have a half-life of 50,000 hours? That means you can watch it for 50,000 hours before you even see ANY sort of degregation?

I already have a 50" plasma... had it for two years. In TWO years time... I have logged in about 1800 hours on it. Guess how many years of future viewing I have left.

I also know people that have had plasmas for closer to 4-5 years. No picture degregation WHATSOEVER.

Oh.... i also have absolutely NO burn-in. Why? Because I know what I am doing. I will NEVER have any either. Mark my words.


As far as LCD goes... if you are talking LCD flat screen (same technology a laptop uses - like the Sharp Aqos)... thats not too bad. Aqos is nice. But the problem with LCDs are issues with dead pixels (luck of the draw when buying a new one)... and bad "ghosting" when watching stuff with a lot of movement (like sports).

Not saying LCD is bad... but LCD is not for me since the technology isn't there yet if you want 50" or larger. You can't buy an LCD TV at 50" inches. They don't make them yet. When they do... they will be WAY more expensive. I actually also have an LCD 27" widescreen HDTV in my den. I use that for my Xbox and Computer (which are great for LCD cause both of those CAN introduce burn-in... but like I said before... I wont have that issue)

CRTs also max out at 40inches so thats no good. And did you know that CRTs can "burn-in" as well - not nearly as bad as plasma.

And don't get me started on any sort of "rear projection" (LCD, LCoS, DLP, etc).... cause none of that technology can even hold a candle to plasma.

And as far as "front projection" goes. Yeah... big screen potential... but you need the environment to produce that (like a good basement den with no windows) which I do not have right now. "


i just wanted to verify that all plasmas suffer from burn in, he appears to think his doesnt because of the way its set up. Also sound like he thinks he will be able to use it for 25yrs without and noticeable picture loss. And also feel free to correct me if im wrong but, doesnt LCoS, give a better picture considering most if not all are 1080p, and they are also not subject to burn in because they are crystal.

 

[tujumaster]

About plasma, the technology it's self is susceptible to burn in. There is no question about that. The person who owns that tv claims he can prevent that. Maybe he can maybe he can't. However, should burn in occur, it's not something that can be repaired. Most new tv's claim to have a way to prevent burn in, but realistically, they don't work very well.

As for the half life of a plasma, the manufactures promote the plasma at a 50,000 hour half life, but realistically, the half life is close to 7,000 hours. 50,000 is about right for a CRT. I could tell you plasma stories that would make you cringe, but that's for another day. Remember, a plasma will only last as long as you want it to based on the way you take care of it. Choose a well ventilated area, never run the power cord behind the wall unless you consult an electrician, use wall mounts that give at least 2 inches of space between the wall and the TV, and finally, get preventative maintenance checks every year.

 

[astrotrf]

For the most part, the information provided by the other person is correct.

You are correct in that all plasmas suffer from burn-in; but he doesn't say his won't because of the way it is set up, he says his won't because he knows what he's doing. And, from the sound of his post, I'd bet he's correct.

He's marginally incorrect about plasma half-life. I've seen 30,000 hours quoted more often, but half-life doesn't mean "no degregation [sic]" - it means time to 50% loss of brightness. (This isn't as bad as it sounds, though, as a CRT will do much the same thing - the figures I've seen quoted for CRTs are 30% loss after 20,000 hours).

The effect of the brightness loss is gradual, and probably not all that noticeable under most circumstances; it just means occasional readjustment of brightness/contrast controls. Recall that your eye is sensitive to light levels *logarithmically*, not linearly, so a 50% brightness loss is approximately a "just noticeable difference" to your eye. The actual brightness would have to drop to 10% of original for your eye to perceive it as "half as bright".

So yeah, if you accept his 50,000-hour half-life, his calculations are not unreasonable.

How fast a plasma panel will lose gas is dependent on a lot of factors, not the least of which is altitude - where I live, I'd be pushing the limits with plasma. In any case, leaking gas cannot be recharged; if there's an eventual problem, the panel itself must be replaced.

As to picture quality - that's quite subjective, but I've looked at a lot of sets, and the best plasma displays are unbeatable, IMHO. I think your statement is wrong about getting a better picture on CRT, DLP, or LCD - but that's only my opinion.

And don't confuse 1080p with the actual picture quality of the display itself.

Terry (astrotrf)

 

[jmc98]

the main thing to consider when thinking about a plasma is if they break or when they break you are basically throw thousnads of dollars away because they can not be fixed other than that i agree with the post above by tujumaster

 

[toto]

Plasmas will burn in, but they will also self heal. Modern plasma's black levels and color accuracy out perform CRT. White level consistancy and brightness are better than current LCD or microdisplays. Find a TV you like, don't worry about the negatives you may here. If it's right in size and price and you like it, buy it. This is television, not rocket science.

 

[Kevinw]

Issues with Plasma is not so much technology but price and the EDTv phenomena.
50 inch HD plasma 5k,- 50 inch LCD/DLP 2500 --or 50 inch RP 1500.

As prices are coming down the ED plasma are under 2k but not HD--your choice becasue it's your money..