Comments on: 'Plasma's dead. Should I buy plasma?': Ask the Editors

CNET editors answer reader mail regarding whether the exit of two top players in the plasma industry, Pioneer and Vizio, should affect whether or not to buy a plasma TV now.

[jeffpoker]

Plasma ain't dead. Headlines like these will just scare off regular consumers and then plasma will die.
CNet should know better.

[SIDER-MAN]

I have a Panasonic PZ 77U 42" Plasma & I love it. Beats LCD all too hell. Would buy another Plasma over LCD any time, anywhere. Sorry LCD people you can't beat watching NASCAR in HD on a Plasma.

[ecotony]

I've had a Panasonic PZ700U for nearly 2 years and still marvel at the picture quality.

We have a Vizio LCD as well. I let my kid watch the Vizio. The Panasonic is for dad when he watches the Blu-Ray.

I've noticed a bit of image retention from watching 4:3 recently, so I ran HDNet and DiscoveryHD for a few hours and it all went away.

Plasma is so far superior to current LCD technology its just silly to compare.

[HRHalderman]

LCD can show a brighter a picture; present a thinner, lighter display; and market itself as "greener" than a plasma. But this is where all the advantages end IMHO! How many people really have their display dialed in that brightly at home? The plasma produces truer, deeper colors, better black levels, it doesn't need gimmickry to produce good motion, and the price points are much better. At this rate the plasma will be dead, but I think Dave has a point that there will always be a market. Even the dumbest salesman at your local Best Buy or wherever favor plasma. I have yet to meet one who likes LCD better than plasma. As for video games, I think the burn-in point sways a lot of buyers because a lot of people play video games on their big screen. I think these new Panny's will be just incredible at even the lowest models/price points. Now that Pioneer and Vizio are gone, Panasonic MUST go on the offensive!

[Tec Consumer]

I am a plasma lover -- and I freely admit it. But that doesn't make me an LCD hater. If someone is happy with that big LCD they just bought, good for them! It's just not for me. I saw some of the new Samsungs in BestBuy yesterday and they were impressive -- the Sony's are not better, they just cost waaaay more.

I don't know where all of this anti-plasma animosity comes from. It is clear that the anti-plasma people posting here DO NOT own plasma TV's and if they do, they either have a really old not so good one or know someone else who does. Like Mr. Katzmaier, I hope plasma stays around for years to come. I have two Panasonics, a TH50PZ750U and a TH42PX80U and I have never had someone over who saw either one and didn't say "I never knew plasma looked that much better than LCD!???" All of these urban legends about burn in, glare, panel brightness, short lifespan and poor gaming performance are nonsense.

Neither of the sets I have have ever suffered from any burn in problems. I have directv, which is supposedly the best TV provider for causing burn in when watching non 16:9 programming. Both TV's go days--even weeks--watching non 16:9 content without issue.

Glare, I admit that the newer panel has amazingly better glare reduction in the screen. That doesn't mean that the older one was terrible--it just means the newer one is better at it. My larger panel is in a room with a large bay window that gets tons of afternoon sun. I also have an extremely bright ceiling light behind the sofa I watch it from (4 - 150W bulbs). Neither of these has ever impeded my viewing of the screen and I keep it set to the CNET recommended settings for a completely dark room 99% of the time, without any problems.

That said, even with the screen dimmed down to complete dark room settings, I can watch it everyday--even in the afternoon with the blinds open--and it is more than plenty bright. And that is from a viewing distance of SEVENTEEN FEET away from the screen!!!! (the window is about 11 feet wide, and there are other windows in the room, too). So I am 100% certain that brightness is not a problem. However, some plasmas aren't as bright as others (i.e., the Pioneer Kuros). I almost got a KURO based on the CNET reviews, but decided against it because of the amount of bright sunlight I get in my living room.

Lifespan -- this is old news. The old plasmas only lasted a few years. The new ones from Panasonic have 40+ years to half brightness. Better than an LCD or CRT. Yes, I haven't had either screen this long so it could be a lie, but I doubt I'll keep either TV more than 20 years so I'm not too worried about it.

Gaming -- It's simple, if you have a good plasma, it will most likely out perform any LCD when it comes to response time. If you plan on any amount of gaming on an LCD, you better buy one with the lowest response time rating possible or get ready for stuttering and image tearing during gameplay. I have 360, Wii and PS3 conected to my larger screen. I have played every game imagineable on this screen and the performance is amazing. The little cross hairs, etc, have never burned in an image even after day long sessions of play. Yes, there are some LCDs which are better than plasmas for gaming. My brother has one by Samsung. It definitely looks better than my plasma when gaming. But it definitely looks worse doing anything else. But he got that screen specifically for gaming. It is more like a 46" computer monitor than a TV, if you ask me. He's happy with it -- that's cool. I wanted something that would perform well all around. He wanted something to give him an edge on xbox live. A good plasma will perform better at gaming than most LCDs, except the LCDs with the lowest response times and best quality pixels for shading.

Sorry to make this so long. I just can't stand reading these posts where it is clearly obvious that the haters are hating on something just for the sake of hating. If there were posts like "I got a [insert brand/model no. here] plasma and it was a total waste! Plasma sucks!!! I tried to play COD and it stuttered and flickered. It was too dim, even with the lights off and ist all burnt in after only two week -- so I had to cancel my super bowl party. Now I'm out $3,000.00 and have no friends." If that's what a hater was posting, that would still be cool. I have PS3 (i.e., the best blu-ray player on the market) and it made me a PS3 hater with all the problems with it crashing, the problems with it overheating, the problem with it sounding like a leaf blower when watching movies, the problems with its no games, etc. But it just seems that the plasma haters who post stuff on cnet have most likely never actually seen a plasma in action.

[almnine]

I just bought my third KURO, sold the first one to my father (a 4280, he already owns a 37" Panasonic plasma) - my very first HDTV was a Sony LCD two yrs ago. After that purchase, I saw my dad's 37" plasma for the first time: I KNEW I BOUGHT THE WRONG HDTV for overall picture resolution, color, black levels, view angle, refresh rate - you know, the things that determine the PQ quality of your HD broadcast (didn't you commit to HD to have the BEST possible picture in the first place?). Ever since I've reevaluated my research towards plasma. Its obvious the plasma tech. is the leader in PQ ...... true the playing field has become closer between LCD & plasma the past two years. Its really a story of the big LCD manufacturers pushing the tech. with the larger profit margin first & foremost (LCD), the economic culture of the past year has really hampered the plasma makers, the final stake for Pioneer was the mounting losses combined with the news that Panasonic would delay their new plasma facility for at least 6 months (no KURO 10g to sell, no revenue). http://www.homecinemachoice.com/features/pioneer+previews+Fuga+Kuro+tech


Responses on forums like THIS and other similar web sites has OBVIOUSLY shown that there IS a major market segment that demands the best PQ for the dollar - Panasonic, Samsung, LG should use a simple marketing campaign to emphasize what everyone reading this already knows about the plasma advantage. HOW MANY plasma commercials have you seen in the past six months? Wake up Panasonic, you know you're the heir apparent to the KURO, inform the people (see SONY's simple ad campaign with good 'ol quarterback Peyton). Doesn't every TV network also use plasma for their background monitors (yes, those Sony industrial plasma's on ESPN also) ? A 47" Vizio LCD or a 46" Panasonic plasma, each $1000 ? (my co worker bought the Costco Vizio, cause the gal told him about the 120hz refresh!!) A Samsung LN52A650 LCD or the KURO 5020 at the price of $1900 ?? ........ a closer call but the Pioneer has the full viewing angles & darkest black ....... see Amazon reader reviews, the Samsung has 10x the number of 5 star reviews, on CNET its times four.

http://blog.ultimateavmag.com/thomasnorton/011209Kuro/

[chadmak09]

Plasma is not dead.
Plasma is currently the best flatpanel tech there is.
The Kuro elites are unbeatable.
Just look at the reviews.
Cnet gave the Kuro elite thier first perfect 10 for picture quality.
Plasma may be dead to the uninformed first time budget HDTV shoppers, but to the Videophile and those who want the best picture possible, Plasma is Alive and kicking!!

[btprod]

Pioneer's exit from the market makes sense, from a business standpoint. As great as the Kuro was, Pioneer only held 4.9% marketshare of the plasma market, according to a published industry survey. There's no way, considering the cost of producing plasma, that Pioneer could have continued producing plasmas with this small a share of the market. Panasonic has 49.9% marketshare (according to the same survey), and five factories in Japan totally dedicated to nothing but producing plasma. Plasma is not going away, with Pioneer's exit. Pioneer leaving is an indication that the market is correcting itself, as would be expected.

[Alexander_Goldman]

This is all extremely helpful. Thank to everyone for insights and experiences. I am deciding between a 46" Samsung LCD (brand new one with that hint of blue on the edge) for ~$2,300 or a 50" Samsung PDP for $1,500. I am willing to pay a signficant premium if it truly has some major advantages in PQ when program switches to full HD. However, reading the comments above, seems as if I may lean towards the PDP.

Will look at the Panasonic PDP models as well but a friend will provide some Samsung home theatre component hand-me-downs and I thought I might just match the set. Will come down to a combination of price and quality. Not an easy decision and will take more time before I make the purchase.

[tmeyers2006]

The truth is that plasma is expensive to build; and the fewer plasma panel makers there are, the more those costs rise. LCD is the technology that will, inevitably take over. As market share drops for plasmas, so will the number of plasma parts-suppliers...this means that plasmas will likely become a higher-end specialty product in the years to come. Expect a couple more plasma-makers to drop out in the next two years...There's just more profit in LCD's.

LCD technology continues to grow. Once the LED backlights are perfected and the panels come down in price, no sane person will look at a plasma. Within the next 5 years, you'll be able to pick up a quality backlit LCD for about $400, but, plasmas will remain high.

I heard the same arguments for BETAMAX that I'm now hearing for Plasma...Betamax produced better results than VHS (just like plasma tvs) , but the economics of the market drove the decision. Sorry, plasma fans...YOU'RE DOOMED!

[tmeyers2006]

Hey...your 800u THX mode sucks...and Katzmeier is the idiot who rated it higher than the Pioneer!

You're both nuts.

[HDTVReviews]

great post..pretty informative...i agree. plasma aint dead yet

[Alexander_Goldman]

Update: Just picked up a new Samsung LED LCD TV (46" LN46A860) with matching stand and package looks exceptional from a design standpoint. Same goes for the HD picture quality - simply unbelievable. Watched baseball over the weekend and was very impressed with extremely sharp images and bright colors.

HOWEVER: played a few movies to test and I would have to say I was less than ecstatic at the experience. The images look 'artificial' if I can explain it that way and image not quite what I was expecting. Images are almost 'too sharp' - strange as it may sound. Put in some animation DVD's (Cars / Incredibles) and display was perfect though. Not the end of the world as regular HD TV broadcasting is going to take up the lion's share of viewing but would have been nice to have the same movie experience.

CONCLUSION: I think I will use this for a while and then give the entire set to my in-laws and go with a HD PDP set when the 2010 models appear. 95% of my friends have PDP and I now realize why.. Samsung, Panasonic or LG PDP is how I'm leaning now..

[LEDrule123]

people are funny... motion blur is what we see when anything is moving fast if u move ur hand real fast in life u'll see abit of blur. and for LCD vs plasma thing it's just depend on what u want. THX is just bs no one really care about it. and plus new technology will come out as soon as you buy a new tv. so be happy what u got and enjoy =)

[RedRiverD]

Yes, but I have always heard that Plasma TV's run hot and have a short life span compared to LCD TV's.
Is that not true?
Based on that and experience with a projection TV that died, more or less, because its picture got cloudier and cloudier as the coolant in the system began to deteriorate I prefer LCD which has always performed admirably on both my 52" and 26".
Therefore my TV of choice (until I hear different) is LCD!

[riedellphi]

I have a 50" plasma in my family room that i love to watch. Had it for about 1.5 years so far. Love it. Highest rated plasma tv in consumer reports for a few years. I am considering getting this 50" plasma at Costco for $999 to put above my fireplace in the living room.
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?whse=BC&topnav=&prodid=11474869

Any thoughts from you guys on this model?

[hamerhead01]

I have been a custom designer, installler, and consultant for 20 years in A/V, from home theaters to complete home networking and integration.
To put it simply, having worked with a mountain and variety of equipment, yes - plasma does offer the best possible picture over LCD - but - even though it is not dead - it is dying. Just look at what happened in the video tape formats of the past - Betamax lost - VHS won - the cheaper more prevelant and open yet inferior format won. Sad as it may be plasma will be dead in less than 10 years - mark my words. LCD will prevail with emerging and improving technologies and push plasma out - as plasma has pretty much reached its peak in perfomance/price ratios.