Gear / Technical Help > Home Theatre & HDTV
What are the downsides to plasma?
BC:
I was reading through Moke's original thread, and from what I could glean:
1) Not good at high altitude
2) Might burn in if you are watching extended periods of programs with a black caption like ESPN.
Are there any long-term issues with plasma? My friend was saying something about the picture fading over time or having to "recharge" your plasma after a few years. Is this true? Sorry, I am a noob when it comes to TV.
Thanks!
Ben
nickgregory:
originally plasma life was 20,000 hours, but most manufacturers now boast 60,000 hours...guessing the truth is somewhere in the middle and obviously dependant on your viewing habits
OFOTD:
--- Quote from: BC on January 15, 2007, 06:00:53 PM ---2) Might burn in if you are watching extended periods of programs with a black caption like ESPN.
--- End quote ---
Myth. This actually may have been true several years ago but burn-in is not an issue anymore. Most if not all plasmas have anti-burnin technology. You can't go wrong with either plasma or lcd. I have a Samsung 50" plasma and freakin love it. I also have it hanging on the wall which is one reason I went with plasma.
dmonterisi:
the biggest downside is that you will find it difficult to get off the couch. ;)
plasmas do degrade over time because of the gases used in the pixels...but at this point, it's a ridiculously long time. by the time it dims enough to be noticeable, you will likely be in the market for a new set anyway.
as for burn-in, the risk is extremely minimal these days. I would say the risk is highest in the first 100-200 hours, so i'd set the contrast a bit low at the beginning and avoid watching a ton of content with black bars, so stretch the image to fit the screen. this will help the pixels wear evenly. after 2-3 weeks, you should be good to go.
imo, plasma has the most realistic picture for HT. if you are going to be gaming much, LCD may be a better option. LCD's black levels cannot really compare to plasmas overall. colors are more accurate and saturated on plasmas as well. you will pay a bit of a premium for plasmas at 42". at 50", plasmas seem to be more cost-effective than LCDs. LCDs typically have higher resolution, but unless you are going massively big (> 60") or will be sitting absurdly close, you will not be able to resolve the extra detail in a 1080p set.
kgreener:
i've had my 50" plasma for a year now (Toshiba) and have had no issues whatsoever, however i've had mine set to stretch mode so when the kids watch, say, Disney or Cartoon in standard digital it won't have the vertical black bars as Damon mentioned (and it doesn't look too bad, at least Toshiba's version of stretch. Characters don't look squatty like a lot of stretch modes in other sets).
Having said this, a good pal of mine bought a 42" Hitachi plasma last February and unfortunately did not have his set to stretch, and with his young kids and wife watching more TV than him and watching mostly SD channels, his set now does have burn in, and you can see said vertical bars superimposed on the screen, and it's pretty darn noticeable. it sucks cuz it's a really nice set but he didn't heed the warnings and now he's really bummed about it. we tried doing the built-in "screen wipe" utility (or whatever it's called) multiple times but no luck.
i guess my point is plasma burn-in is not completely out of the question, even with the newer sets, so still use caution. but for clarity and a true HD, imo plasma really rocks. It's literally a year later and I still find myself saying "wow, would you look at that picture?"
$.02
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version