LCD TV - Are they reliable ?

Plasmas run hotter(stick your hand behind some models and it seems they can melt the paint off the wall it is “Plasma” in that TV remember being heated)

Weight is about double(for example my 52” without stand is about 53 lbs vs. 110 for a comparable plasma)

Seems most plasmas Pull about double the power and actually are about equal to a 1990 36 inch 300 lb CRT!

And yes they can and still do”burn in”(some models better than others), and they do break just as easy as anything else...

Plasmas are glass by the way and can crack as well pretty easily if a corner is dropped during installing on the wall etc...

For the simple fact people seem to inflate any one issue by 10 to make one seem superior to the other, generally a plasma is rated between about 18,000 and 20,000 hours from a chart I saw on a tech site, and a single LCD bulb is rated for about 25,000 to 30,000 either one should last with normal use from 20 to 27 years at somewhere in the 4 hour per day range..

Most will use it for 6 hours on a Saturday and 1 or 2 hours a day during the week so you do the math... I mean people with 1979 color TVS still have them working today.

Also a 300 dollar LCD bulb if it does pre-maturely go in 5 years is still far cheaper than replacing a whole plasma grid for 1000 plus.. Most people don't hear about the plasma problems because they don't end up fixing them and just throwing away and replacing them, but they do instead hear of the extra LCD bulb replaced once in a while!

Which by the way probably has more to do with something just like getting a Light bulb at your hardware store and 4 in the box 3 will last the full rated life, and that one single might burn out pre-maturely do to manufacturing or quality issues.

Simply stated with the technology today decide what you want, they all end up about the same, if one brand has an issue its probably more or less due to something they are doing in the manufacturing so stay away if that brand has a history of course, but not this is not necessarily inherent to the actual design of being a plasma or LCD///

As for picture quality and features, no doubt 5 years ago Plasma had an edge, that gap has been closed to nearly non-existent today, I have seen new LCD’s with like 30,000 to 1 contrast with incredibly deep darks, and yes will work in lighted rooms where the plasma counterpart will not.. Final note LCD with any video games is still obviously a safer bet.

I believe even Pioneer(not 100% sure) earlier this year sees the issue with plasma technology vs. the competition now and did stop along with Sony making Plasmas and went to 100% LCD future models..

And by the way I work in a company with about 1000 computers, we replaced all the screens with LCD panels, this was 6 years ago.. None have failed or turned funny colors and they are on generally for 24 hours a day... We just put in ORDER boards that are 50 " plasmas 3 years ago, every single one of them GHOST and have color burn issues, and a few have already been replaced.

One other thing, I believe LCD has been around for about 30 years or more.. Many aircraft displays for instruments, calculators, Rugged military useage, and several other devices have been in consumer use for years without failure, plasma hit the scene about 1997 with the 30,000 dollar 50"… I don't think you see to many portable plasma screens running around do you? Battery power alone would not even run them, nor do we need them too, and a couple small shocks to the plasma screen and its done.. LCD seems much more durable, look at a laptop, I have one 10 years old same LCD screen, and one that’s 1 month old, same LCD screen.. They have been trusted for many many years.

Undertow - where did you see 25,000 or 30,000 hours rated bulbs? Ultra High Vacum 150W bulb in my 42" DLP Samsung is rated 8000 hrs. and bulb in 50" Samsungs is rated 6000 hrs. Maybe yo're talking about LCD backlit panel and not the bulb.

Plasma is rated closer to 50,000 hrs - so I heard.

Kijanki
Your right they have gone up, I was talking about some models from 2 or 3 years ago.. Now LCD And Plasma ratings are in the 60,000 here is new quotes..But it is the reverse plasmas needed to catch up to LCD #'s in lifespan not the reverse, here is the statement

"For consumer use these numbers should be comforting. Plasma Displays are now about equivalent in longevity to LCDs, which typically state 60,000 hours. Consider that these figures are a great amount more than old CRTs, which regularly post life span to half brightness at 25,000 hours. Let's put these hours in perspective. The average U.S. household watches 4 to 6 hours of television per day. Staggering. Taking a mean time manufacturer stated longevity of 50,000 hours of usage, times our average 5 hours per day, calculates to over 27 years of usage. Now, there are varying degrees of phosphor ignition along the way (the same way a CRT fades). Dissipation begins the moment you turn the set on. After 1000 hours of usage a plasma monitor should measure around 96% of its original brightness, which is barely noticeable to the naked eye. At 15,000 to 20,000 hours the monitor should measure around 80% brightness, or to state is technically, 80% of the original phosphors (gases) are being ignited."

"Samsung: Lists 60,000 hours for plasma lineup.

Pioneer: States 60,000 hours of use in their 2008 models.

Sharp LCD panels: States 60,000 hour life.

For consumer use these numbers should be comforting"

From Samsungs site:

LCD TV 1. What is the lifespan of a SAMSUNG's LCD TV?
SAMSUNG's LCD TVs have an expected life span of 60,000 operational hours.
2. Are LCD TVs subject to screen burn in?
LCD technology allows for a reduced risk of burn-in and screen aging, which is useful for special applications with static screen images or sources that don't fill the entire screen.

Plasma TV 1. What is Plasma TV technology?
A Plasma TV display panel consists of a layer of gas beneath another layer of colour elements. Plasma is a term that is used to describe the temporary conductive state of the low-pressure gas used in these panels. Electrical changes cause the gas to emit light. This light is then passed through a matrix of colour phosphors, resulting in a bright, accurate, detailed image.
2. What is the life span for SAMSUNG's Plasma TVs?
SAMSUNG's Plasma TVs life span extend by 1.7 times compared to other conventional TVs.
With 6 hours per day of TV viewing, your TV will last you approximately 23 years.

Undertow - I found it on internet:

"In fact, many plasma manufacturers boast a life span of 60,000 hours to half life! This is a longer life than a tube based television. The specification is somewhat suspect since the process of determining longevity of the product is based on deductive mathematical calculation of phosphor dissipation, and does not take into account the electronic components and the myriad of problems that can occur. Panasonic was the first to claim the 60,000 hour life span, up from a previous 30,000 just a year prior.

Within months after Panasonic announced this new life span, other manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon announcing that their plasma television is now rated to 60,000."

This remainds me a joke about old chinese man who got sack of gold to teach King's dog to speak in 10 years or his head will be cut off. Old man said to terrified family and friends "Who knows what going to happen in ten years, maybe I will die, maybe king will die and most likely dog will die"

Same is true here - they can promise anything but how people can verify it? Are we going to remember what was promised 20 years ago (30k hours / 4 hours a day)?