LCD TV - Are they reliable ?

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)?

Kijanki
I agree.. all we can go on is what is so far stated by these companies... However I do have some very extensive experience with both Plasma and LCD... Used in business applications, and under streess and heavy hours, the cost to run(via power cost) and maintain so far has been a clear winner of LCD on top.. Laptops used for the last 15 years even would rarely have some kinda screen failure, too bad the other hardware on them is obsolete 2 weeks after they are manufactured!

Undertow - I'm happy so far with my 42" DLP TV (since 2001)but I consider larger size in future. My daughter's TV (plasma-Panasonic 42") has very shiny surface and worse HDTV picture than my DLP. It has something to do with noise reduction software that makes false contouring and a little "plasticky" faces. Perhaps not set optimally. In the store I liked Panasonic and Pioneer plasmas. LCD is promising but I have to look at these black levels again.