Plasma HDTV sales soar amidst frugal consumers

[Matthew DeCarlo]

With the economy and job market awry, some impacted consumers after a new TV have simply been shopping for smaller LCD screens - but many are buying plasma sets to get more screen for less money. In the realm of large screens, lower-resolution 720p plasma HDTVs are substantially cheaper than similar-sized 1080p LCD TVs.

Plasma sales have soared by 42% in the second quarter of this year compared to the first, according to a report from Quixel Research. Tamaryn Pratt, a member of Quixel, said the spike was a result of consumers trying to save money.

Despite settling for 720p, consumers are reporting that there is little difference in picture sharpness compared to a 1080p model. This isn't a surprise, because few to no TV signals are broadcast in 1080p, and the difference would only be noticeable when watching Blu-ray discs.

I know many of you are on the market for new HDTVs, would you consider purchasing a plasma set to save a few bucks? Why or why not?

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/35904-plasma-hdtv-sales-soar-amidst-frugal-consumers.html

 

[Guest]

Plasmas are cheaper, but uses way too much electricity when compared to LCD's. They uses about 500-600 watt, while an LCD uses roughly 200-300 or so watts. In the long run those figures will come to haunt you, especially if you're a gamer or a TV junkie.

So, "Penny wise and Pound foolish" I say.

 

[captaincranky]

Within the past couple of months, Best Buy has been campaigning at "600Hz 720P" TV with their store brand, Dynex. These, as are all "Dynex" TVs, built by Funai Electronics.

It did, at least to me, seem like an out of date and out of context product release, but I suppose not.

To whom it may concern, while Funai TVs have a wonderful picture, the sound circuitry is really poorly designed and very noisy.

 

[DarkCobra]

Well if you really just can't afford a 1080P set of any format then I guess 720P has to be your selection whether you like it or not. However, once you have experienced several great 1080P Blu-Ray films or the growing number of higher quality HD channels you won't want to go back. The back lighted LED LCD's are indeed rivaling the Plasma sets now. The image quality of films and shows will only get cleaner and those with a 1080P will ultimately be glad they spent a little more.
You do get what you pay for folks. If you "settle" for 700+ lines of resolution you will always have it in your mind that you are missing another 300+ lines of resolution and the larger the set the more critical that loss becomes. Save a little more and do it right!

 

[TomSEA]

Unless I see something better between today and Saturday, I'm buying the 50" plasma TV ($958) from Sears that was in the Pricewatch section here on Techspot a couple of days ago.
I'd consider myself an average TV watcher - sports primarily. And won't be gaming on it, I have a nice PC with 24" screen for that and not interested in console gaming. So the energy usage doesn't concern me that much.

 

[Cueto_99]

I already bought, about 5 months ago, an LG 42" 720p Plasma for a really excellent price... my experience with it has been good, great image, blacks are deep, xbox games look amazing, overall a great buy. Some things to have in mind are: first, they do consume a lot of energy, second, my room is not small, neither too big, the climate in my city is tropical, so when I turn on the tv, 30 minutes later, I can feel the room getting hot, third, about the burn-in problem... I can see it's there, mostly while pausing an xbox game, but 5 minutes later, the burn in dissapears, so no problem with that.

 

[windmill007]

Plasma generate a lot of heat and use a lot of electricity. In my TV viewing room I have a LCD and it warms the room up nicely. I have to use an air conditioner in that room to keep it under control. I can't image a plasma. I would need a 220 volt air conditioner just to counter the heat. If I was in the market I would look at LED. That is the future. So cool and was less electricity.

 

[Guest]

Since I live at 7000 feet in COlorado, I chose and LCD. Plasma is not recommended for higher elevations.

 

[Guest]

I agonized about "settling" for a 720p set for my first HD set. Bought 50" Panasonic Plasma and have been completely happy with it.

But then, I'm perfectly happy watching upscaled DVDs on a closeout Toshiba HD DVD player that I picked up for around $100 when they were being closed out.

 

[Guest]

Plasma has picture quality problems at higher altitudes. Also has a problem with image burnin. LCD is the way to go. Plasma is obsolete.

 

[OneArmedScissor]

I believe the issues with plasma screens that people are bringing up have been resolved with newer models.
Look at the newer version of the Panasonic Vieras. The 42" model's power specs say:
"Rated Power Consumption: 286 W
On Mode Average Power Consumption: 155 W"
That's no different from similar size LCDs, but these TVs are relatively cheap and look really good to me.
And for the record, LCDs get burn in, too.

 

[waqasr]

I went with Plasma about 2 years back because they have better picture quality then LCD IMO. I compared Plasma's and LCD's side by side in show rooms, don't know what the numbers say only talking about what looked good to my eyes. I have heard now LCD's have come a long way with 120hz, better refresh rates and more viewing area etc etc.

 

[Guest]

I bought plasma. I couldn't stand the way colors shifted with viewing angle on LCD displays. No backlight will fix that. Energy consumption is a non-issue for most people who only watch a couple of hours a night. If you watch more, you don't need a new TV, you need a new life.

 

[maddmatt02]

couple years ago I got my 50" DLP for about 700 bucks after tax and service plan.
my games are 720p and my blu rays are 1080i and both look damn good. if I were to buy a bigger screen then Id get a tv with 1080 for sure. this size, I wouldnt mind only having 720, although 1080 is nice. but my sisters plasmas are only 40" screens, only 720p and it looks perfect. in my oppinion no reason for 1080 until you get to a 50" or larger screen.

 

[Guest]

I bought a 42" panasonic viera with stupid resolution (1024*768) which makes no sense on a wide screen format tv, but has turned out to be an excellent buy. HTPC has some issues with the odd resolution but find the right zoom setting and all is good.

At that time, I found the plasmas far more visually pleasing than LCDs which I found very harsh. I've seen nothing to change my mind since then, so plasma for me.

Regarding resolution, 42" is the smallest tv I'd buy and now that I have seen some higher def content I would go the 1080p now. There's not much hd content (our local video shop has about 8 blu ray titles) but in a couple of years I think it'll be much more available. It is soooo much better.

 

[captaincranky]

Enter the Dragoon... Er.....I mean the Philosopher

I bought plasma. I couldn't stand the way colors shifted with viewing angle on LCD displays. No backlight will fix that.

I don't know what LCD TVs you've been watching, but color shift depends on the panel type. Only crap "TN" type panels shift color and have truncated viewing angles. MVA & IPS panels have wide viewing angles, on the order of 178 degrees, horizontal and vertical.

Energy consumption is a non-issue for most people who only watch a couple of hours a night.

It also tends to be a non issue for people that have other people to pay the bill.

If you watch more, you don't need a new TV, you need a new life.

I guess getting up from the TV to sit in front of a computer to make random posts constitutes a new life to some. BTW, thanks for worrying about out TV dependence, it's always nice to know someone cares.

 

[Guest]

i bought LG 42" Plasma 2 months back...considering the same confusion between LCD and PLASMa...
to clear things a bit ....
1. they consume same power in the range 200 -300 watts..so no issue there ( old plasma tvs a few years back consumed high power ... not anymore )

2. at around 46" and less u wont notice much between the 720 and 1080 issue coz u will watch at 5-8 feet distance and u wont find much difference ...moreover DTH and DVD and PS3/XBOX are already at better resolutions so all is well at 720p... but if ur buying higher sizes like 50" and more ..and ur gonna view at closer distance the recomended for that size ..go for higher resolution..the important thing is VIEWING DISTANCE also !!!

3. 1-2 years hence EVERYTHING is gonna get cheaper and BETTER... get a larger or higher resolution PLASMA or LCD then... be happy for now....

am happy coz at the price i got all that i wanted and it has lot of connection options as well..so its quiet futureproof... USb,HDMI,Bluetooth..and enough no. of other common options !!!

4. SOUND is same as other LCD options 20 watts RMS in total ( 10 + 10 ) ...get a hometheatre in the money saved in buying plasma

5 ..save money now ..spend later ..no issues with PLASMA.... even life is equivalent in hours to lcd !!!

 

[Guest]

Read this article on LCD off-angle viewing before you dismiss plasma:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2349241,00.asp

 

[captaincranky]

Not all LCD Panels are Created Equal........

Read this article on LCD off-angle viewing before you dismiss plasma:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2349241,00.asp

As I stated earlier, poor off angle viewing is dependent of the type of LCD panel, with "TN" panels being by far the worst. MVA and the even better IPS types are just dandy, from almost anywhere in the room.

LCD television is evolving very rapidly with high refresh rates and LED backlights, so that plasma may in fact, be dismissed altogether in the not too distant future. I think Pioneer has already stopped making them, if not TVs completely.