Plasma TV life problem

[cherno]

A friend of mine just bought a 30'' widescreen TV and when he was at the store someone said that he should be sure not to buy a plasma tv because their life expectancy is only about 4 years. Is there any truth to that?
Thanks

[Chromy]

Plasma sets do burn in pretty quickly. I think the life expectancy is somewhere around 20,000 -30,000 hours.

[cherno]

Originally Posted by Chromy

Plasma sets do burn in pretty quickly. I think the life expectancy is somewhere around 20,000 -30,000 hours.

25,000 hours / 24 hours a day = 1041 days
1041/365 days a year = 2.85 years
Wow, that is very surprising! Why on earth would someone spend that kind of money on something that will only last a few years.
I know that is assuming 24 hour use, but still even a quarter of that would be around 10 years.

[downhuman]

Burn-in happens with every type of TV, with CRT rear projection and DLP rear-projection units being the only exceptions(I think).

Guess what? If you watch widescreen DVD's on your standard TV and nothing else you'll eventually see burn-in. And especially on High-def tube TV's where the phosphor on the inside of the tube is more sensitive.

Oh, and a 10-year life span on a plasma-TV doesn't sound bad at all. Most of us tech junkies aren't going to settle for the same TV that long anyway.

[Jerm]

Some time back, a friend of mine (a painter) was at a job at a house, and a Plasma installer was also at the house, and he recommended not getting a plasma TV because of the life expenctancy problem.

[machine ghost]

I've heard 20 000- 30 000 hours from a Sony rep- the other thing you have to worry about are dead pixels. Nothing worse than dropping 6-8 grand on a TV only to have fixed little black dots in the image. I recently saw a new 36 inch Sony LCD monitor at a consumer show which absolutely blew away the plasma screen and it's lifespan is estimated at 40 000+ hours. The Grand Wega with the new image engine is fairly nice and you can change the bulb yourself for a few hundred bucks.

[Chromy]

Originally Posted by downhuman

Burn-in happens with every type of TV, with CRT rear projection and DLP rear-projection units being the only exceptions(I think).

That would be DLP and LCD/LCOS that don't suffer from burnin. Although recently some concerns over the longevity of LCD/LCOS (front projection/rear projection) were raised (in a test sponsored by TI, makers of DLP technology).

Chromy

[downhuman]

Originally Posted by Chromy

That would be DLP and LCD/LCOS that don't suffer from burnin. Although recently some concerns over the longevity of LCD/LCOS (front projection/rear projection) were raised (in a test sponsored by TI, makers of DLP technology).

Chromy

I thought that the LCD crystals could still suffer an effect that was similar to burn-in much like you would see on a LCD monitor.

Oh well, this is good to know. LCD projection sets are getting wicked cheap.

[Chromy]

Exactly. There have been reports of it from both users, and from the TI report. The LCD cells that have to absorb more light that others allegedly age more rapidly.

Chromy