http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/ Engadget HD Comments for http://www.engadgethd.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadgethd.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
Hopefully Plasmas will still exist by the time I'm ready to buy, later this year.]]>Apr 1st 2008 10:49AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/Apr 1st 2008 10:55AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
I have no problem with having only large (50+) high end plasmas and letting the LCD's dominate the low end of the market, but the picture advantage, even for cheap plasmas, just can't be overlooked. I have faith that at least one company will continue making plasmas as even the cheap ones beat out high end LCD's.]]>Apr 1st 2008 11:07AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/Apr 1st 2008 11:37AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/Apr 1st 2008 11:14AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
Here's a rundown of the most popular display techs

Plasma = king of the hill
LCD = a close second
DLP = only those interested in simply joining the HD club need apply, if you actually care about the quality of the picture, don't buy DLP.]]>Apr 1st 2008 11:24AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/Apr 1st 2008 3:54PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/Apr 1st 2008 9:16PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
If you want the best picture money has to buy, go with a DLP from Mitsubishi, Samsung, or Toshiba. You wont be sorry !!!]]>Apr 4th 2008 10:54AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
I also never mentioned anything about LCD. I also do not prefer LCD, though I'd take it over RP DLP any day. I also never said anything about LCOS either, though I would take plasma over that too. The two major issues I have with DLP is the horrible viewing angle and uneven brightness.

And obviously if you buy a top of the line DLP and compare it against a crappy plasma or vice versa, that's not really fair.

Compare a top of the line DLP vs. a Pioneer Kuro (I know they've been discontinued) and then we've got a real comparison.

And just in case you are the type of person to rely on technology sites rather than doing your own research. You may want to take a look at the top listed HDTVs at cnet.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4370-6485_7-168-101.html?tag=dir

I don't even see a DLP listed, do you?]]>Apr 4th 2008 11:16AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
When you compare DLP. vs. LCOS. vs. plasma vs. LCD, on comparable price points, you will see that the DLP and LCOS HDTVs outshine the plasma and LCD counterparts.

Tests have been performed for MANY years between all 4 competing technologies. DLP always comes out on top because of their superior blacks and the rich colours it produces (this is still true even in todays display standards). LCOS was considered to set the new standard in picture technology which DLP held (and more over plasma and LCD, in that order). Although the best LCOS may just beat out DLP, it never got enough market recognition because LCOS was hard to manufacture and was an expensive technology to utilize when it first became production on the Sony and JVC 2003 displays. It just never got enough oxygen in the tank to become a true market force.

Keep in mind that LCOS and DLP are superior in many areas over their plasma and LCD counterparts, even at the same price points. They do not suffer from motion blur, screen burn in, and picture deterioration (I hear that it still happens on plasma displays from friends who purchased their monitors a year ago). They have the deepest blacks, the richest colours, and excelent picture uniformity over todays popular plasmas and LCDs. The only thing that DLP MAY suffer is something called a rainbow effect. Its when a pixel, or colour area on the screen changes from one colour to another. Very few people can see this, if at all. If you dont see it now, you never will. Now, with colour wheels rotating faster, and with 6 colour wheel sets on all DLPs, the rainbow effect has all but been diminished. As for viewing angle that you had mentioned, DLPs do have a pretty wide viewing angle, 130 to 160 degrees, even with my set.

Also, with DLP moving to the new laser technology in the next year or two, colour wheels and bulbs will no longer be used on DLP sets, making DLP TV flatter, and will become a wall mountable technology.

For now, the market, which includes those who review display technologies, has shifted its focus away from the DLP and LCOS technologies and given into the buying public for the sheer reason of selling - people are more interested on how their TVs will look on wall than how the picture will look overall.

Before commenting back that plasmas are superior over DLPs, keep in mind what I mention about market shift. The buying market is not always the best informed, and the experts tend to sway due to market pressure, even if it is against their own best judgement. I have been in this business of research in audio and video for over 20 years seeing it all, from the golden age of audio research and expansion offered from many companies, to market contractions - with superior technologies reaching a peak in the market place only to watch the market settle on an inferior technology. We are seeing that happen right now in the video industry once again - with LCOS, DLP, and plasma bowing down to LCD.

I've made careful decisions about which format is the best or has the best strengths over others, whether it is an audio or visual component, and I have been well rewarded because of it. My audio components, which are over 20 years old (turntables and tape decks), are still in great working condition. But I do admit, I dont make as much use of them as I do with the more digital gear of CDs and DVDs. You will be glad to know that my 10+ year old hefty amplifiers are still kicking and screaming as they did when I first bought it, with no signs of wearing down.

I invite you to come to my house to take a look at a DLP for yourself. You will see how stunning the picture quality is ! Then take a look into at an LCOS TV display. You will be convinced that DLP and LCOS technology are very hard to beat.]]>Apr 4th 2008 3:44PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/Apr 1st 2008 11:35AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
And I'm not talking about some off-brand lcd. I have a highly rated Samsung lcd.

The plasma picture is clearly and obviously superior. ]]>Apr 1st 2008 12:45PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/Apr 1st 2008 11:47AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/Apr 1st 2008 12:50PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
1. Its actually a rear-projection type technology. Even though its light enough to wall mount, it probably won't be.
2. Because its rear-projection, its viewing angles won't be that great.
3. The reason Laser TV has taken so long to come around is that directional lasers can cause eye damage. They had to build a filter into the screen to prevent that. Given the risk of bodily harm (and the tremendous amount of shenanigans Americans go through to prevent that, in the most silly ways), do you honestly think that its going to be successful now?]]>Apr 1st 2008 1:09PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
It's all about marketing and most consumers being uninformed. They walk into Best Buy or Circuit City and listen to the so called experts in blue or red polo shirts and decide what to get based on the recommendation of those guys who talk about LCDs being a better technology and plasmas having burn-in issues, etc, etc etc. Meanwhile most of those people hardly know anything. (I said most not all. Occasionally you meet a knowledgeable salesperson but it's rare.)

I wish Panasonic had really pushed this ad campaign from 2006.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/12/25/business/25flat.450.jpg]]>Apr 1st 2008 1:34PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/Apr 1st 2008 2:10PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
Calm down. Yes we are all entitled to our own opinion so here's mine.

How many times have you walked into a Best Buy or Circuit City with your mind firmly set on a specific product or technology and 1hr later you walk out with a totally different opinion or product than what you had in mind, even though you had done all your research ahead of time.

Yeah we've all been suckers for a good sales pitch at sometime or another.

Marketing boy's thats what its all about as far as the average Joe is concerned.

We are just the lucky few who have based our opinions on our own experiences & purchasing boo boo's.

Now for the sake of picking a side I'm definitely leaning towards Plasma.

If your a sports fan you'll know why.]]>Apr 1st 2008 3:51PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/Apr 1st 2008 4:05PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/Apr 1st 2008 4:27PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
http://www.hometheatermag.com/rearprojectiontvs/208hdface/index.html

]]>Apr 1st 2008 6:11PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
How do you explain those washed out side viewing angles on LCD? Must be the calibration right? Idiot!]]>Apr 1st 2008 6:13PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/Apr 1st 2008 8:02PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
Anyway, I'm planning to upgrade my 27" Sony CRT in my living room this summer, and a plasma may be in cards for me.

For some reason, I still have this plasma burn-in thing floating around in my head, despite what I read to the contrary about recent plasma models. Do manufacturers like Panasonic still have a warning in the manual about the potential for burn-in or has this really become a thing of the past ? I'm thinking of getting a 2nd PS3 (MGS4 bundle) which would be connected to the new living room LCD/plasma and wondered if playing games on a plasma is a good idea.]]>Apr 2nd 2008 12:21AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
- Did your ever experience burn-it on your CRT ??? Well if not - you dont on plasma]]>Apr 2nd 2008 5:19AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
just fyi: at first i purchased a sony 1080p 40v3000 LCD, and boy was i disappointed when i was watching football! i was hesitant to return it for the samsung plasma since some people said i would be downgrading from 1080p to 720p but let me tell you it was a very SMART move on my part.

as of today... PLASMA > LCD ]]>Apr 2nd 2008 3:50AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
Finally some people who don't get carried away with smooth Sony and Samsung marketing, because that is what the do for a living..marketing (sony's inventer was a marketing pioneer - panasonic (matsushita) was an ingenier) LCD is an old technology (look at your 35 year old calculator) Plasma is a way newer a more advanced technology. So I agree with all you guys. LCD has NEVER been anything like a real picture. It's fake. And something nobody ever talks about:

Plasma is NOT fagile like a 46" inch LCD. The first time somebody strikes or touch a LCD screen is finished. Plasma last way longer (pany now 100.000 hours) than LCD (who wants to talk about environment and waste). As a electronic retailer for 20 years...our customers complain more about LCD (specially above 40 inch) when the have pets and kinds at home. LCD the world biggest calculator. ]]>Apr 2nd 2008 4:22AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/Apr 2nd 2008 5:21AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
I sat around a friends house last week and had to leave the room watching Batman Begins on HDDVD. I really couldnt put up with the piss poor contrast any longer. His TV is a top of the range LCD Sony.

I would much rather watch a film on a good CRT in SD than HD on a poor display like LCD's.

Plasma is only marginally better.

Bring on OLED, if it lives up to the promises........]]>Apr 2nd 2008 6:59AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/Apr 4th 2008 9:29AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
If you want the best picture money has to buy, go with a DLP from Mitsubishi, Samsung, or Toshiba. You wont be sorry !!!]]>Apr 4th 2008 4:06PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
I do however see uneven brightness on LCDs (and I've also read about it). This happens because LCDs do not produce "true black levels" as the other competeing technologies do. The backlight prevents a black scene from ever being true black, so this will never be acheived on an LCD TV. What some LCDs do to get darker scenes dark, they use a cheating mechanism by dimming the backlight during dark scenes. When the scene moves from dark to light, the light amplfies back to its normal level, which in turn gives the display what I call a "breathing effect". Unfortunately, this technique is not a successful approach as it is easly noticable. Another reason why I will never go LCD, unless they can offer something that I cannot get from a DLP HDTV.]]>Apr 4th 2008 4:08PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
I do however see uneven brightness on LCDs (and I've also read about it). This happens because LCDs do not produce "true black levels" as the other competeing technologies do. The backlight prevents a black scene from ever being true black, so this will never be acheived on an LCD TV. What some LCDs do to get darker scenes dark, they use a cheating mechanism by dimming the backlight during dark scenes. When the scene moves from dark to light, the light amplfies back to its normal level, which in turn gives the display what I call a "breathing effect". Unfortunately, this technique is not a successful approach as it is easly noticable. Another reason why I will never go LCD, unless they can offer something that I cannot get from a DLP HDTV.]]>Apr 4th 2008 4:09PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
You clearly haven't researched as much as you say that you have. Here is a quote as an example from the link Tony had a few posts up. The article is a decent read and compares TVs with varying display tech. This quote is referring to Samsung's HL-T6187S which uses LED DLP tech, but it explains in a simple way why viewing angle and uneven brightness are inherent to RPTVs.

"All RPTVs have a screen that focuses the light from the light engine (and mirror) and directs it toward the seating area. Think of a lighthouse. Not a lot of light goes up and down (where it's not needed), but most of it focuses in a tight beam. If RPTVs didn't do this, they would look exceedingly dim. Too much, though, causes issues, all of which this TV had. The most noticeable was a hot spot in the middle of the screen, meaning the center of the screen appeared noticeably brighter than the rest. More than a few inches away from the dead center of the screen, the brightness dropped off considerably; and worse, the color temperature changed drastically and noticeably. Every reviewer noticed this and questioned if there was something wrong with the TV. There wasn't. In fact, dead center, this was one of the most accurate TVs in the Face Off—so long as you didn't move your head (or your eyes)."]]>Apr 8th 2008 7:13PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/01/2008-a-make-or-break-year-for-plasma-manufacturers/
"There were also significant internal reflections that caused a few bright spots on the screen. These spots were highly distracting for some of the judges. Again, all RPTVs have this problem to some extent; however, it was worse here."]]>Apr 10th 2008 11:23PM