Are Plasma HDTVs On Their Way Out the Door?

[gstarr]

I have two Sony XBR's--a 40" and a 52". I also have a Pioneer Kuro 6010FD upstairs in my main media room. While the Sony's are certainly better than adequate, I can't think of any aspect of performance they do better than the Pioneer when the lighting in the room is correct. The great blacks, greys, shadows, and the overall performance in HD and SD upconverted is startling great. And a 60" plasma is definitely cheaper than a 60" LCD and many 50" -58" 1080p plasma's by Panny and Pioneer are are close in price to 52" LCD's--often cheaper--and the performance is still much better.

Greg

[trainerdave]

Originally Posted by Lotus

. . . Plasmas may be on the way out, but a lot of that has been from greed. Fujitsu for instance relied too long on high price points. Then the numbers dropped on them. Rather than lower the price point, they remained greedy, and the result is they are out of the plasma business.
. . . Pioneer has always been strong in market shares with their plasmas. I don't see this going anywhere unless the Panasonic versions of their sets are a step back. . .

Pioneer will drop out of plasma when Panasonic decides to scale back on unprofitible PDP production. This will happen when PDP glass from China improves just a bit more. And that will happen. Remember the China factories can produce for far less investment in labor and virually no investment in intellectual capital.

[kennyt]

Originally Posted by trainerdave

Remember the China factories can produce for far less investment in labor and virually no investment in intellectual capital.

Of course, you don't have to invest in intellectual capital when you steal it!!!

[deacongreg]

I know we are talking about Plasmas here, but I`m still sorry that people like SONY and others, stopped making the RPTV`s.

[gstarr]

To me the most appealing factor of LCD's are their weight. Much lighter than plasma's. But I have yet to see an LCD that performs as well as a 1080p Panny or 1080p Pioneer Kuro.

Sony XBR CRT's were great, but a 34" widescreen that weighs a ton is rather passe these days for a true large media room experience. If you have the room in your bedroom for one of those beasts it certainly is a great HDTV.

Most LCD's sold (and most plasma's for that matter) are cheaper and not top notch HDTV's. I am reminded of the extreme popularity of "lossy" MP3 recording with the success of the cheaper sets that don't perform with deep blacks and great shadows--nevermind sharp and accurate colors.

No doubt people buy what they can afford and that undoubtedly leaves the edge to the majority of non-critical consumers to LCD's at their current state of the art.

Who knows how long it will take OLEDS to be at a Panny 1080p 58" price--or even a Pioneer 50" or 60" price. Quite a few years I suspect.

Yes, the high priced best performing LCD's have shortened the distance between the best plasma's, but as of yet I have never seen (although I'm sure they exist) people that prefer the best 52" LCD over a 50" or 60" Pioneer Kuro.

Greg

[Kevin Miller]

Hi All,

Let's face it Plasma isn't going away anytime soon. Panasonic's new 800 and 850 series sets are awesome, and nipping at the heals of the Pioneer Kuros in PQ for much less money.