plasma screens - life

[dms]

i remember there was a thread were someone reconed plasma screens needed gasing and had low life expectancy (of course without the search function i can't find it ;-)

got this reply from sony over one of their new plasma screens:

"
In response to your query, I can confirm that the expected life of our
plasma screen is 30,000 hours, although in tests and in people's experience
they have performed far beyond that, up to 70,000 hours. I have no records
of any maintenance that needs to be carried out - you may be thinking of the
old plasma screens from many years back which needed refuelling with gas and
did not last very long.
"

does this sound a-ok?

still torn between easy set up plasma and projector...

any opinion on better picture ;-) i'll have to look up what 16:9 projectors actually cost... ;-)

[NeilS]

All plasma screens reduce in brightness over time. As a general rule, the brighter is starts the longer it will last.

Comment from Panasonic: "Note: Actual life testing to 20,000 hours confirms the above (chart removed). It is expected that after 45,000 hours (five years at 24 hrs. per. day) screen quality may deteriorate due to failing cells"

Based on the above, I'd say that with normal viewing (6 hours per day) that after 20 years you'd probably want to think about replacing the screen!

Neil

[nigel_williams]

I'm having the same dilema. £5,000 for a 42" plasma (Panasonic look to be the best option) or projector.

Anyone seen the new Sony HS1 projector? They're about £1800 from Empiredirect with a free 60" screen.

[Keiron99]

At the Home Entertainment show in Manchester the other week, there were dozens of demonstrations using plasma displays, and Fujitsu had their own stand. I have to say, I was embarassed on behalf of those companies - they all looked absolutely awful. And it wasn't just me who thought so - chatting to other visitors they all agreed. I don't think they're quite there yet - they certainly aren't of a quality to justify the sort of prices being asked.

[A²]

I can deal with a loss of brightness over time (particularly if its over 20 years) as long as its uniform across the image. I can't deal with plasma because of the dead pixels. Little spots of black, or worse, BLUE, just bug the hell out of me. When I last looked at a particular manufacturer, they wouldn't accept responsibility for any defect affecting under 4% of the central image or 20% of the corners/edges.

20%! That's one in 5 missing!

[nigel_williams]

Get a demo of the Sony VPL-VW10/11 projectors. For the price of a plasma, you get a 60 inch picture (or even bigger!).

Just had a demo today and the picture was fantastic!