Farewell to plasma? EU plans to ban the display

[thescrounger]

Not sure if this has been mentioned anywhere else but in the name of climate change it looks like plasma is going to be phased out banned.:nuts: I suppose there's OLED around the corner but it looks like LCD will be the main affordable choice for while as new technology is expensive in it's first few years.

EU to ban plasma (http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/environment/eu-to-ban-plasma-televisions-in-battle-against-climate-change-14136817.html)

[mr starface]

I read this in the paper the other day and seems strange they are going to ban a TV set!

But if it means I can upgrade to a cheap Plasme before they get rid of them its fine by me.

[ColinP]

Chances are if this does happen then the last Plasmas may well sell for a premium as people scramble to get hold of them - opinions vary, but many rate Plasmas above LCDs so there's a good reason to buy one before they're removed from the market.

[Mevlock]

Damn glad I'm upgrading to a new 1080p 24Hz plasma next month then via the Costco offer.

Plasma certainly give a better picture (at least imho) over lcd.

[Dan]

Can't see that happening, especially since the new Panasonic models with Neo-PDP use half the power as current models.

[TigaSefi]

Damn glad I'm upgrading to a new 1080p 24Hz plasma next month then via the Costco offer.

Plasma certainly give a better picture (at least imho) over lcd.

can you expand on that ? i might replace my 3 year old plasma for proper 1080p.

[Mevlock]

can you expand on that ? i might replace my 3 year old plasma for proper 1080p.

http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=542768

Our very own bargain forums right here ;)

Seems to tick all the right boxes. 24Hz, 1080p, overscan can be disabled. Nice upgrade from my own 3 year old plasma.

[Jim989]

I cant see them banning plasma. Why ban it when they can just put a CO2 tax on it and screw us for more money? Heck, give it a few years and we will end up with a CO2 tax on everything!

Also, if they ban my plasma it means I would have to put more coal on the fire and thus make more CO2. Silly EU legislators!

[Tempest]

Typical Newspaper Style "Straight Bananna" SHOCK HORROR STORY that does not mean what the title says.

The SHOCK HORROR:
Energy-guzzling flatscreen plasma televisions will soon be banned as part of the battle against climate change, ministers have revealed.



And THE FACTS:
“Minimum-energy performance standards” for televisions are expected to be agreed across Europe this spring, they say, and this should lead to “phasing out the most inefficient TVs”. At the same time, a compulsory labelling system will be drawn up to identify the best and worst devices.

[SheepDip]

It's as they say, manufacturers will just bring in more energy efficient sets.

Anyway, surely the old radioactive CRT's with their thick heavy tubes used more energy than LCD's :shrug:

[Tempest]

It's as they say, manufacturers will just bring in more energy efficient sets.

Anyway, surely the old radioactive CRT's with their thick heavy tubes used more energy than LCD's :shrug:

Supprisingly not. We have a 28" Widescreen (few years old) in one room and that only uses 95 watts.

[Tempest]

Also just found this:

A funny thing happened in the APC Labs. We were convinced that Plasmas were going to be the runaway electricity hogs, because everyone says they are. So to check their power consumption, we turned to the experts. Jaga Park-Ross, an Environmental Consultant with Neco Environmental Solutions (www.neco.com.au) used a Power-Mate meter to measure the wattage of all the TVs, taking readings in standby mode, with a dark screen and with a bright screen. He also measured the energy consumption over a one-minute period using the same piece of Apollo 13 footage being played from an HD DVD player connected via HDMI. You’d think the big Pioneer 50in PDP-5000EX plasma would be by far the highest consumer of power. But, its estimated hourly usage of 0.252 kilowatts is not as high as the Grundig 40in LCD’s 0.276 kilowatts. In a direct comparison between two similarly sized TVs, the LG 42 inch plasma (42PC1DG-AA), used 0.216 kilowatts per hour, vs the 0.228 kilowatts of the LG 42 inch LCD — (42LC7D-AB). Like many of the plasma TVs’ supposed weaknesses, high power consumption appears to be a hangover from the first generation of plasmas which needed a nuclear power station each. If you think the power consumption of a HDTV will kill your budget, consider this. A flat-panel LCD or plasma uses roughly a kilowatt hour of electricity per day, assuming you have it switched on for four hours. That’s about a quarter to half of your fridge’s power consumption, depending on its size (they typically use 2-4 kilowatt hours per day).

[S1LVERBACK]

so are they banning playstations 3`s to ?

[Jim989]

so are they banning playstations 3`s to ?

I guess you are referring to Launch Models ? It appears it only just uses more power than a 360 now with the 65nm chip :wave:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/30/40gb-ps3-features-65nm-chips-lower-power-consumption/

http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-356-1.htm

Also, I thought everyone knew that LCD rating is kinda fixed because of the backlight unlike plasma which is more a max rating because it depends on the scene. So a dark film film could actually be cheaper to watch on a plasma when compared to a LCD :D

[Tempest]

To be honest (what with all the talk about on these forums about low voltage bulbs to save power) I can only think it's a good thing to start (now tech is moving on) to show energy ratings next to BIG screen TV's in the same way they do with Washing Machines, Tumble Dryers, Fridges etc etc.....

All for information for consumers, and if you can get the same size TV as a different brand which costs you less to run and looks just as good, then great.

[Raigmore]

Chances are if this does happen then the last Plasmas may well sell for a premium as people scramble to get hold of them - opinions vary, but many rate Plasmas above LCDs so there's a good reason to buy one before they're removed from the market. I rate larger screen plasma TVs above LCDs. IMO around 37" is the cutoff point with Plasma and LCD giving the same picture quality. Anything larger and I would prefer a plasma while an LCD would be better for a smaller bedroom television. We have a 42" Panasonic Viera Plasma TV in the den abd a 32" Sony Bravia LCD in the bedroom. Happy with both :thumbs:.

[Nebiroth]

Typical scare-mongering. If you read it it says Energy-guzzling flatscreen plasma televisions to be banned and later phasing out the most inefficient TVs

All that this means is that there will be minimum standards set to force manufactuers to produce more energy-efficient TV's. At the moment there is no such standard, and some TV's consume a lot more than others: labelling (similar to the energy ratings on things like fridges) will allow consumers to make an informed choice.

Plasma screens don't have to be energy gobblers - and ironically, as screens get bigger the gap between them and LCD panels closes, because LCD panels are constantly illuminated, whilst plasmas are not: LCD power consumption is largely steady, whilst a plasma is not - it depends on how bright or dark a scene is, and also what the user settings are.

One factor I looked at with my plasma was it's energy rating: it is Energy Star compliant, and although it does use more than my old 28" CRT, it's not that much more, particularly as I have the contrast and brightness levels set fairly low (I found high levels garish and eye-straining) and also the energy saving settings are at maximum. The power consumption difference is even less compared to LCD screens of similar size.

The wording of Giant plasma televisions can consume four times as much energy as traditional TVs that used cathode ray tubes (CRTs) also needs reading carefuly. It means a huge 50" ("giant") plasma can (may) use as much as four times as much power as a 26"-28" ("traditional") TV.

[Jim989]

The wording of Giant plasma televisions can consume four times as much energy as traditional TVs that used cathode ray tubes (CRTs) also needs reading carefuly. It means a huge 50" ("giant") plasma can (may) use as much as four times as much power as a 26"-28" ("traditional") TV.

But that is the problem. The non-informed EU idiots, er I mean voted in reps only see "This takes x power and that takes y power". This then filters down to Joe Public and thus generally is ill-informed information. I turned my Plasma down on 1st day and never turned it back up because 50% brightness is darn bright! On 100% it could well exceed a LCD at 50"! However, real-world usage is not taken when they draw up stats. This is why the software patent laws was going to be passed by my local MP until he was informed of the real-world implications.

The ppl who vote or laws CANNOT BE EXPERTS in every field, thus they decide on stats. If you "people/informed/nerds/Hobbyists/etc" do not express your wisdom to them then they are just as dumb as Joe Public and will decide the result based on "statistics".

BTW: You know tomatoes should be banned? Statistically speaking, tomatoes kill. Everyone who was deployed in WW1 who ate tomatoes is now dead. Therefore Tomatoes are killers!

That was simple. but when ppl in power have little time to read EVERYTHING this is EXACTLY how things are decided :(

[Jim989]

I got myself one of the energy monitors today. My 50" panny plasma uses from 2.5p/hr to 4.5p/hr but seems to be roughly around the 3.6p/hr. I think that works out at about 300-350 watts/hr at my over-the-top cost per kWh. I think the manual said 500 watts/hr.

[rizla01]

I got myself one of the energy monitors today. My 50" panny plasma uses from 2.5p/hr to 4.5p/hr but seems to be roughly around the 3.6p/hr. I think that works out at about 300-350 watts/hr at my over-the-top cost per kWh. I think the manual said 500 watts/hr

[QUOTE=]
A flat-panel LCD or plasma uses roughly a kilowatt hour of electricity per day, assuming you have it switched on for four hours. That’s about a quarter to half of your fridge’s power consumption, depending on its size (they typically use 2-4 kilowatt hours per day)..


From this submission, does that say that a fridge costs approx 10p per hour = £2.40 per day = £70 PLUS per Month?

[AndyWilson]

Well, my leccy bill is a lot less than £70/month so I doubt the fridge is using that much!

[jester]

Scaremongering, looks good for the EU types as looks like they are doing something. All tha will happen is more effient plasma displays may result.

If it actually did look like plasma would be "banned" and you really could noy buy them anymore then I for one would buy the biggest and best set I could possibly afford, test it then put it away for when my 50" and 42" plasmas go west. Cannot abide lcd for anything ofther than computer monitors.