The Truth About Plasma TV
Below is the myths that has been travelling on the internet. With this informations, hopefully it will make purcase deciding easier.
1. After a short time, Plasma displays burn out.
Plasma TVs actually have a very long life. Today's, plasma displays deliver 30,000 hours of use until they fall to a level of half brightness. This means that if you watch the set for five hours per day, it would take over 16 years to reach half the brightness that the display was first capable of.
2. Every couple of years, plasma have to be recharged.
There’s no truth to this at all. Once the glass plasma panel is manufactured it cannot be re-opened and the plasma gas stays put for the life of the set.
3. All plasma are HDTV.
To reproduce full HDTV sharpness most 50 - 63-inch models have enough room to fit the number of pixels required. In the past, most 42-inch screens were not HDTV capable, but many of this year’s 42 - 43-inch screens (and even some smaller models from Philips and Sony) have HDTV resolution. Be sure to ask whether a plasma display is HDTV capable, rather than HDTV compatible. Make sure that the display has at least a 720 x 1200, or 1024 x 1024 resolution if you want HDTV.
4. Plasma TVs are great for watching sports.
Yes, and no. Most high-end plasma TVs will produce a pretty good picture with sports images. But, if you’re a sports fan, you’ll want a plasma display that can handle high-speed motion without producing artifacts like jittering, smearing, or images that lose focus. Fujitsu’s Plasmavision displays are the best in this category thanks to their AVM (Advanced Video Motion) circuitry.
5. Cheap plasma models look just as good as the expensive models.
"You Get What You Pay For..." is appropriate here. I have yet to see a bargain-brand plasma display come anywhere near the picture quality of the major plasma brands. For one thing, those cheap plasmas are not HDTV capable, and they don’t have the circuitry necessary to deliver an artifact-free picture.
6. Buy a plasma display over the Internet and save a bunch of money.
There could be nothing further from the truth! Yes, you may initially save some money, but it may come back and bite you in the bottom some day.
Pretty much every major plasma manufacturer highly discourages sales over the Internet. Only a handful of dealers are allowed to sell plasmas on their Internet sites, and they are usually close to MSRP. Nevertheless, disreputable Internet dealers still sell them on their Internet sites. What you don’t know is that these sets will not come with a manufacturer's warranty no matter what the website may say. If you need service, the manufacturer will check your set’s serial number, and then you’ll be on your own. Many unauthorized Internet dealers will try to sell you a 3rd party warranty to make up for the manufacturer’s warranty, but it won’t be the same, and many "fly-by-night" warranty companies go out of business on a regular basis.
1. After a short time, Plasma displays burn out.
Plasma TVs actually have a very long life. Today's, plasma displays deliver 30,000 hours of use until they fall to a level of half brightness. This means that if you watch the set for five hours per day, it would take over 16 years to reach half the brightness that the display was first capable of.
2. Every couple of years, plasma have to be recharged.
There’s no truth to this at all. Once the glass plasma panel is manufactured it cannot be re-opened and the plasma gas stays put for the life of the set.
3. All plasma are HDTV.
To reproduce full HDTV sharpness most 50 - 63-inch models have enough room to fit the number of pixels required. In the past, most 42-inch screens were not HDTV capable, but many of this year’s 42 - 43-inch screens (and even some smaller models from Philips and Sony) have HDTV resolution. Be sure to ask whether a plasma display is HDTV capable, rather than HDTV compatible. Make sure that the display has at least a 720 x 1200, or 1024 x 1024 resolution if you want HDTV.
4. Plasma TVs are great for watching sports.
Yes, and no. Most high-end plasma TVs will produce a pretty good picture with sports images. But, if you’re a sports fan, you’ll want a plasma display that can handle high-speed motion without producing artifacts like jittering, smearing, or images that lose focus. Fujitsu’s Plasmavision displays are the best in this category thanks to their AVM (Advanced Video Motion) circuitry.
5. Cheap plasma models look just as good as the expensive models.
"You Get What You Pay For..." is appropriate here. I have yet to see a bargain-brand plasma display come anywhere near the picture quality of the major plasma brands. For one thing, those cheap plasmas are not HDTV capable, and they don’t have the circuitry necessary to deliver an artifact-free picture.
6. Buy a plasma display over the Internet and save a bunch of money.
There could be nothing further from the truth! Yes, you may initially save some money, but it may come back and bite you in the bottom some day.
Pretty much every major plasma manufacturer highly discourages sales over the Internet. Only a handful of dealers are allowed to sell plasmas on their Internet sites, and they are usually close to MSRP. Nevertheless, disreputable Internet dealers still sell them on their Internet sites. What you don’t know is that these sets will not come with a manufacturer's warranty no matter what the website may say. If you need service, the manufacturer will check your set’s serial number, and then you’ll be on your own. Many unauthorized Internet dealers will try to sell you a 3rd party warranty to make up for the manufacturer’s warranty, but it won’t be the same, and many "fly-by-night" warranty companies go out of business on a regular basis.
The Truth About Plasma TV
posted by TFT @ 1:05 AM
