Done with plasma!

[KrugStillo]

Twice I've been burnt by plasma and I don't plan on taking it anymore.

First time I had issues with stuck pixels and terrible image retention (Vizio 32). Returned that and said never again.

Second time (against my better judgement) I purchased a Panasonic Viera 42 G25. This was many years after the first and because I figured I'd give it a chance. Well I got over the occasional image retention and fluctuating brightness and learned to love my TV. It had amazing picture quality and then came the red speckles (after only a year and 3 months). I dealt with my warranty company and got my money back but unfortunately couldn't use it towards a new TV cause of my stupid car. Argggh! So now I am stuck with a plasma set that has occasional red speckles over certain color backgrounds. At this point it's not terrible but apparently this is a big issue that happens to alot of sets after the first year or so. That's complete bullshit! So sick of companies screwing people over with their crap products. I guess there are few fixes, I tried the voltage fix to no avail. All that's left is replacing boards and panels and I don't have that kind of money. So I guess I'll just watch it until it gets so bad I can't stand it and then try to come up with cash for a new set. I will never again buy a plasma TV. I know the blacks are amazing and the image looks great. But only for like 1 year and then the set goes to crap. That could be an exageration but I can't waste money on a potential sure thing anymore.

[retablo]

Originally Posted by KrugStillo

Twice I've been burnt by plasma and I don't plan on taking it anymore.

First time I had issues with stuck pixels and terrible image retention (Vizio 32). Returned that and said never again.

Second time (against my better judgement) I purchased a Panasonic Viera 42 G25. This was many years after the first and because I figured I'd give it a chance. Well I got over the occasional image retention and fluctuating brightness and learned to love my TV. It had amazing picture quality and then came the red speckles (after only a year and 3 months). I dealt with my warranty company and got my money back but unfortunately couldn't use it towards a new TV cause of my stupid car. Argggh! So now I am stuck with a plasma set that has occasional red speckles over certain color backgrounds. At this point it's not terrible but apparently this is a big issue that happens to alot of sets after the first year or so. That's complete bullshit! So sick of companies screwing people over with their crap products. I guess there are few fixes, I tried the voltage fix to no avail. All that's left is replacing boards and panels and I don't have that kind of money. So I guess I'll just watch it until it gets so bad I can't stand it and then try to come up with cash for a new set. I will never again buy a plasma TV. I know the blacks are amazing and the image looks great. But only for like 1 year and then the set goes to crap. That could be an exageration but I can't waste money on a potential sure thing anymore.

1) Vizio's are known to be crap. Research first.

2) I've owned 2 Panasonic plasmas for 5 years and never and 1 problem with either of them.

3) Did you break your TVs in the proper way?

4) What does your car have to do with your TV?

[KrugStillo]

Originally Posted by retablo

1) Vizio's are known to be crap. Research first.

2) I've owned 2 Panasonic plasmas for 5 years and never and 1 problem with either of them.

3) Did you break your TVs in the proper way?

4) What does your car have to do with your TV?

1. Actually Vizio's can be crap but surprisingly many of the newer models are getting good reviews. At the time I bought a cheap set and ultimately paid the price for it.

2. You better check them for red and green speckles and rising blacks cause according to everything I read and see with my own eyes this happens alot. Plus you were lucky enough to buy a plasma before they messed with the panels to make them eco friendly. It seems that people who have had plasmas for like 5 years got good ones when they bought theres. Not the case anymore, at least for me and many others. Just research red speckles and rising blacks and you'll see what I mean.

3. Yes. 100 or so hours with d-nice's slides. Set looked great in the beginning even considering the fluctuating brightness (FBR).

4. My car just happened to need severe repairs and the only money I have is my warranty money so I'm screwed. I wish the warranty company would have just replaced the set but they couldn't because they couldn't find a comparable model in the $900 price range. Whatever I guess life screws you sometimes.

Honestly I loved my set and wish it still worked well. I hate to spread more plasma fear but it really seems like the newer sets just aren't living up to the standards of the older sets. I just needed to vent and I really feel that people need to be aware of the possibility of this. These problems aren't like crappy panels on LCD's that you can see right away. These are problems that tend to happen after your warranty is over and then you are screwed. I'm just sick of it. Great picture quality shouldn't be at the expense of something you will be replacing in less than 2 years. Remember when TV's lasted 20 years? I guess that doesn't happen anymore.

[ZIPPO]

Sorry about your misfortune...
Regardless of your TV issues, you were going to have to pay for car repairs eventually( TV & warranty company not at fault ). I believe Vizio stopped making plasma, because their( Vizio's plasma sets ) failure rate was too high. I bought my mother a Vizio plasma & its power supply died 1 week after the warranty expired.
Vizio's LCD sets are pretty solid though.
Once again, sorry about your misfortune...

[Cevolution]

Not much to complain about IMO, because essentially you got the tv for free. You got a full refund on the purchase price you paid for the tv, and got to keep the defective tv as well, which sounds like even though the issue is annoying, the tv still displays images and is watchable. The way I look at it, is at least your car is fixed and you have a tv that is useable until you can afford to buy another 1. Besides you had the money to buy another tv, the money you originally spent on a tv in the first place, but instead you made a choice to spend it on your car rather than buying another tv.

[Blu-dock Saint]

As with others here I've had a few plasmas that have lasted plenty long. It doesnt matter if it's lcd or plasma they all will have defects every now and then, it's all luck of the draw. Sorry for what happend to you and I can share your frusteration in the ways of tv's, I went through lcd's in the past with the power supply's dying and that's what made me go plasma. At the end of the day it's just all luck of the draw, best of luck to you.

[Audiophile_At_Birth]

Originally Posted by Cevolution

Not much to complain about IMO, because essentially you got the tv for free. You got a full refund on the purchase price you paid for the tv, and got to keep the defective tv as well, which sounds like even though the issue is annoying, the tv still displays images and is watchable. The way I look at it, is at least your car is fixed and you have a tv that is useable until you can afford to buy another 1. Besides you had the money to buy another tv, the money you originally spent on a tv in the first place, but instead you made a choice to spend it on your car rather than buying another tv.

There are also several comparable TV's in that price range, some even better. Just saying.

[KrugStillo]

Thanks for the kind words all. I just needed to vent. I may have come off rough but what the hell right. For now I'll just live with what I have and maybe get a new set in the near future. The car ticked me off though. I knew it was gonna need repairs but it happened at the worst possible time. I just don't think I have the patience for another plasma although I did enjoy the time I had one in working condition.

[Audiophile_At_Birth]

Originally Posted by KrugStillo

Thanks for the kind words all. I just needed to vent. I may have come off rough but what the hell right. For now I'll just live with what I have and maybe get a new set in the near future. The car ticked me off though. I knew it was gonna need repairs but it happened at the worst possible time. I just don't think I have the patience for another plasma although I did enjoy the time I had one in working condition.

Car issues/repairs are never meant to be fun unless it's a pleasure vehicle. All things aside, brakes are the one and only thing a vehicle owner should never neglect...ever! Good things come in time OP! Maybe down the road you will find a new tv set that suits you better and have a vehicle that stops!

Good luck!

[kris achar]

Hi,
Sorry to hear anout your experience with plasma tvs.But i fully agree with you in one point you have said that is modern plasma build quality and Eco features are not satisfactory.
My panny plasma V20 series 2D model,50inches i bought around 8 months back.And iam fully satisfied with its performance as of now.And if it last 4 to 5 yrs without giving any repairs that will do.After which iam planning to change this tv to a newer plasma model.I had always been a fan of vt30 65inches model but recently i went to Panasonic brand shop and saw this tv's performance.I was simply blown away by its picture quality.
But when i bent behind the tv i was not that happy to see that the side thickness has gone down considerably(Slim line models).I did not like this feature of making plasmas appear like lcd or led tv's.There by making its internal components small and compact.
I hope the new 2012 line up of vt50's thickness is not reduced further from the vt30 models.
Since when they fail,it would be very difficult to repair and to even prevent the screen from cracking during handling & transit without its original box or carton.

[KrugStillo]

Originally Posted by Audiophile_At_Birth

Car issues/repairs are never meant to be fun unless it's a pleasure vehicle. All things aside, brakes are the one and only thing a vehicle owner should never neglect...ever! Good things come in time OP! Maybe down the road you will find a new tv set that suits you better and have a vehicle that stops!

Good luck!

Wow! You guessed it was my brakes. I guess severe problems entails that most of the time. They started scraping metal so I was forced to take care of them and you know how that works. As soon as they get the car this needs fixing and that needs fixing and this should be checked out. They managed to singlehandedly suck up my warranty check and then some. It's nice to have a car but hell to upkeep one nowadays.

[ObiWanShinobi]

Damn dude that sucks. Sorry to hear you didn't have a good experience with Plasma.

I recently bought a 55" Panasonic (GT30) and I'm lovin it. Being my first Plasma I DID get the in-store 2 year warranty on it though, just to be sure. Man this thing is great though...the 3D is excellent, the blacks are incredible, and the detail/clarity blows away anything I've previously owned.

Anyway, sorry to hear you had a bad experience but I wouldn't totally give up on Plasma.

[PUsokrJosh305]

Idk if this is the problem, which it probably isn't, but I have a Panasonic 65" TC-PS1 plasma at home and I have experienced the red and sometimes green sparkles from it. But, this only happened when I had a bad HDMI cable. This happened when I had those really expensive Monster Cables, which btw suck to the max. I went with Monoprice cables and the problem was fixed. Again, idk if that is the issue or not, I'm just passing on things that I have experienced!! Hope your tv problems/ other problems get resolved!!

[dobyblue]

I will join you in being done with plasma, in about 10~12 years when I move to a 4K 3D OLED TV!

[KrugStillo]

Well my tweaks didn't eliminate the problem but they diminished it a bit. It looks pretty good right now but I just hope it stays that way and doesn't get worse.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by KrugStillo

Wow! You guessed it was my brakes. I guess severe problems entails that most of the time. They started scraping metal so I was forced to take care of them and you know how that works.

Sounds like your brakes had begin to grind on the rotors, and the cost to repair is more expensive than replacing the normal wear of brake shoes or pads, because the maintenance to perform the job is more extensive. HDTV's are gradually reducing in price, and you should be able to get a nice one real cheap.

[slaughinghouse]

Originally Posted by kris achar

Hi,
Sorry to hear anout your experience with plasma tvs.But i fully agree with you in one point you have said that is modern plasma build quality and Eco features are not satisfactory.
My panny plasma V20 series 2D model,50inches i bought around 8 months back.And iam fully satisfied with its performance as of now.And if it last 4 to 5 yrs without giving any repairs that will do.After which iam planning to change this tv to a newer plasma model.I had always been a fan of vt30 65inches model but recently i went to Panasonic brand shop and saw this tv's performance.I was simply blown away by its picture quality.
But when i bent behind the tv i was not that happy to see that the side thickness has gone down considerably(Slim line models).I did not like this feature of making plasmas appear like lcd or led tv's.There by making its internal components small and compact.
I hope the new 2012 line up of vt50's thickness is not reduced further from the vt30 models.
Since when they fail,it would be very difficult to repair and to even prevent the screen from cracking during handling & transit without its original box or carton.

You're not still carrying around those brick sized cellphones, are you? Guaranteed that tv thicknesses will get slimmer and slimmer. It is the way it is with technology. There may be some missteps along the way, but it's a foregone conclusion that tv thickness will get thinner and thinner.

[agoofykindasuperman]

Bought my Pioneer PRO141FD over 2 years ago and have no issues. I've had an Hitachi 42 inch plasma before that, and it still has great picture quality. Never had an issue with plasma's in my experience.
Never heard of these "red speckles" or "rising blacks" until now.
I will continue to buy plasma until I see otherwise.

[Audiophile_At_Birth]

Sounds like a voltage issue OP. Food for thought, if and when you decide what you need to adjust in the service menu (not suggested if you don't)...you can diminish and rid yourself of possible Dithering. It could also be that your RGB levels are off and pushing the red and green voltage.

[Grif32]

Sorry to hear about your plasma but the G25 doesn't have fluctuating brightness issue's that's the 2011 models. Rising blacks yes, FB no.

I currently own 4 Panny Plasma's and never had an issue with any of them. Check my signature for the models I own. I didn't list the 4th because it's 8 years old and still going strong but can not remember the model # on it lol.

Sometimes you just get a set that sucks, it happens just like with anything in life. Just luck of the draw I guess.

At least you got a full refund and you didn't screwed out of that.