No new plasmas anymore?

[BarkingGhost]

So I was flirting with the idea of buying a new plasma, but I cannot find any in retail. Was going to look for a 60" display. Is plasma officially dead from the new product sales?

If so then I guess I'll go buy a new projector for the HT.

[Dylan34]

Originally Posted by BarkingGhost

So I was flirting with the idea of buying a new plasma, but I cannot find any in retail. Was going to look for a 60" display. Is plasma officially dead from the new product sales?

If so then I guess I'll go buy a new projector for the HT.

Plasma is over with my friend. 2014 was the last year of it. You probably can still find one new if you look hard enough though. Good luck to ya!!

[Pondosinatra]

Nope.

Quality lost out to the Walmart crowd.

"Look, ma, I got me a Tee Vee.! it came with this toaster I bought!"

[JJ]

Originally Posted by BarkingGhost

So I was flirting with the idea of buying a new plasma, but I cannot find any in retail. Was going to look for a 60" display. Is plasma officially dead from the new product sales?

If so then I guess I'll go buy a new projector for the HT.

I made the same decision in late 2014 after my last plasma (65ZT60) died and couldn't be replaced - I went projector.

Last month I went to LCD-LED (viewing conditions), and they actually aren't horrendous anymore, save viewing angle. Call me crazy, but the JS8500 is pretty comparable to my ZT60!

Also, this does mean I have a Sony VPL40 1080p projector with 200 hours for sale, should you want it,

[Pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by JJ

I made the same decision in late 2014 after my last plasma (65ZT60) died and couldn't be replaced - I went projector...

How long did you have the Panny???

[JJ]

Originally Posted by Pondosinatra

How long did you have the Panny???

Oh my gosh, you're bringing back horrible memories.

About 9 months. Then the screen started developing a "disease" that spread throughout the entire panel. Discoloring, panel uniformity went into the garbage. Panny tried to fix it twice to no avail, by then there were none available (October 2014) so they gave me a refund. At the time, there was only 1 or 2 other mentions of the same issue on the internet, on AVSForums. I haven't wandered back since.

Then I tried projector - Epson 5030 and Sony VPL40, both of which were defeated by my room - not so much the lighting/walls, but by my unchangeable seating distance of 7'6", which on a 92" screen meant I saw screen door effect on the Epson and after continued viewing ended up being too large for the viewing distance for the Sony.

So instead of making a smaller 75" or 80" screen, I scrapped it altogether and bought a Samsung 65" JS8500. Had it for two weeks now, couldn't be happier. Daytime viewing is back, I have great blacks, 4K (which on the 25 hours of 4K content I have readily available, aint bad!) and amazing color, on par with the ZT65.

Only downside is the occasional moment the edgelighting is noticeable (credits scenes) and bad viewing angles past 30 degrees or so.

But in a world of compromises nowadays, it's the best choice. Just took me almost a year to find it.

[Pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by JJ

Oh my gosh, you're bringing back horrible memories.

About 9 months. Then the screen started developing a "disease" that spread throughout the entire panel. Discoloring, panel uniformity went into the garbage. Panny tried to fix it twice to no avail, by then there were none available (October 2014) so they gave me a refund. At the time, there was only 1 or 2 other mentions of the same issue on the internet, on AVSForums. I haven't wandered back since.

Then I tried projector - Epson 5030 and Sony VPL40, both of which were defeated by my room - not so much the lighting/walls, but by my unchangeable seating distance of 7'6", which on a 92" screen meant I saw screen door effect on the Epson and after continued viewing ended up being too large for the viewing distance for the Sony.

So instead of making a smaller 75" or 80" screen, I scrapped it altogether and bought a Samsung 65" JS8500. Had it for two weeks now, couldn't be happier. Daytime viewing is back, I have great blacks, 4K (which on the 25 hours of 4K content I have readily available, aint bad!) and amazing color, on par with the ZT65.

Only downside is the occasional moment the edgelighting is noticeable (credits scenes) and bad viewing angles past 30 degrees or so.

But in a world of compromises nowadays, it's the best choice. Just took me almost a year to find it.

Hmmmm. I've had a VT upstairs for a couple years? now with no problems. I also bought the ZT over a year ago, but it's still in the original box as I've been waiting to get the basement done. Fingers crossed when it gets installed in a few weeks all is good. Maybe I'll hang on to my Kuro just in case.

[BarkingGhost]

This is truly sad. First development of FED/SED lost out to the continued milking of LCD and plasma, but now plasma loses out to the continued milking or LCD for the Wally World consortium.

OK, good to know anyway. I'll just go buy another projector.

[slimdude]

Unfortunately Plasma TVs have been discontinued! It's a shame because, I always thought Plasma looked much better than LCDs. I have a Panasonic Plasma HDTV, and it look absolutely gorgeous. Panasonic were the next best thing to the now defunct Pioneer Kuro.

[JOHN MFN D.]

Hopefully my Panny has a few more years in it. I really do enjoy it!

[RickWJ324]

My main 2 tv's (51" living room and 42" bedroom) are both Samsung plasmas! Best deal for the price and picture! Much preferred over lcd!!

It'll be a sad day when they eventually die on me....

[R3P0]

Originally Posted by RickWJ324

My main 2 tv's (51" living room and 42" bedroom) are both Samsung plasmas! Best deal for the price and picture! Much preferred over lcd!!

It'll be a sad day when they eventually die on me....

By then OLED should be perfected and you can just get that

[PrestigeWorldwide]

Sad to hear there's no longer any Plasmas at retail. Fortunately, I have three Panny plasmas, and hopefully none of them will die on me until I upgrade to 4K in a few years, probably 5 more years at the earliest.

[ZoetMB]

Samsung still lists several plasmas on their website. Whether they actually have any left is another matter.

They list the F8500 (64" $4400, 60" $3800, 51" $2700), H5000 (64" $1300), F5300 (60" $800, 51" $600) and the 4300 (51" $450).

[halloween5309]

if anyone cares tigerdirect.com has a 51 samsung 720 plasma brand new for $399

[Santa Barbara]

eBay/Amazon/NewEgg and a few other places still have them new.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by halloween5309

if anyone cares tigerdirect.com has a 51 samsung 720 plasma brand new for $399

Since Blu-rays are 1080p, and soon to be 4K (whenever 4k Blu-rays launch, if at all) a 720p Plasma HDTV wouldn't be worth buying. To get the optimal video resolution for blu-ray, a HDTV must be 1080p to 2160 which is 4K.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by slimdude

Since Blu-rays are 1080p, and soon to be 4K (whenever 4k Blu-rays launch, if at all) a 720p Plasma HDTV wouldn't be worth buying. To get the optimal video resolution for blu-ray, a HDTV must be 1080p to 2160 which is 4K.

A bigger issue than resolution is the ability to display the new coming color gamut standard. That will be far more perceivable than the resolution increase. And to a lesser extent, high dynamic range capability.

I don't think any plasma, maybe not even the mighty Kuro (which took my breath away), will be able to stand up against a future quality 4K set with HDR and wider color gamut.

But having said that, there will be people who will continue to believe that plasma is always better.

[jvonl]

Originally Posted by slimdude

Since Blu-rays are 1080p, and soon to be 4K (whenever 4k Blu-rays launch, if at all) a 720p Plasma HDTV wouldn't be worth buying. To get the optimal video resolution for blu-ray, a HDTV must be 1080p to 2160 which is 4K.

I agree with you about looking to the future. However the difference between 720p and 1080p is somewhat dependent on viewing distance. No one has ever noticed that my Kuro is 720p! While I eagerly await an affordable OLED, I've been pretty damned happy so far!

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by slimdude

Since Blu-rays are 1080p, and soon to be 4K (whenever 4k Blu-rays launch, if at all) a 720p Plasma HDTV wouldn't be worth buying. To get the optimal video resolution for blu-ray, a HDTV must be 1080p to 2160 which is 4K.

4K will be here on disc, pretty soon. There is a lot of hat-dancing around HDR, the new sound modes, and other nonsense, but it's going to show up by Christmas.


Salesmen are drooling all over their shirts for it.