So I called my dad who lives in Germany, telling him proudly that we joined the HD crowd and purchased a 42" plasma Panny.He's had his Sony TV for almost 20 years now and I thought I would get him excited about getting something new, too.

He tells me that he just read in the newspaper that Sony, Panasonic and others are going to stop making plasmas and start making some kind of new HDTV and the article proceeded to write about Plasma not being a very future proof technology? :eek:

He's just over 70 years old and usually not too confused about stuff, but I have never heard of such a thing?

I told him from what I've read that LCDs are ok on smaller screens and Plasmas better on large screens. Also that for me personally a PLasma just looked so much better than an LCD screen.

He did make me curious though. Has anybody hear heard anything about Plasma technology coming to an end?

Only if you read the SED thread. On there there's a lot of plasma doomsayers. Of course no one's seen a SED, except maybe Auditor55 :p :D

It will be quite some time before plasma bites the dust. When it does I think you'll see OLED become plasma and LCD's doomsday machine. Probably not until the middle of the next decade though. By then who knows what technology we'll be talking about, but my guess is OLED.

It will be quite some time before plasma bites the dust. When it does I think you'll see OLED become plasma and LCD's doomsday machine. Probably not until the middle of the next decade though. By then who knows what technology we'll be talking about, but my guess is OLED.

I was thinking along the same lines. I really do not recall reading anything about Plasma manufacturers calling it quits. About the only thing short-term I can see is LCD's getting biggre and better and most likely staying cheaper than Plasams, and thus gaining a greater market share.

No doubt that as a base technology LCD offers a greater upside than plasma. But LCD faces four challenges not yet met. 55" to 65" price advantage panels, superior black levels, eradicating the blur issues, acceptable fields of vision. The last three are simply a matter of technology advancement but the first challenge may take too much time. If OLED technology continues forward you may see the current micro display manufactures jumping on that bandwagon as micro displays fall by the wayside.

My folks are in their early seventies, and were debating the same issues before purchasing their plasma.

In the final analysis, they decided that worrying too much about future proofing themselves at their age would detract from their chance to enjoy HDTV right now.

Not to be a fatalist, because 70+ is still young by modern standards, but I had to agree with them. In fact, their decision to buy prompted me to as well.

Who really cares, as long as it looks good to your eyes and lasts awhile :)?

I've seen some forecasts, and plasma sales are expected to continue to increase through 2009. Plasma ain't going anywhere soon. :)

He did make me curious though. Has anybody hear heard anything about Plasma technology coming to an end?

Somebody better call Panasonic and let them know, they are building a new 2.4 billion dollar plant that is expected to be completed in May 2009 and capacity to put out one million plasma displays a month. Boy are they in for a surprise!

If Plasma production stopped tomorrow, yours would still be working fine as intended. This isn't XP that you'll miss out on service packs......

Of course no one's seen a SED, except maybe Auditor55 :p :D

lol

Yeah...... SED = JOKE! :rolleyes:

Plasma picture quality is at its peak right now and the major players are making terrific sets that are simply marvelous TVs and will be for many years.

Go ahead and let them say what they will.

Still waiting for the SED *Takeover*..... :rolleyes:

;)

Who really cares, as long as it looks good to your eyes and lasts awhile :)?

Exactly!

It would be interesting to find out, however, who wrote the article and where it was published.

I find these articles amusing. So what if a "better" technology comes out and causes your current technology to no longer be manufactured? Are you still satisfied with your 42-65" very thin HD display hanging on your wall? Of course newer sets with newer technology will become available, but its not as if as soon as they stop manufacturing plasma that all existing plasmas will cease to function....

How does buying a plasma TV now, mean your purchase isn't future proof? Whether plasma is still a major player in 3-5 years has no bearing on your purchase today. If LCD's are around and plasma's aren't in 5 years, doesn't change the decision. Its not like they will stop making plasma recharing gas, and you'd be screwed. Buy the best TV for your needs.

Boy, I hope they never stop making that gas, because mine has a slow leak.

http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/6216/52/

http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/6216/52/

Yeah, I got excited to hear more about it, but nothing has been said since those press releases in October last year.

Boy, I hope they never stop making that gas, because mine has a slow leak.

Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet? :D

lol John. I've never seen it. Is it a good movie? I like most things Dennis Hopper's in. I can't believe I've never seen it since I was a Junior/Senior in HS in 1986 when it was made.

Yeah, I got excited to hear more about it, but nothing has been said since those press releases in October last year.

Well not quite nothing has been said
http://www.about-electronics.eu/index.php?tag=arasor

" Laser TV boasts were nothing but publicity stunt"

I certainly hope that in a few years plasma's will be old news, same with LCD's and projections. I love my new plasma, and I expect it will continue to give me great pleasure for years to come, but I'm hoping that when I want to get my next TV technology will have dramatically increased to the point where even the cheapest displays have no blurring of high speed motion, perfect color, and looking at your TV is like looking out the window and seeing the actors acting the scene out in real life. If tomorrow they stopped selling plasma's my plasma wouldn't look any less brilliant than it does today, and I'm sure it would still work. Just so long as the networks and movie makers don't switch to some completely new and radically different video format that will no longer display on any T.V. but the newest models, who cares what is being sold on showroom floors next year, or the year after.

TV tech isn't like computer tech. With computers your old PC is outdated in only a year or two because the new software in a year or two won't run on your slower machine. As long as the movies still play on the TV, the TV isn't outdated.

maybe this will be the standard by then?:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_High_Definition_Video