?Change in popularity and choices of 42" Plasma Panels?

Questions about displays go in the display area. Thread moved.

Things have changed over the past 5 or so years; 42" was a popular size for Plasmas but in recent years the Plasma buying public were buying less and less mid-level 42" Plasmas so the manufacturers started phasing them out, especially Panasonic which was the only brand making them in 1080p. In early 2012, there was only one remaining 1080p 42" Plasma (Panasonic TC-P42UT50) but only one retailer (Brandsmart, whoever they are) picked it up and none of the big retailers ordered any so Panasonic ended production after only a few months. The remaining inventory was bought up by Amazon and Pauls and were eventually sold out several months ago.

In the Plasma world, people are buying 50" and larger screen sizes nowadays.


No. Plasmas outperform LCDs in virtually every category, and have much less issues than the typical LCD, and inch for inch Plasmas are much less expensive.


No. LCDs are more complicated than Plasmas and equitable LCDs are much more expensive.


Not in 2012. LCDs have a lot of disadvantages compared to Plasma.


No. Probably less reliable since most LCDs are made by 2nd or 3rd tier companies. Panasonic Plasmas are known in the industry as the most reliable TV you can buy and it's been this way for several years.


There are two 42"/43" Plasmas left in 2012 - the Panasonic TC-P42X5 and the Samsung E450 series, and both are entry level 768p models.



There are a lot of 2nd and 3rd tier manufacturers making inexpensive LCD TVs in the 37"-42" range and most of these are sold in stores like Target and other discount stores.

Very frustrating that Panasonic (I guess dumb consumers in general) have mostly abandoned plasmas at the smaller sizes. My bedroom is tight already and 50 inches was just too big in the space I needed for it so ended up settling for a Samsung LCD panel as for my viewing distance, the difference between 720/1080p is readily apparent.

Doesnt panny have a 42 inch plasma tv for 2013?

It was just announced at CES this morning that they're planning on releasing two for 2013: the TC-P42X60 (768p)
and the TC-P42S60 (1080p). We'll see if the lone 42" 1080p model gets axed early this year like it did last year.....