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Lifespan of entry level LCDs

9076 Views 40 Replies 18 Participants Last post by germanplumber, Mar 5, 2010

MSorrell7

Discussion Starter · Feb 11, 2010

If I buy a 40" LCD for around $800 or less, how long can I expect it to last?

1 - 20 of 41 Posts

googlegod

· #2 · Feb 11, 2010

Quote:
Originally Posted by MSorrell7 /forum/post/18116766

If I buy a 40" LCD for around $800 or less, how long can I expect it to last?

What brand and model, I've seen them spec the hours from 30000 to 60000 with most at 50000, of couse this is yet to happen for most users. Time will tell us all how long these flat panels will last. Hopefully you will want to upgrade way before you have any problems.

Agreed

· #3 · Feb 11, 2010

Panel lifetime shouldn't be a concern at all. Backlighting; well, CCFL will need to be serviced around 30,000 to 50,000 hours, different solutions will have different specific needs there. That's a long, long time, though. Depending on the internal components, heat dissipation design, and a lot of other what-ifs, you really can't put a number on how long a set itself will last. For example, if sets are using poor capacitors, they might start not wanting to turn on reliably a lot sooner than you'd expect. Certain manufacturers have had some trouble with this.

It just depends, though. In general if you don't relish the idea of replacing the set within a few years, I'd get the extended warranty on it...

mes444

· #4 · Feb 11, 2010

Something generally fails within 3 years on the top line LCDs, sooner on the second tier brands and much sooner on the very cheap lcds. Regardless of their panel life ratings, etc., the repair usually costs more than the tv is worth by then and you just get another one. Some people buy extended warranties, others just hope for the best and buy new when necessary.

MSorrell7

Discussion Starter · #5 · Feb 11, 2010

Is an $800 TV considered second tier?

Could I expect an $800 Samsung, Sony, LG, or Toshiba to last around 5 years?

BoilerJim

· #6 · Feb 11, 2010

Quote:
Originally Posted by MSorrell7 /forum/post/18117202

Is an $800 TV considered second tier?

Could I expect an $800 Samsung, Sony, LG, or Toshiba to last around 5 years?

Second or third tier refers to the manufacturer, not the price you paid for it.

First tier brands are generally thought of as Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, & LG.

Good solid second tier brands or some will say even low first tier are Sharp and VIZIO.

I'd put JVC and maybe Philips in the second tier, and everything else in the third tier.

As for your question about an $800 TV from a major manufacturer lasting five years, I would certainly hope so. Of course, I don't know your financial situation, but I personally wouldn't buy an extended warranty on an $800 TV. If you are that concerned, get it from Costco and you'll automatically have a two-year warranty.

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bananfish

· #7 · Feb 11, 2010

Personally, I have a 22 year old TV in my bedroom by a manufacturer that wasn't exactly considered top of the line (Magnavox), and I still like the picture.

I would sure hope we haven't regressed to the point where a TV won't last 5 years!

MSorrell7

Discussion Starter · #8 · Feb 11, 2010

I was assuming they would last at least 5 years pretty easily, but when "mes444" said something breaks within 3 years a lot of the time, it made me wonder lol.

BoilerJim

· #9 · Feb 11, 2010

Quote:
Originally Posted by bananfish /forum/post/18117372

Personally, I have a 22 year old TV in my bedroom by a manufacturer that wasn't exactly considered top of the line (Magnavox), and I still like the picture.

I would sure hope we haven't regressed to the point where a TV won't last 5 years!

Twenty-two years ago Magnavox was a well-respected TV manufacturer who made quality products here in the good old US of A. And, yes, I would hope any TV made today would last at least five years.

The problem is that most of the enthusiasts on this Forum not only expect their TVs to last forever, but to also be perfect forever. Unfortunately, quality has taken a back seat to sales in many products we buy. Take Toyota for example...

mastacow53

· #10 · Feb 11, 2010

Quote:
Originally Posted by mes444 /forum/post/18117165

Something generally fails within 3 years on the top line LCDs, sooner on the second tier brands and much sooner on the very cheap lcds. Regardless of their panel life ratings, etc., the repair usually costs more than the tv is worth by then and you just get another one. Some people buy extended warranties, others just hope for the best and buy new when necessary.

Well, I hope you're wrong and 60,000hrs is right. I'm approaching 3 years with my JVC LT-46FN97. It's been perfect so far.

If people are routinely replacing LCDs at 3 years or less and aren't screaming bloody murder about it, then maybe I'm the dillusional one.

After spending under $1000 for CRTs all of my life and getting 10-15 years out of them, the idea of spending $2500 and getting 3 years is just obscene.

BoilerJim

· #11 · Feb 11, 2010

Quote:
Originally Posted by mastacow53 /forum/post/18117522

Well, I hope you're wrong and 60,000hrs is right. I'm approaching 3 years with my JVC LT-46FN97. It's been perfect so far.

If people are routinely replacing LCDs at 3 years or less and aren't screaming bloody murder about it, then maybe I'm the dillusional one.

After spending under $1000 for CRTs all of my life and getting 10-15 years out of them, the idea of spending $2500 and getting 3 years is just obscene.

I think LCDs that last less than 3 years are by far the exception rather than the rule.

frito

· #12 · Feb 11, 2010

Quote:
Originally Posted by BoilerJim /forum/post/18117326

Second or third tier refers to the manufacturer, not the price you paid for it.

First tier brands are generally thought of as Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, & LG.

Good solid second tier brands or some will say even low first tier are Sharp and VIZIO.

I'd put JVC and maybe Philips in the second tier, and everything else in the third tier.

As for your question about an $800 TV from a major manufacturer lasting five years, I would certainly hope so. Of course, I don't know your financial situation, but I personally wouldn't buy an extended warranty on an $800 TV. If you are that concerned, get it from Costco and you'll automatically have a two-year warranty.

I would not consider Sharp a Teir 2 brand, they make some of the highest quality sets available today and are the only company that manufactures their LCD panels in Japan. every other brand out there uses panels made mostly in China or Taiwan and many sony/samsung sets use S-LCD made panels that are from south korea

in all honesty i would say that sony, sharp, samsung, LG, and Panasonic are the only Teir 1 brands today

Teir 2 i would put Toshiba, JVC, Mitsubishi and Vizio

Teir 3 is the ones to avoid and that is any other brand out today in the US like Insignia, Dynex, the new Phillips models, sanyo, magnavox, RCA, Viore, AOC etc. etc. the list goes on

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mes444

· #13 · Feb 11, 2010

I said that many LCDs have a repair problem after three years which requires a repair which is often more expensive than a new tv. Not that you have to throw them away, but that a repair costing hundreds of dollars will more than likely cause someone to just throw a few more hundred into the deal and get a new one. Five years is a long life for the current LCDs. Maybe newer ones will last longer, obviously, a three year old tv is not one of the newer ones.

They don't last as long as CRTs at this time. That's just the way it is. Maybe repairs will get less expensive, maybe manufacturers will start using better parts, maybe.....

My point was that OP should not go into the LCD buying experience and expect last generation CRT life expectancy.

frito

· #14 · Feb 11, 2010

well you have to remember that anywhere from 90% to 100% of CRT display types are analog circuitry. analog based electronics are much more forgiving to problems in the long term, as they wear out they often just need simple adjustments or a few small electronic components replaced to get them back in to spec but even if you neglect them they keep on going 95% of the time

LCD tech has been used for a long time now in the PC market and well made displays have been proven to last very long time, the problem with LCD TV's are they are basically a computer TV now a days esp. the higher end models with motion enhancers etc.

this is so true that i know for a fact that samsung, Sony and Toshiba all use linux as the operating system inside their TV's. I even found a readout in my Toshibas service menu that told me the OS's load averages in the standard linux format of reporting it "load average: 0.02, 0.01, 0.00" the sony and samsungs state they use the linux kernel and other GPL licensed open source software like busybox in the back of their manuals

The problem is though the cheaper they try to produce these things to sell them better the more likely they are to have a component inside them fail and unlike CRT's 1 component failure in a digital display results in at best case scenario a few colored lines due to bad panel manufacture or a hard time turning on initially but working fine once you manage to get it on and this is fairly common and caused by the use of cheap capacitors in the power supply board. any other failure is going to be pretty much catastrophic failure most of the time but its as simple as swaping out a board and as long as your screen/backlight assembly are still good it is actually quite cheap to buy used boards out of broken screen TV's on ebay and even straight from a parts distributor as well and anyone can swap these parts out they are plug and play in most TV's

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kettledrum

· #15 · Feb 11, 2010

Quote:
Originally Posted by mastacow53 /forum/post/18117522

If people are routinely replacing LCDs at 3 years or less and aren't screaming bloody murder about it, then maybe I'm the dillusional one.

After spending under $1000 for CRTs all of my life and getting 10-15 years out of them, the idea of spending $2500 and getting 3 years is just obscene.

What's the WAF for a $x,xxx TV that lasts 3 years?

mastacow53

· #16 · Feb 12, 2010

Quote:
Originally Posted by kettledrum /forum/post/18118012

What's the WAF for a $x,xxx TV that lasts 3 years?

I would probably have better luck having a Hooters Waitress as a Facebook friend.

Servicetech571

· #17 · Feb 12, 2010

Quote:
Originally Posted by frito /forum/post/18117643

I would not consider Sharp a Teir 2 brand, they make some of the highest quality sets available today and are the only company that manufactures their LCD panels in Japan. every other brand out there uses panels made mostly in China or Taiwan and many sony/samsung sets use S-LCD made panels that are from south korea

in all honesty i would say that sony, sharp, samsung, LG, and Panasonic are the only Teir 1 brands today

Teir 2 i would put Toshiba, JVC, Mitsubishi and Vizio

Teir 3 is the ones to avoid and that is any other brand out today in the US like Insignia, Dynex, the new Phillips models, sanyo, magnavox, RCA, Viore, AOC etc. etc. the list goes on

+1 To add to that entry level sets and top of the line sets of the same brand have about the same repair history. When you spend more within the same brand you add features, not reliability. FWIW I haven't seen a single Sharp or Panasonic LCD panel failure. LG panels failures are rare.

blurredvision

· #18 · Feb 12, 2010

Quote:
Originally Posted by mes444 /forum/post/18117817

My point was that OP should not go into the LCD buying experience and expect last generation CRT life expectancy.

Then you should've said that instead of giving baseless, generalized numbers on life expectancy. You could at least give some kind of link or two to back up your random claim in a forum post.

blahblahyoutoo

· #19 · Feb 12, 2010

Quote:
Originally Posted by BoilerJim /forum/post/18117326

Second or third tier refers to the manufacturer, not the price you paid for it.

First tier brands are generally thought of as Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, & LG.

Good solid second tier brands or some will say even low first tier are Sharp and VIZIO.

I'd put JVC and maybe Philips in the second tier, and everything else in the third tier.

As for your question about an $800 TV from a major manufacturer lasting five years, I would certainly hope so. Of course, I don't know your financial situation, but I personally wouldn't buy an extended warranty on an $800 TV. If you are that concerned, get it from Costco and you'll automatically have a two-year warranty.

how is sony first tier and sharp 2nd tier when the panels they used are from the same manufacturing plant from their (now delayed) joint venture?

spyboy

· #20 · Feb 12, 2010

Quote:
Originally Posted by Servicetech571 /forum/post/18119486

+1 To add to that entry level sets and top of the line sets of the same brand have about the same repair history. When you spend more within the same brand you add features, not reliability. FWIW I haven't seen a single Sharp or Panasonic LCD panel failure. LG panels failures are rare.

Your theory of repair history is in direct opposition to the idea that the more complicated (240 Hz, back-lit LED, Local-Dimming) add to the complexity of the design, and foretell greater chance of needing repairs or replacement.

This is part of the notion that the better LCDs are more like computers than what we think of as a TV.

When are you going to recognize that Vizio is a top tier brand? Nevermind, most of us will be retired before you figure out what's really going on.

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