[BluRay]

From what I understand, plasma TV's have shorter life spans than other types of TV's...specifically in regards to color fading/altering over time, especially if the TV is used for gaming. Knowing this, who would buy a plasma TV these days? There are great high-definition LCD's and now even LED's out there, so are plasma TV's going to be phased out?

[Phil A]

I don't know if it is true today that there is a shorter life span. The screen tends to reflect though and it might be a bad choice for a bright room. The color fading will be many years and certainly I would not expect the useful life of the TV to be significantly different than other technologies. Plasmas tend to do black level better. They may be a drop more expensive to manufacture. When I bought a bedroom TV a month and a half back, I went with LED (55 inch) as that was the best deal at the time. I was looking at a 54 inch plasma a month before that which had a good deal on it but could not get to it. Granted it was the bedroom system, but either would have been fine and I wouldn't have a concern with either technology. I had bought a swiveling out wall mount in November (on a good deal) that handles TVs up to 56 inches and was merely waiting for a decent deal to upgrade. Plasmas may be more susceptible to burn in, but probably not as bad as older generations. I am not into gaming but if I was going to be leaving something on for several hours at a time often it might be a concern.

[Webster]

LCD's and plasmas both have advantages and disadvantages, so it really just depends on what is most important to you. LCD's have lower contrast ratio and poorer motion tracking. The larger screens tend to be more expensive than the equivalent sized plasma.

[Cotton]

I guess depending on the deal you can find, you may consider buying a kind of display that you think isn't necessarily the best, especially if it's not the main TV in the home.

From what I've seen lately, I think the prices may have come down to a plateau and aren't dropping drastically at the moment...?

[BluRay]

Cotton, on 22 March 2010 - 06:00 AM, said:

From what I've seen lately, I think the prices may have come down to a plateau and aren't dropping drastically at the moment...?

Seems to be the case from what I see as well, save for the rare sale or clearance catches with insane deals. Do LED's have the same problems as LCD's then? Personally, I'm an LCD fan, but have been thinking about getting an LED for the bedroom to see any difference for myself.

[gundyrat]

Plasmasalso have a wider viewing cone
wiki has a fantastic write up on plasmas Wiki Plasmas

[Brian]

I have a 50" Pioneer plasma that's coming up on it's 4th birthday. I've been happy with it, though I'm starting to have issues. I just need her to hold on long enough for me to figure out if this jump to 3D is worth it - and when.