The latest word on the street is that 2014 marks the death of plasma TV. All the biggest names are dropping plasma’s from their lines this year. Panasonic already quit production on them back around spring, Samsung just announced that they will halt their plasma manufacturing this November and TV giant LG will stop producing plasma TV’s later in the year. This news has a few plasma aficionados up in arms.
What’s the difference between plasma and an LCD TV? For starters, plasma was the first type of large-screen TV to hit the market; they were available for the masses to start purchasing back in 1994. Plasma TV’s are known for their rich colors, regardless of their size. They have the deepest black color depth, and best color contrast. This is the main area where plasma’s rule over LCD’s. Between the two, plasma color is unbeatable. They do however look best in rooms where there is lighting control. They should not be placed directly by a window or next to a bright light, as that can cause the most annoying glare. On the downside, plasma TV’s are also much heavier, which makes them harder to wall mount or move around. They also hit heavy in the power consumption department compared to the energy-efficient LCD TV.
LCD’s have gotten thinner, lighter and cheaper since they first hit the market back in the early 2000’s. Then LED-backlit LCD TV’s were released about five years back. This was the thinnest TV that anyone had seen. The picture was pretty good, as long as it was a high resolution. But they didn’t pack the dense picture punch that plasma had. LCD’s was like plasma’s brighter, thinner and trendier cousin; which caused them to become more popular.
Although plasma’s picture still looks good at ridiculous sizes, which went along with the “TV’s as big as walls” trend for the last few years, recently LED’s have taken over the market, and at a lower price too. In the end, most of these gargantuan television manufacturers state that plasma is just too expensive to make, and too hard to turn a profit on. In the meantime, until LG and Samsung halt manufacturing later this year, prices should be dropping on this dead technology, right in time for Christmas. This is good news for anyone who wants to snap one up while you still can.
