Are Plasma TV’s Dead?

Hi everybody!

Earlier this month, Pioneer Inc. announced that they were stopping production on their Plasma TV product line. Is this a sign that Plasma TV’s are a dying brand?

The simple answer to this question is that it could very well be on its way out. Pioneer was the 5^th largest manufacturer of Plasma TV’s, and with their announced discontinuation of their plasma line they also announced their backing of Sharp Inc.’s LCD TV line. This is what the trend has been for quite some time now. As LCD TV’s have gotten cheaper and cheaper, they have grown in popularity. Plasma TV’s are also plagued by numerous other problems with perception that have inevitably driven sales down.

Plasma TV’s downfall isn’t entirely its own fault. Most of the average consumers out there believe quite a few myths that simply aren’t true about LCD TV’s and Plasma TV’s. The biggest myth about plasma is burn in. Older Plasma TV’s had real problems with burn in on the screen. For the most part, you can thank the TV stations for the burn in due to their ever present logo in the corner of the screen. Burn in however has not been a problem with Plasma TV’s for quite some time though. In fact, while there is the possibility for this to happen (although it is very small now), LCD TV’s have the same chance of suffering from burn in.

The second major myth that people still believe is that you have to refill your Plasma TV after a couple of years. Now, I could be wrong but I know a few people who have owned Plasma TV’s since their inception who have never heard of re-filling their TV’s. In fact, when I look at their TV’s, the screens still have very good color. Although the color does tend to fade over a very long period of time, it’s not very noticeable and from I’ve seen once it does fade the color is still as good as what a LCD TV gives you.

Ultimately, it really does seem to be near the end of the line for Plasma TV’s. What are your thoughts?