Plasma TVs

[Akisa]

Are plasma TVs a hit in Japan. In America right now, prices keep dropping and the TVs are getting bigger. I was in Japan for two weeks this year and I didn't notice any. Next summer I am moving to Japan and I am thinking about getting one.

[GuyJean]

I was in Japan for two weeks this year and I didn't notice any. Next summer I am moving to Japan and I am thinking about getting one.

Great picture; short lifespan. My company bought 52" plasmas for all the video conference rooms in January. ALL of them are burned.

If you often watch the same channel, you'll get their logo burned into the screen.. I recommend contstant channel surfing... And porn; if you must have something permanently burned onto the screen, it mind as well be porn

GJ

[Taro Toporific]

Are plasma TVs a hit in Japan. ...

There are a big hit.
Plasma TV saves about 40% in electrical costs which are high in Japan. I would prefer the 70% in electrical costs for LED TVs. I won't buy one of the digital ones because NHK will block out all their channels unless you pay ??2,000yen/m?? fee and the nasty DRM on the private channels as well.

As long as I can get my free analog HiVision, NHK channels, and DRM-free SkyPerfect, I can't imagine paying mega-yen to replace my 42-inch, wide-aspect, HiVision, teletext-capable big-screen TV with optical out for sound and direct SVideo out for making DVDs.

Next summer I am moving to Japan and I am thinking about getting one.. ...

If you're gonna be here for only a year or two, just pick up a big screen used for 20,000yen or free from the sodai-gomi. Almost all TVs in Japan don't work properly (or at all if you're on PAL) overseas. The "multi-region" TVs sold here cost 30-60% and aren't worth shipping back to home country. It's almost always easier, better, and cheaper NOT to get a "multi-region" TV (unless you like a 3rd world country where TVs are taxed and are more expensive).

[emperor]

Great picture]

The lifespan was dreadfully short at only 2-4000 hours approx when they first appeared commercially a few years ago..

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Trivia: The very first prototype for a plasma display monitor was invented in July 1964 at the University of Illinois by professors Donald Bitzer and Gene Slottow, and then graduate student Robert Willson. However, it was not until after the advent of digital and other technologies that successful plasma tvs became possible.

Today they tend to have at least 20,000 hours but are quoted as boasting 30,000 (CRT tvs are about 35,000) and up to 60,000 hours in some cases (but then these companies do tell alot of tall-tales)
(incedentally, 30000 hrs = 6 hours use, every single day of the year for about 13 1/2 years... and those 6 hours in Japan could easily be spent squished between salarymen and schoolgirls on a train chugging along through Saitama or Chiba... unless theres kids involved the TVs will last a decent amount of time IMO)
As for ReGassing your plasma - as far as i know its not possible - and if it is its reputed to be expensive..

As for the burning - some of the more recent models include features to prevent this from happening - eg one of the Sonys I had been selling last year in my parttime job

The technology behind a gas plasma is similar to that of a CRT display in that the image consists of a lit-phosphor coating. A CRT uses an electron gun to ignite the phosphor, while a plasma uses gas. The phosphors are red, green, or blue pixel-sized spots. The downside is that the phosphor coating is much thinner on a plasma than it is on a direct-view CRT display, so phosphor wear occurs much faster. However, the KZ-42TS1 has both a picture inverter and an orbiter mode to protect it from uneven phosphor wear. The inverter mode imperceptibly reverses white to black and black to white, thus oppositely wearing the image to help reverse the effects of uneven panel wear. The orbiter mode also helps prevent noticeably uneven wear by moving the picture around in a circle. The picture only moves a few pixels, but it's enough to keep fixed horizontal and/or vertical images from burning into the phosphors in one spot. The orbiter's revolution time is adjustable from 10 seconds to five minutes.

LCD will generally give you a longer lifespan (We had a 60" Sharp retailing for 60,000 Punts in my store and thing damn thing broke after 1 week )& no burn (although indiviual pixels can die you wouldnt notice - whereas on a Plasma the whole horizontal line will go), but the picture quality still has room for improvement..

And as of a year ago - the best picture we had; was on a 36" CRT screen; even compared with a 50" that was five times the price..

[GuyJean]

[quote="emperor"]And as of a year ago - the best picture we had] The emperor knows his tubes.. If you had a choice to purchase something for home use, what brand/size/kind of monitor would it be? I keep hearing people tell me Sharp LCDs are sweet..

Oh, edit in my previous post: 42" plasmas, not 52..

GJ

[emperor]

.. If you had a choice to purchase something for home use, what brand/size/kind of monitor would it be? I keep hearing people tell me Sharp LCDs are sweet..

Thats tricky.. youve got to think of a few factors:

How big is the room? How far away will you be sitting? How many people will be watching this at any given time?

Here is Japan - my Apt is fairly small so one of those Sharp Aquos LCDs that you mentioned would be lovely (the smaller sizes are great (up to 22") , the larger (32" and 37") used to suck balls, but then i havent taken a gander at the most recent versions) - theyre great for Bedrooms, Kitchens and for the lavish spender even Bathrooms
Theres even a wireless one with a 3 hour battery life..for all your wandering around the house with your TV needs :P

Philips TVs are very well built - very few breakdowns and great aftersales..
If you werent going to hook up a home cinema system - they have the best standalone sound built-in..

Sony have great picture quality but the sound is terrible - so you def. need a H.Cinema System (If you have the space for it and a H/C kit - a 36" CRT would be excellent value)

Loewe make lovely expensive(very overpriced- other sets markup were about 25% whereas, Loewes was 50%) sets..
Great Picture, Great Sound, Beautiful Designs.. in fact its more like buying a piece of furniture..

The Loewe "Aconda" won a tonne of design awards
...but I had the money to blow and a big room to put it on:
Id probably opt for a plasma instead (specifically a Pioneer)
or maybe a top of the line OHP (over head projector) to mount on the ceiling with a high enough lumen count so it could be used in daylight (although generally it would just be used for movies at night - one could get their news on the bedroom telly and off the net), a high contrast ratio for lovely dark blacks and colour definition and nice quiet fan....

Havent thought about it much lately and i havent really been keeping up to date - I hope its slightly informative - sorry!

[GuyJean]

.. but I had the money to blow and a big room to put it on:
Id probably opt for a plasma instead (specifically a Pioneer)
or maybe a top of the line OHP

All great info! Thanks!.. Thus far, I'm still satisfied with my CRT, but I'm curious about new technology..

Thanks again.

GJ