Plasma Burn-in solution or not?

[Mitchell]

I just came back from looking at tvs at J&R Music in NYC. I was looking for at the Sharp 37 and 42" LCD which are pricey and the salesman suggested looking at plasmas. He said that the Plasma Burn-in issue was largely solved using tech. nology that rotated pixels, put grey bars on the sides of standard tv etc. Upon going to the web sites of the Pioneer , Panasonic, Hitachi brands I can find no claims of any new breakthroughs that largely reduce or solve the burn-in problem. The salesman seemed intelligent and honest and even showed me some older sets that had burn-in and newer sets that had static images that did not.
If the burn-in issue is solved or reduced dramatically it seems like the plasma would be the way to go based upon price. Is there any truth to these claims?

[Brandon B]

Some. Reduced - yes. Solved - no.

Newer sets (last couple of years) have taken some of the steps described and are probably significantly less prone to the issue. But is is still there.

On the LCD front - some industry news I read is suggesting that LCD and plasma prices are going to decline pretty significantly over the next year and a half, with drops of maybe even 20% by next summer, due to overbuilt production capacity. Especially LCD. If waiting a few months is an option to get into a comfortable price range, I'd do it.

BB

[Mitchell]

Thanks Brandon, I have read a bit of the price drop prediction myself inthe Wall Street Journal. Maybe it does pay to wait.
Mitchell

[David Meek]

Mitchell, at least wait until the end-of-year "inventory" sales start. If you can wait longer as Brandon suggests, you will get more for your money.

[Chris D]

Note that new models at CES right after New Years will probably drive down prices, too, but that usually takes a bit of time to work it's way down to the consumer street level.