Bye Bye Panasonic Plasmas

[BWLover]

Looks like Panasonic is following Pioneers footsteps from years ago. Unfortunately Panasonic is ending plasma display manufacturing. See article...

http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/08/panasonic-end-plasma-tv/

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[Kevin P]

Bummer. I like my 50" Panny plasmy. Guess I'll have to hope it never dies.

[bigburner]

Bummer. I like my 50" Panny plasmy. Guess I'll have to hope it never dies.

I like my Panny 50" Plasma too. it was easily the best of the popular brands when I bought it 18 months ago. Bummer indeed.

Nigel.

[wkhanna]

My first & only flat panel, a 42" Panasonic Plasma has been performing much to my satisfaction for many years.

[aud19]

Sad if it turns out true. Hopefully this means they've made serious headway in to affordable OLED production instead...?

[Chris D]

I guess it just got too expensive to fly back and forth to the sun all the time and harvest that plasma.

[aud19]

Well I guess my next TV will likely be a Samsung then...

[Dmantis]

In all honestly I hate these things. I really do. Make the best TV technology and then stop. Why? Because most Americans want everything for nothing. Well there you go , you now can have crappy LED Tv's.
What a great world we live in. While others are out purchasing LED Tv's because everyone thinks they are so great with their cartoon looking video, I'll be home watching my ever loved Pioneer Elite 60 inch KURO. I hope it never goes bad, maybe I'll be buried with it.

Side note I have Sold and Installed a 65 inch ZT Panasonic and it was incredible. It really shows the quality of what video is supposed to look like. Such a beautiful picture.

I'm gonna have to hope that the new 4k sets are everything they are supposed to be. Really think about it, When you own a set like a Kuro , where do you go when it fails? The ZT to me looked like a nice replacement , larger screen in 5 more inches and lower cost. Win win IMO but no they are going to stop making them, Awesome.

Sorry but this just angers me.

[BWLover]

In all honestly I hate these things. I really do. Make the best TV technology and then stop. Why? Because most Americans want everything for nothing. Well there you go , you now can have crappy LED Tv's.
What a great world we live in. While others are out purchasing LED Tv's because everyone thinks they are so great with their cartoon looking video, I'll be home watching my ever loved Pioneer Elite 60 inch KURO. I hope it never goes bad, maybe I'll be buried with it.

Side note I have Sold and Installed a 65 inch ZT Panasonic and it was incredible. It really shows the quality of what video is supposed to look like. Such a beautiful picture.

I'm gonna have to hope that the new 4k sets are everything they are supposed to be. Really think about it, When you own a set like a Kuro , where do you go when it fails? The ZT to me looked like a nice replacement , larger screen in 5 more inches and lower cost. Win win IMO but no they are going to stop making them, Awesome.

Sorry but this just angers me.

I COMPLETELY AGREE! I am so choked about this. I have a Pioneer plasma, albeit not a KURO, a dream tv of mine. I was going to buy a top end Panasonic one day(once they beat KURO lol). But ya, people fall for that over the top cartoon look of shit tv's these days. Recently I got into an argument with the Internet installer over the fact that plasma is best. It's the closest thing to real life in my opinion. And he gets all defensive of LED/LCD and says plasma just looks dull. Well YA, when what your looking at is NOT correct picture, and all blown way out of proportion. I don't think I will ever be comfortable buying an LED/LCD TV. Just like I don't think ill ever deviate from class AB amps to class D. It just doesn't feel right. God, I sound like an 80 year old man set in his ways haha. And I'm 26. Anyway, this news BLOWS!



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[aud19]

In all honestly I hate these things. I really do. Make the best TV technology and then stop. Why? Because most Americans want everything for nothing. Well there you go , you now can have crappy LED Tv's.
What a great world we live in. While others are out purchasing LED Tv's because everyone thinks they are so great with their cartoon looking video, I'll be home watching my ever loved Pioneer Elite 60 inch KURO. I hope it never goes bad, maybe I'll be buried with it.

Side note I have Sold and Installed a 65 inch ZT Panasonic and it was incredible. It really shows the quality of what video is supposed to look like. Such a beautiful picture.

I'm gonna have to hope that the new 4k sets are everything they are supposed to be. Really think about it, When you own a set like a Kuro , where do you go when it fails? The ZT to me looked like a nice replacement , larger screen in 5 more inches and lower cost. Win win IMO but no they are going to stop making them, Awesome.

Sorry but this just angers me.

Just pray that Samsung keeps making plasmas for a while and that they don't stop innovating or lowering quality due to a lack of competition.

[Hdale85]

LED TV's have really come a long ways though....they really aren't that bad. Plasma's are insanely costly to produce. I would venture a guess that a good portion of what people have been buying over the past few years has been rebadged old stock from the big plasma craze when flat panels first became popular.

[Dmantis]

Just pray that Samsung keeps making plasmas for a while and that they don't stop innovating or lowering quality due to a lack of competition.

Samsung Plasmas are nice but they have some of that Cartoon look to them. I believe it's in the video processing Samsung developed. It looks a lot like their LED Tv's but without all that motion blur. I would have to fully calibrate one to see if I could even consider owning one.
I wonder if and when my Kuro goes down for the count IF it can be completely overhauled back to factory brand new Spec?

[Dmantis]

LED TV's have really come a long ways though....they really aren't that bad. Plasma's are insanely costly to produce. I would venture a guess that a good portion of what people have been buying over the past few years has been rebadged old stock from the big plasma craze when flat panels first became popular.

I think thats the complete issue in itself. No one is willing to pay for top quality anymore. I'm not willing to pay for a substitute.

[wkhanna]

In all honestly I hate these things. I really do. Make the best TV technology and then stop. Why? Because most Americans want everything for nothing. Well there you go , you now can have crappy LED Tv's.
What a great world we live in. While others are out purchasing LED Tv's because everyone thinks they are so great with their cartoon looking video, I'll be home watching my ever loved Pioneer Elite 60 inch KURO. I hope it never goes bad, maybe I'll be buried with it.

Sounds like the 'Bose' effect......:W

[Kevin P]

Sounds like the 'Bose' effect......:W

Except that with Bose you pay a premium price for crap.

So, who still makes plasmas now? Just Samsung?

[madmac]

Right now I have a Sony LCOS set that I love. Awhile ago though, my wife came home with a LG plasma set that her boss gave her and I must admit, I was immediately taken by the picture......the color depth, contrast and saturation (it was a smaller set however). However, I have also seen some LED sets that are very impressive as well. Like CRT technology did, Plasma's are going the way of the dodo!. Personally from what I've seen, I think a properly adjusted LED set could produce an excellent picture.

[Ovation]

Viewing angle is something plasma does WAAAYYYY better than any LCD TV (LED light source or not) and that is a major concern for our living room. At present, the living room has an SD TV (a ten year old Sony CRT with a 16x9 "cheat" feature that provides us with a small but remarkably nice picture for an SD TV). We have no immediate plans to replace it (it works fine and my wife and kids, who watch it more than I do, don't really care about HD image quality) but on the day it needs replacing, I was planning to go with a plasma as there are seats from which we can watch the TV now from a very wide angle and see the picture just as well as if dead centre--that is NOT the case with any non-plasma TV currently on the market.

I won't rush to buy a replacement before it's needed, but I will be highly disappointed if there isn't something that at least equals current plasmas in off-centre viewing when the time comes. Even the best plasmas are not quite as good (at least none that I've seen) as our trusty CRT for off-centre viewing.

[aud19]

Viewing angle is something plasma does WAAAYYYY better than any LCD TV (LED light source or not) and that is a major concern for our living room. At present, the living room has an SD TV (a ten year old Sony CRT with a 16x9 "cheat" feature that provides us with a small but remarkably nice picture for an SD TV). We have no immediate plans to replace it (it works fine and my wife and kids, who watch it more than I do, don't really care about HD image quality) but on the day it needs replacing, I was planning to go with a plasma as there are seats from which we can watch the TV now from a very wide angle and see the picture just as well as if dead centre--that is NOT the case with any non-plasma TV currently on the market.

I won't rush to buy a replacement before it's needed, but I will be highly disappointed if there isn't something that at least equals current plasmas in off-centre viewing when the time comes. Even the best plasmas are not quite as good (at least none that I've seen) as our trusty CRT for off-centre viewing.

I have a similar problem. Our kitchen overlooks our sunken family/theatre room so we frequently watch off axis (from above) as well.

[JonMarsh]

This news is bumming me out, too- I have a 50" Panny and after taking it over to GF's one weekend didn't have to talk her into getting one, too.

Good thing I have a really low hours NEC10PG... Off axis LCD behavior just isn't acceptable unless someone starts making IPS panel TV's.

[aud19]

This news is bumming me out, too- I have a 50" Panny and after taking it over to GF's one weekend didn't have to talk her into getting one, too.

Good thing I have a really low hours NEC10PG... Off axis LCD behavior just isn't acceptable unless someone starts making IPS panel TV's.

I think Panasonic and LG make IPS panels FWIW Jon (there may be others as well...maybe Samsung).

[Dmantis]

I guess we will have to see how this all works out. I'm not looking forward to it. I just don't think any LED TV's are worth any of my money. The Sharp Elite was pretty nice but I wouldn't take one over my Kuro. Maybe OLED will be awesome as I have yet to sit down and really see one go.

I'm also not very happy with the world right now with all the expectancy of lower quality. Started with music and audio then moved right into video. I almost want to go back to the days of full analog where real was real. Warm inviting , clear and natural sound and picture.

[Ovation]

This is an historically observable effect of the "democratization" of goods and services. Airline travel, once the preserve of the well-off, was a luxurious way to travel--even in the economy class. Today we have Southwest Airlines and Ryanair. They have made air travel far more accessible to the general population, but at the cost of quality of experience (even non-budget airlines have cut back in order to keep their price differential from becoming too great with the budget lines). A/V gear has gone through the same thing. So has dining out (there was a time when the bulk of restaurants were places where people could get better, rather than worse, quality food than at home). So has...I could go on.

Of course, not everything is like this (even the worst new car today is qualitatively leaps and bounds superior to just about anything--outside a few exceptions--from 30 years ago, even 15, when compared to the same type of car). But there are more examples than might seem apparent.

As enthusiasts, we lament the loss of access to quality gear, but the bulk of consumers are more than happy with their ability to enjoy something far more sophisticated than they thought possible not too long ago and are (likely blissfully) unaware of the fact that quality at the top end has been lost to the marginal costs of producing such gear for a tiny slice of the market. And the manufacturers are not in business to provide cutting edge tech, they're in business to make money for their owners (private or shareholders). And so it goes.

I share your desire for accessibility to the best tech quality available, but unlike the "me" from seven or eight years ago and earlier, I've become far less bothered by such things. The balance between the gear quality and the content to which it gives me access has slowly been tipping in favour of the latter at the expense of caring overly much for the former. Don't get me wrong. I still seek out the best gear I can afford that I can also find. I simply spend less time than I used to worrying about whether I could have gotten something even better. YMMV

[Kevin P]

Warm inviting , clear and natural sound and picture.

Grab one of these, it might need to be restored, but I'll bet even today it'll outlast today's cheaply built digital sets:



This was my maternal grandparent's first TV from 1948. My siblings and I used to listen to the radio on it when we were there (the TV didn't work anymore). I wish I had asked for it after they passed away, I probably could have gotten it fully working again.

[maseline_98]

This is terrible news. I'm still rocking my sxrd from '06, but have been thinking it's time to retire it when the next bulb goes out. All of my friends have these crappy led tvs and all I keep hearing about how bright the picture looks...THEY ALL HAVE THE SOAP OPERA EFFECT!!!...I was going to buy a new set a few years ago, but I can't get imagine spending money on a TV that looks like your are in a funhouse. There is nothing worst than watching a game to see 15 footballs being thrown down field at one time. I don't want to be rude to my friends when they dropped so much money on crap because some little pimpled kid at best buy told them, "this is best TV for the price". I have bought 3 50-panny plasmas from costco($499/ea) within the last year. One for my bedroom, One for my game room and gave my parents one for last year's xmas, They do have a problem with reflections, but with light controlled areas,they look way better than those $1500+ leds. I need a step up model for my living room. Was thinking the 65ST60, but probably not quite ready to buy just yet. The news with panny stopping production might mean that we will have to bite the bullet a year earlier than anticipated.

Are there any of other sets out there that do not have soap opera effect. I've read that you shut features off that are causing it, but don't think I would drop that kinda cash to wait and find out.

[aud19]

Are there any of other sets out there that do not have soap opera effect. I've read that you shut features off that are causing it, but don't think I would drop that kinda cash to wait and find out.

All LCD (and LED-lit LCD's) as far as I know have defeat-able motion interpolation that causes the soap opera effect you're referring to. It's not something inherent to LCD's it's there to help cover LCD's inherent issues with fast motion. As I said, it IS defeat-able but then you're left with LCD's motion issues.

Samsung as far as I know still currently plans to manufacture pretty decent quality plasmas FWIW as an option. Also sounds like Panny will still have stock available for another year or two.

[maseline_98]

All LCD (and LED-lit LCD's) as far as I know have defeat-able motion interpolation that causes the soap opera effect you're referring to. It's not something inherent to LCD's it's there to help cover LCD's inherent issues with fast motion. As I said, it IS defeat-able but then you're left with LCD's motion issues.

Samsung as far as I know still currently plans to manufacture pretty decent quality plasmas FWIW as an option. Also sounds like Panny will still have stock available for another year or two.

Well...I got the WAF as long as she can get new appliances on Black Friday....

Now the question is what set to buy? She approved the TC-P65VT60 for $2400 via Best Buy, but I might be able to talk her into the TC-P65ZT60.

I mainly watch Sporting Events(Baseball, Football, Hockey). Blurays(of course) and a lot of daytime watching. My living is semi-light controlled.

EDIT: I do a little gaming, but not a whole lot. I hear Imagine Retention is problem while gaming...

[Lex]

Slow sales is probably what really prompted them to bow out. Keeping that production going for an evaporating market is impossible. I bought a Plasma last time around, though a Samsung, and I have LOVED it. I also have a older 720P Sony plasma in my bedroom that has such a nice film like presentation. It's a beautiful picture even if 720p. It is a smaller picture, 32". Rare for Plasma. I will use that until it dies. I don't watch it very much, so hopefully that will be a long time.

I hope Samsung keeps in the biz. We need the plasma option folks! I'm not a big LCD/LED fan, not so much!