RIP panny plasmas...

[ARES24]

Apparently Panasonic is leaving the plasma screen market. New screens will no longer be made as of December. New research will go into OLED development.

Glad I got mine! Save up for the latest in the line, you will have to wait a while before the OLED tvs are worth it in a bang for your buck way.

 

[3db]

Apparently Panasonic is leaving the plasma screen market. New screens will no longer be made as of December. New research will go into OLED development.

Glad I got mine! Save up for the latest in the line, you will have to wait a while before the OLED tvs are worth it in a bang for your buck way.

By teh time my Visio bites the bullet, the OLEDs prices should be coming down to some reasonable level.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

yes, quite sad : http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/televisions-displays/84792-nooooooooo-panasonic-considers-exiting-plasma-tvs.html

 

[TLS Guy]

Another mile post in the race to the bottom.

I can't believe there is no market for high quality screens. I know they are loosing money, but OLEDS cost a lot more and probably always will, given the daunting task of manufacture. There is a big price gap, and Panasonic should have raised the price to the level were they can make a decent profit. There is no reason to be gifting TVs!

They should have increased the price. They could double them and still be cheaper than OLED. I understand OLEDS screens are curved at this time, and many viewers complain they distort the image.

The sensible solution would be to manufacture Plasma screens until OLEDS pan out at a competitive price and quality. It is not certain this will ever happen.

My Plasma in the studio is now 8 years old and working fine. Now I suppose I will have to replace it before it fails.

More backward corporate thinking.

 

[darien87]

I can't believe there is no market for high quality screens. I know they are loosing money, but OLEDS cost a lot more and probably always will, given the daunting task of manufacture. There is a big price gap, and Panasonic should have raised the price to the level were they can make a decent profit. There is no reason to be gifting TVs!

They should have increased the price. They could double them and still be cheaper than OLED. I understand OLEDS screens are curved at this time, and many viewers complain they distort the image.

If they weren't selling TV's as it is what would be the sense of raising the price? Sure Panasonic could double the price and be competitive with OLED's but no one's buying those yet. They need to be competitive with LED's which is what everyone seems to want these days.

What Panasonic should have done is done more marketing to change the public's perception that LED's are the best and that plasma was a dead technology.

 

[TLS Guy]

If they weren't selling TV's as it is what would be the sense of raising the price? Sure Panasonic could double the price and be competitive with OLED's but no one's buying those yet. They need to be competitive with LED's which is what everyone seems to want these days.

What Panasonic should have done is done more marketing to change the public's perception that LED's are the best and that plasma was a dead technology.

But they are selling Plasma TVs. Panasonic admit the market is steady and not in decline.

I would not put up with an LCD, even if they raised the price. I think most enthusiasts looking for quality screens would do the same.

In any event in large size screens Plasmas are more than competitive with LCD and there is room for a price differential over LCD because of the better quality.

Until OLED technology or something else proves as good or better than plasma, there will be a market for high quality Plasma screens.

 

[ARES24]

yes, quite sad : http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/televisions-displays/84792-nooooooooo-panasonic-considers-exiting-plasma-tvs.html

I read that thread, I just am sad enough that I thought a culminating repost was worth the effort.

Just seems so wrong.... There has to be a market for HT screens. I guess projectors are stealing the 'show'

 

[TheWarrior]

Ok, I've seen this posted for years. Why on Earth would they be exiting after having JUST hired a bunch of old Pioneer engineers and released the new ZR series? Several years of development thrown out on a whim? If they didn't think it would be a wise investment, they would have stopped in development and never gone to production! Is this a new breed of marketing called the 'scare tactic?' Tell me its going away so I go buy it just to make sure I can still get one? Cause its working!

 

[Rickster71]

IMHO the Energy Star initiative is what's killed the Plasma.

It seems when an average TV shopper goes into a store, they are told an LED TV saves power compared to Plasma.
People aren't told they can lower the screen settings and reduce power consumption on a plasma.
Especially after reading articles like the ones below:

Top 5 Energy-Sucking Vampire Appliances | Do Something

http://www.greenchoices.org/green-living/at-home/home-entertainment

Televisions : ENERGY STAR

 

[Adam]

IMHO the Energy Star initiative is what's killed the Plasma.

Which is kind of obnoxious if true. The amount of money saved per year is, if anything, very small.

 

[jcl]

I found this article Panasonic stops producing plasma TVs - Telegraph which has a link to a panasonic press release. So it looks like it's official this time.

 

[afterlife2]

Ebay sellers will make a bundle now from this news. I wonder if retailers will lower the prices?

 

[panteragstk]

Guess I better hop on my 65" VT series sooner than I wanted. Great, now all I have to do is convince the wife that $2500 on a TV is a good idea right now.

 

[xboxweasel]

I heard the news a few weeks back myself. I love my 58" PZ. I bit the bullet after getting a really good quote on a 60" PT. I'm so excited. I did not find much technical info on the PT and the user manual appears to be pretty vague as well. I will find out in a week what this baby can do.

PS: I've been gone from this site for a long time. I can't believe that my account still existed, or that I remembered my login for that matter.

Cheer!S

 

[Tyfighter]

Apparently Panasonic is leaving the plasma screen market. New screens will no longer be made as of December. New research will go into OLED development.

Glad I got mine! Save up for the latest in the line, you will have to wait a while before the OLED tvs are worth it in a bang for your buck way.

I was so sad to hear this Panasonic Plasma news when I found out.

 

[TheWarrior]

I was so determined to find these rumors false. OLED better deliver at a competitive price, even if they have to use a few pesticides

 

[jalesi]

I'm in denial. I didn't hear about this until after I bought the 55" LED, which I haven't received and have doubts about the picture being as good as my 42" panny plasma. I haven't seen a 4k TV yet, but the plasma is near impossible to beat.

 

[panteragstk]

Just ordered a 65" VT60. I've wanted a higher end panny plasma for years so I'm pretty excited. Got a good deal from Amazon.

 

[TLS Guy]

I have just installed a Panasonic TC-P65ZT60. My 50" Fujitsu Plasma vision has given sterling service for 7 years. It has a lot of hours on it now. So with Panasonic leaving the market, if the Plasma vision failed, then I would be up the creek.

So my wife and I decided to get a 65" Plasma. Best Buy went to a lot of trouble to locate one. They are getting snapped up fast, and it was touch and go if I would get one. It arrived by semi, on Monday. I had a couple of guys come over to help me with the install. It weighs 175 lb. We had to raise the center speaker slightly.

The other TV was a little small. 7 years ago, that was a big TV and cost over twice as much as this Panny. This TV is superb and gives a wonderful picture. THX mode seems best. This screen gets the picture closer in synch with the sound stage. Those speakers produce a huge sound stage with incongruity between the picture and sound stage. This is much better.

It is disconcerting to me, that such a great piece of gear is no longer obtainable. There is nothing else on the market close to these TVs. This bodes ill for consumer demand for quality. I guess we proceed with junk a plenty. That's a shame.

 

[panteragstk]

I almost got the ZT over the VT. The price difference would have made it a bit difficult. Especially since all the reviews state the the only real difference is dark room viewing. That's what the projector is for. It's being delivered today so I'll post my impressions when I get home.