LCDs Sell on Misinformation

[admin]

JD Power and Associates reported today that salespersons recommend LCDs more frequently than plasmas based on old, outdated, or untrue information. Mostly the salespersons seem to misinformed about how well plasmas work especially in regards to to how long they last (they are still suggesting that LCDs have a longer lifespan though they are about equal) and burn in. Shocked? We weren't either...

Discuss "LCDs Sell on Misinformation" here. Read the article.

 

[smurphy522]

Last time I passed through a Sears I was explained that the "liquid in the crytstals (of LCD panels) is sealed better" and that the lifespan was thus higher, lasting 2-3 years (since manuf. state about 15k hours). The "Plasma in the plasma panel can leak out easier and has a life of about 1.5 years (10k stated hours). I explained the real difference to him and he was like whoa...you are a know it all. I have a history in sales (first job out of college) and I hate for these guys to lead on or just lie to customers. It is not good.

At least when I worked @ CC they trained us on the fundamentals of the technology. Granted some of the training was how to plant seeds (for the performance guarantee!) but we were trained none the less. It is a much worse situation now with CC not paying commission, there is no drive to learn to be a good sales person now, just like a BB associate. OK...OK yes there are benefits but before BB came into the CC markets the sales force was a much higher caliber. BB forced CC (in order to compete) to downgrade and basically eliminate the commisioned sales force.


A sad state of affairs in the mass market these days.

 

[jfalk]

Two things:

First, with regard to burn-in, I certainly knew when I was shopping that burn in problems with plasma had been essentially resolved, but I was troubled that not a single plasma manufacturer warranteed against burn in. Even though I believe that the burn-in problem is mostly customer-generated (which is why they wouldn't warrantee it) accidents happen and that's why I chose an LCD.

Second, why no love for Sharp? They certainly advertise enough and get good reviews and they actually make a lot of people's LCD screens. How come no salespeople recommend them? (Of course, Tom, this is just a "I bought a Sharp LCD post and I need to see my wisdom justified.")

 

[Jim Robbins]

You know, for normal HDTV watching, burn-in isn't a problem.... But, what about the 12 hour marathon halo sessions? Am I safe, or is my radar going to get burned into the corner? Probably not... Well, unless I do that for a week straight. (Wow, that's a good idea. I need to take work off for a week and try it.) But really, burn in could become a problem for people like my parents. Their TV is on like 16 to 18 hours a day, and all of it is 4:3 with black bars on the sides unless they are watching the occasional HD football game. This is a real concern as many people aren't using their sets for HD content.

Has anyone tried this with one of the current plasma sets? Will a month of TV watched in this manner "burn" the middle of the image leaving the side bars different colors? It would be nice to have a good hard test and see what happens. Of course, I don't know anyone willing to throw away $1000 on a TV just to test this...

 

[Tom Andry]

Second, why no love for Sharp? They certainly advertise enough and get good reviews and they actually make a lot of people's LCD screens. How come no salespeople recommend them? (Of course, Tom, this is just a "I bought a Sharp LCD post and I need to see my wisdom justified.")

I thought the same thing when I read the report. The fact is that Sharp and Sony are using the same glass (or soon will be). I really think it is because Sharp just doesn't have that name recognition that some of the other brands do. I haven't seen anything that made me think their panels are bad in any way and I'd certainly be happy to review one. Now if only they'd return my emails...

 

[jonnythan]

"Salespersons, overall, are pushing LCDs over plasmas at a rate of over 3 to 1 (which is up from last quarter's over 4 to 1)"

How is 3-to-1 a higher rate than 4-to-1?

 

[annunaki]

That comes as no surprise to me as I sell against the lies every week. Not to mention making the person who spouted them look like a moron. An interesting article none the less.

I love hearing the craziness about 1080p that goes along with much of it too.

 

[GlocksRock]

I recently purhcased a factory refurb sharp aquos 46" lcd and I think it looks absolutely gorgeous, and I can definitely say it looks better (to me anyway) than my mitsubishi dlp.

 

[annunaki]

"Salespersons, overall, are pushing LCDs over plasmas at a rate of over 3 to 1 (which is up from last quarter's over 4 to 1)"

How is 3-to-1 a higher rate than 4-to-1?

Depending upon how it is looked at it could be

4 to 1 is 25% of the time plasma is recommended

3 to 1 is 33.33% of the time plasma is recommended

OR

4 to 1 is 75% of the time LCD is recommended

3 to 1 is 66.67% of the time LCD is recommended

However, I was/am confused at the statistic as it seems there is a typo or error in it. I think the ratios are transposed.

 

[majorloser]

"Salespersons, overall, are pushing LCDs over plasmas at a rate of over 3 to 1 (which is up from last quarter's over 4 to 1)"

How is 3-to-1 a higher rate than 4-to-1?

They were recommending LCD's over plasmas at those rate.

Let's say you sold 12 televisions.

At a rate of "4 to 1" every fifth television would be a plasma or 2.5 total plasmas sold.

At a rate of "3 to 1" every forth television would be a plasma or 3 total plasmas sold.

 

[jonnythan]

I agree with your analysis, but given the context it would appear that the sentence is meant to indicate that LCD recommendations are increasing, not decreasing. As stated, it is the rate of plasma recommendations that are increasing, going from 1-in-5 to 1-in-4 while LCD recommendations have gone from 4-to-1 down to 3-to-1.

 

[majorloser]

It's Tom. Ya' gotta let him slide once in awhile.

 

[Seth=L]

This thread hurts my feelings.

 

[no. 5]

That comes as no surprise to me as I sell against the lies every week. Not to mention making the person who spouted them look like a moron. An interesting article none the less.

I love hearing the craziness about 1080p that goes along with much of it too.

"What do you mean I don't need 1080p for my 20 inch HDTV??"

You know, for normal HDTV watching, burn-in isn't a problem.... But, what about the 12 hour marathon halo sessions? Am I safe, or is my radar going to get burned into the corner? Probably not... Well, unless I do that for a week straight. (Wow, that's a good idea. I need to take work off for a week and try it.) But really, burn in could become a problem for people like my parents. Their TV is on like 16 to 18 hours a day, and all of it is 4:3 with black bars on the sides unless they are watching the occasional HD football game. This is a real concern as many people aren't using their sets for HD content.

Has anyone tried this with one of the current plasma sets? Will a month of TV watched in this manner "burn" the middle of the image leaving the side bars different colors? It would be nice to have a good hard test and see what happens. Of course, I don't know anyone willing to throw away $1000 on a TV just to test this...

I would also like to know. Sure a new KURO has almost no chance of burn in, but what about that $650 cheepie? And does "almost no chance" mean a person would need to be colossal idiot to do it, or does it mean you'll be OK if you only watch widescreen TV and movies?

 

[bandphan]

As for a 12 hour marathon with anything, who the heck has 12 hours straight to spend on gaming? And for those that anwser you must be A-Well off enough to not care about ruining a display or B- young enough not to afford the display

 

[jonnythan]

It's Tom. Ya' gotta let him slide once in awhile.

Sure, sure. I'm not trying to bust anyone's chops, just figure out what the market trends are

 

[Tom Andry]

Sure, sure. I'm not trying to bust anyone's chops, just figure out what the market trends are

I should have just left the percentages in there. LCDs are being recommended less this year than last.

 

[jonnythan]

Thanks for the clarification