New York (NY) – How long long do you plan on keeping your next TV? Panasonic says that its 1080p plasma displays are good for a viewing time for about 42 years - that is, of course, if the rest has not fallen apart by 2049.

We picked up a somewhat interesting piece of news up today from Panasonic, which tries to make a point how durable its plasma TV displays are. The company says that it will take 100,000 hours of viewing time to degrade the brightness of the display to less than 50% of its original performance and to make the picture look washed out.

100,000 hours of viewing time translates to about 42 years, if we consider the average viewing time in a U.S. household of 6.5 hours per day; if you never turn the TV off and let it run 24 hours a day, it is guaranteed to last almost 11.5 years. If your TV watching habits are similar to those of this writer, which is less than 2 hours per day, then you will be able to hand down the TV to your children and most likely even one or two generations further (a total of 136 years) – assumed there is still a way to watch plain two-dimensional 1080p content through HDMI interfaces in 2143.

The 100,000 hour rating only applies to Panasonic's 1080p TVs. The 720p models are rated for 60,000 hours to half brightness or 25 years at 6.5 hours viewing per day.

Panasonic's 1080p plasma HDTV's are available in 42", 50", 58" and 65" (mainstream  sizes).

I am a proud owner of a Panasonic 50" Plasma and lo...

Aug 07, 2007 17:30     

I am a proud owner of a Panasonic 50" Plasma and love it to death. the brightness on it is beyond great for my HD viewing purposes. I also play my Xbox 360 and PS3 on it with no ghosting or left over imprints from static images.
Mathew Everett report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

will picture fade?

Aug 07, 2007 17:34     

I was talking toa CC salesman and he said that plasma picture loses its luster after 6 years is this true?
Ron report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

already been done

Aug 07, 2007 18:08     

My grandparents still use as there main telly thier 1967 sony trition colour TV, there first colour set. It doesen't even have any channel presets and tunes using a dial. they've had that 40 years and its still going strong, panasonics claims are not as sensationist as they may seem
whybother report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Left leg = price, Right leg - longevity.

Aug 07, 2007 18:20     

So they got the Right leg up. When they get the left leg down then it's time to hit the sweet spot. Still waiting...
9Nails report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

@Ron, I've heard from coach salesmen (RV's) that so...

Aug 07, 2007 18:25     

@Ron, I've heard from coach salesmen (RV's) that some Plasma screens "wear out" when they are stored horizontally against the roof of the coach. And I've heard from installers that it's not uncommon for them to replace a Plasma set after 4 years due to fade. It seems Plasma wasn't the most reliable screen in it's first generation. I wouldn't know about these new sets. I'd say that the CC guy had some truth to his story.

9Nails report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

To whybother, actually they are

Aug 07, 2007 18:50     

If you would learn the differences between crt, lcd, and plasma, you would realize why this statement is so great. BTW, no sony ANYTHING will last that long anymore, they have some of the cheapest equipment on the market. They aren't what they used to be...
michaelahess report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Great for new stuff

Aug 07, 2007 19:21     

Old appliances had simpler circuits and higher quality components than what we see in most of the new ones. It's normal for them to last a long time. Broken old things usually require simple fixes. So, yes, 42 years is impressive. However, the thing might degrade not because of fading, but because it's too old. We have lead-free solder now, which is extremely prone to oxidation, breaking, etc. as well as greedy companies which rarely use better-than-standard components even in expensive hardware.

Antoine report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

they do fade

Aug 07, 2007 20:21     

Working at an electronics store where we run tv's 12 hours a day you can see the set fade of a period of months... we almost always end up putting a new model up right next to it right before the old one goes out of production and to stand back and look at the difference is amazing, although the new models are almost always a bit better and brigther you can still tell there is too big of a difference for just minor improvements in the technology

cc employee report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Early plasmas weren't ready

Aug 07, 2007 20:43     

My business has a plasma and we were using it to display powerpoint and videos. For a while someone had screwed up the ratios on the slides and it would leave black at the top and bottom. Now we ran the thing maybe four hours a week. After six months generously 200 hours there was a DEFINITE difference in brightness between the used and unused areas.
Meegus report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

will last at least 42 years. . .

Aug 07, 2007 20:49     

...if you use it for a boat anchor or a flower planter. These ratings seem greatly exaggerated to spur sales. Everyone knows sales of plasma TVs has been dropping. We live in an age where ridiculous claims in marketing are no surprise. This is like a new mattress warranty. Even if you complained everyone you know would tell you "you got your money's worth, what do you expect, just throw it out and get a new one! "

J. Doe report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

That's great about the image...

Aug 07, 2007 20:49     

but how long will it be before a hardware component or something digital fails? That's great that the picture will be good in 50 years, but I double the electrical components will last that long. A friend with a 56" rear projection set recently had the repair guy out. Now surely, the projection image degrades, but the repair guy claim was that when a plasma set fails--you replace the display--there's no repairing it. I mean it's great that the picture will still be good--but I wouldn't be expecting to be viewing one 50 years from now...

notanoptimist report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

I live near Coachmen headquarters...

Aug 07, 2007 21:18     

They're Goshen, Indiana. Want me to ask em? Plasma has a history of not lasting very long, but recent advances have fixed this, thus the article. To broadly state that Sony isn't reliable anymore is silly, and if the television lasts 40 years and it's under 5K I say go for it. Plasma is superior to all other current tech.
JohnDoe report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

So will they guarantee

Aug 07, 2007 21:43     

their color brightnest for 10 yrs?
nofubu report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Warranty

Aug 07, 2007 22:07     

I'll ask this seeing no-one else has: Will this new-found longetivity in the life of the plasma screen be reflected in the warranty? IE: A 20 year warranty with NORMAL use. That'll raise some eyebrows and the bar if Sony did that!
Big DaVoS report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

If this is true then would you buy LCD or Plasma?

Aug 07, 2007 22:58     

I thought the only reason to buy the LCD was that they last much longer, as they have inferior brightness and contrast ratios to the Plasma. Based on current advances in Plasmas would you recommend someone now buying a HDTV to go for LCD or Plasma?
Mikios report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

41 years of burned-in logos

Aug 07, 2007 23:53     

is the problem, unfortunately.
steve report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

How do they know :D

Aug 08, 2007 04:33     

Probably the answer will be too technical for me to remotely understand, but I wonder how they can measure the life expectancy of a system. It'd be easy if the performance decline was linear, but if it is logarithmic, how would they know it would last for 10 years without making observations for 5-6 years :D I am sure there is an answer but still it amuses me, lol.
Emrah report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

What it meas.....

Aug 08, 2007 08:30     

....is you dont have to worry about color fading or picture quality until the next greatest thing comes out. Do you still use grandma's typewriter even though it still works? My family used an old Sony 19" Trinitron TV that used push buttons. It didnt even have RCA inputs. We used antenna apadters to hook up the cable box and console games. It still works, but we upgraded when DVD players came out.

Turdster report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Pixel fade vs pixel death

Aug 08, 2007 09:08     

The pixel will die long before the pixel fades, so you'll have great phosphors inside a pixel that is stuck orange. G
G report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Like I said

Aug 08, 2007 09:27     

My plasma has been running off and on each day playing games and watch HD and Non HD channels.. I have no burnt in images from static content. I can't say how the brightness is compared to when I bought it, but the biewing is still how it was when I got it. Also the biggest thing people should know is the Plasma screens are not running at 100% brightness so you are able to adjust the setting to make it brighter over time. (Some Plasma's have this option while others don't)

Mathew Everett report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

No Burn-In Any More...

Aug 08, 2007 15:18     

A previous post from "Steve" talk about burn-in....that's not true any more with newer Plasma technologies like the Panies. I have last year's 1080i model and love the picture and the audio. What Steve should have commented on was 41 years of "glare" -- the glass screens really pick up a lot of it....as compared to most LCD screens. -Craig
Craig report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

LIES! THIS IS EXPLOITING MIS-INFORMATION!

Aug 08, 2007 17:56     

In truth, a truly new plasma display panel should last this long anyway. Most sets that are bought retail are actually reconditioned panels refitted into new cases with new electronics. These reconditioned displays were generally used for commercial and industrial purposes and heavily abused - which is why the average consumer ca n only expect around 5 years of brightness life. There are only two true manufacturers of plasma panels, I believe it was Samsung and Marantz. A factory can only output 2000 displays a day, so to meet demand they use re-manufactured ones.

waffle911 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1

Prices are down

Aug 10, 2007 15:09     

For the person that thinks prices vs. longevity is an issue...I'm about to pick up the 50" 700u tv for $2195....that's pretty cheap for a 1080p plasma...especially one designed to run 40 years :).
Beast report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

The truth.

Aug 13, 2007 08:39     

JohnDoe was the closest to getting things right. There are so many misconceptions about plasmas its crazy. So if you want to figure out the difference between LCD and Plasma here it is. The longevity is very similar, like the article says most have been around 60k hrs. Brightness: LCD wins, they've always been brighter. But plasma has better black levels and has had better contrast although LCD is catching up. The screens are different too, you will get glare off the glass screen of a plasma, and most LCDs are going to be a matte type plastic where you wont get any. One thing i really like about plasma is faster refresh rates, most plasmas are 4ms and most LCDs are 6-8ms. So if you're watching action movies or sports plasma is better in that aspect with the fast moving images. SO! Which is better? That all depends on what you watch and how bright your room is :).

Shaun report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

1080p Standard

Aug 13, 2007 18:38     

Ummm...Ya know 1080p is a new standard but I can imagine we'll see 2160p and so on as time goes on. So I rather get something I can afford and hope it'll last at least 10 years to get my money out of it. By then there will be a new set standard which we will have to upgrade again...and again...again
Darkk report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Yeah but...

Aug 15, 2007 21:45     

That's a long time to pay the electric company 2 to 3 times the rate to power and watch the damn thing compared to LCD! Check the specs ~ it's like 700 some watts to run the damn thing. Not very green folks. Not very green at all...
BeenThereDoneThat report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

1080p standard

Aug 28, 2007 11:57     

There is not a plan to move past 1080p at this point. The reason being that it already needs a 50 gigabyte disc to play 1080p off a blue ray player. And lets talk bandwidth: short of using all the bandwidth currently allocated for the internet, there is nothing with the ability to send 1080 p to eveyones house in America. Streaming 50 megs of movie is difficult, much less 50 gigs! HDMI cabling does offer support up to 1440p, but only computer monitors can really take advantage of this. Also, the reason to go beyond 1080p would be larger screens. On a 32 inch widescreen display can the average person tell the difference between 720p and 1080p? Working in an enviroment (BestBuy) where I show people this everyday, the answer is no. 1080p really only shines past 42 inches, and then it seems that 1080i will look equally impressive to most people. Beyond 1080p? Maybe in 20 years, but first we need to send 1080p to everyones homes, and THEN we need to first get everyone a normal high def display! AND there would need to be demand for TVs larger than 50 inches: right now unless they have a theater room, most people simply do not need bigger than a 50 inch screen.

Allen report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Plasmas have the best picture by far -- the depth a...

Aug 31, 2007 02:32     

Plasmas have the best picture by far -- the depth and "window effect" of plasmas just isn't there with LCD. If you want a great any-angle, high-contrast, fast response picture with amazing color reproduction you pick plasma. Burn-in and fading are simply not an issue with most top brands. In 5 years, sell it and get a bigger better one if you are worried. I'd rather do that than buy an LCD with inferior picture and be forced to watch that my whole life, LOL.

Steve report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

@waffle911 - Plasma manufacturers?

Jan 11, 2008 03:04     

Marantz and Samsung are the only Plasma manifacturers on the planet?!? Could you post some evidence? I know that Samsung uses Sony LCD panels, I hardly believe they are making plasma displays. Panasonic recently presented the world biggest plasma display (150"). From Panasonic site: "Panasonic manufactures plasma display panels at its Amagasaki Plant, which boasts the world's largest production capacity." Marantz is selling plasma displays? For what I know there are 3 main plasma manufacturers: Pioneer, Hitachi and Panasonic.

Steve report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0