Samsung to end plasma TV production this year

By compl3x
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Grand Master

compl3x

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Samsung SDI has announced that it will shut down plasma panel production by November 30 of this year.

According to multiple reports, including Reuters, the firm said the reason for the shutdown was a decline in overall demand for plasma TVs. A company statement says it will concentrate resources on its energy and materials business.

Since this article was originally published Samsung has provided CNET with the following official statement, confirming the timing of its exit from plasma.

"We plan to continue our PDP TV business until the end of this year, due to changes in market demands. We remain committed to providing consumers with products that meet their needs, and will increase our focus on growth opportunities in UHD TV's and Curved TV's."

Earlier this year, I called the 2013 Samsung PNF8500 the last great plasma TV. That's because the company, despite rumors to the contrary, decided not to release any substantial new plasma models for the 2014 year, and the 8500 remains our top TV for picture quality.

How long the 8500 will remain on sale is still uncertain, but its days are now officially numbered.

Panasonic pulled the plug on plasma last year, to much chagrin, leaving the dwindling plasma market to Samsung and LG. Samsung's move to end plasma production was hinted at in January by John Ryu, vice president of Samsung's Visual Display R&D office.

 

Ryu told CNET at the time that he didn't think plasma had a future beyond 2014 at his company. He cited the difficulty of making a cost-effective 4K version -- reportedly a factor in Panasonic's pull-out -- and the overall cost of production compared with LED LCD.

According to another report today from Yonhap News Agency, "Industry watchers say LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's No. 2 tech giant, will also discontinue its PDP business in the near future, noting that it has already converted one of its PDP production lines to make solar batteries."

This article has been updated to reflect Samsung's statement.

 

http://www.cnet.com/au/news/samsung-reportedly-ending-plasma-tv-production/

 

 

Panasoic is outta the Plasma business, now Samsung. Sonn LG. I guess Plasma is pretty much over?

Grand Master

compl3x

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Some plasmas are quite good. Especially for inky blacks.

 

The Samsung F8500 series has received a lot of positive reviews.

 

Panasonic plasmas have also received plenty of positive reviews over the years.

 

If I was buying a T.V. tomorrow I'd probably be considering one.

  • The Evil Overlord
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Grand Master

theyarecomingforyou

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I still do not know anyone who owns a plasma tv.

Nor me. Everyone I know has LCD or LED HDTVs. Personally I've never liked plasma displays, as they're bulky, do poorly in direct sunlight, have burn-in problems (not so much an issue now), handle motion poorly and are inefficient. Some people swear by them but in side-by-side comparisons I always prefer LED HDTVs.

Grand Master

D. S. Veteran

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There is also the extra that they work poorly at altitude and have a bigger power draw. I, for one, I'm looking forward for the advancements in manufacturing that will usher in the era of 4K 64+ inches OLEDs... that I can afford. One can dream.

 

Still, most people that buy plasma TVs now are people that have had them before. Very few people are jumping in at this point, especially seeing how far LED has progressed and 4K being all the buzz (no 4K plasmas that don't cost a fortune that I'm aware of).

Grand Master

neufuse Veteran

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When I had a plasma HD screen 9yrs ago it was nothing but an ultra heavy, very fragile, and energy hog... The thing got HOT also.... I know they improved some since then but out of the two (plasma, LCD) I'd pick LCD because it's using less electric and stays way cooler, and is drastically lighter

  • Open Minded
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Grand Master

spacer

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Nor me. Everyone I know has LCD or LED HDTVs. Personally I've never liked plasma displays, as they're bulky, do poorly in direct sunlight, have burn-in problems (not so much an issue now), handle motion poorly and are inefficient. Some people swear by them but in side-by-side comparisons I always prefer LED HDTVs.

Aren't LED TVs a type of LCD TV?

 

My plasma TV is 1.5 inches thick at it's biggest point, that's not "bulky". It hangs on the wall just fine. And sunlight is only a probably if you get a TV with a glossy finish, which isn't exclusive to plasmas. Plasma's have superior motion performance compared to every other type of TV except for CRTs. Burn-in is still technically a problem, but it's so rare now it's really only an issue if your TV is defective, which again, isn't exclusive to plasmas.

 

I like my plasma TV just fine, but if I had to get a new TV today I'd most definitely get an LED LCD. I'd really like an OLED TV, but those are so freakin' expensive right now it's not worth it at the moment.

  • The Evil Overlord and +Raze
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Grand Master

theyarecomingforyou

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Aren't LED TVs a type of LCD TV?

Yeah, LED just refers to LED backlit LCDs - it's just an easy way to distinguish the two, as the older LCDs were bulkier.

 

I like my plasma TV just fine, but if I had to get a new TV today I'd most definitely get an LED LCD. I'd really like an OLED TV, but those are so freakin' expensive right now it's not worth it at the moment.

This is the thing, not many would go for plasma over LED or OLED. Consumers have spoken.

Grand Master

neufuse Veteran

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Aren't LED TVs a type of LCD TV?

 

My plasma TV is 1.5 inches thick at it's biggest point, that's not "bulky". It hangs on the wall just fine. And sunlight is only a probably if you get a TV with a glossy finish, which isn't exclusive to plasmas. Plasma's have superior motion performance compared to every other type of TV except for CRTs. Burn-in is still technically a problem, but it's so rare now it's really only an issue if your TV is defective, which again, isn't exclusive to plasmas.

 

I like my plasma TV just fine, but if I had to get a new TV today I'd most definitely get an LED LCD. I'd really like an OLED TV, but those are so freakin' expensive right now it's not worth it at the moment.

 

depends, there is LED backlit and OLED which is LED pixels basically

Grand Master

+Raze Subscriber²

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I currently own a 50' Samsung plasma (my 2nd) and it's performance exceeds any other non-plasma TV I have ever viewed.  It does get very warm, but I sit 9' from it and the warmth is a non-issue.  The motion performance, color depth, and black levels of plasma actually exceeds that of any LCD currently on the market.  The 2 things I do not like are the power consumption and the weight, though lighter than a CRT, the size/weight makes it very bulky and difficult to move.  The first one I owned did eventually show burn in, but this one has not shown any.

 

I admit my next TV will be a LED back-lit LCD, the quality of the picture is very near that of plasma and is brighter and the black levels have improved greatly. In fact, in a non showroom side by side comparison I probably would not be able to tell the difference.

Grand Master

The Evil Overlord

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I have same brand and type as yours.  :D

 

But not sure what year you have or model.  

couldn't tell you even if I wanted to, lol no idea, I'm not moving that thing just to take a look at it's model number, I can tell you it's about 3 or 4 years old now (the model with the big black band going round the screen, ir sensor and lights near center of the bottom part)

 

it looks identical to this one (as I cannot confirm the model number)

 

post-354816-0-16654200-1404784171.jpg

Mentor

Boxster17

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Some people have outdated ideas of what a plasma TV actually looks like.  I own a Viera ST60 and wouldn't dream of going back to any LED TV; to get close to the same picture quality and black reproduction you're spending a lot more money for a comparable set.  A good plasma TV will also have a decent anti-reflective coating on the panel - mine's about 4 feet from these windows and it's never been an issue when the curtains are open.

 

That being said you do have to be aware that they'll draw more power so you're probably going to be tripling your annual consumption compared to an LED TV.  Also the reason they're heavy is because they use a full glass panel that needs to be thicker to contain the pressure in the individual pixels.  I don't really move my TV after I buy it so weight has never been an issue for me with it.

  • xendrome and Nashy
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Grand Master

TAZMINATOR

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couldn't tell you even if I wanted to, lol no idea, I'm not moving that thing just to take a look at it's model number, I can tell you it's about 3 or 4 years old now (the model with the big black band going round the screen, ir sensor and lights near center of the bottom part)

it looks identical to this one (as I cannot confirm the model number)

attachicon.giftx-p50u30b_2.jpg

Mine is older than yours but it is not a vierra model. The light and sensor are on the left hand side.

It's a business model which means that TV has no speakers inside. You will need a receiver to be hooked up to the tv

  • 3 weeks later...
Grand Master

ACTIONpack

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plasma TV are really good but it's a dead technology in 1 to 3 years from now. Remind me of the DLP TVs. The only place you will see them are in theaters. Don't think plasma have a place in there.

Grand Master

HawkMan

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Nor me. Everyone I know has LCD or LED HDTVs. Personally I've never liked plasma displays, as they're bulky, do poorly in direct sunlight, have burn-in problems (not so much an issue now), handle motion poorly and are inefficient. Some people swear by them but in side-by-side comparisons I always prefer LED HDTVs.

 

Err... what?   plasmas have always handled motion better than LCDs. Its lcds with their early slow switching that had motion issues.

 

As for inefficient. If you look at actual used power on a properly configured plasma instead of the max draw on the back of the set they're not using much more power than an LCD. And since their pq and darks are so much better, their not really less efficient.

 

As for sunlight, cheap plasmas have no or cheap surface coating. Spend the same on a plasma as you would for a decent LCD and the plasma does better in sunlight, since it has glass with proper coating, the LCD has crappy glossy wavy plastic that's even worse than the cheap plasma. And f you can find a matte screen, you get grey washed out darks, and the sunlight gets spread over the whole screen, maker everything worse, instead of one little spot.

 

As for bulky, have you seen the latest LG's. And LEDs are getting bulkier since they're adding in quality they dumped before and realized people would rather have quality over a 1 cm screen.

 

Unfortunately plasma is going away with nothing close to good enough to replace them. But people don't care, they buy Samsung LEDs with edge bleed, ghosting and uneven backlight. They don't care about quality.

There is also the extra that they work poorly at altitude and have a bigger power draw. I, for one, I'm looking forward for the advancements in manufacturing that will usher in the era of 4K 64+ inches OLEDs... that I can afford. One can dream.

 

Still, most people that buy plasma TVs now are people that have had them before. Very few people are jumping in at this point, especially seeing how far LED has progressed and 4K being all the buzz (no 4K plasmas that don't cost a fortune that I'm aware of).

 

They work great at 600 meters...

  • watkinsx2, Dashel and AndyMutz
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Grand Master

Xerino

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The only plasma I ever had was a pansonic viera, great TV, but they got a bad rep early on for burn in issues, massive power consumption, and pretty much acted as a radiator for heat,, my mother in law has a old hitachi plasma, never need to run the heater in the winter time it runs that hot.

Grand Master

HawkMan

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In fact, in a non showroom side by side comparison I probably would not be able to tell the difference.

Incidentally, its the other way around, in a bright showroom you can't tell a difference. Go home turn down the lights and set them to movie mode and the light bleed and uneven backlight of the LED will be obvious as will the lack of details in dark and blacks. If you're only using it for TV in a well lit room though...

I think it's just too expensive compared to LED.

If OLED prices come down we shoul dbe able to get the great plasma results with OLED.

 

How so? A good plasma costs the same as a decent LED, and the power consumption in reality isn't that big usual, one or two 60 watts bulbs depending on size. And OLED has a whole host of issues that they aren't even close to fixing yet.

Grand Master

LaP

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http://www.cnet.com/au/news/samsung-reportedly-ending-plasma-tv-production/

 

 

Panasoic is outta the Plasma business, now Samsung. Sonn LG. I guess Plasma is pretty much over?

 

Plasma has been over for a while now. It has been doomed to a niche market for at the very least a good 7 years.

Experienced

Zlain

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Motion blur on LED TVs is awful. Its a real shame the companies are leaving Plasma behind because seriously, I've got two samsung LED tv's (different models) and they both have motion blur, I've seen it in the shop too for different brands. Not sure why people hate Plasma. So what if you can't watch it in direct light - buy curtains. I desperately wanted a plasma for my folks, but when we went to the shops they were always gone (since they were always on sale). 

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