Reggie Smithers wrote:

Eisboch wrote:

Samsung claims that the plasma display of their units will last 60,000 hours
or approximately 26 years using it an average of 6 hours a day. It makes
sense to me given that the plasma pixel is simply a contained mini cell of
gas that becomes ionized when used. In the process of ionization light is
emitted. Once the ionizing potential is removed, the gas reverts back to
it's original state. There is no consumable component as long as the gas
does not leak out. Conventional cathode ray tubes emit electrons from a
filament that eventually will break or simply thin to a point of becoming
unusable.

Other components (power supplies, etc.) will crap out long before then.

Richard,
I had a salesman tell me the expected life of both plasma and LCD was 8
- 10 yrs. Since I couldn't imagine them underestimated the life, I went
searching on the Internet to see what I could find. It seems the
manufacturer. orginally underestimated the lifespan. According to this
article, you are basically correct. They did disagree that the gas
reverts back to the original state, they state it will lose it's
brightness over time, but very gradually, after 50,000 hrs, it will be
at 50% of brightness. By that time, we be watching hologram TV.

http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/p...matv-life.html

http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/p...-lifespan.html

There is also quite a bulb cost delta between the technologies. Have
been told the current best value is Samsung's 50" DLP.

--
Skipper