plasma televisions are superior in every respect you say?
how about the power consumption? around 200w compared with 50w for new led lcds. this means that at an average kwh price a new led tv can cost you $13 per year and a plasma can cost you $51 assuming 8 hour days every day at 8.7 per kwh. granted, its not going to kill your bank but its still a clear win.
how about longevity? 60,000 hours mtbf plasma compared with 100,000 mtbf for led. granted that is about 21 years for plasma and 34 years for led assuming 8 hours per day. i agree at these time scales the tv is likely to be replaced or die of other issues however it would be fair to call either tv equal in this regard.
how about contrast? while it still is true that plama technology does produce better levels than most lcd/led tvs the new zone dimming products on the market have made a vast improvment in the lcd scene. some numbers from testing have produced similar or better numbers than comparable plasma products. plasma still may beat out most of the competition but zone dimming models are about equal.
how about refresh rate? on this i still do believe plasma is the better choice. new 120 and 240hz lcd/led tvs can produce soap box effect which looks unnatural. however there are also people who are perfectly happy with 60hz such as is common on computer monitors. this win would still be for plasma.
how about brightness? lcd/led is much better for bright sun and commonly is brighter. plasma televisions are best used out of direct sunlight. what type of panel wins has more to do with where you put it. lcd/led is better for bright or direct sunlight areas and plasma is a good choice for dimmer areas. of course lcd/led can function in dim areas as well. i would say this is a toss up between the two.
how about color accuracy? first and formost this has quite a bit to do with having your television calibrated properly. as far as i can tell 8bit and possibly 10 bit lcd panels are used in televisions. this compares with professional lcdmonitors for computers. i havent found a source which was able to compare this to plasma tvs. as such, at best i can say they are both at the level where accuracy should not be a problem.
companies creating false numbers or bumping numbers in their favor has always been and will always be a problem not just with lcd technology but with any technology.
new technology (such as zone dimming led) is always expensive. it is no different than pc hardware and how prices drop over time as the market becomes saturated. branding is also no different: large well known brands command high prices while lesser known brands bring up the rear.
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in short?
i agree with your sentiments that plasma still has a place and is often overlooked but neither one of the products are a perfect do all solution. honestly there are quite a few factors involved and we all have our own opinion on what we prefer.
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