[citation][nom]SteelCity1981[/nom]Plasma? Stores can't get rid of them. No one wants plasma, people that defend plasma have a plasma tv. Once the gas in the plasma screen goes in 7 to 10 years or sooner so does your TV and because of that your tv screen fades over time. It's not like an LCD where you can replace the backlit bulb once every 5 to 7 years of avg use. And its def not like an LED where the picture never fades over time and is guaranteed to last 12 years of continues use 24 hours a day until the picture goes out completely which would equal prob about 25 years of avg use in a lifespan. Not to mention LED screens a more energy effient than Plasma or LCD.[/citation]
You do realize that LED = LCD right? Manufacturers essentially just swapped the CCFL backlights for LED ones. Yes, they are cheaper to run than CCFL based screens and plasmas, but just like CCFLs they still fail in many areas compared to plasma panels.
But to answer your ill-thought and incorrect comments, plasma STILL offers the best image quality in large size panels. LCD (I'm including the LED based ones here too) still are unable to produce a black black without special filters on the panel which screw about with the accuracy of the rest of the color gamut.
No matter what the advertised refresh rate is, you can still always see fast moving objects leaving a trail, especially sports. Its a LOT better than it once was, but its still there and you're an idiot if you claim its not. Speaking of refresh rates, plasmas operate differently but are equivalent to a minimum of 600Hz and usually much higher.
Because the CCFL or LED backlights are not uniformly distributed across the area of the screen (not any more anyway), you get hotspotting and light leaks, and because of the various polarizing filters you have a more limited viewing angle. Ever noticed how when you move away from a perpendicular view of an LCD the colors shift? NOT good.
Because a plasma's pixels are self illuminating rather than relying on a hard-to-uniformly-control strip of LEDs at the side of the screen passing though several filers to 'spread' the light out smoothly, the colors remain more consistent across the entire panel at much greater viewing angles.
Yes, you can get many plasmas cheaper than LCDs, but anyone who is serious about quality is NOT going to go to the budget end of the market. Starting at the 52" size and upwards, LCDs are one hell of a lot more expensive as they are more difficult to produce in those sizes than plasmas and any dead pixels render the entire panel unsuitable for anyone who is shopping for quality.
A representative site I just looked at has a 46" 3D LED at just under twice the price as a 50" 3D plasma from brand name manufacturers. However the 46" specs disguise a LOT of specs, using "Clear Motion Rate: 400" instead of just being upfront about the real Hz and "Dynamic Contrast Ratio: Mega contrast" instead of an actual number like the plasma specs list.
When they have to fudge the specs to trick people into believing the panel is as good as a cheaper model you can be sure that its NOT as good.
Even with TVs from the same maker that differ only in the panel they use, the plasma will look 'better'. When I bought mine I compared it (samsung 58") to the equivalent sized LED based LCD TV also from Samsung and there was no comparison (and the LCD was pricier).
I spent a good 3 hours trying to match them in the showroom with a calibration bluray and colorimiter (I know the owner of the store and so did it after closing time) with 'torch mode' turned off and none of the many other sets switched on. The plasma always looked more realistic having a better reproduction of all the test pasterns, no light leakage along the sides, and in winter I can use it as a space heater
Longevity? Seriously, who keeps a TV for more than 4-5 years any more? I certainly don't.
Now if you like to think LCD is better then I'm not going to be able to convince you otherwise, but if you get a 'proper' plasma panel, not just a $200 42" from walmart or wherever, you might be a little surprised. As with everything, you have to pay to get quality, and in the serious sized TVs you can pay a lot less to get a significantly better picture by choosing plasma over LCD.
For what its worth I have an LCD in the bedroom and its just fine, but in the lounge the set I bought just knocks it out of the field.