Yes, very old wive's tale. My former Pioneer 50" panel was nearly 15 years old without noticeable loss of brightness or contrast.

If one examines the numbers attributed to plasma panels, it would take over 12 years of 24/7/365 viewing to hit the amount of time for discernible loss.

A good friend of mine has a 55" Pioneer plasma and the picture is absolutely beautiful! Right now my wife and I have a 46" Sharp Aquos LED and it also has a great picture-- as long as you're sitting right in front of it. The black levels are noticeably higher than those of a plasma.

I'd go with the plasma.

__________________

Current:
2014 VW Tiguan SEL 4Motion 43,000 miles.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (wife's).

Past:
2006 Jetta TDI 135,970 miles. Sold Nov. '13.
1995 E-320 Special Edition. 220,200 miles. Sold Sept. '07.
1987 190-E 16 valve. 153,000 miles. Sold Feb. '06.
1980 300-D 225,000 miles. Donated to the National Kidney Foundation.
1980 240-D manual, 297,500 miles. Totaled by inattentive driver.

Much thanks to everyone here. As someone who is just starting out on this purchase I figured I could get some intelligent and experienced comments here. Unbiased, too.

I am still looking, of course, but it appears from the comments here why the low initial cost of the DLP.

I am also glad to hear the outside light source problem has been addressed by the makers.

Any further comments will be welcome. I can't be the first person to wonder about this.

Out of the options that you presented I would go with a LCD tv over a DLP. DLP is old technology. It was the best there was when it came out but by todays standards it is past it's prime. Thy are costly to repair (bulbs, color wheels ... etc, they are limited in their field of view.

The LCD's are quite cheap these days and will last quite a it longer, better quality picture and just an over all better TV in my opinion. Samsung and Sony have the best quality screens. Vizio is a good budget TV. You will get a lot of TV for he money with a Vizio.

Given my choice I would go with a plasma every time. Best picture out there and when you factor in the cost, plasmas are even better. Some plasmas have an AR (anti-reflective) coating but most do not. I understand the needs or AR coating but I do not like them for the same reason I do not like the satin finish on most mid range LCD's, the AR coating affects the color presentation of the screen. It is slight but it is present. As someone pointed out earlier, most of the issues associated with plasmas are either out right falsehoods or have long since been corrected. Power consumption, heat, panel life and burn in are no longer issues.

Here is a good primer for LCD v Plasma.

Good luck

__________________
Sent from an agnostic abacus

2014 C250 21,XXX my new DD ** 2013 GLK 350 18,000 Wife's new DD**

- With out god, life is everything.
- God is an ever receding pocket of scientific ignorance that's getting smaller and smaller as time moves on..." Neil DeGrasse Tyson
- You can pray for me, I'll think for you.
- When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.

I want a plasma T.V. but I have to wait until my projection T.V. dies.

__________________
For the Saved, this world is the worst it will ever get.
For the unSaved, this world is the best it will ever get.

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Here's some terms so everyone is on the same page:

LCD - a transmissive technology that can be backlit by CCFL - cold cathode florescent, edge lit LED or full array LED. Used in monitors, projection TV's and projectors.

DLP - a reflective technology, superior to LCD when utilized in 3's for red, green and blue. Drawback of single chip DLP is poor color reproduction. This is totally solved with 3 chip displays/projectors. Like LCD, this technology is used in monitors, projection TV's and projectors. If you go see a digital movie at a theater, it's most likely a DLP projector.

Every technology looks pretty darn good these days and most of the drawbacks of any particular type have been overcome for the most part.

I install both plasma and LCD and they both look fine. One thing I can say is the plasma's are REALLY heavy compared to the same LCD monitor.

Now, that said, I just bought a new TV - LED full array back lit LCD, 480 hz. Couldn't be happier.

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

I think you have it backwards. Plasmas can produce black. LCD's / LED's are not quite there yet - which is which why their contrast ration isn't as good.

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

I have a couple newer DLP's, an LCD, and an LED/LCD. The picture is as good on the DLP's as it is on the LED or LCD. The only downside to a DLP is off center viewing. It's not as good as the others. Given that LED/LCD's are very close in cost to the DLP sets, I'd probably go with a LED/LCD due to the larger footprint required of the DLP and the better off center viewing with LED/LCD.