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In Reply to: RE: Look in the mirror. posted by finski on June 01, 2012 at 08:53:09
A few months ago I was walking through SF airport (but maybe it was Washington Dullas, I was in both on the same trip), and there was a fantastic display of old TV's, radios, amps and such. It seemed like there was half a km of displays. I remember thinking about the old tv's on the plane. We had one in our living room when I was a kid, a little black and white, and I think it was quite heavy. I remember my Dad and I going to a shop with a tube tester and stock of tubes when there were problems. Evetually we had quite a large 26" colour tv musta weighed over a hundred pounds. My whacko mothers three sleeping cats fit on top without scrapping for space.
A few years ago, I brought home a 46" Sharp LCD, marvelling at how thin it was and a great deal at around $2200. That was a fraction of a similar sized Plasma when they came out - my buddy went to atlanta to nab one of the first available in North america and I think he paid over $8000. But man the Sharpe is heavy, easy over 110 lbs.
Same TV now is about $750 maybe. Now the SOTA is LED and they only weigh half or less than an LCD. And you can get 60" for less than I paid a few years back for the LCD. And thyre becoming throw away....
Follow Ups:
The first plasma screens I saw had to be well over 10 years ago, closer to 20 years ago. Pioneer Elite was the only manufacturer for several years. Their plasma screens sold for $20,000 back then......maybe early 90's???
I saw Panasonic's plasma sets well over 20 years ago. They were completely dedicated to the plasma technology, while Sharp pioneered the LED technology. Sharp still controls a lot of the LED technology and Panasonic the Plasma (at least patent wise). Sony at the time controlled about 75% of the world market for the conventional CRT sets and they elected to ignore the flat screen technology and that's why they are so way behind the current video technology.
I believe Mitsubishi debuted a 42 inch plasma circa 1990 but it was a 480p set and the US had just announced the new HD conventions, which killed the set before it really entered th4e market. They imported about 250 (OEMed for them by someone else) sets into the US and, after they were sold, dropped the model.
At a CES, I spoke to a Panasonic VP and he told me not to expect an affordable plasma till a decade had passed ( this was in 1991).
Stu
Panasonic didn't produce a plasma display until 1996 (a 21" model), not 1992.
Sharp's investment was in LCD display technology, not LED display technology. LED LCD displays didn't appear until a few years ago.
The US didn't get into High Definition until 1996. Commercial broadcasts, and in limited markets at that, didn't start until 1998.
Not certain of the exact point in time, But it was a $5,000 42" Plasma. I paid $4,000 for it. Still ove it.
Just for half that, now, i could have a 60" screen.
....I would say about 7 years ago. I'm still very happy with it. I remember lusting after plasma tv's from the first time I saw that $20,000 Pioneer plasma years ago. It was far and away the best tv I had ever seen, but no way would I pay $20K for a tv!!!
I attended a demo in the mid-90s in Metairie LA at Audio Resource debuting Pioneer's first 50" plasma display. It was being fed by a High Definition video tape player (the model number started with a W and was made by JVC, if I'm not mistaken). Since Japan had High Definition before we did, you got to watch endless scenes of Japanese gardens, trees and flowers. A few race car scenes broke up the monotony.
And it was Fujitsu who made the first full color plasma screens in the early 90s. Before that, you could display any color you wanted, as long as you wanted reddish-orange. Pioneer started selling plasma displays in the mid-90s, but it was after Fujitsu and Philips introduced their 42" models.
Thanks for the correction. I was just replying to Finski who said that plasma's started out selling for $8,000. I knew I saw $20,000 Pioneer 50 inch plasma's in store. I guess they had been out for awhile by then.
Hey J, you could very well be right. Back at that time whether $8 or $20 K it was still out of my league. And now that I have the disposable income (in contrast apparently to the rest of society), I want the TV and I want my wife to free up a few more sheckles for that new Carrera S, but I can do without the cocoanut cables.
Sorry, not on my wish list. I guess I feel the same way about cars that you feel about cables. My Toyota gets me from A to B just fine. Live and let live.
nt
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