Plasma Bad Pixels

[dibbz]

So I have a 50" Panasonic P50VT25 Plasma TV that has recently formed a line of dead pixels just off center from the bottom of the screen to nearly half way up. The TV is about 3 years old and is otherwise perfectly fine. Does anyone know if it's worth paying Panasonic to fix the screen, and if not what should I do with the TV as I'll probably end up buying a new one.

Here's what it looks like (only shows up for certain colors)
http://i.imgur.com/n5ZMDdL.jpg

[Kloubek]

Generally, if lines of pixels start going dead, they will continue to do so until the unit is useless. To fix this, there is 99.9% chance it will require a full panel replacement which is often around what the TV is worth anyway.

So what do you do with it? Well, when mine started showing lines of dead pixels, I sold it off cheap on Kijiji, and dumped the minimal amount I got for it into a new one.

[lamp_shade_2000]

As stated it typically isn't worth fixing, buy a new one. That's probably going to be $800+. If you decide to replace you can sell off the VT (awesome tv btw) for cheap on kijiji or recycle it. We recycle at my work for free(future shop) I believe staples does this too.

[dibbz]

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I'll throw it up on Kijiji and see what I can get for it.

[clem24]

Yup ever since the demise of tubes, TVs have become disposable... Could be a whole bunch of things but the gist is that it's almost impossible to fix the panel, and with the way IC boards are built these ways, almost impossible to fix as well. Which means complete replacement of the part (i.e. panel, board, etc..), which wouldn't be so bad if new panels were so fucking cheap.

My dad was a technician for Eaton's, and then Sears after they shut down. Then Sears shut down their repair facility for TVs after flat panels became the norm (and broken TVs were either junked or sent back to the manufacturer, not fixed in house), and he basically retired. Timing was just right.

[Mitsu3000gt]

It's probably game over for that TV unfortunately, unless you live with the line. Stuck pixels can occasionally be revived, but not usually dead ones. You could try running one of those youtube videos that flash colors for an hour as a last ditch effort.

This is one reason why I always buy cheaper TV's unless they are going in a dedicated theater environment (at which point you should be looking at a projector anyway). They are pretty much disposable these days. 3 years is a bit soon though, you should check the original warranty, if it's 2 years and you bought with a decent credit card, chances are you have a 1-year warranty extension onto whatever the base warranty is.

That is a fantastic TV though, if you can somehow get it repaired for a reasonable price.

[clem24]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
It's probably game over for that TV unfortunately, unless you live with the line. Stuck pixels can occasionally be revived, but not usually dead ones. You could try running one of those youtube videos that flash colors for an hour as a last ditch effort.

This is one reason why I always buy cheaper TV's unless they are going in a dedicated theater environment (at which point you should be looking at a projector anyway). They are pretty much disposable these days. 3 years is a bit soon though, you should check the original warranty, if it's 2 years and you bought with a decent credit card, chances are you have a 1-year warranty extension onto whatever the base warranty is.

Not a dead/stuck pixel though, this is an entire line which means either the line driver or an actual physical connection somewhere on the circuit and/or panel has been severed. Like I said, it's not actually worth diagnosing.

I still won't buy 'cheaper' TVs because nowadays especially, the price discrepancy between a brand name panel and cheap no-name is extremely low, low enough that I am price insensitive to it; there's more of a discrepancy between TVs with more/less features. The thing is, the cheap no-names many times won't even last a year (I know, I had one). So often better to pay a little more for brand name. Plus you usually get better picture quality to go along with it.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by clem24


Not a dead/stuck pixel though, this is an entire line which means either the line driver or an actual physical connection somewhere on the circuit and/or panel has been severed. Like I said, it's not actually worth diagnosing.

I still won't buy 'cheaper' TVs because nowadays especially, the price discrepancy between a brand name panel and cheap no-name is extremely low, low enough that I am price insensitive to it; there's more of a discrepancy between TVs with more/less features. The thing is, the cheap no-names many times won't even last a year (I know, I had one). So often better to pay a little more for brand name. Plus you usually get better picture quality to go along with it.

I should have been more clear, I didn't mean stuff like Haier, Proscan, and similar garbage. I just mean buying a $800 TV from one of the big few manufacturers without all the bells and whistles rather than buying the $4000 flagship when it comes time for a new TV.

Of course, if you're after certain aesthetics or something, you may not have a choice, but I don't think I'll ever buy a super expensive TV again with projectors as cheap as they are.

Plasmas are unfortunately also a dying breed, with Panasonic out of the game now there isn't much left.