Home theater enthusiasts have spent the last five years collectively scratching their heads over the failure of plasma television. The technology has many clear advantages over LCD derivatives; it offers deeper black levels (and thus better contrast), clearer motion, and doesn’t suffer from uniformity problems. Almost all enthusiasts agree that plasma is superior to LCD, and sometimes by no small margin – yet sales have repeatedly fallen short of expectations and the technology’s most ardent supporter, Panasonic, struggles to make a profit even though its most serious competitor, Pioneer, abandoned the technology several years ago.
Many observers of this trend have concluded, in summary, that people are stupid. While I don’t entirely disagree with that rather cynical statement, it’s a position that onlookers, arm-chair analysts and pundits all too often retreat to, and in the case of plasma, I think it’s dead wrong.
People are not buying LCD televisions because they don’t know better, have been tricked by marketing, or fooled by in-store presentations. People are buying LCDs because they’re a better fit for many consumers. There’s a lesson of perspective to be learned from plasma’s hard times, and they apply to not just televisions, but all of consumer electronics.
Continue reading →
