Today I turned on my Pioneer Elite Pro plasma tv to watch a game and a very loud <pop> happened and now my picture is nothing but white wavy vertical lines!! What could have happened? I've only had it for 9 months!! Of course it's still under warranty - but has any one else had that problem? I'm sick about it!
Sorry to hear about your problem. I do not delve much into plasma so I have no idea what the problem could be. As with any electronic box under warranty, you have only three realistic options- fix it, return it for another, or return it for a refund. Sounds like it is broken hard, so there isn't much else you can do or try to do. Good luck.
If you have no warranty support, try and find a real repair shop and at least they may be able to repair it. I hear that power supplies are "part" repairable and usually the problem. (that from a techy friend who has had two off brand sets fixed this way).
A friend of mine is under the impression that plasma screens have a 1500 hour viewing life. I was unable to reason with him, and do not know the basis of this info. Any help much appreciated.
60,000 hours is the figure I have heard associated with Plasma viewing life.
1500 would be something on the order of two months continuous that wouldn't
seem right.
I also see where a recent survey by CR showed that Plasma and LCD flat screens
have about the same frequency of repairs at around 3%
I'm sure that we all share your "angst" - but - although this "link" was in the Pioneer distant past, it "may" give you hope now !
DO NOT allow anyone to touch in any way that set until / unless PIONEER has authorized that specific individual / company to do so. Otherwise, you'll have "lost" any of that 12 month original warranty --
some Pioneer HDTVs have 18, in fact.
Richard, so is a 60,000 hours life bogus too? Is there a "life" figure for plasma TVs? I know most PC products have MTBF (mean time between failure) data, so I suspect TVs do too.
Not quite - even at 50% of original brightness, one will be ready to take an action, since plasma sets do Not have the abilities to ever become as overly-illuminated as the LCDs are - ie - in those mass store setups.
So, no, I'd stay with the 100,000 hours estimate --- afterall, that's nearly 30 years at 10 hours daily, 365 days/ year ! That's far more than I have left, for certain.
eli whitney
I'm sure that we all share your "angst" - but - although this "link" was in the Pioneer distant past, it "may" give you hope now !
DO NOT allow anyone to touch in any way that set until / unless PIONEER has authorized that specific individual / company to do so. Otherwise, you'll have "lost" any of that 12 month original warranty --
some Pioneer HDTVs have 18, in fact.
It actually comes with a 2 year warranty. I can't believe how many people say they have "heard" that big tv's don't last very long - it is amazing how much doom & gloom there is out there about plasmas. And, BTW I do have a "date" with the authorized dealer here, but of course it's not soon enough!
Richard, so is a 60,000 hours life bogus too? Is there a "life" figure for plasma TVs? I know most PC products have MTBF (mean time between failure) data, so I suspect TVs do too.
Nearly all comments on plasma life are based on it's original use in commercial 24/7/365 applications; hardly relative. You should get the typical 10-15 years based on phosphor wear and tear for all phosphor displays. MTBF has nothing to with that. MTBF is as you stated related to repair only. MTBF has greatly improved so while the web may make it seem as if they are dropping left and right they are failing less compared to the number of units sold that do not have a problem.
That's good to know - thanks for your input (from a person that is knowlegable in these things!) I know it is a material thing, but I certainly have gotten alot of joy from it so am missing my high def very much!
