Television Reliability

I just thought I would write an article about the televisions of today, you have projection lcd, dlp, plasma, and lcd flat panels, and your good old crt (tube televisions). My comments may seem like I am resisting change, on the contrary I like the new display systems coming out, but as a technician this is how I see the new technologies. I am not going to talk about how good the resolution is or how good the black level is. I am sure there is a salesman and a dozen articles out there that can offer this information to you in very exciting ways, and new jargon that they will teach you in order to make it sound new and exciting. These things are only important to get you to purchase the television.  The part that is usually left out is the part I deal with on a daily basis; the actual experience with the television.   A television’s reliability and durability are more important in the long run, unless you are of the nature to replace your television frequently. But most of us want a tv that will last for many years, Trouble free. This observation is from a tech that sees the down side to all the technologies, after all I only get to see the TV after it as stopped working.   The projection televisions lcd,dlp ect have one big problem, they all will need new light bulbs, and the older your television gets (the rule so far) the more expensive the bulb will be. This opinion has its roots in the lcd projectors that are as old as 1998, the technology between these projectors and the lcd projection televisions are essentially the same, including the use of bulbs.  If you look at the history of these projectors you see an alarming trend, in increasing bulb price as the unit gets older. Currently most bulbs will cost around $100 -180 dollars, some more some less, but the point is that they aren’t cheap.  Some of these older projection bulbs can go as high $500 dollars or more. That seems to be the trend. Another issue you need to be aware of is that the fans are constantly circulating air around through these light engines, and they can deposit dust inside the unit. This is a very bad problem with the older Sony projection televisions (other brands have the same problem),  causing blotchy discolorations throughout the picture. Sony did get wise to this and start putting filters on the engines. This has helped but the filters can get clogged and air flow will diminish, the sensors will realize this and turn off the television causing it to code.  These filters are not user replaceable and need a tech to replace, if it can be replaced at all.  There is no repair for dust in the light engine, Sony has said that you can remove the lcd component and blow the dust off, but in practice this rarely will fix the television, and a new light engine will have to be ordered costing $1200 dollars or more.If you smoke, this smoke will penetrate the television, leaving a yellow residue on the inside of the screen and lenses causing the picture to tint yellow. In my opinion all of the dlp, or lcd projection televisions are more of a transitional technology. I believe that they will phase out once flat panel types become more affordable.  Flat panel televisions either the lcds, or plasma for the most part seem more reliable than the projection types.  Since they are relatively new and don’t have a long history yet, I cannot say for sure how well they will hold up for the really long run.  But in general they are doing pretty good.  In my opinion this style of television is my pick for my next tv purchase.  Although there are some issues you need to be aware of; The panels themselves can be broken, and this is not covered under your warranty. If you break the panel, you are plain out of luck because the cost of the panel is almost equal to a new television.  The panels are fragile compared to crt televisions. I was told that a crt television has to pass an inspection where a 3 pound weight has to be swung at the screen and it cannot break or it will fail the test. The flat panels cannot stand up to this kind of treatment. They will break!  There are no or very few fans circulating air and dust through the flat panel television. Most flat panels can handle a dusty environment better than projection types.  I have had a situation where a plasma was mounted above a working fireplace  and the smoke from the fireplace passed un abated between the glass and the plasma causing dark streaks, requiring us to remove the panel and completely clean between the glass and plasma display. Fortunately it does not require replacement of the display.   They are not impervious to an electronic defect I have seen several issues with these televisions, but I also defiantly see a trend where this television is much more reliable than the projection types.Now I would like to talk briefly about our old friend the CRT or tube type of television. We have a long history.  Allot of engineering has gone into these televisions to make them very reliable. In my opinion the picture tube is more stable than the flat panel types. They will take more abuse and last a fairly long time.  The big problems with these televisions are the high voltage circuits; this is where the weaknesses lie. The deflection circuits require large amounts of current and the tube needs several thousand volts of electricity to work.  The components that are designed to service the tube are put under high stresses that can cause them to fail early.  But they are generally cheaper to repair. The crt television is defiantly a dyeing technology, but in my opinion it is the most durable television at this time.Over time, and with engineers gaining more experience in designing flat panel televisions. They will improve and emerge as the only television in the market.