Audio Video News

It's no secret that LCD TVs are outselling plasma displays, but a new study by J.D. Power and Associates and Market Force Information have unearthed one clue as to why. And, apparently, those online ads for mystery shoppers aren't complete scams. Who knew?

The study sent out 2,000 trained mystery shoppers to measure the knowledge of salespeople and their recommendations about LCD and plasma displays. The findings of these mysterious mystery shoppers isn't really all that mysterious.

Turns out that retail electronics salesfolk are pushing LCD instead of plasma at a rate of more than three to one when shoppers were looking for sets over 40 inches. 

"While we see that salespeople are aggressively pushing shoppers to LCD sets, it is important for consumers to understand that plasma technology also offers a number of unique advantages, not the least of which is that inch for inch, plasma sets cost less than LCD sets," said Larry Wu, senior director of the technology practice at J.D. Power and Associates. "In addition, compared with most LCD sets, plasma TVs also display deeper blacks and show fast-moving objects better."

Unfortunately for plasma, salespeople are filled with outdated information regarding the already-resolved problem with image burn in.

"Although burn-in was once a problem with the first plasmas to hit the market, this has not been a serious issue for several years," said Wu. "In addition, the durability of plasma sets is now on par with that of LCD TVs with many of today's plasma sets rated to operate for 50,000 hours or more without failure."

Interestingly enough, the salespeople also missed out on advantages of LCD.

Who knows - maybe all those glossy magazine ads for LCD are paying off? -Leslie Shapiro

Via Earth Times

Photo courtesy of Associated Press

LCD/Plasma comparison from CircuitCity.com