"David" wrote in message
...
Plasma screens. The Phosphor is the big limiting factor on how long it
will
last.
Burn in seems to be pretty common with static images, so I am sure they
are
running the phosphor near its limits.

ahh... that should keep the screen makers in biz at least..

Plasma screens also are power hogs and must be kept cool.

I see. Ok, in that case somewhat lower MTBF's can be predicted. That's
good -- for servicers anyway.

The failures are almost always a board level repair and good luck buying a
board if you are not an authorized servicer for the manufacture of the
product.

That, however, sucks.

HDTV is also another big money maker, IF you can learn to identify what is
a
software or digital signal processing problem versus the analog part of
the
display causing the problem.

You can have all the training and test gear required, but what good will
that be when you're seeing only 5 sets a month?
I still worry about how viable the repair biz will be when the truly
low-power, high-MTBF displays come into widespread usage. And I absolutely
believe such technologies will be prevalent within the next 10 years.
It may have taken 4 decades to move from NTSC to HDTV, but I suspect there
won't be such delays in bringing ever thinner, lighter weight, lower power
units to market.
Industry in general no longer seems concerned about protecting livelihoods,
so I have no reason to believe TV manufacturers will give a second thought
to new product release on that basis.

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I am.

-Ray-