Reliability of LED televisions?

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Post Reply
Topic Author
Seattlenative
Posts: 426
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2014 11:23 pm

Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by Seattlenative »

Which LED/LCD televisions have the best reliability and longest lifespan? Various friends have advised me that some of these sets have very short life spans (i.e. two years). I'm still enjoying an 8-year-old 1080i HD tube Samsung television - and FYI many HD televisions sold from 2000 through 2006 were CRT designs - but if it kicks the can, I'd like to avoid buying an unreliable replacement television. I certainly see a lot of fancy features on Smart TVs, but wonder how these features and "gimmicks" affect the television's useful lifespan.

Side note: although used tube HD televisions are dreadfully heavy to move, as our Samsung weighs 135 pounds, CRT HD displays exhibit no motion blur affecting fast-action scenes. I know that pre-HD tube sets tend to last for many years, and some of best-in-breed CRT sets from Zenith are still fully functional and looking good after 30 years, though obviously these only provide a standard definition picture.
123
Posts: 10387
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 3:55 pm

Re: Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by 123 »

I've have 4 or 5 LCD/LED TVs. I use a couple as TVs and the others as primarily computer monitors. No problems with any of them for over 4 years. Four of them are Samsung and one is a Dell.

I don't think the Smart TV features affect reliability to any significant extent since they're implemented in software, no signifiant mechanical parts are added.

How much power (watts) does your CRT use? While it may keep you warm during the winter a new LED would undoubtedly use a lot less. If you watch a lot it might be cost-effective to replace the CRT. Major brands (Samsung and Panasonic) have LEDs in the 40 inch range for under $300 these days at Amazon or Best Buy. I would suspect your CRT is under 40 inches...
The closest helping hand is at the end of your own arm.
Mudpuppy
Posts: 7409
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 2:26 am
Location: Sunny California

Re: Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by Mudpuppy »

My personal approach was to not worry about reliability and instead score a good deal on a modest-sized, entry-level flat screen. I skipped over all the smart TVs and 3D/4k/whatever-gizmo-of-the-year is in. For my living room layout, where the TV is less than 10' from the couch, a 37-42" TV is just about perfect. And those can be had for much cheaper than the large, gizmo-stuffed models.

So I just wandered the section of the showroom at a big box store that had TVs in that size range, noting the models that had color rendering that I liked. Then I watched for sales on those models. I ended up with a 39" LED TV for under $200 when it went on clearance. But even if it were to break tomorrow, I could get something in that size range for $250-350 at non-clearance prices.
Valuethinker
Posts: 48947
Joined: Fri May 11, 2007 11:07 am

Re: Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by Valuethinker »

I can't speak to LED tvs in particular.

But modern electronics obey the 'bathtub curve' of reliability. The density of electronic components is so high that if there are failures, they happen early (basically the thing was built wrong in the first place-- faulty component).

Then failure rate falls to a low level. It then rises again when components exceed their designed life.

My bet is if your TV survives its first 6 months, you'll have it for 7-10 years. At least.

However, sometimes you get a lousy circuitboard. Something wrong with the original design (usually too much heat). Then you'll go through a succession of these.

My experience is based on white goods (appliances).
User avatar
leonidas
Posts: 487
Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2011 8:58 am
Location: Mansfield Township, NJ

Re: Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by leonidas »

I have primarily owned Samsung models. My current set is 5 or 6 years old with no issues and daily use.
Louis Winthorpe III
Posts: 780
Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2013 11:17 pm

Re: Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by Louis Winthorpe III »

Seattlenative wrote:Various friends have advised me that some of these sets have very short life spans (i.e. two years).
I'm skeptical of what your friends have told you. Two years would be ridiculously short. No company could stay in business that way.
User avatar
jeffyscott
Posts: 13438
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:12 am

Re: Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by jeffyscott »

CR says: "Westinghouse is among the more repair-prone brands of flat panel LCD TVs. That's what we found when we asked about more than 177,000 flat panel LCD and plasma TVs purchased by our readers between 2010 and 2014. The graph shows the percentage of models for each brand that were repaired or had a serious problem. Differences of less than 3 points aren't meaningful..."

The best have 3% rate of problems/repair and only Westinghouse (7%) and RCA (6%) were 3 or more points above that.
User avatar
Don_Qua
Posts: 107
Joined: Mon Jul 22, 2013 2:42 pm

Re: Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by Don_Qua »

I've have a 27" LED Samsung monitor and a 47" LED Visio TV. Both are over 5 years old, get used every day and are still going strong.
adamthesmythe
Posts: 5761
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2014 4:47 pm

Re: Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by adamthesmythe »

I would expect LED models to last better than the older fluorescent-tube illuminated displays.

My Samsung fluorescent-type is several years old and still going strong. And "several" means it's old enough that I have forgotten.

Since these things last "several years" and are pretty inexpensive right now, soul-searching about the reliability is not warranted.
User avatar
Toons
Posts: 14459
Joined: Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:20 am
Location: Hills of Tennessee

Re: Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by Toons »

No problems with Samsung Smart TV LED, Stays on 14 hours a day as it serves as a computer monitor if I am not watching Tv :happy

"The true average lifespan of LED television sets remains to be seen, as of 2011, because the technology is still young. Some manufacturers, like Samsung, claim that the actual LEDs in some of their LED television sets will supply approximately 100,000 hours of useful life. At six hours of use every day, that works out to approximately 45 years of service. In other words, it’s likely that your LED television will fail because of some other component faIlure"

http://www.ehow.com/info_12195923_led-t ... tancy.html#
"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity" –Bruce Lee
User avatar
Ged
Posts: 3944
Joined: Mon May 13, 2013 1:48 pm
Location: Roke

Re: Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by Ged »

I have a Sharp 70" LCD backlit LED TV that is 4 years old. The first one of this model I had died in about a month.

So this is an example of the general rule of electronics is that if it lasts for a few months it's likely to run at least until it's obsolete.
davebarnes
Posts: 542
Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2008 6:06 pm
Location: Berkeley, Denver, Colorado USA

Stupid is better

Post by davebarnes »

Stupid TVs are better than smart TVs.
The reason is that the TV manufacturers are horribly incompetent when it comes to updating software.
A $100 external box (Apple or Roku) makes more sense than incorporating that functionality into a $1000+ device.

3D is a waste of money.
4K is a waste of money right now. The price premium for 4K will decline to zero in 2-3 years.
OLED is a technology for early adopters who are prepared to "waste" money.

Consumer Reports (worth the money for a subscription in my opinion) says these brands are very similar in reliability with a failure rate of 3-4%:
Panasonic
Hitachi
JVC
Sony
Sharp
Samsung
LG
Emerson
Philips
Sanyo
Dynex
Magnavox
Insignia - Best Buy's house brand
Toshiba
A nerd living in Denver
hicabob
Posts: 3794
Joined: Fri May 27, 2011 5:35 pm
Location: cruz

Re: Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by hicabob »

LCD displays usually go for about 50,000 hours MTBF (mean time between failure) which is a huge amount of time. (25 years of "full time" TV watching?) . Much better than the old crt's.
User avatar
nisiprius
Advisory Board
Posts: 52105
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:33 am
Location: The terrestrial, globular, planetary hunk of matter, flattened at the poles, is my abode.--O. Henry

Re: Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by nisiprius »

I suspect the light output of the LEDs might decline noticeably with time--how much of a problem that is I can't say--but of course it was a problem with CRT televisions, too--and, as far as I know, all sources of light generally.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
User avatar
mmmodem
Posts: 2628
Joined: Thu May 20, 2010 1:22 pm

Re: Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by mmmodem »

I don't think I've ever had a tube tv bought new that broke down on me despite decades of use. I had Toshiba DLP 60" blow out the bulb at 5 years. My sister's Samsung 46" LCD gave up the ghost at 7 years. All our old CRT's rock for reliability but the new flat screens aren't too shabby.

Ditto at work. It's pretty rare for a CRT monitor to die. It's usually replaced for more desk space. LCD monitors are a little more common but still rare.

When you consider the costs for these things, the slightly lower reliability is acceptable in my opinion. My dad bought a midrange 27 inch Sony TV for some $500 when I was a kid. Today's midrange LED at 40 inch or so can be had for about $350.
User avatar
southerndoc
Posts: 1266
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:07 pm
Location: Atlanta

Re: Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by southerndoc »

Just got rid of a Samsung 46" LED purchased in 2008. No problems whatsoever when I sold it off Craigslist. Only reason I got rid of it is we wanted a bigger screen (55", which is only an inch or two bigger than the 46" thanks to a smaller bezel).

The screen was just as bright when I sold it as when I bought it.
adam1712
Posts: 566
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2007 5:21 pm

Re: Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by adam1712 »

123 wrote:I've have 4 or 5 LCD/LED TVs. I use a couple as TVs and the others as primarily computer monitors. No problems with any of them for over 4 years. Four of them are Samsung and one is a Dell.

I don't think the Smart TV features affect reliability to any significant extent since they're implemented in software, no signifiant mechanical parts are added.

How much power (watts) does your CRT use? While it may keep you warm during the winter a new LED would undoubtedly use a lot less. If you watch a lot it might be cost-effective to replace the CRT. Major brands (Samsung and Panasonic) have LEDs in the 40 inch range for under $300 these days at Amazon or Best Buy. I would suspect your CRT is under 40 inches...
A CRT uses about 2x/3x as much power than an LED of similar size. If you used it 5 hours a day it'd be about $20-30 instead of about $10 per year. Hardly enough to convince me personally to junk my CRT but will definitely be making the switch once the CRT stops working.
texasdiver
Posts: 3935
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2009 12:50 am
Location: Vancouver WA

Re: Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by texasdiver »

My school district installed 50" Vizio LCD TVs in every classroom across the district (10 schools probably 500+ classrooms) about 5 years ago and to my knowledge not one of them has failed yet. I expect that LCD technology is more reliable than any other type of TV technology that preceded it in the past. Prior to the LCD TVs we mostly had Dell projectors in the ceiling to project on screens in the front of the classroom. The bulbs on those were always going out and replacement bulbs cost nearly as much as a new 50" LCD TV.
Topic Author
Seattlenative
Posts: 426
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2014 11:23 pm

Re: Reliability of LED televisions?

Post by Seattlenative »

123 wrote:I've have 4 or 5 LCD/LED TVs. I use a couple as TVs and the others as primarily computer monitors. No problems with any of them for over 4 years. Four of them are Samsung and one is a Dell....I don't think the Smart TV features affect reliability to any significant extent since they're implemented in software, no signifiant mechanical parts are added.,,,How much power (watts) does your CRT use? While it may keep you warm during the winter a new LED would undoubtedly use a lot less. If you watch a lot it might be cost-effective to replace the CRT. Major brands (Samsung and Panasonic) have LEDs in the 40 inch range for under $300 these days at Amazon or Best Buy. I would suspect your CRT is under 40 inches...
My 2006-vintage Samsung offers a 1080i 30" display. In my bedroom, I have a Funai (Magnavox) 32 inch LED bought on Thanksgiving 2013 as a Walmart $98 promotion. The Funai works fine, and no real complaints about the picture for a very low-cost television, other than minor motion blur during sports telecasts. I do appreciate the info about brands' relative reliability.
Post Reply