Nintendo Switch HD and the Slow Death of My Plasma TVs

 News leaked earlier this week that Nintendo will be releasing an HD version of their Switch later this year. This has been rumored for a year or so at this point, but apparently now the rumor is official. This presents one small dilemma for me, and another larger question.

The first question that I have is should I buy one? I play the Switch enough that an upgrade would get used. I will have to see the price and features to determine if purchasing one is worth the money. An updated screen would be great, but honestly I don't play in hand held mode often, so that alone will not be worth the upgrade. But if the TV graphics are updated in a big way, that will make me think hard about the upgrade. 

The TV graphics are where the bigger question comes into play. This question actually crossed my mind when I started to think about getting a PS5, and that is should I upgrade my TVs? The answer is no, but the thought means that likely I will need to upgrade them at some point in the future. I have two TVs that I use throughout the year (and a third that I use in the summer time), one is from 2008 and the other is from 2013. They are both Panasonic plasma TVs, a technology that I love but unfortunately is no longer available. Despite their age, both TVs produce amazing HD pictures in my opinion, and I have not had any reason to ditch them to get newer technology. Except that now movies and some shows are streaming in 4K, and the PS5 and maybe the new Switch are also pushing out 4K video. The iMac that I use to write this blog actually has a 5K monitor. Standard 1080p HD video is great, and I don't think the newer video technology requires a TV update necessarily. However, as time progresses, and newer technology arrives, at some point an upgrade will be worth the cost. I'm afraid we are approaching that time sooner rather than later, which means my plasma TVs may need to be updated. That will be a sad day, but I am told newer TV technology has finally surpassed the video quality that plasmas were able to offer a decade ago.

More to come on my decision to buy a Switch HD. For now, I will hang on to my plasma TVs and enjoy those deep black colors. At some point I will need to upgrade, but I plan to ride the plasma wave as long as I can.