Operation TV Swap: Part 1 - Plasma's Last Breath?

I want to provide a little background first before I discuss the current project. I've had a receiver and two large tower speakers sitting next to my TV for over twenty years. I've never consistently used them for anything other than listening to music. As time has progressed, I began using them less and less frequently, until they were basically relegated to Memorial Day weekend and rocking out prior to the Indy 500. I think there are a number of reasons for this, the top two being having kids (I learned quickly that they do not like rocking out) and technology updates. It's easier to access music through TV apps and Alexa devices than it is to turn on a dedicated stereo where the only music source is the TV. Overall, I was fine with this setup. The stereo got used one weekend per year, while the rest of the time the TV speakers were used for shows/movies/games.

Things escalated quickly. In October 2019 we switched from DISH Network to YouTube TV and entered the streaming realm. This ushered in Disney+ with their Star Wars and Marvel content. Then in 2020 the pandemic occurred. This created a perfect situation where I changed what I watched on TV. Instead of primarily watching sports, I now started watching TV shows and movies as well. I began using my receiver and tower speakers more often for reasons other than to just listen to music. That's when I noticed one of my tower speakers had a high-pitched squeaky sound when people were talking. The speakers were over 20 years old at that point, and since I had started watching programs where I was using the stereo more often, I decided to buy new speakers. From there, I already had a center channel speaker and bookshelves that I could use as surround sound speakers, and so between August 2021 and July 2022, I was able to setup an entire surround sound system that I utilize every time I turn on my TV. 

That brings us to the present and Operation TV Swap. The TV I am using in the basement theater described above is a 2013 Panasonic Plasma. Approximately 6 months after I purchased that TV, Panasonic announced that it would no longer be producing Plasma TVs, which effectively killed the technology. In the 10+ years that I have been using Plasma TVs, I have been very happy with their video quality. With that being said, TV technology changes a lot in 10 years. Not only does display technology evolve, but connection technology and other aspects of the TV change a lot as well. I have been hinting for a few years that I will need to update my TVs at some point. With all of the aforementioned changes - watching more movies than previously, utilizing surround sound, and not to mention the video capabilities of the Playstation 5, I feel like now is the time to make the change to a newer TV with updated technology.

Part 2 of Operation TV Swap will highlight all of the updates that will occur with the project. Purchasing an updated TV will not only allow for some final touches to occur in the basement theater, but will also have some downstream effects for the rest of the house. Interestingly, this project was predicted and discussed in a post I authored nearly 10 years ago.