They should have used something a little more real world, like a toddler or a wii controller.

Want to see it turned on also...

our plasmas repair themselves now. Just like the terminator!

Jesus, I need to move that giant metal ball off my mantle so it won't tumble in to my LCD!

one joule isn't that much. . .

Can you say "Laboratory Conditions"?

The crossbow! Give it the crossbow!

This seems like a bit of a pointless presentation, since they don't even turn the screen on afterwards. How are we to know there's not internal damage?

@MagnoliaBoy: Yeah. What happens with you throw a Wii controller at 50mph at it while playing Wii baseball?

LCD vs Plasma isnt fair. If you have ever knocked on a plasma screen, there pretty damn hard. LCDs crack when you breath on them wrong...

@sp00nix: Uhhh... I think that was their point.

Never trust anyone with a unibrow

@exigent: So we can trust him because he doesn't have one?

Yea! thats my TV right there, Panasonic 50PX600U.
Nice to know i can trow a metal ball at it without breaking

I have an LCD so I guess I better remove all those levered steel balls I have put up in my living room...

This is really a non-issue when I am shopping for a TV. I don't generally look at one and think, "Well I like it, but it looks like it would break if I slammed a metal ball into it, so no thanks."

Kind of a strange thing to show off.

Exactly. They should test for breaks with dentures for old people at the old fokes home.

What the hell... the Panasonic wasn't even turned on. How can we tell the Panasonic didn't suffer the same damage?

How come they didn't actually show the ball hitting the LCD?? How do we know that damage to the LCD was actually caused by the exact same metal ball and not, for example, a hammer?

Plasma is already dead. Sony doesn't make them anymore, Panasonic should move on as well.

@MagnoliaBoy: wii remotes aren't as bad with the silicon covers. sure they bounce back at you pretty damn fast. but if my tv is safe and i don't get a shot to the crotch I think they pass.

@zombo: IDK maybe the screen didn't crack

@Jones Foyer: and because one brand doesn't make them that means the majority of them that do should stop? o yea and plasma ain't dead, its better than lcd. Theres a review on giz but im to lazy to find the link.

Ladies and gentlemen, this experiment was performed under a controlled environment. Please, for your safety and the safety of others, do not try this at home. I repeat, Do NOT try this at home. Gizmodo will not take responsibility for those who attempt this. Thank you for your cooperation.

blend...will it ?

Hey, I want a broken plasma in my room, it's so beautiful, an art piece.

@Jones Foyer: "Plasma is already dead. Sony doesn't make them anymore, Panasonic should move on as well."

When you return from that imaginary plane of "reality" you seem to inhabit, please look us up. Plasma isn't dead.. at least not in the HD-DVD sense. ;-P

@addieUK: my guess, probably.

This was a pointless test. We all know that plasmas have a glass or plastic screen on the front of them. (Which is why they can have so much GLARE!) I would like to see Pana go up against the Asus LCD sceen...

Good job Wilson!

Aw heck, no more shotput practice while watching oprah...unlesss...

-V

Im confused as to how they could say that the ball imparts 1 Joule to the TV. A Joule is a unit of work, thus is Force * Distance. Force can be calculated by the mass of the ball and acceleration of gravity. But how can they tell how far the TV bends into to brace to ball. If the TV didn't give at all it would have a Joule of 0, if it gave a long period of time it would have a higher Joule. maybe i misunderstand my physics class last week.

@xanderjanz:

1 joule is the potential energy of the ball of whatever mass, raised to its starting height, above its finishing height. When the ball falls that potential energy becomes kinetic which is imparted to the TV. Some of the energy goes in to displacing the panel, some in to the rebound of the ball, both depend on the strength and stiffness of the panel.

rofl at people who say plasma is dead. Yes, the tv technology with the absolute best picture quality is dead. It amazes me how ignorant LCD sackriders are

lol... I thought that was Mark-Paul Gosselaar for a moment.

INGENEOUS said....LCD sackriders....that's the funniest thing I've heard in awhile.

Jones Foyer-LCD sackrider. Put that on your business card.

You think Plasmas are good now, you should have seen the new ones from Pany at the show. NICE!

PS, LCD sackriders, OLED is going to kill LCD not Plasma. This fact was apparent at the show. It may take 5 to 7 years but LCD's will soon be the tube TV's of the near futuer.

Why do think Sony and Samy are dumping so much cash into this technology, because LCD's can't compete with the ever improving Plasma picture.

Battle of the future, Plasma vs OLED. You'll see I'm right.

I saw the demo at CES. Let me say, it was up front and quite impressive. And yes, the Plasma still worked well after being hit. Panasonic has done an incredible job in the PDP catagory. This technoligy is about to leave LCD in the dust.