[Panoptic]

Dead pixels are typically caused by bad transistors in the processor controlling the liquid crystal array, not the screen itself, so I can't see why they'd develop dead pixels over time unless the IC is overheating (or the transistors are just... breaking, I guess). In fact, none of the LCD's I've personally owned have had, or developed dead pixels. My current desktop LCD is four years old and I've got a handful of LCD's considerably older than that. I run my brightness at about 30%, and the lamp is still just as, if not brighter than any new LCD I set next to it as well. Plus, LED-backlit displays will pretty much get rid of the lamp issues.

On plasmas... I've only owned a plasma for half a year, so I can't make any personal judgements, but everything I've read seems to show that gas leakage is pretty much non-issue, and current technology has the half-life rating at 30,000 and even 60,000 hours. In fact, I've read recently that Panasonic plasmas are the most reliable TV's you can currently buy (more so than DLP/LCoS/whatever).

[Panoptic]

I build computers both at work and as a hobby and maybe one in fifty monitors I get has a dead or stuck pixel. QC may vary between manufacturers, but I don't think any major manufacturers have many issues delivering a defect-free screen nowadays. Plus, when it comes to displaying a computer desktop, I always run 1:1, so spotting a single dead pixel is no harder than a group of them when going through calibration. As far as the controller ICs dying over time, I can't imagine that could be attributed to anything other than poor design or thermal management.

...and I meant burnt gas and/or other defects when I mentioned the half-life figures. Current plasmas are rated to lose half of their brightness after 60,000 hours. If you're not putting static images on the screen or running it eye-searingly bright, a well-built unit should have no problems lasting a decade.

[Panoptic]