I transported a plasma TV flat and it survived!

See that big 60-inch plasma television in the photo? I bought it and needed to transport it about 15 kilometres and I had a station wagon that would not fit the TV standing upright, but would fit it lying flat.

I did some online research and all of the advice was do not transport a plasma or large LCD/LED TV laid flat.

The reason is because of the large panel of glass, which is able to support itself better when upright and prone to breaking when laid flat.

It is nothing to do with gasses or liquids settling like some people claim, and you certainly do not need to let the TV settle upright before you use it.

While researching I found a few people who said they had actually transported a plasma TV flat, some for short distances and some for long, and no actual damage had occurred. Some mocked them and said that the probably now had at least dead pixels that they hadn't noticed yet but, no, it seemed some people had got away with this amazing damage defying act!

So I tried to search online for cases where people had transported a plasma TV flat and it had broken. I'm not sure if it was me subconsciously not wanting to find anything, or there really was nothing to find, but I found nothing.

Because the TV cost A$50 and any alternate "safe" transport would have probably cost at least the same amount I decided to give it a go. I filled the station wagon with blankets, removed the rear seat to make as flat surface as possible and picked up the TV.

I was expecting the seller of the TV to be shocked that I would be attempting to transport the TV flat, but surprisingly he said he had done that a few times before with the TV. Should I take the stand off to make it safer? "Nah."

So we not-so-gently packed the TV into the car and I drove the 15 km to my destination and the TV survived and was plugged in and turned on straight away and it worked!

Now every plasma TV manufacturer ever in the history of the world (I guess) specifically states in their manuals, packaging and warranty documentation that you must never transport a TV flat so please don't take this blog post as a suggestion that you should not follow the manufacturer's instructions and the advice of the kind-hearted people of the Internet who believe that the "gasses" in your TV need to be upright, but if you have no alternative, are lazy or cheap, or maybe just a risk-taker, then I reckon there is a good chance you can make it too!