I interested in studying the progression of the Panny Professional Series line through multiple generations. My searching has turned up poor results. Can any veterans point me to some quality threads of the past for research purposes?

What are the main advances/differences from gen to gen?

Best regards

EV

Found the Panasonic Plasma Faq stickied at the top of the Forum.

Thanks.

Im looking to get a Panny 42 or 37 PWD7UY or PWD8UY.

Anybody know the differences? Anybody know where I can find one for sale?

Looks like the ED panels didnt make it to the 9uk generation, and the 6uy has a 30,000 hour half life, where the 7uy and 8uy have 60,000 hour half life.

There was also a 9th gen commercial ED plasma. I think the model number was TH-42PS9UK. Don't know where you can find one now, though.

Gracias!

Anybody know where to find a Panasonic Commercial ED Plasma 7uy, 8uk, or 9uk for sale?

There's a place in Ontario that appears to have one in stock: http://www.agileelectronics.ca/prod_details/tab/details.asp?prod_id=TH42PS9UK

Does it have to be brand new? You could probably find a second hand one for a lot cheaper.

Anybody know where to find a Panasonic Commercial ED Plasma 7uy, 8uk, or 9uk for sale?I'm curious why you want an ED model?

Me too. Those panels you are looking for are old models that have been replaced, I doubt you will find them for sale (except for the occasional 9UK since that's a last year's model).

The used market is your best bet if you need to have an older model. Don't know why you'd want one because the 37PH10UK and 42PH10UKA are available for very good prices from forum sponsors and are brand new models.

Don't know if you found this specific thread in the link, but Bruzzi has a convenient list of pro models by year with specific feature additions:
http://www.bruzziforum.com/vbf/showthread.php?t=110

Thanks batpig.

I would like to get one on the cheap, used, refurbished, clearance old stock. What have you.

As to your interest in my interest in getting an ED panel. Maybe Im just an antiquarian with a small wallet and lots of curiousity. I have a ED DLP front projector and a 1080p 42" LCD. Im curious about plasma and 1024x768 doesnt really float my boat, I like the 1x1 pixel mapping idea of an SD source. I like the look of the Panny Commercial models and the features, as Im an enthusiast and like to tinker. So far as I know, major advances in panel life, black level, and other stuff were all hammered out in the 7th generation Panny panels, with small improvements in the 8th and 9th gen. I would get a 50" 9uk (or 8uk/7uy) or even teh 75u at 1366x768, but Im looking to experience plasma on the cheap.

I think that Panasonic is cheapening the product line moving into the 10th gen on the commercial side for some reason.....am I wrong?

I know that the 9th gen glass got thinner.

Please feel free to enlighten me.

Best regards

EV

The 42PS9UK looks like it is the best of the bunch, however the 8uk and the 7uy would be great, even the 6uy at the right price.

How are the black levels between these models?

Best regards

EV

I don't think any of these commercial panels got worse with a successive generation.

Don't know if you've seen the thread by a member called "IamaNoobieCheez" where he posts lots of hi-res shots of his 7UY vs. his 9UY, but it might be helpful:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=733641

In this thread, you can see that the 7UY vs. 9UY picture quality (as you surmise) is very, very similar. The biggest improvements are to black level and overall color accuracy.

If you read CNET's reviews (they've reviewed the 50" panny pro model for several generations) they also agree that year-to-year improvements are fairly small since 7th gen or so.

Black level for 7uy/8uk was a slight improvement over earlier models I think. I do know that the black levels did improve a lot between 8UK and 9UK, with contrast ratio going from 3000:1 to 10000:1.

I would like to get one on the cheap, used, refurbished, clearance old stock. What have you.

The problem is that with older models you can never find them for sale from actual vendors at non-ridiculous prices. The only places you find out-of-production plasma models are these shady internet vendors who are still charging like $3000 for a 3-year-old 50" model or whatever.

So if your thought process is "I could save money by finding an older 7UY and not sacrifice much in picture quality compared to a 10UK" then you are mostly right. Shoot, my parents have a 42" 5UY ED panel and it looks freaking great, with HD material you wouldn't even know it was an ED panel unless you were sitting within 10 feet.

The problem is that they aren't available anywhere so you will just have to be patient and troll the used market. I see older-gen Panny pro models coming up used on craigslist and ebay every now and then, but it's pretty rare, and I'd be a little wary of buying one used that was in a commercial application.

Another issue is that the price has just dropped like a rock on plasmas, changing the whole used/new value proposition -- in other words, you may be able to find a 42" ED panel (a 6uy or 7uy) on craigslist for $500 or so... but a 42" hi-def 10UKA with dual HDMI inputs, superior resolution, black level, and overall PQ, with a free 2-year manufacturer's in-home warranty, is $859 at forum sponsor Visual Apex! I'd take the new model every time in this situation, that's a lot of added value (especially the peace of mind of warranty and the convenience of built-in HDMI inputs).

If your money is really tight and those extra $300-400 are really a big deal, then you should be patient and bide your time and wait for a 50" model. I think that's a better value proposition if someone is selling a 50" 6UY or 7UY for the $600-700 range (which I do see occasionally on craigslist). The resolution jump to a 50" 1366x768 is pretty big.

Tm curious about plasma and 1024x768 doesnt really float my boat, I like the 1x1 pixel mapping idea of an SD source.

Also, AFAIK you will never get 1:1 mapping from an SD source to an ED panel, even with DVD. ED panels have a 852x480 native resolution, which means there will always be horizontal scaling, even for a 480p widescreen source like DVD (which is 720x480).

Thanks very much for your well informed thoughts and advice and informative links, batpig.

I may just poke around on ebay and craigslist, I am in no rush. Its not that $300 is a big deal, but rather, that I dont really need another display, Im just playing.

I need to ponder the ED vs 1024x768 issue.

One more thing, your observations about the marketplace were very welcome and seem to be very good observations. I think that these units are more rare on the used market because of their previous cost. People hold onto them not wanting to take the loss especially since the market for new has dropped so dramatically. I think they tend to get put into the bedroom, guest room, or passed onto family members instead.

Best regards

EV