[Nickeleye]

I've currently got a 27" Phillips flat screen TV and I want to upgrade to a 42" Plasma. I've got a home theatre surround sound rig so I'm not concerned with speakers on the TV. I have a DVD player now, which currently does not support progressive scan, however if I get a plasma I will likely upgrade that. I am using a Nintendo GameCube (some games can use progressive scan) and a Sony PS2. I'm using component video inputs for the DVD and game consoles. I also currently have a Dish Network satellite TV signal (don't know when/if I might get an HD signal) and I'm using an s-video connection for this. Finally, I've got a VCR which I use only to watch the Star Wars Trilogy on through a composite video cable. That's my current setup. Now I want to find the best 42" plasma for ~$3,000.


I originally looked at the Gateways since I knew they were inexpensive (only to find out they're re-badged Sampo's) and then I started to look at other TVs. I've been currently interested in the Panasonic TH-42PWD6UY. It appears that this might suit my needs, but I get really confused when I hear about all this 1080i, 480p, 720p stuff. I've seen people using the "PQ" term and I have no idea what it means. I just want the TV to make DVDs look good, my games look good, and TV to look ok.


I hope you people can help!


Let the newbie flaming begin....

 

[Descolada]

"PQ" = Picture Quality... and it sounds like you're on the right track! The Panasonic TH-42PWD6UY should fill all of your requirements nicely...

 

[wildman]

1080i and 720p are HD which is high definition. 480p is a progressive scan DVD player, which is better than a 480i which is an interlaced scan DVD player.


You say you have a sat dish, but use s-video. If you buy a plasma, that doesn't really make sense for your future use. If you are going to have one of the best plasmas going in that Panasonic you mentioned, then you would be a dope not to buy an HD set top box from Dish or Direct and feed a beautiful signal into it.


After you have a great plasma and an HD set top box from Dish, then buy some component cables so you don't compromise your quality in your connection cable.


It sounds like you are just getting into this. Keep reading. Keep learning. Keep discovering that it is pretty exciting to see a beautiful HD picture on a plasma. You can watch a season of NFL football and feel like you have travelled across the country to see all the games because watching HD is like being there.


And get an progressive scan DVD player too if you go plasma.


Plasmas love good quality inputs. The better your DVD player and HD receiver, the better your plasma will look.

 

[Nickeleye]

Ok. The progressive scan DVD player is a no-brainer to me. That's an easy solution. However, let me get the satellite set-top box thing sorted out. I buy a new box from Dish and the sat. signal comes into the box. The box then has component video outputs I would plug into the TV or, probably in my case, my stereo receiver. Is that right? I realize the images from an HD box for my satellite won't be as good as using my s-video connection, but what sort of quality could I expect? One of the things I'm not sure about it how long I'll be having my satellite service. I'm living at home for a while, but at some point I'll be moving out (most likely into an apartment) and I may or may not have the funds/ability to have a satellite service. I might have to get some form of cable service.


Can anybody shed any light onto how my game consoles should fare on the Panasonic I mentioned above?

 

[wildman]

Firstly, the component video connection is better than the s-video connection. Connection goes in this order best to worst


DVI - new digital interface, no analog conversion

Component- separates primary colors

s-video

composite video-rca jacks


So you want to have component in your set up likely with a possible upgrade to dvi one day when you upgrade your sat receiver.


If you are staying at home and then moving into an appartment a whole different set of issues come in to play that I likely can't help you with.


There are plenty of cities in the country that have cable HD. Find out what your city offers.


You probably aren't going to convince your dad to get an HD receiver from your satellite company. It's important to note here that depending on your satellite provider you have to upgrade some equipment. I believe if you are Direct, you need a triple lnb. If you are Dish, then you have to get a superdish soon. I am in Canada, so I am not sure about this. Point is you probably need Dad's approval and that's not easy to get.


Do a little homework and try to get a handle on your plans for the future and you'll be okay.


All I can keep saying here though is plasmas love HD. Let your plasma live life to the fullest one day and give it some HD to enjoy.

 

[Descolada]

Depending on how long it takes you to get an HD satellite box, another point in favor of the 42PWD6UY is that it generally does a very good job of displaying standard television signals like you have with your current box... in comparison to other plasmas in the same price range, many will say that it does the best job with this standard definition (SD) content.


I'm still waiting for the right HD box to be available from my cable provider, but until then I'm still enjoying an excellent picture. I like to think of it as something to look forward to... as much as I love the display now (I actually have the consumer version of the same display), I still have room to kick it up a notch when I can finally enjoy HD in all its glory!

 

[Nickeleye]

Descolada - That's kinda what I was hoping to hear. I am mostly concerned with really good quality with DVDs as well as my video games. I watch TV, but I tend to only watch a select few shows. I guess this is why I'm not TOO concerned with the HD part right now. If the plasma can display a nice picture with my current signal input I'm sure I'd be more than happy. I just want to see movies and video games in all their glory....haha. However, one of the reasons I'd want the commercial version over the consumer version is the commercial version's ability to support 720i signals, which I don't believe the consumer version does..... right?

 

[Descolada]

That's correct, the commercial version can display a 720p signal, but the consumer version cannot - but note that it's 720p rather than 720i. The "p" stands for "progressive" and an "i" would indicate "interlaced" as wildman pointed out - in a nutshell, with a progressive signal every line is displayed at once, but with interlaced alternating fields using only half of the display lines at a time are displayed.


Again, I think you'll be very pleased with the 42PWD6UY for what you want to do with it, but keep in mind that in some cases (badly transmitted channels or with a degraded input signal) this type of display in general can tend to magnify any flaws in the source signal. That said, I haven't found a signal I haven't liked with digital cable on my display. For video games and DVDs (even with a basic DVD player), as long as you have a decent set of interconnect cables, you should be extremely happy! There's a quality to a well-calibrated plasma display that often defies description, but the smoothness and evenness of the picture gives it a punch that I haven't seen with any other type of display...


If you're able to actually audition one of these sets in a store using the types of input signals that you plan to throw at it, it's always a good idea - but also understand that a brightly lit store with a marginal feed and less than optimal picture settings might not show you the best the display has to offer. Whatever you end up with, check back with this forum for tips on calibrating your new display so that you can be sure to get the most out of it... and in the meantime, search through and read the library of posts that are already here, and bookmark plenty of relevant threads so you can find them again easily - everybody has an opinion, so be sure to look for trends and try not to give a disproportionate amount of weight to any one post, including mine!


Best of luck,

Descolada

 

[Nickeleye]

I had another question about burn-in. When I do watch tv I tend to watch channels that have those stupid little station identifier logos on the bottom corner of the screen (CNN, MSNBC, TechTV, Science, Discovery, etc.). Will these little logos permanently burn into the screen? How sensitive are screens to burn-in? I know some are as bad as a still image on the screen for 15 min. can cause damage, but at the same time I hear that's not always the case. I'm also concerned about this due to the way some video games have areas on the screen that are exposed to a lot of the same images constantly. Is this a major concern or not something to worry about very much?



Anybody?

 

[Nickeleye]

Anymore input?

 

[Descolada]

Nickeleye,


Check out the Plasma FAQ at the beginning of this forum for a link to a burn-in thread... current prevailing opinion seems to be that the station logos aren't really worth worrying about at all, not really sure about video games, but I think after following many threads that the risk of burn-in in general is MUCH, much less than many people might believe. Others have pointed out that there are extremely few documented instances of actual plasma burn-in, and in those few cases it seemed always to be the result of some obscene amount of time with the set displaying a static image (a matter of days rather than minutes or even hours)...

 

[Nickeleye]

I did some research last night in this forum for burn-in topics. It appears that what you just said seems about right. I guess it's just paranoia you get when you're about to spend $3k.


As I was watching TV last night I started thinking about the whole idea of stretching the standard 4:3 image to fit the whole screen of the plasma using "just" mode or something similar to that. In what ways does this distort the image? It's hard to know since no stores seem to show regular TV on their plasmas (not that I've seen anyway). I think I'd probably want to stretch the video though since I don't want the bars on either side of a 4:3 image.


So it looks like I've found out almost all I need to. Now I guess the next thing is to make sure the TH-42PWD6UY is the right choice for me. For the money, could there be anything better? It doesn't look that way. I just don't want to get stuck with something that is inferior to something else in the same price range.

 

[rmcgirr83]

Quote:

Originally posted by wildman If you are Dish, then you have to get a superdish soon.

Not exactly. Dish is planning on having HD channels on the 110 sat for a while, so if you have a Dish 500 and a 6000 STB you can get the HD channels (ESPN, HD-Net and two others that I can't remember). I'm lucky I can upgrade to the 6000 with the two modules for $199.00 and get HD for $2.00 more per month. Superdish will allow you to get the 105 sat where all future HD content will go, then I'll need the 811 box. Christ, can they make it anymore painful? Doesn't go into effect until 09/16/03 though.


Nickel,


as you seem to be very concerned with burn-in I can tell you this, don't be. I have played x-box halo on my panny 42PWD5uy for a little over four months (and, no, smart asses that wasn't straight time) and have no "burn-in". FYI, the longest I played was for five hours (jesus was I tired after that). I did have ghosting but not burn-in. Just watch something at the same size for a while (30 mins?) to swipe the slate, so to speak.


I "justify" a 4:3 signal out of my Dish 500 receiver via composite and I did notice the stretching on the sides at first but now I don't even notice it that much. How many times do you look at the sides of a sceen anyway?


Also, for your piece of mind, the panny is considered one of the top dogs of the plasma planet. Fujitsu and pioneer also rank up there, but for the price can't go wrong.

 

[Nickeleye]

RMC - Thanks for the info. That's very comforting to hear. I really want to go ahead and get the panasonic. I'm trying to hold myself for another month or so, but I can hardly stand it. I want it now. That's good to know about the video games. This is definitely a concern for me.

I guess I'll have to check to see what kind of Dish setup we have. I know we do have to actual dishes for our Dish plan, but I don't think we're paying for any HD programming (Discovery Channel HD, etc.).

 

[Nickeleye]

Does anybody have anymore advice on this before I make a purchase. It's a lot of money to lay down on the line and I just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing