Jitter/artifacts plasma's dirty little secret?

Artifacts are common when digital cable and satellite are deinterlaced and displayed on nearly all digital displays.


Much less so when a good DVD source or HD source is displayed.


I'd start by visiting another retailer with better setups.


Also, read around the FAQ here and feel free to keep asking questions. That's why people gather here.


Mark

Clepto, Kilmar (and anyone else who can offer some advice):

Thanks for responding, and the info.

I have a 36" Sony XBR and DirecTV. Picture stability (if that's the right word) is very good (actually I've never been aware of anything like what I saw yesterday re: jitter, etc.) and I'm super anal about "visual disturbances" (again, there's a better term, I'm sure) while watching TV.

I know that outboard deinterlacing units exist which reduce artifacts more than that on-board on the Panasonic TH-42PHD6UY, and that they aren't cheap. Will later gens of plasmas incorporate them? (Seems like they would.)

I'm wondering whether to wait a year or two until the technology "catches up" re: absence of artifacts at the level I'm used to with the CRT. I'd hate to spend $4K and then be seeing the artifacts instead of immersion in content (movies, hockey, football, network series).

I'm guessing significant DirecTV HD coverage is a few years away so I'll basically be limited to SD; does that mean with the Panny PQ will be worse than what I see now?(Sounds like the answer is yes.)

The plasma is for a small cabin where magnetic interference and space considerations dictate that sooner or later I'll get a plasma. Based on the foregoing, what would you do? (Like I said, I obsess over poor PQ)

Klepto, you say basically artifacts are no longer a real concern with your new unit: What do you think about the 42PHD6UY? How often (per hour, say) do you experience them?

Thanks everyone.

Edward

Hmm...I have a pwd6uy, comcast digi cable, HD Motorola 6200 STB. Watching sports on the HD channel is incredible, no artifacts, no jitters, just pure "window" like quality and clarity.


Our SD channels are just as stable, but look washed out and much softer than the HD channels. Even channels such as NBC, when not showing HD shows, look better on their HD channel counterpart, much sharper, more detailed, and have a better color palette.


The only time I notice any artifacts is during DVD playback, and from what I've learned here and on my own trial process, that is due to the DVD transfer itself, not the plasma. I've even taken DVD's that have visible artifacts and tested them out on our old 19" CRT, and they're there, just blurred and less "visible" due to the age and low "resolution" of the CRT we have.


It's tough to go into any B&M and get an idea of what the unit will look like at home, properly calibrated and receiving the correct feed. Just last night I was in a local B&M and noticed that all the content on the plasmas and lcd's looked terrible. There was a huge amount of grain, fuzz, pixelation, smearing, etc. I asked what the feed was, and the sales associate told me it was HD recorded down to a dvd. He informed me their DirecTV signal had been cut due to a recent storm, so they were showing the dvd from a dvd player in the back, which was being split to oh, about 30 units. No wonder it looked terrible.


I hope that this helps!


It's times like these I wish there was some sort of plasma group in cities, that would have occasional get togethers and let people interested in seeing properly calibrated plamsas really get to check one out in the proper environment, which is at someones home, calibrated, and showing the proper feed.


-JR

Ed


I think you are getting good advice here:


recently I went into my local Sears and they had the worst feeds/setups of plasmas displays I have ever seen: they all looked terrible!


Jitter is something you should not observe on a plasma


Artifacts will occasionally be seen but it is often the source that is the cause


Do yourself a favor and go to a high end store with properly setup plasma displays and good HD and SD sources (bring a couple of your favorite DVD's) and see for yourself

Edward,


I was in Scottsdale in April for my first-ever trip to Arizona (golf trip). Between rounds, I checked out a couple of AV stores. The Bang & Oulfsen store in Scottsdale had their plasmas set up very nicely, but their price tag was outrageous. I have the Pioneer 1110HD at home, and in my home environment (with the Scientific Atlanta 3250HD box & Rogers Cable) the HD is just as good as what I saw at B&O.


My point is: if you do swing by the B&O store, you'll have a chance to see what a good Panny, Pio, Sony, Fuji, etc. brand will look like when configured properly -- not that they carry those brands; they just have their equipment set up nicely.


A few nights after I got back home, HD PBS had a program on the Airzona desert. Absolutely incredible (both the PQ and the desert itself). My wife, who has never been to Arizona (just the guys on the golf trip!) was amazed by the beauty of AZ, and was most upset with me for not bringing her.


Ross