[gadgetsrme]

Been enjoying this forum for a while. I have been wanting to upgrade my Office / Theater room with a Sammy DLP (Have Hitach 43" tabletop now) but just didn't want to pull the trigger yet, mostly because of price and new models in 6 months. However, I really needed to replace my den TV. I love the look of plasma but prices were high too.


I went to Sam's Club and got a floor model (full warranty) Philips 42FD9935 for a killer price. I cannot tell you how happy I am with it. It is absolutely stunning on DVD and HD. I can't imaging it looking much better. SD is not bad, even with stretch.


My only disapppointment was the unit was truly a monitor (no speakers, no turner) so you have to "setup a theater" around it. Would be nice for quick tv watching to have a all in 1. I must tell you, 42" plasma really has some legs. I think DLP has the game at 46"+ but for pure wow and sexy factor, the plasma is a very nice choice.


Any tweaks , suggestions or reference materials. is greatly appreciated. This site is slim on plasma offerings other than Panasonic...

 

[gadgetsrme]

Well have my Philips plasma TV setup, adjusted with DVE and got the audio setup worked out. I must tell you, I am more than pleased. I really appreciate a good picture but I don't have the cash to get the real high res. stuff.


For fence sitters, I think you will be HAPPY with a good EDTV plasma for less than $3K. Check the warranty and just go ahead and do it. At home, you don't have it side by side with a hi res Panny or comparable model. Put HDTV or DVD on it, and you are going to be shocked and so will your friends. Just remember to turn down the brightness and contrast. When you compare a

 

[Kida]

I bought the same unit and went through the same install issue over the fireplace. Hung an oak board between 2 studs with wall mount bolted to it so plasma was centered. I agree about the picture in 480p - amazing. Dont have HD yet so I'm glad to hear it looks so good.


Just ordered the FTR9955 ebox today. I will post my review. Couldnt afford the FTR9965 and figured it wouldnt make a huge difference since Pixel Plus increases the pixels to over 2m which the EDTV couldnt handle.


Colors are unbelieveably vivid and picture is amazing with progressive scan. Hoping the ebox will clean up picture when watching non-HD Directv. Noticeable mostly on dark shows like CSI, 24.


I have a few issues with the set

1) I hear a slight buzz when the plasma is on. May be a grounding issue since it should be fanless/noiseless.

2) For black scenes (movie credits,...) I get a small black band on the very left of the picture that is a slightly different shade when using svideo. Not a pixel problem since the band moves when switching from 16:9 to 4:3. Alos not an input problem since it ocurs with either Directv or DVD. Hardly noteicable and not really an issue since I currently use composite and will be switching to VGA.

Have you experienced either of these issues?


Keep psoting your experiences with the plasma and I will do the same.

 

[Kida]

Got the FTR9955 ebox yesterday. Turned off Digital Noise Reduction since it seemed to cause issues with my Directv signal. Definitely an improvement in SD picture quality. Gets rid of the clay faces and does a much better job of strecthing a 4:3 image by only stretching the outer edges. Colors are also more vivid especially on local Directv channels. Auto Picture is pretty cool. You can actually watch it adjust settings ever second using the info screen. I set t to Normal because maximum seemed to cause noticeable changes in contrast. Not sure about the Digital Natural Motion. Didnt notice much difference either way.


For DVD I will probably run the component cables directly to the 42FD9935. None of the picture enhancements function with 480p so I would rather just go straight to the monitor. Also when using the component inputs the Picture Formatting is disabled.


Only spent an hour with it. Hopefully I will have time to tweak with my Avia disk this weekend.