[rob8558]

i recently purchased the panasonic PT-42PD3-P. first impression, its awesome. although its not HD i am very pleased. i had a few questions for u guys and from what i read on this forum i am sure i will have no problem getting answers. i'll start off with a real stupid one:


1. when i am watching the plasma vs. a regular tube tv what is the difference in line reolution, i.e. how many more lines of res am i seeing?


1. i have my ultimate tv directv receiver connected to the plasma via an s-video cord. i have my philips recordable dvd player (PS) connected to plasma via component. i then have the audio going from the directv receiver to my stereo surround. first question: is this the best hookup?


2. do i need a HD decoder box with this model? will it improve my regular tv broadcasts? and if i do get a decoder how would i hook it up with my directv receiver?


3. i threw in "black hawk down" and i still get those friggin black bars. why did i spend all of this money for the black bars?


4. did i make the rite decision with this purchase? should i have gotten a full blown HD plasma set? IMO from what i read on various forums i think i am better off with this set (was just kinda lookin for confirmation)?


thanx for all of the help guys!!

 

[markrubin]

Hello and welcome


the Panasonic PT-42PD3 is an excellent plasma which I am sure you will enjoy


to answer your first question, look here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=189483


I don't know what kind of stb you have, but if you get an HD stb, it will look excellent on your plasma


it seems like you have it hooked up OK


Hope this helps!


Mark

 

[rob8558]

thnx for the reply. 1 more question for those in the know:


just got off the phone with directv and they told me i will need new dish ($110) new receiver ($500) so bye-bye ultimate tv, new switch ($150) and installation ($200). is this rite? is this what i have to do to get HD? seems a little ridiculous.


i also have digital cable thru comcast so i guess i could go that route. just curious as to what the general mode of connectivity here is?


since i am new to this, i thought i would just need to get a decoder for my tv. guess not.


any advice would be very helpful.

 

[rob8558]

LOL, just got off the phone with comcast and they say there is absolutely NO charge for HD service. they simply come and swap boxes. this doesnt make sense at all and i know i am missing something? how can directv be charging close to $1000 and comcast be FREE?


please enlighten this idiot.

 

[markrubin]

I have had DSS service for years and only now has Comcast Cable offered me HD service- which is excellent- 4 HD channels- the digital cable is very good


DSS offers a few more HD channels


you may also get some HD OTA (over the air) channels with an antenna/stb depending on your location


my Comcast HD cable box is connected via component video


there is lots more information on the HDTV Hardware forum


Mark

 

[marchristensen]

My cable company currently offers only analog signal - perhaps digital signal is coming next year, but not HD. Would HD receiver improve the picture on this Panny model in my situation?

 

[srgilbert]

There is a lot of info on HDTV in the HDTV forum. Short answer is that unless you have cable or sat that offers HD, the only other way to get it is with a special converter box and an old fasioned antenna. OTA HTDV is available in many major markets now as an over the air signal.

 

[marchristensen]

Thanks for the info Srgilbert. My question really is - if I don't have an HDTV signal coming in, is there any improvement to the picture using an HDTV STB? It doesn't seem as thought there would be, but after doing some reading here I've become confused (a state I often live in). Thanks for any information you can provide.

 

[Mark Ichiyama]

Marc, I'm not sure if this is responsive to your question, but here goes. I have HD cable thru TWC. With HD content on cable (HBO, Showtime and a local ABC affiliate) the image on my Pioneer is awesome. On non-HD content, the component output is 4:3 (black bars on the side) but upconverted to 1080i. The image is obviously smaller but much, much better than the compressed analog or digital cable versions. I usually switch to the S-Video out to watch non-HD material so that I can fill the 50" screen. SA has recently announced a new cable box that will allow different screen ratios, so the future looks bright.