Please Help Me Select a Plasma Display

Depends on your budget. This is the "reference plasma" in that range but the resolution is limited. The new Pioneer 43 and soon to be released NEC MP4 have 1024x768 resolution with comparable contrast ratios. These are in the $6500-$7000 range. Presumably Panny will follow suit with a higher resoution model as well.


Today this only matters with HD viewing and even at that you would likely have to sit quite close to see a difference.

So that would be the Pioneer PDP4330HD? About $6,800? You think this is the best bet for future HDTV use?

For me, the 4330HD has some limitations. I've seen it next to the 433cmx (the industrial version) and my eyes favored the cmx. Their was a little noise on the 4330. The conclusion was that the added external tuner box with the DVI cable was the culprit. It was a slight difference but it was there.


The optional video boad (PDA-5002) that you need with the 433cmx is interesting to me. With technology changing so rapidly, in 9 months when a newer/greater plasma is available(?), instead of complaing that your $7K is already outdated all you will need to do is get the updated version of the video board for $500(?).


I believe the industry is headed in that direction with plasma displays. Pioneer has already teamed with Aurora Multimedia to design a video board that has a tuner built in to it. Now the Plasma is a stand alone TV that is 3.5" thick that hangs on a wall in your bedroom or media room.


Good luck with your desicion!

It is also questionable whether the 4330HD can be upgraded to support copy protection. You might think that they would supply an updated media box but this means that the cable between the media box and the display is non-protected which is generally considered a no-no. This fact alone wuold tend to sway me towards the CMX.

OK, the 433cmx sounds like the better choice. I'll be at the home theater show in New York next weekend, so I guess that I'll get to see it in action at that time and make a final decision. What should I be paying for this moniter? Is mail order advisable on this stuff?


Thanks again for all your help.