Comments on Plasma TV
 

Came across this plasma television. Sony. Reasonable price.

Comments? I'm concerned about the HDTV aspect of this television. Also, if this a case of "you get what you pay for", or is it a case of "an unbelievable deal".

Thanks for your opinions.

Their reviews on epinions are a pretty mixed bag.

It's a pretty weak deal if you ask me. For a start the TV is not HD compatible it is only Extended Definition compatible. Screen resolution is only 852x480 pixels, this means it's pretty dated and you can forget about HD.

Also why choose plasma when LCD is better? Anyway, you could get a High Def. CRT for less than that.

Okay, thanks for the opinions...
LCD TV it is then.

I like plasma better than LCD. I wouldn't buy an EDTV though. Why do you prefer LCD, UK flyer?

I prefer LCD TVs to plasma TVs because I find the other equipment I have is much better suited to an LCD screen. I have several standard definition sources such as SKY, digital terrestrial PVR and Euro satellite which I could not watch on a plasma as I cannot stand the soft textures, weak colour saturation, excess picture noises etc. that a SD picture from plasma produces. I also find LCD delivers sharper and brighter pictures.

It's a different bowl of fish with HD but with SD pictures I just think LCD produces a better picture. I also play a lot of video games and if you use a plasma for video gaming then I am sure you are aware of the image retention/ screen burning issues that are apparent on plasma TVs, and as such it would always be on the back of my mind however good these new plasmas are at addressing the problem. Admittedly LCD does have its fair share of drawbacks but at the moment I find these far outweigh the many complications of plasma technology. :)

I'm the opposite, I LOVE my Plasma used with SD sources. I think the trick is the scaler used. That Sony is very much old tech and the scaler inside it isn't very good. We have the 50" version here at the office and if I hadn't gotten it dirt cheap ($2600 18 months ago) I wouldn'tve bought it. Limited input options, limited usability, etc.

IMO you can get a brand new current tech ED panel for about the same price like this. I think ED panels are great value if most of what you watch is SD. IMO they look great in HD although not quite as impressive as an HD panel. They ARE HD compatible (at least the one linked is). They just can't display the full resolution and downconvert the image for display.

A CRT HD display has somewhat the same problem although they aren't fixed resolution devices. While a CRT (direct view tube TV) may be able to accept a 1080i or 1080p input, the maximum displayed resolution won't equal 1920x1080 pixels of resolution due to limitations in the way CRT monitors work.

Still, at 42" unless you're right up on the panel you won't miss the difference and I think the ED panels look better at SD resolutions. That Panny 8UK is a GREAT display for as cheap as it is. Speaking as someone who went from a 32" Panny LCD (TC-32LH1) to a 42" NEC Plasma (PX42-XR3A), I'd never go back.

I know nothing at all about technology, but we have had a Sony Plasma 42" Wega for a couple of years and just love it. It works well with our DirectTV and HD Tivo.

Note that what you have is very different from the panel advertised in the link above. Same glass (actual display panel) perhaps but the underlying electronics are very very different as are the inputs, etc.

Have they managed to get a deep/true black from plasma's yet? It was my understanding that pure black was still a stumbling block for plasma TV's.

AVS Forum is THE place to go to research Plasma and LCD TVs. I recently purchased the Panasonic TH-50PX50U. It's great

Here's a link to the the Plasma/LCD Forum.

Welcome to FlyerTalk, gilkman!

Nothing matches CRT yet. Plasma gets quite close and does better than LCD as it doesn't have to deal with backlighting. Still, you simply can't get inky blacks the way you do with a CRT from ANY other source. If you're a black freak, CRT is the only way to go. Best I've seen yet from a flat panel device was SED at CES. I don't know if it's ever going to show up commercially. Toshiba and Canon say it will but I've heard that for five years about OLED as well.

This might not be a consideration for some here, but a number of people find some practical reasons to go with LCD over plasma. For example, an LCD tv tends to be significantly lighter and emit less heat than an equivalent-sized plasma. Also, that LCD will have ~1/3 the electrical appetite. I, too, find that plasmas exhibit a softer picture with SD sources.

If you're not absolutely set on getting a wall-mountable TV, may I suggest looking at some DLP televisions? Samsung makes some great ones, the newer models support 1080p. I currently have a 56" DLP that I absolutely love.