What/When to buy?

Unfortunately my trusty old widescreen CRT has given up the ghost so I'm in a position where I have to buy a TV and soon as I don't even have a portable spare.

My needs would be certainly HD compatible with an HDMi port and HDCP. I don't necessarily need a tuner or speakers as I have surround sound and sky. Looking about i've found 2 that come close to my needs.

Firstly the panny PWD7. Good screen and HDMi input card available but not sure if it supports HDCP and the resolution isn't up to HD standard so i can probably rule this out.

The Hitachi 42PD7200. Good price at around 1900 quid, HDMi and HDCP. 1024*1024 meets some of the HD resolutions but not the 1920 width required for the really good stuff. It seems to have digital scaling and lots of fancy features but is it really good enough?

There's also the DLPs? Worth me looking at?

Well down to my main question I guess. Should I buy now? (any ideas considered) or should I get a cheap CRT and wait a few months for the full 1920x1024 screens to come out. My budget is about 2 grand at a push, will they be too expensive for me when they eventually appear?

Anything else I've not considered or ideas?

Ta
Matt

[Nick_UK]

The more pixels on the screen, the more possibility for failure, so the greater the cost. If you're going to wait for the price to come down, it's going to be more than a few months.

[Jazz Monkey Jr]

Go to the plasma forum, the PV500 is the kiddy at the moment.
You can get it for under £2K with wall mount or about £2250 with cabinet (dixons special)
Fully HD ready HDMI with HDCP etc.

I'v got one, I am vey impressed.

They are on display at most panny shops running hi-def feeds.

[RecordablDVDfan]

Originally Posted by mal600908

Go to the plasma forum, the PV500 is the kiddy at the moment.
You can get it for under £2K with wall mount or about £2250 with cabinet (dixons special)
Fully HD ready HDMI with HDCP etc.

I'v got one, I am vey impressed.

They are on display at most panny shops running hi-def feeds.

Only £2250 huh ? I'll have 2! No one with a morgage on here then ?!

[Joe Fernand]

Hello all

The 42" PWD7 (852x480) and PHD7 (1024x768) are both HDCP compatible via the Optional DVI or HDMI Input Boards.

Both units will accept, scale and display a 720P(60) and 1080i(60) signal - though not a 720P(50) and 1080i(50) signal.

If you want compatibility with SKY HD when it arrives and don't want the extra expense of a Video Processor that can convert 50Hz signals to 60Hz you may be better waiting until September when the 8 Series Displays arrive; they will accept 720P(50) and 1080i(50) signals.

The 42" PHD7 and PHD8 will both blow your £2k budget - and you'll have a very long wait on true 1920x1080P Displays; though you'd have enough time to push your budget up to nearer £4k which is more likely the price of a True HD resolution 42" Display when they arrive (if your thinking in terms of a Japanese manufacturer).

If your budget doesn't stretch to some of the latest 'Higher Resolution' Displays keep in mind an HD Signal Displayed on a very decent Standard Resolution Display (with HD signal compatibility) will often 'look' better than the same HD Signal on an inferior Higher Resolution Display.

HD source material and processing is not all about pixel counts - there's more to the image than just the 'detail' level; you can watch a fair few US TV shows that are recorded, edited and broadcast in HD and also broadcast in SD here in the UK and with a SKY Digibox and a decent Standard Resolution Display its not too difficult to spot that the show stared life as HD.

Best regards

Joe

PS RecordablDVDfan - I bet a lot of Displays only saw the light of day after a re-mortgage