[PSD]

Originally Posted by micol

What worries me is that it won't be long before retail DVD movies will be obsolete and new BD / HD-DVD's will start selling like hot cakes. These new formats will be able to hold up to 50gb on dual layer disks, enough to show a movie in all it's 1080p glory. This will be a real money spinner and the big quality difference will make people want to adopt the new format over standard DVD's. When this happens HDTV's will have to be able to display 1080p with no problems which makes me think that it will happen soon, maybe with the next generation of panels??

Will us HDTV nutters want to chop in our Plasmas for new ones that can display 1080p in a year or so? I've already lost £1500 when I sold my "HD Compatible" plasma only a year after buying what I thought was cutting edge technology!!!

Hi Micol,

I take you point on this, however the 1080p standard I think is more than one panel generation away IMO. I think the problem you have is that 720p was originally heralded as true high def and now people talk about 1080p. The thing is though the step up from current SD to 720p or 1080i is a massive jump and moving up another notch to 1080p is only going to be on the agenda of a relatively small number of AV enthusiasts, will it be mainstream and the recognised standard? I think that we are a few years away from that. In the case of the 9700 it can display 720p and 1080i and interlace a progressive feed so I am very happy with that for the next three years or so. At the end of the day HD-DVD and Blu-ray will support all three of those resolutions so even with the current generation of panels you will still get terrific pictures which are a far cry from SD today. Maybe waiting for a year is sensible, but then we have yet to see the outcome of the DVD format war also.

Cheers

Paul

Hello
I have had this T.V. since mid March. My previous T.V. was an ageing 28 CRT which I rarely watched. The plasma was bought as part of redocorating palns. I do not intend to suscribe to Sky HD and was initially cautious about HD because of hearing that an SD feed on a HD plasma can look worse than on a CRT. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the telly handles SD feeds very well and I am turning into somewhat of a couch potato
It was bought from a small shop specialising in home entertainment equipment. The owner has been in the business for years and knows his stuff. (he has a Pioneer as his personal set at home)
The Pioneer, Hitachi and the PX60 were on display among others and it was obvious that the PX60 picture was softer and less detailed.
The black levels on the PD9700 seem fine
Sometimes in scenes with bright areas it does appear to blow out some white areas which is in line with what another poster stated. Because the panel is a bright one anyway this does not bother me.
I am quite happy as the SD feed is good, DVDs look great as do camcorder tapes.
Something which does not appear to have been mentioned yet is that when you watch a football match there are hairline like artifacts around the players when looking from a zoomed out view i.e the area between the player and the grass. I would be grateful if anyone could explan what is going on here and if it can be corrected, as I am looking forward to the World Cup. Thanks

sorry I,ve had the set since the middle of April

[micol]

The artifacts you are seeing are just what you get when you watch SDTV on a large screen (plasma). It's a Sky quality issue not your plasmas. It does not show on a CRT as the screens are much smaller. There is not a lot you can do about it except play about with the picture settings to minimise it. (or wait for HDTV!)

[micol]

Originally Posted by PSD

Hi Micol,

I take you point on this, however the 1080p standard I think is more than one panel generation away IMO. I think the problem you have is that 720p was originally heralded as true high def and now people talk about 1080p. The thing is though the step up from current SD to 720p or 1080i is a massive jump and moving up another notch to 1080p is only going to be on the agenda of a relatively small number of AV enthusiasts, will it be mainstream and the recognised standard? I think that we are a few years away from that. In the case of the 9700 it can display 720p and 1080i and interlace a progressive feed so I am very happy with that for the next three years or so. At the end of the day HD-DVD and Blu-ray will support all three of those resolutions so even with the current generation of panels you will still get terrific pictures which are a far cry from SD today. Maybe waiting for a year is sensible, but then we have yet to see the outcome of the DVD format war also.

Cheers

Paul

I'm not so sure. It looks like HD DVD and BD will be out before the end of this year. Now, movie studios want us to go out in droves and replace all out DVDs and buy all new movies, TV box sets etc. in this new format. THE only way this will happen is if the quality is a massive improvement over DVD (like DVD was over VHS - DVD sales went through the roof). I dont think that 720p or 1080i is a massive improvement (although it is over SDTV - look what's happening) AND if you can get that quality via HDTV Freeview and Satelite why go out and spend £20 on a new shiny disk? BUT if you can go down to Woolworths and buy the 1080p "TRUE HD ALLITSGLORY MEGAVERSION" would you...????

I think that is what the movie studios will be pushing. I don't see Sky or anyone else using it except for maybe PPV? But is it a problem for them both UNLESS 1080p HDTV's start coming out for us consumers at a reasonable price.

Dont get me wrong. I'll probably be buying my 9700 next week. I just think i'll be Pi$#ed off in a year or so thinking I need to upgrade AGAIN!! (My 29" CRT lasted donkeys years).

[PSD]

Originally Posted by micol

Dont get me wrong. I'll probably be buying my 9700 next week. I just think i'll be Pi$#ed off in a year or so thinking I need to upgrade AGAIN!! (My 29" CRT lasted donkeys years).

Hi Micol,

This is exactly the problem, uncertainty. HD plasma's are on the market and no-one knows for sure what hi-def will be exactly!!

Cheers

Paul

[Vern]

How does the set reproduce skin tones? Any evidence of clayiness, redout or shining which was a problem on a previous (Samsung) plasma that we owned. Realistic skin tones are more important to me than black, to be honest.

How is the PQ on NTSC/R1 DVD playback, another thing the Sammy was pretty useless at.

[PSD]

Originally Posted by Vern

How does the set reproduce skin tones? Any evidence of clayiness, redout or shining which was a problem on a previous (Samsung) plasma that we owned. Realistic skin tones are more important to me than black, to be honest.

How is the PQ on NTSC/R1 DVD playback, another thing the Sammy was pretty useless at.

Taking black out the equation, which is rendered well but not as well as some its peers. The colour reproduction, brightness and detail are second to none. My last plasma always made people look a little pink, this one is capable of extremely realistic colur reproduction and skin tones are superb.

Cheers

Paul

[PSD]

Originally Posted by Vern

How is the PQ on NTSC/R1 DVD playback, another thing the Sammy was pretty useless at.

Sorry missed this bit. No discernable difference between R1/R2. Both are stunning and the panel scales a lot better then my Denon!!

[Vern]

Have take the plunge and ordered one...

Looking forward to a LOTR marathon once it arrives.

Added bonus is a rather nice cascade of the Hitachi 32LD7200 to the bedroom and the Sagem 27" to the computer room and connect to the PC to play Oblivion and MS Flight Sim on the big screen!

Thanks for the explanation about the artifacts.

Can someone suggest a reason/correction for a faint green/purple tinge along the top of the screen. This does not occur with a sky or freeview feed. It only noticeable when viewing/ recording and playing back tv programs through a Philips DVD recorder. When you switch the DVD recorder off and switch to Sky input it disappears. Thanks

[PSD]

Originally Posted by Vern

Have take the plunge and ordered one...

Looking forward to a LOTR marathon once it arrives.

Added bonus is a rather nice cascade of the Hitachi 32LD7200 to the bedroom and the Sagem 27" to the computer room and connect to the PC to play Oblivion and MS Flight Sim on the big screen!

Hi Vern,

Good choice mate. I christened mine with LOTR and it was stunning. I would say if you have a DVD like an arcam or anything £600+ then it may rival the panel for scaling, if you are planning on using HDMI. My Denon works best at just 480p and the panel does the magic. The depth of colour on some of the LOTR backdrops is really amazing. Take a look at my running in settings on page 1 of this thread. Most of us are using them.

Cheers

Paul

[Vern]

Cheers, I will refer to the initial settings as you suggest.

Now just got to wait for the beast to arrive!

Got my copy of Home Cinema Choice today and the 9700 is fully reviewed and awarded the Best Buy status.

The review is blistering great resolution, colour, black and brightness. The only down side i could fist out was a concern regarding low quality SD input and noise level.

Deffo a review that makes me feel smug that i got one!

Another (sorry yes, it's me again) question for 9700 owners. How big is the pedestal stand - in diameter. I'm about to buy a sideboard unit for the 9700 to sit on and I'm concerned it won't fit. The sideboard has a depth of 48cm, but from the pics posted the big black pedestal looks quite bulky.

Anyone help?

[aaddie]

Originally Posted by PaulDeen

Got my copy of Home Cinema Choice today and the 9700 is fully reviewed and awarded the Best Buy status.

Ah, can somebody scan this and make it available, or is it already available somewhere? Very interested in reading the 1st "proper" review.

[jonspurs]

Originally Posted by aaddie

Ah, can somebody scan this and make it available, or is it already available somewhere? Very interested in reading the 1st "proper" review.

Likewise.

Was hoping to buy a mag with the 9700 reviewed, but there were no mags that had that plasma.

My cousin has T3 - bit silly, but they reviewed the 7200 (latest issue) and said it was a top dog back in the day, but is ageing now...then why the hell didn't they look at the new 9700?! They had the Panasonic PX60 and gave it 5 stars.

Jon

My side is exactly the same (48cm) depth and the TV stand doesnt even cover half, approx 24cm.

Originally Posted by aaddie

Ah, can somebody scan this and make it available, or is it already available somewhere? Very interested in reading the 1st "proper" review.

Ive scanned the review and it will only be up for a couple of days but you can find it here

http://www.ace.nildram.co.uk/Page1%209700.JPG

http://www.ace.nildram.co.uk/Page%202%209700.JPG

[PSD]

Thanks Paul for posting the review. This is nothing I did not already know having had the screen for a couple of weeks and it re-affirms my own views.

I think in the performance section of the HCC review the following extract backs up what I have been saying:

"Here this new panel delivers stunning clarity from HD source material. In fact for sheer clarity and sharpness, I don't believe that it can be bettered in the 42inch plasma market - especially if your source is 1080i rather than 720p."

The first of many best buy awards I think....

Cheers

Paul

Hi

I particularly liked the comments concerning black level which has been raised a few times. Even the photo shows dark (black parts of the screen) which are indistinguishable from the black trim.

I'm hoping this will shut up the critics a little. I know its not as good as a panny (px60 as an example) for black level. This review backs up my claim about the image quality however of the px60 when compared to my 9700. The difference is that noticable! I would like to add however that I have noticed an improvement of 720p when compared to its predecessor the 7200 which the review doesn't really pick up on and my TV beats the px60 with 720p and 1080i IMHO - and yes I have compared them both against the same MCE box running 1080i and 720 sources.

... Ducking several times ...

-Junpit

[azz]

Look at the contrast ratio pre and post calibration-when they reviewed the 7200 last year it was over 200:1

Whats going on?


Azz

[jonspurs]

Hi,
Can the 9700 be connected up to your PC VGA's port with a setting of 1920X1080? Or what resolution do you use? My laptop appears to support 1920X1080...anyone know what will happen? Will the 9700 accept the signal fine?

Thanks,

Jon

Hi

Anyone had a go to see if this plasma takes a 1080p feed. I notice that the PS3 will output in 1080p (for some stuff) and hence am wondering if it will take it.

The manual says "1080" and the i and/or p is missing.

If anyone has managed to hook it up or even if anyone has the capability of doing so I would be interested.

Unfortunately I have no way of testing this but I'm sure someone has.

-Junpit

[Dan L]

Originally Posted by jonspurs

Hi,
Can the 9700 be connected up to your PC VGA's port with a setting of 1920X1080? Or what resolution do you use? My laptop appears to support 1920X1080...anyone know what will happen? Will the 9700 accept the signal fine?

Thanks,

Jon

Yes that would work fine. I used to use 1080i on my 7200 with very pleasing results.

[micol]

Just got mine!!!!!!!!

I couldn't wait any longer! Having been without a plasma since December & waiting for these new models to arrive, I finally decided enough is enough and I popped down to Hi-Fi Confidential and collected my new 42PD9700!! Great price too, £1849.99, paid by credit card and no addtional charge for that!

First impressions are good. I knew what to expect though having been a 42PD5200 owner and the settings are similar although they look like they have crammed even more tinkering ability into the 9700. I will print out the settings at the start of this thread and set it to that to start with.

The only problem I have now is that I'll have to buy a DVi-HDMI lead to connect my PC now as they have done away with the DVi slot.

Why do they still have the old PC analogue connection in this model though?? Surely as it is a modern set they would have done away with it and put in a DVI instead?? Maybe I'm missing something?

My only other concern is 1080p. I have been whining on about this in other threads and still believe that it will become the new HD standard, especially to replace DVD's (BD/HD-DVD). I just can't hang around though and have missed not having 42 inches of viewing pleasure! I hope that 1080p takes longer than I think and that manufacturers don't start flooding the market with capable screens anytime soon. I had my 42PD5200 for less than a year before it became "out of date" and I want to be able to buy a plasma and know that it will last as long as my old 29" CRT!

[micol]

Ok Silly question time...

How do you get the Freeview to work? Every time I search for channels it doesn't find any! I have the Aerial connected. What else should I be doing??

[PSD]

Originally Posted by micol

Ok Silly question time...

How do you get the Freeview to work? Every time I search for channels it doesn't find any! I have the Aerial connected. What else should I be doing??

Hi Micol,

That is all I did and it found everything automatically. I assume that you do get freeview through your aerial? i.e. you are in an area of coverage?

Cheers

Paul

[jonspurs]

Originally Posted by danluton

Yes that would work fine. I used to use 1080i on my 7200 with very pleasing results.

Thanks. How did you set 1080 interlaced? Wasn't your PC outputting a progressive signal?

Anyone found out about 1080p and the 9700 yet? Or 1080p on the 7200s/7500s?

Jon

[Dan L]

Use powerstrip to force 1080/25i.