42" or 50" plasma

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Anyone have any views on quality differences between 42" and 50" plasma displays? I've looked at the Panasonic 42" and its 50" big brother (W4 and W3 respectively), and the Pioneer 43MXE (but not the 50" version). These were all in Bentalls in Kingston so I suspect they were not set up too well. I will be using a DVD player (via component) and digital terrestrial (via s-video or rgb). Will a 50" plasma have a worse picture when compared to 42"?

Regards

Rob
 
Partly depends on from what distance you will be viewing ...

The 50" guys are happy with theirs as are the 42" ... a couple have traded up but I'm sure they would say there isn't a *better* picture quality ... only *bigger* ...

btw I'd go for rgb out of the digital terrestrial box ...get a rgb>vga box from John Sims ...
 
If you buy a Pioneer HDE model (or Sharp equivalent) then these come with an AV box which includes (amongst others) 3 x SCART sockets, 2 of which are RGB capable.

Just soooooo easy to connect up all the boxes and saves converter boxes too :D

Just love my 50" Sharp plasma. Would not go back to a 42" for sure.
 
Just love my 50" Sharp plasma. Would not go back to a 42" for sure.

Still rubbing my nose in it Messiah
LOL
;) ;) :D :D
 
Originally posted by jont
I'm sure they would say there isn't a *better* picture quality ... only *bigger* ...

Thanks. My main concern is that going to a 50" doesn't lead to a *worse* picture quality.

I guess I'm prepared to accept a slight trade off between larger picture but with slightly lower quality. Unfortunately I've not found a dealer near me who has 42" and 50" models set up well enough to make a judgement about relative picture quality, so I may have to decide about a major purchase sight unseen (if you pardon the pun).

Regards

Rob
 
Well, whilst I have not seen a 42" and 50" side by side I did have an NEC 42MP2 and have seen a Panasonic and Fujitsu 42" models in the local store.

The 50" is head and shoulders above the NEC and whilst the panny and Fujitsu were superb I just cannot see how the picture on my 50" from a DVD source at least could be any better. I have to say that I have never seen such a good picture from any device (CRT tv or any other) as I get on this 50" plasma.

Don't forget that the 50" plasmas have a much higher resolution than the 42" models (other than maybe the latest gen pannys) and therefore have smaller pixels anyway. I am sure you will not be disappointed with a 50" in any way but if you do buy a 42" you will always be thinking 'maybe I should have gone for the 50" one'.

Even if in worst case scenario you lose 5% resolution or picture quality you will have nothing to compare it to anyway unless you buy both and mount them side by side but take it from someone who has had both that I really think you will be gobsmacked by the image a decent 50" unit can produce.

Go on... you know you want to :D
 
Rob

The only 'issue' you are really going to get going up to the 50" display is when your digital broadcaster is outputting a poor signal - as they tend to do on some channels.

Otherwise we have many happy customers using 50" Plasma Displays and PlasmaTV's - and as Messiah is happy to report the PlasmaTV owners are a very happy bunch.

For some the easier connectivity and 'TV' like feature set of the PlasmaTV models with external media/tuner boxes is a big plus point - for others the higher bandwidth/grey scale/colour uniformity/resolution of the Plasma Display models more than compensates for a few less frills and the added expense of a converter interface box or two (though bear in mind the Plasma Display models tend to be considerably less expensive than the PlasmaTV models - see Pioneer HDE vs. MXE for example).

Best regards

Joe
 
I have been looking at the latest Panasonic 42" Plasma display, with 1024x768 resolution.

The confusing detail is that the 16:9 ratio is not accurate for an 720p HDTV signal.

While viewing the screen in store looks great, should I be concerned about noticeable effects watching HDTV signals over the next several years in 720p format, since there is ~20% of the horizontal line missing?
 

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