HD Plasmas worse than SD plasmas at displaying an SD DVD source?

M

mc1510

Guest
I am looking to get a plasma panel display to be used for DVD movie playback only, as part of my home-cinema set-up.

During a demo of the Panasonic TH-42PW7 plasma panel at the Brighton branch of Sevenoaks Hi-Fi yesterday, I asked whether on a SD DVD playback the new TH-42PHD8 would give me better picture quality than the PW7 (I was working on the assumption that more pixels = sharper picture). All of the sales staff agreed that, in their opinion, on a SD DVD source the new PHD8 screen gave a noticeably worse picture than on the SD PW7 model.

I was told that if I wanted to get the best picture quality possible for DVD playback on one of the new HD screens, I would need to replace my Pioneer DV-737 DVD player with one that offered an up-scaled digital video output.

I'm not looking to replace my DVD player, so if what I was told is true then I would I be better off with a PW7 or PW8 for DVD playback form the DV-737?

Has anyone here had the opportunity to compare SD DVD playback on both an SD and HD plasma, and did they find that the SD plasma provided better picture quality on this source?

Interest to know what anyone has to say on this!

Cheers
 
I'm sure that that any of the screens you mentioned above will do a cracking job of displaying what your DVD sends out. I'm sure the PHD8 owners would likely disagree with the statements on the PHD8.

Good person to ask this question of is MEP, he has both PWD7 and PHD8.
 
Hi. Thanks for the reply. I'm new to this forum (and web forums in general) - how do I contact a specific member? I'd love to know what MEP has to say about comparing the PWD7 and PHD8.


Cheers
 
what I have found is that in fact there is very little difference (if any) between the PWD7 and PHD8 when using my Denon 2910 with both. The same is true of Sky using the JS rgb to vga converter. I have finally decided after much tweaking that the analogue component input on PHD8 is better than the HDMi for dvd but it is only marginal.(to my eyes)
Botom line if you are buying a screen and are bothered about HD in the future and can afford the PHD8, get it. If you are only going to be using SD sources for the foreseeable you may as well get the PWD8.
 
Thanks - that's really helpful.

I'm not too fussed about being HD TV ready, so I think I'll save money and go for a PW8 (currently £1350 at AV-Sales which is the best price I've seen so far).

Cheers
 
yes, MAW summed it nicely. Sounds like the PW8 is the one for you matie
 
mc1510 said:
Thanks - that's really helpful.

I'm not too fussed about being HD TV ready, so I think I'll save money and go for a PW8 (currently £1350 at AV-Sales which is the best price I've seen so far).

Cheers

Just to add my voice to the supporters of AV-Sales...

I realise that price is important but I would happily pay slightly more at AV-Sales just for the peace of mind that it brings.

I bought my PWD8 from them a few weeks ago. Great company to deal with (you can actually get to talk to a knowledgeable person on the phone line!), friendly and if the plasma is in stock then get it to you next day (well living in the wilds of Dumfries(!) it two days but hey!). When spending £1.5K upwards a saving of even £10's seems less important to me than a good sales experience.

Boez
 

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