It's a Minefield.........Help please.!!!!

S

smurch1

Guest
Hi, all. I am a newbie to the forum, so I'll start by saying how grateful I am at all the info I have read from here so far.

Ok, I am about to take the leap and get myself a Plasma.

Questions: Mainly can I expect comparable PQ to my current CRT Sony 32FX65 100hz.
Current setup. Tv: as above, Sky digital, DVD (Limit 9900) progressive scan capable but not used at present, Panasonic SVHS Vid, PS2, Sony HTK215 DTS/DD sound system (a bit limp i know, but the wife likes it as it takes little space :blush: ) and occasionally DV camcorder(not really an issue as I edit my footage onto DVD-r).

So my requirement from my proposed Plasma would be to accomodate all the above and perhaps in the future have my PC hooked up as well.
I sort of narrowed it down to either a Panasonic H42PWD6B or a Hitachi 42PD5200/5300. I read a previous thread on this subject and people seem v happy with both though there were some issues over buzzing and prog Scan with the hitachi's.

So any help, links, places to buy, advice, just about anything will very much be appreciated as now my head is spinning :zonked:

cheers

Si.
 
Many will tell you that the displays you mention are not high enough resolution for pc..... my feeling is they would probably be fine for a small amount of use. Videowise, the picture may well not be as good as your crt..... again people will disagree but you might need to consider a better prog scan player or external video processor

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No problem with prog scan on the Hitachis. Works really well in both PAL and NTSC. When fed with an interlaced signal via RGB scart or component, the Hitachi uses it's own deinterlacer before upscaling, if fed a progressive signal, the Hitachi sends it directly for upscaling. The built in deinterlacing is good but if you are using a higher end dvd player, it's deinterlacer will probably be better than the Hitachi one, resulting in a superior picture. The improvement is noticeable on my screen and comments from owners with Denon 2200, 2900, Arcams etc back this up.

Many makes of plasma panel buzz to some extent as a result of the circuitry used to drive the display panel, some more than others. The best thing is to demo (which you should do anyway) with the volume at normal levels. Most buzzing is only audible with no sound, it's no worse than the whine of a crt tv flyback transformer, VCR noise, HDD recorder noise etc. The buzzing made by the Hitachis seems to vary considerably, although it is difficult to say what proportion of the tv's are loud enough to annoy, people write threads on the issue only if they have the problem - issues tend to be magnified in this way.

I personally recommend the Hitachi, I think that the PQ is easily a match for the Pannys.

:smashin: :smashin: :smashin:
 
Unfortunatly no one can make your mind up (I wish they could). Ive recently started following the plasma threads again, having decided 12 months ago they were too expensive. To sum up what I've read, many posts are complaining about their plasmas performance compare to CRT, but having bought one I don't believe many would go back. I believe the larger screen also show up faults in 'source' quality, & people find issues with analogue, freeview & Sky. (Dvd less so) However whatever the cause poor PQ, is poor PQ. All seem impressed with the apearence of the sets, & unless your thinking of a RP Tv you'll not get a bigger screen. I believe 'size does matter' but basicaly are you prepared to trade size for picture quality (& other issues - sceen burn etc) & pay lots for it. Now there are several sub £2k screens I may, but it's still a lot of cash. Read the posts for a few days & see if you want all the worry!! I don't, but they all look so gorgeous & the gap between a good 32" CRT (£1k) & a lovely sleek plasma..........
 
Could'nt agree more, with the exception of the comment about trading size for PQ - most of the poor PQ through digital tv is down to the compression rate of the signal and the quality of the source material, both of which vary enormously and are not the fault of the tv, no screen of any kind is perfect, it's up to you to do some research and make a decision.

I had what was a good tv in it's time (one of the first Philips 28" 4:3 100Hz sets) which gave a great picture over many years. I wanted a bigger widescreen tv but was not prepared to have something the size of a pygmy hippo in the room, so a flat screen was the ideal solution. I have had my screen over a year now, prices have dropped, the choice is much larger and LCD has come on in leaps and bounds, but I don't regret it's purchase one bit, given good source material, the picture is brilliant. I recognise that it has weaknesses but they are minor compared with the benefits and it will do me for some years to come (next step HD-TV :laugh: ).
 
thanks for the responses,
so, here is my revised short list, based on research(reviews) and price so far.

Hitachi 42PD5300 (JL do this- could be a major factor)
Hitachi 42PD3000E (an older model I believe ???)
Panasonic TH42PA20
Panasonic TH42PW6 (the same guts as the above but need to buy extras such as terminal boards etc????)

I appreciate in the end it comes down to personnal preference, and as far as PQ goes depends on quality of the source and the bigger the display the more its going to show imperfections.

If anyone has any of these I would very much value your opinions

thanks
 
smurch,

I've got a 42PD3000E (you are correct, it is an older model so I don't know if you can still get a hold of it).

Leaving aside the buzzing problem (mine is a bad example of the problem and I'm still trying to get it sorted), I think it's a superb screen. Picture quality from my v1 Sky+ box with an RGB scart is excellent on the higher bit rate channels and, even on the lower bitrate channels, it's still quite good.

Until last week, I was using a Yamaha S540DVD player connected via component and always thought the picture was fantastic. Last week, I bought an Arcam DV79 player and set it up to output PAL progressive to the screen and the difference picture quality from the Yamaha is amazing.

So, from a picture quality point of view, I'd thoroughly recommend it.

John
 
Smurch1

I've had both a Hitachi 42PD3000 and Panny 42PA20. I had to return the Hitachi because of a PQ problem caused by a feature Hitachi told me was inherent in all their sets. Assuming the newer models do not have this feature then I would say there is little between the two, both have their strengths. On Balance I would say the Pannasonic is slightly ahead in terms of overall Picture Quality.

However both of these models have now been supersceded by the other Hitachis you mention and the Panny 42PE30. If you don't need a built in tuner and speakers then many on this forum would advise you to look at the TH42PW6 or Fujitsu equivalent.
 

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