Last questions before PHD8 purchase...

[tjradiohead]

Right, looks like im getting a phd8, BUT:

1) future proofing, has anyone seen a 1080p source on this panel? good results? i know 1080p screens are still a way off, but i want this panel to last me at LEAST 5 years, so the handling of 1080p sources is important to me, especially if some xbox games and hd-dvd's will use 1080p.

2) HDMI on the PHD8, is it really that bad? as most of the newer HD sources will use this format.

3) Warranty? the two years that comes with the panel is good, but i would ideally like 3 years. If i buy from AV sales, does anyone know if i have to take out the extended warranty on the day of purchase, or just within the first 6 months?

Thanks

 

[Chris Nicholl]

Hi there,

Questions 1 & 2 I will leave open to those more knowledgable than I.

3) The warranty can be purchased any time within the first 6 months of having the screen.

Regards,


Chris

 

[tjradiohead]

Hi there,

Questions 1 & 2 I will leave open to those more knowledgable than I.

3) The warranty can be purchased any time within the first 6 months of having the screen.

Regards,


Chris

Cheers Chris, is this at the same price too?

Also, to start with i am probably going to watch sky through S-video, as a stop gap, how much will extra will i have to pay on the Scart board if i buy 6 months down the line? Its just something i have been considering to make myself feel better about having an empty wallet...

 

[NonPayingMember]

1) future proofing, has anyone seen a 1080p source on this panel? good results? i know 1080p screens are still a way off, but i want this panel to last me at LEAST 5 years, so the handling of 1080p sources is important to me, especially if some xbox games and hd-dvd's will use 1080p.

Noticed something interesting on the spec sheet, although yet to be tested (the spec sheet is wrong on most other counts). The screen seems to only work with 1080p via analogue component or HD-SDI. Wish I had tested with customer I was with last week. Although the spec also says 720p doen't work with DVI which it does so probably another panny cock-up!!

2) HDMI on the PHD8, is it really that bad? as most of the newer HD sources will use this format.

It's not bad per se, and I haven't looked at the latest series so closely. Generally speaking you could get a little spicer with an analogue connection into the previous models. However, I did a 50PHD8 with a Lumagen ProHDP and Arcam DV29 on Friday, so all running HDMI (interlaced from player to scaler, native res / 720p from scaler to screen) and the picture was quite astonishing. The card is the same as before, but I think the screen treats signals differently (for one thing the old card now recognises 720p 50Hz in the new screen?!?!?) and seems a little brighter than the series before (I may have been seeing things though). I also more often than not setup 7 series screens with DVI since it was Arcam players and required HD Ready. So in a roundabout way, no it's not that bad at all. Pretty bloody good actually!

3) Warranty? the two years that comes with the panel is good, but i would ideally like 3 years. If i buy from AV sales, does anyone know if i have to take out the extended warranty on the day of purchase, or just within the first 6 months?

First six months.

 

[tjradiohead]

Thanks for that Liam.

Your answer to question one is slightly worrying...

So if i was to use a HD-DVD player that has HDMI, would i have to go into the Panel via a stripper, so effectivily going DVD player's HDMI into the stripper, then out via component? Would this be practical, and would i lose much quality?

 

[NonPayingMember]

Thanks for that Liam.

Your answer to question one is slightly worrying...

So if i was to use a HD-DVD player that has HDMI, would i have to go into the Panel via a stripper, so effectivily going DVD player's HDMI into the stripper, then out via component? Would this be practical, and would i lose much quality?

As I said, it's probably wrong. The same spec sheet also says the DVI card won't do 720p or 1080i (which it does, and at 50 and 60Hz). Was hoping someone with DVI card and scaler/HTPC could confirm or deny. Mind you, I don't think many plasmas have 1080p on their spec sheets. The 1080p Sharp LCD doesn't even do it!!

 

[tjradiohead]

As I said, it's probably wrong. The same spec sheet also says the DVI card won't do 720p or 1080i (which it does, and at 50 and 60Hz). Was hoping someone with DVI card and scaler/HTPC could confirm or deny. Mind you, I don't think many plasmas have 1080p on their spec sheets. The 1080p Sharp LCD doesn't even do it!!

So is it just me panicing? There must be a cost effective work around surely? I mean its not like i am going to be using 1080p sources any time soon...

 

[NonPayingMember]

I would also imagine you would be able to set your PS3 or HD-DVD to output 720p rather than 1080p if needed.