Newbie asks: £3K for stunning PQ?

[dr_mabuse]

Hi all
I have thoroughly enjoyed flicking through the "Get yer Plasmas out for the Boys" thread, and have been encouraged by the revelation that not all plasma installs are in rooms that could house cricket pitches etc.
I have a 32" CRT at the mo and sit approx 4 metres from it, so I think I would be far enough away to live with a plasma?

My only sources are digital - Sky and DVD. No aerial or games consoles to worry about, just plain Sky Digital outputting RGB and a DVD player outputting Component or RGB.

All I want is PQ - that's my only consideration really. To that I would imagine I don't need to spend big time to future proof ready for HDMI etc? I haven't upgraded TV in five years so I'm not exactly going to upgrade this Plasma soon either.

Can anyone recommend which 42" display gives great PQ (yes I know it's subjective) from these two sources? I would like to buy one in silver preferably and not have to fork out for extra connection boxes on top of the price (ie "all-in" prices requried).

Budget is £3k including delivery and warranty - can it be done? Any owners out there who have bought hardware for this money and really satisfied with PQ compared to a 32" CRT?

Cheers

dr_m

 

[zerolight]

my short list is the 42PD3000, 42PD5000, and 42PA20B.

 

[bongpig]

Panasonic 6 plasmas are far and away the best ive seen. A few weeks ago, I would have reccomended many screens, but once I had the chance to see a few plasmas, all on quality independent feeds, the Panny looked simply awesome.
Other than that, the Hitachis as Zerolight mentioned just have to be worth considering at the price.

 

[Jasonjo]

PWD6 inc wall bracket and video board...£2.5k from www.nexnix.co.uk or check out a similar deal with scart instead for £2.7 from www.av-sales.co.uk

JJ

 

[dr_mabuse]

Thanks guys for all your replies. Are these Panny 6 series actually superior now to a CRT display in terms of quality in your opinion?

I took a look at the PWD6 for 2700 and it looks good, especially with that Quintro box thrown in. If I was to use this box though, does that mean I am forgoing the use of the Component output available on my DVD player in favour of Scart RGB?

One other question though: the vast majority of time watching will be from Sky, and their distribution of widescreen material is somewhat scattered.
For example, watching Sky One, would the Plasma keep switching from 4:3 to 16:9 when coming in and out of the advert breaks etc? I know it's not the purist view but I set my CRT to force format all of it to 16:9, whether it means squashed faces or not, so that everything that I do watch that is widescreen is perfect without the picture jumping format all the time.
Not to everyone's taste I know, but that's what I do!

Can I set this Plasma/Quintro to the same sort of "force format"?

dr_m

 

[daveb975]

I found my Panny 6 superior to my old Sony CRT, but still not quite as good as the top of the line CRTs that are available today.

For me, image size vs cabinet size was more than enough to steer me towards plasma.

I have not got a Quintro, so cannot comment on the switching, but I would recommend only running your DVD through the component input - it is better than SCART even before you start looking at Prog scan.

 

[Cag]

Got my Hitavhi 42PD3000 Saturday & am very impressed with PQ on both Sky & DVD using RGB & a bit of pic tweaking

Cheers
Cag

 

[NonPayingMember]

On Panasonic plasma (and most others too) you can select 16:9 mode and everything fixes to widescreen, or Panasonic Auto and Sky box constantly tells the plasma to change aspect.

I reckon you should use your DVD's component output since this will give you two inputs on the plasma with two different sets of picture adjustments etc. Component isn't necesarily better or worse than RGB, but better results can be had with the component inputs on the plasma than can be had on the scart input.

HTH

 

[dr_mabuse]

Guys - thanks again for your replies.

Liam - I have read on this forum that some members with Plasma's have fitted RGB - Component converters to "improve" the picture from their Sky boxes, and settle for RGB Scart for DVD input - do you think this is worthwile, given that (as much as I like DVD) I'll be watching Sky as the main source? Can the Panny 6 take more than one component input?

daveb975 - my current TV is five years old as well, and is a Thomson 32" WS. I don't think the Thomson brand is especially regarded as a quality brand, but I've always really liked the solid colour reproduction from Sky on it. I can't even use RGB for my DVD as there's only 1 input enabled for RGB, but it's a trade off I have to make given Sky is my main source. I am hoping that the current "flavour on the month" Plasma screen won't seem a let-down (the Panny 6 seems to be universally praised on all sources, and it's a good price I've found: £2.7K with stand, switching box and delivery).

Your thoughts appreciated.

dr_m

 

[lovegroova]

I am in a similar situation to you dr, with NTL cable and a component DVD player.

I have the NTL cable hooked up via RGB SCART and the DVD via a component board.

Sure, you could probably get a slightly improved picture from the Sky box using an RGB convertor into the 15pin Dsub connector but then you lose auto aspect ratio switching unless you buy one of the switchers available in the power buy section. The cost of a convertor and a switcher comes to more than a SCART board so it's really up to you.

Personally I'd go for one of the deals including a SCART board and get an additional component board as that is by far the simplest and most convenient option. Others will urge you to go for the best picture quality.

It really depends on your priorities.