Plasma for PC

T

Todda

Guest
I am interested in buying a plasma to use with standard SKY + channels and my PC. I am also going to buy a projector for films and sport.

Can anyone please suggest a good plasma to use as a PC monitor?

I would be particularly interested to know what the 42" Hitachi models are like.

Thanks
 
If you are going to use it for PC use then you will want something with a decent resolution. If 42" then Panasonic 42PHD6, NEC 42XM2 or Pioneer 433MXE, 43MXE-1 or 434HDE (TV rather than monitor). The 1024 x 1024 ALiS screens don't really do it for me, but worth a demo but I think you'll do better with true XGA res model. All 50" plasmas are around 1366 x 768 res but still stick with Panasonic, Fujitsu, Pioneer and NEC...

You should really consider large LCD too.... they won't perform as well as plasma on video sources (but you've got a projector for that ;) ). They will offer more resolution though with 30" and 40" packing 1280 x 768 pixels i.e. the same as a 50" plasma but squaashed into a smaller area. You won't need to worry about screenburn with the LCD either, with plasma it is a worry for PC use.

HTH
 
I don't know if it's possible for a PC output to look good on a 42" plasma. Most have a resolution of only about 852x480, which is unsusable for a PC. There are some (pricier) 42" screens which can display 1024x768 - but these have rectangular pixels, which means that any PC output will be in the wrong aspect ratio (horizontally stretched).

As Liam says, if you want to be able to use it with a PC, I think you'll need to look at 50" plasmas with 1280x720 or 1365x768 resolutions.
 
Oh yeah I was also gonna say that bear in mind resolution:size ratio. A 1024 x 768 42" plasma has the same physical number of pixels as a 17" CRT Monitor. So the picture is about 6 times bigger, but no more clearer so effectively only stretched.

In other words it can never really be your number one display for wordprocessing etc (unless you're sitting about 15 ft away!). If it's heavy PC use and some daytime TV (using the projector in the evening and for all movies) then I would get a 30" LCD panel (1280 x 768) and use the rest of the budget for a really good projector.
 
Thanks for the advice.

The plasma will be used 50/50 for television and PC.

I have looked into LCD but I find the picture to be very poor for Video. I am used to using a projector for my PC and the reduction to a 30" display would be a bit much.

This might seem a slightly naive but I thought the Hitachi was XGA (Or by true XGA do you mean WXGA) and had a higher resolution than the 43" Pioneers.

You also mentioned that the 42" plasma with a resolution of 1024x768 was like a 17" monitor but the picture is stretched to 6 times bigger. If that is the only factor involved then should a projector with a 1366 x 768 resolution and a screen size of 100" inches not be more inferior again. With my previous projector this was not the case.

If I am looking at this completely the wrong way I would appretiate you let me know.

Thanks again.
 
I am using a Hitachi 42" HDE4121 for PC use. 1024 x 1024 resolution. Have done so for about 18 months now.
It is fine for word processing, games and TV via a Hauppage card and DVD via PowerDVD software.
It sits next to my old Sony W900 CRT 24" monitor and very occasionally I need to refer to the Sony for fine detail work.
To use it for Sky + would require speakers to be added.
Best compromise is to use it next to a cheap CRT or LCD screen if at any time the resolution is not clear enough from about 3 feet away which is my usual position.
I am currently looking to upgrade to a 50" screen so would let it go for £1950 including desktop stand. Original cost over £4K.
Anyone interested ?

Stephen.
 
I have to say im not totally seeing the problem with plasma for pc..... i assumed that it would be but having just get my SD panasonic and had it hooked up to my laptop..... I could easily live with it for idle surfing and such just feeding it an xga signal.....

ad
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom