Plasma pixel size info vs LCD, please help me understand.

DG25

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I've read the Plasma FAQ, and also read this, but some things are still not clear for me. I'm only reffering to HD only TVs, not Full HD:

What i've learned:
For a 42" HD only Plasma, pixels are rectangular and the native resolution is 1024x768, but tv internal processors upscale the signal to 1280x720. True, yes?

Questions:
1. Are the pixels in a 42" HD Plasma bigger than in a 42" HD LCD?
My logic says yes, because the pixels in Plasma are rectangular, and the pixels in LCD are squared. And since the number of vertical pixels are the same in both Plasma and LCD TVs (768), the only difference must be the bigger size of rectangular pixels in Plasma, occupying the same horizontal space as the smaller, squared pixels in a HD LCD TV of the same diagonal. Right?

2. If i connect a PC desktop to a 42" HD Plasma TV, is it possible to get 1:1 pixel mapping, like on a 42" HD LCD TV? What resolution should i set in nvidia drivers? 1024x768? Or 1280x720?
 
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I've read the Plasma FAQ, and also read this, but some things are still not clear for me. I'm only reffering to HD only TVs, not Full HD:

What i've learned:
For a 42" HD only Plasma, pixels are rectangular and the native resolution is 1024x768, but tv internal processors upscale the signal to 1280x720. True, yes?

Questions:
1. Are the pixels in a 42" HD Plasma bigger than in a 42" HD LCD?
My logic says yes, because the pixels in Plasma are rectangular, and the pixels in LCD are squared. And since the number of vertical pixels are the same in both Plasma and LCD TVs (768), the only difference must be the bigger size of rectangular pixels in Plasma, occupying the same horizontal space as the smaller, squared pixels in a HD LCD TV of the same diagonal. Right?

2. If i connect a PC desktop to a 42" HD Plasma TV, is it possible to get 1:1 pixel mapping, like on a 42" HD LCD TV? What resolution should i set in nvidia drivers? 1024x768? Or 1280x720?

A 720p Plasma screen has a native resolution of 1024x768 this resolution on anything with square pixels is a 4:3 aspect, on a 42" plasma the same resolution is 16:9 because pixels are rectangular

The processor knows pixels are rectangular so aspect is correct it doesn't upscale to 1280x720

If you want pixel mapping on a screen with 1024x768 you set your graphics card to 1024x768 and use a media player that allows you to correct the aspect
 
If you want pixel mapping on a screen with 1024x768 you set your graphics card to 1024x768 and use a media player that allows you to correct the aspect
That's what i was afraid of...:( You see, i'm not interested in movies, but playing PC games on my TV. And occasional web browsing. In these cases, i cannot correct the aspect ratio of a 1024x768 resolution, as far as i know...
What will happen if i set the desktop resolution (or in games) at 1280x720?

And you didn't really answer my first question :): At the same diagonal, are the rectangular pixels in a plasma bigger than the squared pixels in a LCD? I'm reffering the the dot pitch...
 
Haven't got an answer to your first question

Yes you will have to set your graphics card to a 16:9 resolution which one will depend on the screen so download th manual before you buy and check which ones it excepts

You wont get pixel mapping though
 
That's what i was afraid of...:( You see, i'm not interested in movies, but playing PC games on my TV. And occasional web browsing. In these cases, i cannot correct the aspect ratio of a 1024x768 resolution, as far as i know...
What will happen if i set the desktop resolution (or in games) at 1280x720?

And you didn't really answer my first question :): At the same diagonal, are the rectangular pixels in a plasma bigger than the squared pixels in a LCD? I'm reffering the the dot pitch...
Whatever resolution you feed the TV it automatically compensates for the different physical pixel size/count.
And yes, plasma pixels on a 42" HD Ready set are wider than LCD pixels, but they are the same height. Dont get hung up on pixle count/size. There are numerous PC users/gamers using HD ready sets.
 
That's what i was afraid of...:( You see, i'm not interested in movies, but playing PC games on my TV. And occasional web browsing. In these cases, i cannot correct the aspect ratio of a 1024x768 resolution, as far as i know...
What will happen if i set the desktop resolution (or in games) at 1280x720?
If you have a little bit of patience I can ask a friend of mine which has the exact setup you are looking at.
 
Thanks both of you for answers. Gorman, i'll wait, i'm curious what your friend has to say...:)

The reason i was asking about pixel size is that when i play games, i sit very close (3 ft or ~1 m) to the 42" TV, as i like the immersion feeling. And i played on a 42" HD plasma before, at that distance, and i wasn't to happy about noticing the pixels. Unfortunately i didn't have the means to compare it to a 42" HD LCD, so i was left with questions...
 
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Sorry, I checked with him and... he connects his PC through HDMI, meaning no 1:1 pixel mapping. The TV is definitely able to accept, say, a 720p signal sent from the PC and handle all the scaling to the 16:9 aspect ration. But you do lose the 1:1 thing. This might or might not be a problem for you.

Unfortunately he does not have a VGA cable to check what happens with that connection.
 
Thx!
1:1 pixel mapping would be a problem for desktop use (including browsing), but for games? This i do not know, maybe someone else could shed some light on this...
 
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