PW6 Basic Set-up

scott666

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Hi,
I'm thinking of taking advantage of the current Richer sounds PW6 offer i've seen in the newspaper today. Could anyone let me know if this set up is at all feasible with the following equipment. PW6 + Toshiba SD-240 DVD +Sony Freeview STB, I know the PW6 has one RGB Scart so I hope to connect both of these via this input. As for sound I have a Marantz pm-66se stereo amp connected to a pair of floorstanding speakers is it possible to connect the amp to the plasma/DVD/STB combination or is the only option to use the spring-clip connections directly from plasma->speakers.
Please note I haven't got the freeview STB yet (I just saw a few posts where it was recommended) so I can change this item if another STB makes it possible to hook all this equipment together. Also, this is just a temporary set up to get me up and running (especially if the speakers have to be directly connected to the screen) and i'll get hold of an input board once i've had the chance to suss it all out properly.
Finally what cables do I need to connect all the bits together, obviously i'll need a wall mount of some sort (as a plasma lying on the floor against a wall with two toddlers treating it as a drawing board is not a good idea :suicide: ). Ok thanks in advance for any replies......

Scott
 
scott666 said:
Hi,
I'm thinking of taking advantage of the current Richer sounds PW6 offer i've seen in the newspaper today. Could anyone let me know if this set up is at all feasible with the following equipment. PW6 + Toshiba SD-240 DVD +Sony Freeview STB, I know the PW6 has one RGB Scart so I hope to connect both of these via this input. As for sound I have a Marantz pm-66se stereo amp connected to a pair of floorstanding speakers is it possible to connect the amp to the plasma/DVD/STB combination or is the only option to use the spring-clip connections directly from plasma->speakers.
Please note I haven't got the freeview STB yet (I just saw a few posts where it was recommended) so I can change this item if another STB makes it possible to hook all this equipment together. Also, this is just a temporary set up to get me up and running (especially if the speakers have to be directly connected to the screen) and i'll get hold of an input board once i've had the chance to suss it all out properly.
Finally what cables do I need to connect all the bits together, obviously i'll need a wall mount of some sort (as a plasma lying on the floor against a wall with two toddlers treating it as a drawing board is not a good idea :suicide: ). Ok thanks in advance for any replies......

Scott

I've not seen the advert, if it is the £1499 deal, the PWD6 comes standard with one RGB VGA 15 pin input not an RGB scart input. They sell it cheap with no input boards ...

A scart input board is about £120 quid extra IIRC but you would be better off spending a bit more and getting the two slot combined component/svideo board. Get a freeview box with svideo output and run it to the plasma via svideo, connect the dvd to the plasma via component video which your dvd player supports.

The scart image delivered on a PWD6 is somewhat soft and undefined and does not really show what the screen is capable of. The PWD6 is/was one of the best if not the best SD resolution 42" panel available and poor input doesn't allow it to shine like it can.

For audio using my above dual input board scenario, just run rca leads from each box to the amp and ignore any thought of needing audio connections to the plasma.
 
Thanks a lot for the straightforward advice chachi.....I have to say despite poring over all the current plasma offers for ages I hadn't noticed the RS offer (1299 in todays Express) was actually for the PWD6 :blush: I've tried searching for the answers to my questions on this forum but most posters seem to involve Sky somewhere in their systems which I don't have. Also since RS only sell the Scart input board (which seems to get a unanimous :thumbsdow on here) I was hoping to get by without it just now but if i'm gonna need an input board then i'd much prefer to get the right one first time around so cheers for pointing me in the right direction.....
 
I have seen a lot of the negative posts about the Scart board. I am puzzled as the image from my Sony terrestrial digital box is stunning via Scart. It is a very sharp, dynamic, detailed image. There is some solarisation to be expected due to the high compression used but that is not the fault of the Plasma.

The only thing I have noticed. On composite sources, you often see some "ringing" or "dot crawl" around bright coloured edges. I found that there is a very limited amount of this on RGB sources (a lot lot less than composite) via Scart. I see it on certain stations like Sky Travel. I don't know if this is the transmission (i.e the dot crawl is introduced at source), or if the Plasma is converting the RGB into composite internally. I am sure the output from the digibox is RGB because I can flick it from composite to RGB and can see the big difference when I do.

Output from the Gamecube via RGB Scart is also stunning. Perhaps I have a magic Scart board because I can assure you I am fussy! I do have the component board for DVD, and of course that is better still.

Finally I have an analog tuner that outputs VGA to be used for PIP facilities. This tuner provides its own colour/contrast/brightness settings. This is important when outputting VGA as the Plasma provides no colour control on this input.

Jonathan
 
Given that you are contemplating purchasing a plasma and that you hang out in AVForums, you are obviously interested in achieving optimal quality PQ. Since your DVD has component outputs (and that is the best method/path to deliver a signal to a PWD6) you should if possible utilise those three RCA jacks on the unit to get the best resulting image.

We have a Sky+ box (with SVideo output unlike normal Sky boxes) so wanting/needing a scart was not an issue for us but I did test and compare Sky+ via SVideo and Sky+ via a mate's scart input board, and while I was biased towards wanting to go the SVideo path and thus get the dual slot component/svideo board, I felt the resulting image on SVideo was crisper than the Scart (shrug)

YMMV ...
 
Crispness is an interesting point. On most TVs the sharpness is inherently higher when playing a composite or s-video source. In fact, on a lot of TVs the sharpness control is not implemented for RGB sources. On the Panasonic Plasma the sharpness is implemented but without test cards, its not possible to say if the application is the same for RGB and s-video sources.

The question is, is the crispness really more detail, or a higher amount of sharpness processing to the signal? A lot of us have got used to an over-sharpened image over the years.

However, the most important thing is that you are happy with your picture with your equipment. And if you are, then it really doesn't matter at all! :)

Jonathan
 
Exactly ... it's your screen and your eyes in the end.

We eventually got a couple of JS Technologies RGB-YUV boxes and use one for the Sky+ to BNC inputs on the PW6 nowadays ...
 

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