skoobidude

Moving house very soon and planning to buy a Plasma TV. Had a good look around and have decided that a 37" would be about the best size so as not to overpower the new lounge.
I'm one that goes for packaging before quality. My main requirements are:-

1. The Screen surround (frame) needs to be as small as possible. Many seem to have an unecessary "bulk" to them.
2. I would end up with some sort of audio surround system to go with it so if speakers come with it, these would need to be removable.
3. I think that black or a smoked frame is more pleasing to the eye so would not go for silver.


The models I've seen so far that fit the above requirements are by Hitachi, Panasonic and Pioneer.

Questions:-
1. Anyone recommend which to go for?
2. I've read a bit about how these should be wired. i.e. Scart, video, components etc. Could someone tell me what the best connecting cables are?


thanks


Nick

djuk

From what you say I would suggest that the Panasonic TH37PW7 plasma panel would be ideal.

it has a thin surround, no speakers as standard and the connections can be customised depending on what you need to connect.

HTH

David

Edited to say, the connection types are gonna depend very much on what you're connecting.

Also, plasma panels rather than 'plasma televisions' tend to have no tuner built in so you would need to connect a sky, freeview or analogue tuner box to receive television stations.

stormyuklondon1

ive got a panasonic 42pwd6 and think its fantastic. however, if i was to but a new one, it would be one of the pioneers. ive just got a pioneer dvd which output high definition via an hdmi output and into a pioneer pdp435xde the picture is ******* awsome. the pw7 would be a great option, www.webelectricals.co.uk do them for a fantastic price, but if high def is something you want in the future personally i'd look at the pioneer

davegtt

Ive gotta suggest the PWD7 here, panasonic are leaders in this field IMO... as DJUK says though its just a monitor, its not a TV... so u have to connect a tuner to it i.e sky... no speakers too it either and at the priice of the panasonic you could afford an amp adn some quality speakers

for more info try www.avforums.com

Pbr

Keep the contrast and brightness turned down to avoid burn in for the first few months of use as well.

SideShowBob

I bought the Panasonic Viera, which has built in Freeview/tuner, and its not bad from a size perspective.
Speakers are all built into the surround, and the surround is black, though the set itself is silver.

They are due to bring out an updated range to include HDTV, so either wait till it comes out and get an older model cheaper (picture is very good, so if HDTV doesnt concern you then that would be best option), or get one of the newest models, but dont let some shop assistant pawn you off with the old model at the new price.

davegtt

sideshowbob, same here I have the Viera, somehow I dont think it suits his needs though as its more of a telly rather than a thin framed monitor...

Iain Young

The PW7 is actually the same panel as is in he Viera, so if you just want a monitor (no speakers or tuner) then it's a good one to get. I've got a 42" PW6, (got it cheap just before the PW7s came out), and have been very happy with it so far

djuk

Saying that though there is DVI board available for HD input to the Panasonic panels so High Definition input from DVD etc is still very possible.

Plus its well recognised that nothing reproduces true colours and especially true blacks as well as the Pannys

stormyuklondon1

yea, there is a dvi board for the pw series, but as far as im aware the panel doesnt support high def...i do stand to be corrected if somebody know differently

edited to say-
the 50" pw7 is high def ready, as is the new pv range. the rest arent.problem is, they look nothing like the pw range so i couldnt sneak one past the missus

djuk

You are in fact right, the 37 and 42 inch PW series have a standard definition panel

And yes the PV500 is lovely, I saw it at the trade show running Blu-Ray DVD and it was absolutely stunning