eldudereno

Current 32" Philips CRT has packed in.

Have read through 100's of posts on the av forums but it's so difficult to decide as there's so much choice.

99% of my viewing is through Sky with no gaming and very little dvd use.

I've been looking at the Panasonic 42" PV500 Plasma screen (£2k) which is HD ready and gets rave reviews but how good is the picture quality compared to the best LCD and CRT screens? How long will it take before an HD ready purchase pays off, is it really worth the investment at this stage?

Picture quality via SKY is my prime concern.

thanks all

mr confused

leonpoole

Get the hd ready one ive seen the picture quality and it is amazing. My local sony centre have a hd signal on one of there sets so i have actually seen how good it is. Plus sky is going to be the first to start using hd next year

Kevin Greeley

I went into the TV shop recently and they had a good selection of plasma and LCD TVs.
Guess what? They almost all looked awful due to showing a Freeview signal. The only one that looked ok was showing a dvd (Predator) and even that wasn't very good at all.

However, I did see an LG 37" LCD in Dixons showing a proper HDTV signal and it was superb.

Why buy one now when the prices are falling and there is no HDTV broadcasting yet?

davegtt

You cant go wrong buying the new Panasonic. very good sets, one of the best on the market, its already HD ready not that its going to matter for a while yet. I watch NTL on my previous generation Panasonic and I cant fault the picture quality

eldudereno

Going to have a look at my local Comet store at lunchtime to compare the pics,

the three I'm now considering are,

Pioneer PDP436XDETA

Panasonic TH42PV500

Hitachi 42PD7200

Rapid17

I have had a Panasonic 42 PV 500 for five months and am very pleased with it. Picture quality from good Sky transmissions and DVD's is excellent. Prior to buying it i saw the same model in a Panasonic shop showing a high definition programme from some sort of computer; the picture quality was stunning and the best i personally have ever seen. Geoff.

Brendan Hughes

Sony KLV V40A12 (I think in UK, it's A10 here). 40in LCD, should be the same price (2k-ish). Very very impressive. I'm wary of buying a plasma now due to reliability/longevity issues, though I think it's true they still have the edge in picture quality over big LCDs. Good plasmas still make me weak when I see them in the shops.

davegtt

The Panasonics are quoted to have a 60,000 hour life span, use it for 8 hours a day (which is alot in itself) and you'll see 20 years from it....

Brendan Hughes

Not thinking of life span. It used to be true that plasmas didn't take kindly to being moved about, and needed careful install/mounting. Folk these days may move house a number of times in the above 20 years, or even want to move the old one from the living room to the bedroom, and that's my concern. Still the case? Doubtless they're better than 5 yrs ago, but have they improved so much or is it inherent in the technology?

MattW

Be careful with your sizing, the picture on a large TV in a small room will look crap, so don't go for a 42 unless you truly have the space.

Just bought a Sharp Aequos LCD very pleased with it.

As far as differences, the plasmas have better picture on the larger screens 42" and up, but LCD will not suffer screen burn and you can replace the back light on them. Also the gases in a plasma can not be renewed and over the lifetime of the unit, the picture will get gradually dimmer as the gases become less active.

Brendan Hughes

Uh-oh, popcorn time....

MattW

lol cue posts stating that screen burn is no longer an issue, which is true as I understand it. However AFAIK LCD technology does not suffer burn - period.

Adam M

quick point to those buying HD ready.

Don't jump the gun.

there are two levels of HD resolution, the highest being 1920 by1080. That is true HI DEF. There are LCDs that display this resolution, but not plasmas yet. HD plasmas have 768 horizontal lines ready to play 720p resolution. This is great for sky HD coming out, but hi-def dvd/blue ray and PS3 output are set to be able to output 1080 progressive pictures, meaning your HD ready sets will not be up to the job.

LCD is a different story.

btw. if thinking of spending on a plasma in the next year or so, hold of until SED is released. SED uses tube technology but has electron guns associated with each pixel (all 2.8 million of them in true HD), this will give all the pros of a CRT screen including picture quality, blacks and brightness, with the hang on the fall facility of a plasma/lcd.

First models will be out soon but are expected to be the same price as plasmas were when they arrived, namely 12k. These prices will plummet of course, but be aware that there is something much better coming.

Brendan Hughes

Comment I saw yesterday was a 42in TV would weigh 10kg . But you say soon - I'd heard end of 2006, and if they are then 12k, that means at least 2 yrs from now before they're a realistic purchase for most of us. Shame, not sure I can wait that long.

pslewis

There is ALWAYS something much better coming ....... thats the major problem with spending £1500+ on an item which will be naff in 2 years!

Pete