New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

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New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby ssar » Sun Jun 08, 2008 10:58 pm

So a new 50" Plasma flat panel TV is on the cards to replace our old CRT which recently died.

Is a darkish room (i.e. we can make it reasonably dark and/or like to watch stuff at night generally).
Will be sitting about 2.5m from the TV.
Generally watch mainly Free To Air TV, movies, sport etc.
Have a nice low, flat, long timber entertainment unit which is perfectly suited to sitting a nice big flat panel tv on.

Probably some Panasonic Or Samsung brand, like the look of some Pioneers but thier prices generally blow the budget a bit.

A main factor now is weather to go for 1080p (i.e. Full-HD 1920 x 1080 pixels) or not (i.e. HD 1366 x 768 pixels).
This element alone appears to be a $500 or $600+ change in price.

Don't have a Blu-Ray DVD player as yet, no plans for one for now, you never know in future though.

Thoughts?
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby teflor the ranger » Mon Jun 09, 2008 1:39 am

In terms of looks:

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/displays/m ... g_question
A 20/20 human eye can't recognize details smaller than 1/60 of a degree of arc. Don't worry, you don't have to understand that. With a little math, though, we can use this number to find the distance beyond which the eye has trouble distinguishing one pixel from another. It turns out to be 137 percent of the diagonal measurement of any 16:9 widescreen: around 38 inches from a 32-inch TV. So if you're sitting 5 feet away, you'll never notice the difference between 720 and 1,080 lines of resolution. But if you trade up to a 60-inch screen, that distance jumps to almost six feet. Better push the couch back.

1080i vs 1080p, there is a difference:

http://ezinearticles.com/?720p-Vs-1080i-HDTV&id=91443
A 1080i signal comprises 1080 horizontal lines but all the lines are not displayed
on-screen simultaneously. Instead, they are interlaced (hence the 'i'), ie every other
lines is displayed for 1/60th of a second and then the alternate lines are displayed
for 1/60th of a second.

In terms of future proofing and current application:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6449_7-6810011-1.html
Today's high-def broadcasts are done in either 1080i or 720p, and there's little or no chance they'll jump to 1080p any time soon because of bandwidth issues. Even the much-vaunted high-def games on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 are usually 720p native (if not less), though they can be upscaled to 1080i or 1080p in the user settings of those consoles.


I had looked into this a while ago myself. This is what I came up with. It seems to me the budget-minded will take advantage of 720p, while the theater buffs going for larger screens and have 1080p native equipment and media should trade up.
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Sarvis » Mon Jun 09, 2008 1:44 am

I'd go for 1080p, especially if you ever think you'll want some kind of HD. (XBox360 for instance.) But I guess it's an opinion thing, although some have said you can't tell the difference at certain distances I'm not really sure about that.

Anyway, this is my TV and it pretty much kicks ass.
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby teflor the ranger » Mon Jun 09, 2008 1:46 am

Sarvis wrote:I'd go for 1080p, especially if you ever think you'll want some kind of HD. (XBox360 for instance.) But I guess it's an opinion thing, although some have said you can't tell the difference at certain distances I'm not really sure about that.

Anyway, this is my TV and it pretty much kicks ass.


http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6449_7-6810011-1.html
"Even the much-vaunted high-def games on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 are usually 720p native (if not less)"

Also, HDTV standards include 720p.
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Sarvis » Mon Jun 09, 2008 1:54 am

teflor the ranger wrote:
Sarvis wrote:I'd go for 1080p, especially if you ever think you'll want some kind of HD. (XBox360 for instance.) But I guess it's an opinion thing, although some have said you can't tell the difference at certain distances I'm not really sure about that.

Anyway, this is my TV and it pretty much kicks ass.


http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6449_7-6810011-1.html
"Even the much-vaunted high-def games on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 are usually 720p native (if not less)"

Also, HDTV standards include 720p.


The 360 is 1080p capable, right? I also never said HDTV doesn't include 720p. So bored of everyone ignoring you that you'll take any excuse to pick a fight now? Any chance you're starting to realize that this kind of fight picking is exactly why so many are ignoring you? I wonder if ssar could even read your first post?
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby ssar » Mon Jun 09, 2008 6:17 am

Sarvis wrote:I'd go for 1080p, especially if you ever think you'll want some kind of HD. (XBox360 for instance.) But I guess it's an opinion thing, although some have said you can't tell the difference at certain distances I'm not really sure about that.

Anyway, this is my TV and it pretty much kicks ass.


Yea, I am tending toward 1080.

And yea, your tv looks like it kicks serious ass.

Here's a few Plasma models I will have a good look at soon, with the cheapest prices I have seen quoted in various forums:

---

50” / 127cm 1080 (1920 x 1080 resolution) Plasma options:

Panasonic TH-50PZ700A – AUD$2500 (08Jun08)

Samsung PS50P91FDX – AUD$2550 (08Jun08)

---

50” / 127cm 768 (1365 x 768 resolution) Plasma options:

Panasonic TH-50PX80A – AUD$1900 (07Jun08)

Samsung PS50Q91HDX – AUD$1800 (08Jun08)

Mmmm.
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Ragorn » Mon Jun 09, 2008 2:03 pm

Get 1080p. I actually have the exact same TV as Sarvis, and I assure you, it does indeed whomp mega ass.

My question is, why plasma specifically? Your options for HDTVs are plasma, LCD, and rear projection. Plasma is thinner (physically), but more expensive than rear projection. There are differences in quality, particularly with viewing angle, but before I launch off into an explanation, I wanted to ask if you had a reason for picking plasma over the other two?
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Teyaha » Mon Jun 09, 2008 4:27 pm

with a tv that size you would notice the difference between 480, 720 and 1080 - the three HD resolutions - even at a comfortable viewing difference

get 1080p

if you were geting something smaller than 46" it wouldht matter too much between 1080 and 720 unless you had your face in the screen

plasma vs. rear vs. lcd - i would go with plasma if absolute picture quality is an issue for you. in terms of price it goes (most to least) lcd, plasma, rear


rear are however substantially larger machines and you will need to replace an expensive, proprietary bulb at some point

plasma will require a recharge after a few years

lcd i'm not sure has any real issue with life that has been tested

plasma has the highest quality color possible of the three options and the deepest blacks possible, but it is being phased out overtime for the new STP systems due to hit shelves in a year
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Teyaha » Mon Jun 09, 2008 4:32 pm

Sarvis wrote:
teflor the ranger wrote:
Sarvis wrote:I'd go for 1080p, especially if you ever think you'll want some kind of HD. (XBox360 for instance.) But I guess it's an opinion thing, although some have said you can't tell the difference at certain distances I'm not really sure about that.

Anyway, this is my TV and it pretty much kicks ass.


http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6449_7-6810011-1.html
"Even the much-vaunted high-def games on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 are usually 720p native (if not less)"

Also, HDTV standards include 720p.


The 360 is 1080p capable, right? I also never said HDTV doesn't include 720p. So bored of everyone ignoring you that you'll take any excuse to pick a fight now? Any chance you're starting to realize that this kind of fight picking is exactly why so many are ignoring you? I wonder if ssar could even read your first post?



the games th emselves say on the back of the box if they are 720 or 1080p. some of the original launch titles are actually 480

the 360 and ps3 will interpolate the games to 1080, along with your movies

you only get 1080 with blue-ray anyway - which puts the ps3 ahead of the 360 as a player
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Sarvis » Mon Jun 09, 2008 4:40 pm

Doesn't HD-DVD also do 1080p? Of course, that's basically dead at this point...

Also you can download ("rent") HD movies on the 360, not sure what actual resolution they are though. I suspect 720....

There's always the option of getting your xbox to talk to your PC and play digital movies from there, which can certainly get you some nice 1080p action. I keep hoping someone will start selling 1080p movies so I don't need to screw around with disks... which is why I haven't bothered with a bluray player.



Anyway, my point was that some things now are 1080p, more will be in the future and unless you have good reasons not to go for it you probably should.
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Ragorn » Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:51 pm

Sarvis wrote:Also you can download ("rent") HD movies on the 360, not sure what actual resolution they are though. I suspect 720....

All the ones I've looked at are 720p.
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby ssar » Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:23 am

Ragorn wrote:Get 1080p. I actually have the exact same TV as Sarvis, and I assure you, it does indeed whomp mega ass.

My question is, why plasma specifically? Your options for HDTVs are plasma, LCD, and rear projection. Plasma is thinner (physically), but more expensive than rear projection. There are differences in quality, particularly with viewing angle, but before I launch off into an explanation, I wanted to ask if you had a reason for picking plasma over the other two?


I kinda discounted rear projection due to:

- the size of the units likely too large for the room/area we plan to put it in
- traditionally the picture quality appeared significantly poorer, grainier to the eye for mine, especially in an area where you cannot make it very dark all the time. I know over the past decade or 2 the picture quality of these has markedly improved and is pretty kickass now, but it seems a current era similar-sized Plasma still outdoes it for picture quality, colour vividness & richness etc.
- globe replacement
- had the impression they were more expensive
- prolly sucked in by the word "plasma"... mmm, plasma gun.

Never really researched the modern rear projection stuff, having a bit of a browse I must say they look impressive.
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Oghma » Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:56 pm

Sarvis wrote:Doesn't HD-DVD also do 1080p? Of course, that's basically dead at this point...

Also you can download ("rent") HD movies on the 360, not sure what actual resolution they are though. I suspect 720....

There's always the option of getting your xbox to talk to your PC and play digital movies from there, which can certainly get you some nice 1080p action. I keep hoping someone will start selling 1080p movies so I don't need to screw around with disks... which is why I haven't bothered with a bluray player.



Anyway, my point was that some things now are 1080p, more will be in the future and unless you have good reasons not to go for it you probably should.


Even if HD-DVD was still around, it wouldn't be as good as Blu-Ray from a resolution perspective. HD-DVD is only able to do 1080i resolution, where as Blu-Ray is able to do full 1080p resolution (this is the only way to get full 1080p media at the moment). You are able to get 1080p through broadcast television, but from a pre-recorded media, even an upconverting DVD player will only do 1080i.
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Corth » Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:29 pm

Image

America... FUCK YEAH!
Last edited by Corth on Thu Jun 26, 2008 7:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Vaprak » Wed Jun 11, 2008 12:22 am

I still don't see any reason to get rid of my current TV:
Image
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Kifle » Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:12 am

Corth wrote:Image

America... FUCK YEAH!


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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Yasden » Fri Jun 13, 2008 2:04 am

So there's where my wife put them. Sonofa....


At any rate, my TV is almost 3 years old now. I went out and bought a Toshiba 62" DLP right when 1080p first came out. Mine's a 1080i, simply because 1080p was easily a grand more for the size of TV I have. Yes, I have the stand too. (Which weighs more than the TV)

http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/televisions ... el=62HMX84

That TV is completely all plastic, and actually weighs the same or maybe even a tiny bit less than the old 27" CRT set I've got sitting in my oldest son's bedroom. The picture is crystal clear from pretty much any angle you look at it, one of the biggest selling points for me, unlike LCD/Plasma where your viewing angle is much more limited. In the next 2-3 years I'll upgrade to 1080p, but I'm actually waiting on the Super-HD stuff to take off to drive the cost of "original HD" equipment to drop in price.

I might get an LCD or plasma for both my bedroom and formal living room areas, wall-mount style. However, for my hardcore console gaming and movie watching, I truly do appreciate rear-projection, despite the fact the TV is a lot larger than the other 2 flavors.
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby teflor the ranger » Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:23 am

Sarvis wrote:
teflor the ranger wrote:
Sarvis wrote:I'd go for 1080p, especially if you ever think you'll want some kind of HD. (XBox360 for instance.) But I guess it's an opinion thing, although some have said you can't tell the difference at certain distances I'm not really sure about that.

Anyway, this is my TV and it pretty much kicks ass.


http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6449_7-6810011-1.html
"Even the much-vaunted high-def games on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 are usually 720p native (if not less)"

Also, HDTV standards include 720p.


The 360 is 1080p capable, right? I also never said HDTV doesn't include 720p. So bored of everyone ignoring you that you'll take any excuse to pick a fight now? Any chance you're starting to realize that this kind of fight picking is exactly why so many are ignoring you? I wonder if ssar could even read your first post?


What is your problem? Why do you think this is acceptable? What you say is offensive and reprehensible. You're not right to try to pick a fight, or attack me personally and you should stop. It was obvious you did not read what I had posted when you made your comments, so I repeated myself for your benefit. In the past, you talk a lot about arrogance and pretending to know better.

Do you know better about what it is I do here? Do you think there's a reason why I should care that six people on the internet have blocked my posts? What about your personal assumption that I'm picking a fight, when I'm simply rebuking or commenting on what you have said?

It's not right, Sarvis, and you should know it.
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Sarvis » Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:35 am

I think Teflor is upset. Those of you who have him on block may find it amusing to read his last post. I know I did!
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby teflor the ranger » Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:50 am

Sarvis wrote:I think Teflor is upset. Those of you who have him on block may find it amusing to read his last post. I know I did!


It has been left to the admins to deal with my reporting of your post. I can only say that I'm fairly certain that you don't have the credentials to tell how I am feeling.
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby ssar » Thu Jun 26, 2008 8:49 am

(A week or so ago)
I ordered a new Panasonic TH-50PZ700A 50" / 127cm 1080p Plasma the other day, got it for AUD$2700 (From a local Retravision store.)
(Saw it priced at the local Bing Lee for AUD$3299 last weekend, and advertized in a local Brochure for AUD$2999 this week.)

Can't wait to get it set up etc.

Also got a DVDR unit to use with it: Panasonic DMR-EX77 160GB HDD (up to 284hrs), SD Digital Tuner, HDMI 1080p upscaling for $450.

(Interested Aussies probably might like to) Browse some threads in the (Aussie) forums at: www.dtvforum.info

---

I set up our new Panasonic TH-50PZ700A 50" / 127cm Plasma (and Panasonic DMR-EX77 DVDR unit) last night - I'll make some pics available online sometime, and write a report on it thus far.

Good news is that it appears to be flawless, brand new as expected, easy to set up, and with a picture pretty much as I expected (which is very good).

Retravision Belmont (in the Newcastle NSW area) seemed to do the right thing by me, knew not to toss heaps of bull, gave me prices in the ballpark I was after etc. - glad to recommend them.
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Corth » Thu Jun 26, 2008 1:51 pm

Image
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth



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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Kifle » Thu Jun 26, 2008 7:06 pm

Thanks, Corth. I think I just puked a bit in my mouth.
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Corth » Thu Jun 26, 2008 7:23 pm

Oh wait this isn't the rainbow kisses thread?!
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth



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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Sarvis » Thu Jun 26, 2008 7:37 pm

Err... I don't get it? The best guess I can come up with is you're trying to make a point about American consumerism? Which is kind of odd considering ssar is apparently Australian... I'm confused.
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Kifle » Thu Jun 26, 2008 7:45 pm

This thread needs more patriotism, STAT!
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Corth » Thu Jun 26, 2008 9:53 pm

Image

I hope Kifle has a barf bag nearby :)
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth



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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Kifle » Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:53 pm

Is that patriotism in 1080p? I'd like my reds, whites, and blues to seer my retinas in HD!
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby ssar » Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:13 am

New Panasonic TH-50PZ700A 50" / 127cm 1080p Plasma TV + Panasonic DMR-EX77 160GB HDD DVDR.

Picked it up, tied it on the back of the ute standing up the correct way, and took it home.

At around 60kg (69kg boxed with packaging) the TV is pretty heavy - definitely a 2-person job to lift & manoeuver it etc.

See this webpage for several pics I took during setting it up:

http://www.whaledive.net/pana.htm

Seemed to be packed pretty well, though there was some confectionery rubbish floating around inside the box which was strange.

The TV needed mounting to the separate base stand (unlike my mate's 52" Sony LCD we setup the other week which had the base stand already secured to it in the box) and it was pretty straightforward to do so.

All the input/output ports seem to be fairly obvious.
The unit in general seems to be manufactured and put together quite solidly - upon examination everything appears to be fairly good - the air vents, screws, labelling, shaping, fans etc.

I'm impressed with the inbuilt speakers - it's difficult to actually tell where they are at first glance, but on closer inspection you can see the fine mesh along the extreme lhs & rhs edges, they look good and perform well for what they are. Certainly all we need audio-wise at the moment.

When first powering it up it appeared to automatically enter into it's auto-scan & inbuilt HD STB channel setup process - can't recall if I had to hit OK once or something, but it completed it clearly and smoothly.

As someone said most of the new Plasmas from late 2007 / early 2008 are "10th generation" plasma flat panel technology, and the image is pretty slick. You can still tell the lack of fine detail in many situations when examining it closely (compared to a good CRT), but honestly the images are pretty much as I'd hoped they would be - which is very good.

Watching footy and tennis on it (especially Wimbledon via Channel 9's HD broadcast) is pretty impressive, especially when the room is kinda dark.

I am surprised that the screen aspect ratio cannot be changed (from 16:9) for all viewing of the channels via the inbuilt HD STB - this is one downside to it, I suppose some other brands of similar units can do this?

Am running the brightness, contrast, colour & sharpness at 45-50%, as well as colour balance and viewing mode on "normal" and will do for several months as is recommended to help the unit display a better range of all of these for more years down the track.

I quite like the remote - reasonably large which is good, with fairly clear large-ish buttons.

I can't say that the "Viera link" has been an overall benefit, in some situations it's more of a pain, whilst slightly advantageous in others.

Haven't tested nor used many of the features of the DVDR unit as yet, it's own inbuilt SD STB seemed to auto-setup pretty easily, it plays DVD movies ok.

Although one thing that it (appears to be) missing is a Disc Eject button on the remote - I would have thought these are standard these days - why would they not put one on it?

Will actually record some stuff on the HDD when I have more time.

Whilst the TV would look good mounted centred on an appropriate wall in our lounge room, I'll never do it as I am happy with it's position on our entertainment unit etc.

Overall, it's kickass.

Am going to plug an Xbox (on loan) into it next week and see what that looks like too.

Flawless so far, and very happy with it all.
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Corth » Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:22 am

Image

What the hell is a "kg"? :)
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth



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ssar
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby ssar » Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:35 am

Corth wrote:What the hell is a "kg"?


This is.
Kifle
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby Kifle » Sun Jun 29, 2008 3:29 pm

ssar wrote:
Corth wrote:What the hell is a "kg"?


This is.


I think somebody needs to learn measurements. That's a ton.
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Re: New Large Plasma TV - 1080p or no?

Postby amena wolfsnarl » Tue Jul 01, 2008 2:32 pm

Sweet Jebus my eyes.....They burn! They burn!
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