I am torturing my mind with what kind of picture would suit my soundsytem best?

Every technology has it's pros and cons and I think you know the basics. Since it has to fit a standard living room and not a separate homecinema room, I had to drop the idea of a real big picture with a front projector. I already had a DLP rearprojector which went back to the dealer because of artifacts and noise. That leaves mostly plasma and LCD for what you can have today.

Recently I went to a good homecinema dealer who had the new 50" NEC Plasma and the biggest available Sharp 45" LCD on demo. He was able to show them with D-VHS theater tapes with full 1920x1080 HDTV resolution (very rare around here). WOW! Like looking through a window.

I was quite puzzled to see, how far LCD has developped further in the last time. I like very much, that this LCD display does not flicker, like more or less all PDPs I have seen so far. Also the surface has a matte finish, what is very good aginst reflections. But that it even had the better black was most surprizing! I was not able to see problems concerning the speed of the panel with video material. (Although hardcore gamers should check that out further.)
As both displays were brand new, I wondered if the plasma needs some time to "run in" to let show his full qualities? You could see ghost-images left behind of bright parts even 5 min. after the picture was turned off... Before this test, I expected the plasma to be better - but it came out the other way!

As it is still a some way to go, before we get HDTV here, I wanted to see, what will be usual for now. With DVD the picture stayed not that far behind, so the internal scaler/deinterlacer is quite O.K. I suppose. SDTV PAL was far behind. You could clearly see, that this ancient source was not able to show you, what is possible with this TV (mullet system/back end heavy came to my mind). With HDTV you had to go very close to see the single pixels. With SDTV you needed > 2,5m to have a decent picture.
The main thing you could criticize about the LCD is the price. Even when you add the price for the separate tv-tuner, stand and speakers for the NEC PDP (all included with Sharp LCD) it is still somewhat more expensive and smaller. But it has a DVB-T tuner and PC-Card Slot included in the box, what saves some space and money (if needed).

Are there any Sharp Users in the forum to share some experience with their devices? Has someone seen the Samsung 46" LCD? It would be the only other available flatscreen I found with full-HD resolution. The Sony Qualia with LED backlighting must be very interesting too, but not (yet?) available here.

happy listening

Adrian

[This message was edited by Adrian Frauchiger on Mon 17 January 2005 at 18:02.]

Adrian,

I've not seen the NEC plasma or the Sharp LCD but I have a Panasonic 42PW7 and think it's picture quality is fantastic (better, actually, than my DLP projector). As an aside, I sold my 32" Sony Wega CRT TV at the weekend and needed to set it up for the buyer to demo. I havn't seen this TV for a couple of months since buying the plasma and despite always thinking the PQ on this set was pretty good it looked rather shabby having now got used to the plasma.

Anyway, back to the point, perhaps you could also demo the Panasonic 50" PDP. The NEC is reputed to have a bit of image retention but the Panasonic is about the best in class in this regard.

From your post I think what you need to especially look out for is future compatibility with European Hi-Definition formats on the Digital input(s). You will need a DVI-HDCP or HDMI connection on the panel (PDP or LCD) that can accept input signals of 720p/50Hz and 1080i/50Hz.

Unfortunately the Panasonic plasmas (along with many others) won't do this and unless Panasonic bring out a revised HDMI board for the 7 series panels you will either have to use a scaler to convert the frame rate to 60Hz or wait for the next generation panels to appear.

Allan

My HT dealer sells the Sharp LCD's. Right next to one is a Plasma, which I believe is an Hitachi. They are both about 45-46". Both are feed the same signal ... usually PBS, but a football game in HDTV on weekends.

From what I saw, it was obvious which was producing the better picture - the plasma. The blacks on the LCD are an obvous dark grey and the colors are not near as intense. The salesman was telling me that on the weekend they could not get the greens right on the HD football broadcast.

I think LCD still need more development work. The new 70" Sony Qualia RPT sounds promising - I would like to see one, but I don't think any of the Qualia products are comintg to Canada as yet.

Bob

Allan
I also have a 32" Sony Wega CRT TV at the moment. Going back a while after upgrading is always a good test. Sometimes it's easier to see (or hear) the difference when going back, then when going forward.

All actual standard Sony flat-displays (PDP or LCD) have no digital inputs, which is a "kill criteria" because it looks like most planned HDTV receivers will only provide HD-resolution over HDCP copy protected digital connections (DVI or HDMI). With component video outputs (which are full HD capable) they only deliver a scaled down SD-resolution picture... Because of the copy fears in movie business. A future-proof TV should even have multiple digital inputs (I'm dreaming here).

The Panasonic PDP's I saw where the best with contrast and black, but also the worst in flickering (where I'm very sensitive). But the last one I saw was from an older series, not 7. At least you have still a chance, that they come out with a proper board - all the best! Converting from 50 to 60Hz will harm the fluid motions quite surely.
The other day I saw the Philips 50" PDP, with PixelPlus2 and AmbiLight. Looked nice, but all Philips Flat-Panels have no component inputs... there is always a hair in the soup The latest Pioneer series could be something to look at. But no plasma has full HD-resolution yet.

Probably I have to hope, that my CRT TV does not fold up next week and be patient until the european HDTV train starts to pick up speed later this year. LCOS or SED, if it comes soon enough.

Bob
I expected the LCD to have the dark grey instead of true black, but in this test it was the PDP. Even the two blokes from the NEC distributor made very long faces as they have seen it! Does no none know, if plasmas need a run in time, before performing best? Perhaps it was just faulty, as the owner of the shop has seen the same NEC type at an exibition a few weeks before in better condition, but not side to side.

The colors of the Sharp were very natural, not as cold as on others LCD's I have seen. You can configure very much inside the extended menu: colors with 6(!) different controllers, color temperature and backlighting level. The colors of the PDP where more saturated and the glass surface gave them a glossy finish. But thats more up to the individual taste. I turn down the color saturation on most CRT's, because the preset norm is too much for me.

About the Qualia Series - Check the product specs of that RP-TV (006):
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/QUALIA/word/index.html
(choose country with the pop-up menu on the bottom of the page)
62,7cm deep and 124kg heavy!!! No way I will let something like that monster stand in between my front speakers. That makes a big sonic difference when you listen to stereo music. One reason I want to get rid of my more than 50cm deep and over 70kg heavy CRT.
I meant the flat-panel display 005, you can find only in the Japanese pages. LED as backlighting could make a huge difference in colors.

happy listening

Adrian

[This message was edited by Adrian Frauchiger on Tue 18 January 2005 at 15:09.]

Adrian Frauchiger,

Quite frankly I have seen nothing on the market today that would prompt me to replace my Sony KV-36XBR400. It gives me a wonderful nature colors (particularly with HDTV) and jet blacks.

But eventually I would like to purchase a 45-55" display device that will give me the same PQ as my Sony, for a reasonable price. Plasmas are to subjective to burn in, only the larger sets will display 1920x1080 and tend to be very expensive. LCD's will not give you true blacks (I hate gray blacks!)and the colors are inferior to CRT's and Plasmas. I hate RPTV's because of the tendency to fade as you move to the side or even stand up. So I happily continue to enjoy my Sony and wait for the technology to produce something to my liking.

But even if I found a display device today, I would not buy it. Everything I read tells me that prices are going to drop dramatically by the end of the year.

As far as break in time, HDTV Magazine recommends 160 hours to break in a new TV. Then, if you can afford it, have a professional do a proper ISF calibration. Or at the very least buy one of the calibration DVD's such as "Video Essentials" and do your own calibration. Most TV's in the shops are have the colors and contrast overdriven!

Bob

Wait for the Qualia to come out...hail the new king 1920 x 1080p, 70 inch and CRT quality blacks. This one great screen...the only thing that can rival this currently would be a 57 inch plus CRT rear pro. Does 1080i natively unlike almost all of the digital sets and we all know that CRT blacks are the mutt's nuts.

Most RPCRTs in the stores look crap but once properly calibrated via the service menu and run thru a HTPC upscaled to 1080i are superb.

Yes they are heavy and about 60cm deep (not sexy slim) but if it's PQ you're after they currently my pick. Good brands are sony, hitachi and toshiba.

It is also interesting how quickly one can can used to a 42 inch screen size...for a couple of weeks they are huge.

Qualia...uuuhhhh...mmmmm....drool...

Dave