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Tell us more about your plasma experience so far. Do you wish you went for the 50 inch? How about HDTV signals? Olympics?
Thanks!
Follow Ups:
Yes Pete, do tell. I've got a deal on the Panny 42" available, might pull the trigger. How's your experience so far? Any "issues" I should know about?Thanks,
Rich.
I'm still deeply in love with the panaplasma, and yes, i do wish i'd gone with the 50-inch job that I had orgionally ordered (in a panic, i changed the order at the last moment, fearing the wife would make me haul it out to the backyard and live under it...with this winter averaging 60 F and not a bit of precipitation--that's seeming like a reasonable option at this time).the picture is awesome--i still can't get used to how film-like even a regular 480i feed is. i still find myself staring at the picture without even knowing what the program is--who cares?
but the olympics in true HDTV 16:9 1080i...the clear skies of the Wasatch Mountains--the colors of the national suits worn by the athelets--the unbelievable detail of the spraying snow and ice (you can see details in the snow crystals that are better than the real thing!)
yes. it is the best thing i've ever bought, at any price.
i'd do it again in a heartbeat.
I'm using the Sony HD100 HDTV tuner (it's noisy, but does the job well), and feeding a Directv satellite signal from a standard 18" dish. I'll be moving this summer and leaving the standard dish with this house, and installing the dual satellite 24" eliptical HDTV ready dish on the new house. All my 1080i signals are currently comming "off-the-air" from a tiny "bowtie" antenna that is wedged into the roof shingles near the peak. I'm getting 7 free digital stations that way. The PBS stations have an amazing 24-hour HDTV demo feed that will turn your brain to mush in seconds--you'll be so transfixed you won't even bother to sit. Better get a few cases of Depends adult diapers.
I have to wonder how the picture could possibly be better, as none of the 42" sets are true high definition (the pixel count is too low to qualify for 720p or 1080i).
There lies the danger: the 50" panasonic plasma (which will display a true high definition 720p signal in native rate, and down-convert a 1080i HD signal) in a home environment (retail outlets can't match the set-up in your own room)...must be like mainlining heroin
endless, drooling, stupor.
the horror...
Yes, I'm watching tv alot now. The Independent Film channel is on all night long--I don't even bother to go to bed anymore. The olympics on the HD NBC feed....I'm in bad shape, looking at the high definition asses on the ice queens...the horror...the horror...
I need to be reading stuff like this about the same as needing another hole in my head. It sounds like too much fun. I'm past the point of making up my mind, it's gonna happen, just spending some time coming to grips with the pain that will follow. Now I just sit around rationalizing the necessity of this purchase. For example, we Americans spend up to five or ten times as much on our cars, which we spend less time in and certainly do not enjoy as much as we do watching TV, so the TV is actually a better purchase than the average car. From this it necessarily follows that It's the rest of the world buying those expensive cars that doesn't make any sense, and my purchase of this TV makes perfect sense.
Thanks Pete, good to hear.I'm soooo close to going for the Panasonic. However, I just found out
a local dealer is getting the new Pioneer 43" Plasma in. This hot-off-the-press model has a 1024x768 pixel count - the first plasma of it's size to do so as far as I know (as opposed to the "fake" hi-def resolution schemes used by the Sony and Fuji plasmas). Real HDTV in a wife-friendly size. (Still, I doubt I'd be the least disappointed by HD on the Panasonic).Should be interesting and....choke....expensive.
Rich.
...I just saw the Pioneer about a week ago in a local dealer in a darkened room with progressive scan DVD as source (Castaway). I could (and did) play with video settings. Two observations.1. It clearly has higher recolution and less of a sense of seeing pixels at close range than the Panny.
2. It does not do the Panny's black. Dark gray at best. Not as bad as a nearby Sony I compared it too, but nowhere near as good in a darkened room as the Panny. The first night scene on the island in Castaway literally looked broken - greyblue and washed out with no black for contrast. Yeech. Too bad.
I still can't help but think that in about 2 years (Maybe 1. Hell, maybe 6 months) the Panny's black level and Pioneer's resolution will be available in one TV. Thats the one I'll buy. But I have to admit the Panny is damn tempting right now...
joe
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