Video Asylum

Posted by Lew (A) on August 02, 2014 at 10:59:20

I have a 50-inch NEC plasma I bought the year before NEC ceased to make plasma TVs. I feed it off the air with a DISH 211 satellite box. I use strictly 2-channel sound with a self-powered subwoof. Up to now, I have been connecting the 211 to the NEC via HDMI, and running separate analog audio outputs from the Dish 211 to an older Yamaha AVR which powers my speakers and sends a hi-level output to the subwoof. I recently acquired a Sony DA5400ES from a friend, to replace the Yamaha. I realize that the Sony AVR has very powerful chips for upconverting the video signal. Would I now be better off to connect the Dish 211 to the SA5400ES, via HDMI, and then the SA5400ES to my NEC monitor, also via HDMI? If so, what settings should I choose? The SA5400ES will also now handle the audio.

Of the current and maybe last crop of plasma displays, what brands are recommended? I think I need to buy one before plasma displays disappear from the market.

Thanks.