|
Video Asylum TVs, VCRs, DVD players, Home Theater systems and more. |
|
|
|
Video Asylum TVs, VCRs, DVD players, Home Theater systems and more. |
|
In Reply to: Re: pana plasma with 220i NTSC input posted by Rich H on January 7, 2002 at 19:50:58:
once I'd decided on a plasma it wasn't hard to find the best one: the 50" panasonic with a 1080i source looked so much better than anything else even a blind person could see it. The technology is the same in the 42" model--with fewer pixels, hence the not-ready-for-HD designation (no 42" model is true HD--they just don't have the pixels to qualify--the Achillies heal of fixed-pixel displays. the only true HD plasmas are 50" and above).models I auditioned: Sony, Pioneer, Fujitsu, NEC, Hitachi, Philips
of these the NEC was second best (by a considerable margin, in my opinion, but priced $thousands less). I didn't like the styling of the Sony, as I prefer a black bezel, which is more neutral and blends well with any decor.
the Fujitsu had the worst picture. the Pioneer was the least expensive (they can't give them away). the Philips was the most overpriced (value/cost)
the NEC 42" you mentioned is a great value/cost, but it's picture is not in the same league as the panasonics, and the arrangement of the input board (on the side) means you have a bunch of cables dangling along the edge--which ruins one of the coolest things about plasma.
the panasonic input board is in the middle and arranged so that you can hide all the cables behind the set--thus giving that very cool
"art on a wall" picture frame look.so the decision of which plasma to buy was a no-brainer: there really is only one brand (today--next week somebody may discover the next technology breakthrough). in fact, many plasma manufacturers share the sourcing for the glass and even the electronics, and just slap on the name of their company as it's being loaded in the boxes.
panasonic bought the glass technology company and does their own electronics, so their set is all in-house technology--and it shows.
the real decision was whether to buy the 50" HDTV or the 42" EDTV.
as I mentioned previously, I simply drew the two sets on the wall and sat in the listening chair to see how it felt. The 50" set really dominated the wall of the family room, which I thought would cause endless battles with the wife (I could live with it). And I knew that most of the programming I'd be watching would be NTSC broadcasts, which have such unpredictable signal variation (from OK to unwatchable) that I'd have to get the Faroudja Native Rate video processor (which is built-to-order for your fixed pixel display: can take a bad NTSC feed and make it "good", takes an excellent 1080i HDTV signal and makes it "AWESOME!!!") which would add another $5000 to the price. Add the cables and HDTV satellite box and whatnot and you're at $20,000 easy.but the real reason: I couldn't get the 50" panasonic because every distributor I called was out of stock and on backorder. I couldn't get one for love or money. They had one at the Bang & Oldson store in the mall but wouldn't sell it for any price. People will do anything to get them: there's a blank spot on the wall of the Tweeter's in Wilmington because somebody broke in the place at night and stole the plasma right off the wall. It's the only thing they took. I understand.
I'd been calling around for weeks and finally got one guy who said a shipment of 42"s had just arrived would I like one of them today because they'd be gone tomorrow. so I said hell yes. hell--I honestly believe I got it the same week it was built!
Anyway...I just love it. I really really love it. It's beautiful.
Here's an interesting review of the 42" models from Sony and Panasonic:
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- decision time - petew 07:47:08 01/08/02 (2)
- Re: decision time - Rich H 09:21:06 01/08/02 (1)
- yep, trust no one - petew 13:34:08 01/08/02 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
