What Plasma

[Hardcoreruss]

I have finally convinced her indoors to let me have one of the spare bedrooms as a cinema room. I can use hardcware I already have for the majority of things however I need a decent amp and a screen. The amp I am going for is: -

http://www.pioneer.co.uk/uk/product_detail.jsp?product_id=5068&taxonomy_id=62-98



I want a plasma screen but am unsure of which one to buy. I don't really want to go higher than £2,500, preferably a panasonic one as I can get them cheaper. Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Russ

[pacmania_2001]

Don't plasmas suffer from burn ins, ghosting and dead pixels?

[Hardcoreruss]

I thought that was only on the old school ones, I have read that on the newer ones this is not the case.

[pacmania_2001]

No idea about the new ones, the latest one I saw was the one we had at uni (probably about a year old) and that had dead pixels and in my opinion a crap picture quality.

[Hardcoreruss]

But that was probably on 24/7 showing the same sort of thing ?, and now they have progressive scan, which greatly improves the picture quality.

[Capmaster]

I thought that was only on the old school ones, I have read that on the newer ones this is not the case.

I was briefly considering those, and then I started looking at front projector sets with a ceiling unit. Some you can mount sideways on the wall too and they're way cheaper than plasma.

[Hardcoreruss]

But there as loud as hell

[Capmaster]

But there as loud as hell

Another problem is routing cables from the DSS, DVD standalone, etc. I'm not sure how that works - whether there is a "head" unit to make the connections to or if I need to route everything through the wall/ceiling. I'm not really that serious, just checking into my options for when my 8-year-old Sony projection set bites the bag.

[bugster]

I want a plasma screen but am unsure of which one to buy. I don't really want to go higher than £2,500, preferably a panasonic one as I can get them cheaper. Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Russ

Find dealers that will let you audition sets, preferably side by side if possible. Make sure you know how they are connected (RGB, S-video etc) and take along a couple of your ow DVD's to test with. I mean your own commercial DVD's, not home movies. Action scenes from T2 and the early battlke scene from Galdiator are good at showing up any flaws a plasma may have.

Current plasmas are much better than a couple of years ago, and a much better price too. A 42" plasma in the 2.5K price bracket should be OK if not the best possible. Judge for yourself BEFORE you buy.

[Hardcoreruss]

Right, I am looking at the top Panny on the link, any views ?

http://www.av-sales.com/html/special_offers.html

[Craig Tucker]

Go for the LA-Z-BOY

[Hardcoreruss]

They do look quality, my aim is to have one of them by the end of the year.

I can't really justify spending over a grand on a chair (well I can, but she would crucify me).

[bugster]

Right, I am looking at the top Panny on the link, any views ?

http://www.av-sales.com/html/special_offers.html

Would love a LA-Z-BOY too, but I don't have a dedicated "cinema room" or space in the living room for it.

The Panny looks like a pretty good deal and from What I have heard you can't go far wrong with any of the Panny Plasmas.

[flaninacupboard]

What you really want is a CRT front projection system. why? well, with LCD black is kinda grey, with DLP white is kinda red and green, with plasma you get short lifespan and (those i have seen) poor picture, with LCD you get crap brighness and contrast. a nice progressive CRT set or a CRT projector is lovely. but then i am a little picky...

[alenhard]

I've done a ton of research re: plasmas, LCDs, etc. and I am convinced that now is not a good time to be investing in this. You may have the money, but there is so much inconsistency regarding what the leading format for hdtv will actually be. So many different options, so few adopted standards. Chances are your new $2500 tv will either be incompatible in a year or two or will require another $1000 in upgrades to match new receivers/hardware. That's just the way I see it.

[flaninacupboard]

alenhard,

He's in th UK. there's no HDTV at all here yet, the closest thing we have is our DVB system which does support higher resolutions but no-one is using that functionality, (as far as i know!) so that's going to have a big effect on what he buys