Aside from my SACD player purchase three years ago, my home theater 1.0 has remained relatively unchanged for the better part of five years. For about the same amount of time, I've contemplated upgrading to a HDTV, but all of the technologies had a significant shortcoming and/or high price point that kept me on the sidelines. It wasn't until 1080p plasma and 120 Hz LCD flat panels hit the market last year that I revisited the HDTV upgrade.

Well, today the first component of the 2.0 upgrade arrived.

Yes, I finally pulled the trigger and upgraded the monitor to a 50" 1080p Panasonic plasma (model TH-C50FD18, which is the same thing as the TH-50PZ80U). In my evaluations, I consistently found that the Panny plasmas provided the best balance between performance and price, and it was only a matter of when. Well, this month's Costco circular had a manufacturer's coupon for the 50" Pannys, bringing the price down to $1,400. Along with their generous 90-day return policy, standard doubling of the factory warranty, and free shipping, this turned the question of when into NOW.

So far, I've only done rudimentary adjustments and have yet to do any critical viewing, given that I still have to upgrade the video sources. But, using just a pair of rabbit ears borrowed from one of our old 20" CRT TVs, I was able to pull in more than 20 digital channels. Not much HD content on the air this afternoon, so I've yet to do a lot of HD viewing. But, so far I'd have to say that the picture looks quite good.

Right now, I'm doing the burn-in procedures recommended by the regulars over at the AVS Forum (i.e., using the stretch mode, etc. for the first 100 hours) before breaking out my Digital Video Essentials disc for screen calibration.

NEXT STEPS
The immediate next step is to upgrade my sources. I've readied my Directv service for the HD upgrade (I have a HR22 satellite receiver waiting for the installer), and ordered a 20' HDMI cable from Blue Jeans Cable. I'm also making a WAF compromise in buying a telescoping swivel wall mount for the HDTV (another $200).

After that, things are slightly more up in the air. Thinking about going with a PS3 to serve as the Blu-ray player and replacement for my 480i Denon DVD player. I also like its media center and gaming capabilities (though I don't like that Sony has eliminated SACD and PS2 gaming support with the newer PS3s). However, the PS3 has performed poorly as a progressive scan DVD player, and I have over 500 DVDs in my collection, most of which I do not plan to replace with BDs.

So, I could go with an Oppo DVD player or go with a standalone Blu-ray player, or I could go with both for not much more than what the PS3 would cost. But, then I wouldn't get the media center and gaming capabilities in the process. We'll see how this all sifts out.

In the meantime, I'll post my impressions of the set once I get the set properly calibrated and start running more HD sources.