To Plasma or not to plasma... Questions.

[AVMASTER]

i can understand in your case using a ED industrial plasma, but my main concern when selling these is not lifespan, burn-in, or heat but current and furture usage. ED plasmas ( good ones)are great for DVD viewing but what happens when blue-lazer DVD players hit? What happens when analog broadcast ends and more program providers use higher formats (1080p ? )? You may have a great sound system but what if I just want to watch the news for a few minutes- instead of just turning on a plasma TV i,ve got several steps to take just to hear a plasma Display. I could go on and on but the point is Yam should consider a plasma with as high as resolution he can afford and how he plans to use it.
I highly recommend Panasonic th42px20u or Panasonic th42phd6uy with component video(rca) plug-in board and a DVI plug-in board

[yamdsp-a1]

Thanks for the product recomendations and the advice. I did not cinsider the "future" prooffing, in fact I would have thought all plasmas would be future proof. But maybe not.

Those models you quoted, what is the price range on those?

Any other things you consider pertinent to whole plasma debate?

I am currently being swayed towards the RPTV LCD set up as it seems like it is a more user friendly option, with fewer problems or potential problems than the plasma. However, I really would like to see a few more plasma's in the store etc and get a better feel for the technology.

Everybodies comment have been very help and most welcome.

Thanks to everyone.

Yam

[yamdsp-a1]

Ok,

I figure I can't be the only person going through this so I will relate what I have found thus far.

Plasma - For coolness factor, it takes the lead in a big way. However, there are a lot of issues, including - and this is the biggest for me - the inability to repair the thing. Picture quality is great, convenience is outstanding, the technology has a lot going for it. But $3K plus for something you can't repair is a real concern for me.

LCD-RPTV - this is pretty cool too. Although I was a little distracted by the pixelization on the one I saw. Also, the unit had some problems with skin tones in dark scenes. For the most part though, the picture was great. Only 16" inches deep, so the foot print for the size of screen was impressive.

DLP - I saw one of these this weekend - SAMSUNG 43" Tantrus. This was a sharp looking unit. Excellent color, no pixelisation on what I saw - Componet output from a progressive scan DVD of Finding Nemo. Color saturation looked better than the LCD, in fact the color was pretty much outstanding. Hadn't seen on of these beofre. Anyone have one? Any experiences? The reviews I saw were favorable - although I read there was a problem with the color being too green for some reason. I have also read that unless you are eye level, the picture becomes hard to see. That is, if you are sitting below the picture like watching it from the floor, the picture basically disappears That could be problematic as ideally the set will be sitting about 4 feet off the floor and I often sit below that level to watch TV.

So where am I at. So far, I am at a stand still! Although I think I have moved away from the plasma because of the repair issue. So that leaves me with the DLP and the LCD - RPTV. Both are around the same price point - say $4K where I live. Brands will be either Panasonic or Samsung as those seem to be the ones available here. Here being Bermuda for anyone who cares to know that.

Probably going to purchase mid late March so I have some time left to look around a bit more. I also have a trip up to NYC planned in the mean time so I can look around up there too.

I'll keep you posted. Also would love to hear anymore comments and other people's expereinces.

Thanks

Yam