Have you got a Plasma / What brand/ How much ?/ Where From - Page 2

LUXO_8 · 22-01-2006, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aimzes

ive heard that most companies are increasing production and that prices are going to drop conciderably in the near future, is this true?

dont know where i heard that... maybe i dreamed it.

was on the news, and i heard that too

they also said that the quality will get better as the prices fall......which is good on both accounts..

me will wait:P

aimzes · 22-01-2006, 04:37 PM

yeah i can wait a bit longer.

Quote:

To be honest, LG is certainly not worth the time and effort in my opinion.

isnt LG just a rebadged "goldstar" or something? thats what ive heard.

rodderz · 22-01-2006, 04:54 PM

Having just been to the local Harvey Norman, I'm still not sold on plasma's or LCD screens. They look ok in a big room, but they still have a distinct blur to the edges and you can notice the refreshing of them

I'm not saying I wouldnt have one, but normal telly's still have great pictures in smaller sizes, however are grainy when you go bigger. I think I'll wait to see what happens the next few years

LUXO_8 · 22-01-2006, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodderz

Having just been to the local Harvey Norman, I'm still not sold on plasma's or LCD screens. They look ok in a big room, but they still have a distinct blur to the edges and you can notice the refreshing of them

this is where they are aparently rapidly improving...

remember, you dont know just how many hours the ones on display have been on.... they could be up to 800 - 1000 hours already..

rodderz · 22-01-2006, 05:01 PM

True, probably also depends on what sort of signal they're getting in the store too

K_Man · 22-01-2006, 06:53 PM

My G/F's dad just bought a Humax 42" Plasma with built in STB, and i drool everytime i see the cricket on it. It was an ex-display, the picture is fantastic given the mileage on it.

Although I'm definitely going to wait until they get a LOT cheaper. $4k just for a nicer picture and the channel guides is a little hard to swallow.

blueoval · 22-01-2006, 07:06 PM

Humax? I have only just heard of that brand. Is it any good? Are the parts for this brand in any relation to more known brands?

flappist · 22-01-2006, 08:15 PM

Having spent about 8 bazillion hours researching this and owning both a HD plasma and a LCD as well as a bucket full of DVDs & STBs this the what I have found.

1) SD screens are set at the yank standard not ours. i.e. 682x480 instead of 720x576. This means that SD screens are lower definition than SD broadcasts.

2) All plasmas solarise (cartoonise) especially things with lots of red e.g. faces. This is most obvious on DTV broadcasts as the signal is usually fairly low quality.

3) All LCDs shimmer & "snail trail". The quicker the screen the less obvious the "snail trail" but even the Bravia VVs shimmer.

4) A lot of these problems can be resolved in the case of DVD by aquiring a latest technology progressive that has at least a 108Mhz RAMDAC. These are not expensive, I have 5 DVD player/recorders, the SONY 52P ($140) is by FAR the best for playback. It is much much better than my older and much more expensive ($800) 525P

5) It seems to work best when everything is set as close to the native definition of the screens. Both mine are 1024x768 so I run everything in 720P (1280x720). 1080i & 576P do not seem to look as good.

6) Expensive cables are a rip off unless they are more than 2 metres long and even then are a bit like "brocky's polariser"

7) Almost every sales guy lied to me. Those who didn't said they did not know much about anything.

8) The quality of the DTV is most strongly influenced by the set top box. Many of these are rubbish. I have owned more than 20 (luckily I get on well with a few of the local retailer and have "traded" the bad ones). The Sony one is the best I have found but it is about $700, the Samsung 550 is pretty good too. Others less so.

9) At this time HD DTV is a waste of electrons. If you think that there is nothing more annoying than ads in the middle of a show, watch HD for a while, you will find you were wrong.

My current gear, Samsung 42" HD plasma, AWA 66cm LCD, Samsung 550 STB (2 of), Samsung DVD-RW, Sony 525P & 52P DVDs, LG cheapo DVD for DivX.

There will be many new models with Digital tuners released between now and the end of the year. The current ones with "analdog" only tuners will drop in price significantly.

Most of the "good" brand gear is pretty good, it is in your interest to ensure that all the bits you buy can intercontrol or else you will have to press 20 buttons on 10 remotes just to change channel.
N.B. This is the bit that the sales guys ALWAYS lied about....
"yeh mate this can control all your other stuff".... bullNNNN
The other trick is make sure that pressing the volume control on the amp does not eject your DVD etc......

parawolf · 22-01-2006, 08:40 PM

Having had this discussion with some guys at work, both in Melbourne, various places in the USA and in Europe.

For Aussies, wait before spending big dollars if you can avoid it. The Americans are enjoying 1080p (native) displays. For the inner geek that wants a Home Theatre PC setup this is very important.

Also there isn't a large amount of HD content out their, so if you need something to get you by, i'd suggest a cheapy CRT until things improve.

One of the biggest players in consumer electronics has just released their first proper set of HD panels - Sony. I'd be waiting where possible as others start to get matured a bit too.

Also there is the condition of cables. HDMI is the connector of choice at the moment. However don't be conned into paying massive dollars. it is a digital signal - it does not lose clarity unlike analogue transmission technologies (component, svideo, ...).

Anyway... if you could - i'd wait about 6 - 12 months more.

AC/DC · 22-01-2006, 09:29 PM

I was also asking in the thread, , , , where did you all buy them from ??

AC/DC

**russellw** · 22-01-2006, 09:42 PM

I'm going to take some of this to task. Having the advantage of a perfectly functional test bed to use and having spent a lot of days in it there are a couple of inaccuracies that need to be corrected.

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

3) All LCDs shimmer & "snail trail". The quicker the screen the less obvious the "snail trail" but even the Bravia VVs shimmer.

This is not the case for the current generation of 8ms and under LCD screens.

Quote:

6) Expensive cables are a rip off unless they are more than 2 metres long and even then are a bit like "brocky's polariser"

This is blatantly misleading. Even at a metre the difference between an $8 and $80 SVideo cable is tangible and I'll be stuffed if I recommend that anyone spend thousands on a plasma / LCD set up to spoil the image with crap cabling. There's a reason why it's expensive and it has nothing to do with gullibility. As always the best option is to use optical audio and DVI video with your STB (if available) and then migrate through S-Video or component saving composite video for the VCR. This will become more difficult when we see Blu-Ray but some of the DVD-R made for Blu-Ray will contain hi def tuners anyway.

Quote:

9) At this time HD DTV is a waste of electrons. If you think that there is nothing more annoying than ads in the middle of a show, watch HD for a while, you will find you were wrong.

Refer my earlier comment.

Quote:

... it is in your interest to ensure that all the bits you buy can intercontrol or else you will have to press 20 buttons on 10 remotes just to change channel.
N.B. This is the bit that the sales guys ALWAYS lied about....
"yeh mate this can control all your other stuff".... bullNNNN

I'm going to agree with this but suggest that anyone wanting a multi function remote take a look at the Harmony range, these days sold by Logitech. They don't work for everybody but if you have fairly standard gear that's in their (massive) database then with a little bit of patience it is possible to control all basic functions with it. You'll still need to keep your normal remotes for advanced features.

Cheers
Russ

**russellw** · 22-01-2006, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueoval

Humax? I have only just heard of that brand. Is it any good? Are the parts for this brand in any relation to more known brands?

Humax are the biggest sellers of STB's and Plasma in Europe. The ones we get are made at their Asia Pacific facility and mostly pretty good for the price. Their STB's are known for running a bit hot and should have plenty of air circulation.

Cheers
Russ

Dodge · 22-01-2006, 09:46 PM

got 2 plasmas 1 LG and 1 Panasonic, both are not as good as lcd. especially when watching motor racing or footy. the image is not so clear on high speed action

flappist · 22-01-2006, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by russellw

I'm going to take some of this to task. Having the advantage of a perfectly functional test bed to use and having spent a lot of days in it there are a couple of inaccuracies that need to be corrected.

This is not the case for the current generation of 8ms and under LCD
screens.

Yes but there is still slight snail trails on fast moving high detail images, it is a lot better than the earlier ones but not as good as CRT,

Quote:

Originally Posted by russellw

This is blatantly misleading. Even at a metre the difference between an $8 and $80 SVideo cable is tangible and I'll be stuffed if I recommend that anyone spend thousands on a plasma / LCD set up to spoil the image with crap cabling. There's a reason why it's expensive and it has nothing to do with gullibility. As always the best option is to use optical audio and DVI video with your STB (if available) and then migrate through S-Video or component saving composite video for the VCR. This will become more difficult when we see Blu-Ray but some of the DVD-R made for Blu-Ray will contain hi def tuners anyway.

Having re-read what I wrote I agree, I was confusing. what I meant to say was HDMI/DVI/RGB are the go over svideo & composite. What I was talking about was the difference between a $50 1.5m rgb cable and a $300 gold plated soopa doopa one.
The content is not of high enough quality to show any difference and by the time it is it will be a whole new ball game.

The HD DTV being annoying is just that 9 & 10 switch back to the HD demos during the ad breaks which I find bloody annoying.

blueoval · 23-01-2006, 12:34 PM

Is it worth paying extra for a HD plasma over a SD plasma? Can you really notice the difference?
I also heard that a tv with HDMI is the best signal currently available. I assume that getting a plasma with this feature is worth having, yes?

Sorry for the n00b questions.

Mrs347stroker · 23-01-2006, 12:59 PM

We have a LG HD Plasma, best tv ever, bout 120cm I think. Best thing we ever bought, in the price range of $2500 - $4000.

flappist · 23-01-2006, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueoval

Is it worth paying extra for a HD plasma over a SD plasma? Can you really notice the difference?
I also heard that a tv with HDMI is the best signal currently available. I assume that getting a plasma with this feature is worth having, yes?

Sorry for the n00b questions.

www.dtvforum.info

The fights on this one make AU vs BA or GT vs F6 look like playschool, but there is a lot of good info if you look hard

merlin · 23-01-2006, 02:33 PM

I bought a projector ($1500) for the lounge room and reckon its unreal - (I prefer size over quality I guess).

There was an article in the telegraph today saying how channel 7 and channel 9 were burning their logos into Plasma owners screens due to people watching cricket and tennis for more than a few hours. "image fade" or something like that ruining peoples expensive plasmas!

MITCHAY · 23-01-2006, 02:46 PM

I think the only benefit to be had with a Plasma or LCD is how flat the TV is. It's good for saving space. I looked at some Plasma and LCD screens to see what the hype was about and to look for myself.

Personally I reckon a good CRT TV with a STB results in a far better picture. Yes they are big TVs but I believe my $450 TV with a STB has a much better picture than the $4000 TVs i was looking at. I have a NEC 51cm flatscreen and a Teac SD STB.

Anyways I remember a while back at JB Hi Fi, they were getting rid of Soniq 42" Plasmas for $2000 and apparently the screens are made by a reputable brand so that might be worth a look. Maybe they might have some left.

XLS99 Ute man · 23-01-2006, 02:51 PM

My dad recently purchased the 42" plasma widescreen flat TV Pixel Plus 2 by philips
this thing rocks!!
it has the ambience lights on the back which is supposed to optimizes picture quality
oh and we got the set top box too it makes such a big difference, its totally worth the extra money for the digital set top box

henry 351 · 23-01-2006, 03:45 PM

I watch a 50" Pioneer, its the ducks guts. Watched Bathurst on it last year, one mate was so impressed he went out and bought a 42" Pioneer the next day.

Best thing about a big screen, Maria Sharipova's legs just get longer and longer...

blueoval · 23-01-2006, 03:59 PM

Will a STB be ok to be used on a regular flat screen tv? My tv isnt a wide screen.

parawolf · 23-01-2006, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueoval

Will a STB be ok to be used on a regular flat screen tv? My tv isnt a wide screen.

Yes. However you may suffer from the horizontal black bars on things presented in wide screen mode.

Mr Cube · 23-01-2006, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AC/DC

I was also asking in the thread, , , , where did you all buy them from ??
AC/DC

I got the same screen as yours 42" Panasonic Veira.. I love it.. Got it from Harvey Norman..

Got the screen wireless hometheatre for just over 4 I think.

I love playing the Xbox on it, looks and sounds sensational and will love the 360 even more..

Forgot to add The occasional bluey looks sensational on the screen

**Falcon Coupe** · 23-01-2006, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AC/DC

I was also asking in the thread, , , , where did you all buy them from ??

AC/DC

I bought mine at JB hi-fi.

An article in todays paper says some people with plasmas have suffered permanent burn in on thier screen due watch the cricket and tennis, the tv stations having their logo in the corner of the screen has damaged that part of the screen, a tv station spokesperson says setting a lower contrast would reduce the problem......not happy Jan !

Gambit · 23-01-2006, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falcon Coupe

An article in todays paper says some people with plasmas have suffered permanent burn in on thier screen due watch the cricket and tennis, the tv stations having their logo in the corner of the screen has damaged that part of the screen, a tv station spokesperson says setting a lower contrast would reduce the problem......

Has this happened to anyone here?

blueoval · 23-01-2006, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falcon Coupe

I bought mine at JB hi-fi.

An article in todays paper says some people with plasmas have suffered permanent burn in on thier screen due watch the cricket and tennis, the tv stations having their logo in the corner of the screen has damaged that part of the screen, a tv station spokesperson says setting a lower contrast would reduce the problem......not happy Jan !

Is there anything you can avoid doing to avoid screen burn?

gozza · 23-01-2006, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falcon Coupe

I bought my Hitachi 42" 12 months ago, high res and pixels cost me $5600, it's a great unit which can be bought for not much over 3k now, something to remember when buying a plasma is the viewing distance, 42" recomended distance is 3-1/2 metres, 50" is 5 metres, so if you buy something to big for the room, the picture quality will suffer, also the cheaper versions are quite ordinary at any distance.

i don't have a plasma buts its a 104 cm tv
i have to be like over 5 meters away to get the best quality

23-01-2006, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueoval

Is there anything you can avoid doing to avoid screen burn?

Only thing I can think of is play around with the zoom settings. Or watch less sport

blueoval · 23-01-2006, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackLS

Only thing I can think of is play around with the zoom settings. Or watch less sport

Looks like I'll be playing with my zoom setting when I get one then!