Plasma HDTV Help

[digitard]

I agree. If you plan to game a lot on it, dont go plasma. Stay away from Phospher based sets in general if thats the primary use (Plasma/CRT).

Stick with LCD, or DLP since neither have burn in. LCD has something called Image Retention sometimes (looks like burn in) but you just pull the power for a few hours and it goes back. Not permanant. DLP has no burn in what so ever.

I have a 50" Optoma RD50A DLP HDTV ... its phenominal, but they dont make it anymore which sucks cause its an amazing set. Won best of show at CES.

If you really just plan on XB360, HD Cable and DVD's (which can be run through your 360 anyhow) then really you dont need the extra inputs.

My set has:
1x DVI-D
2x Component High Definition inputs
1x Component SD inputs
2x Composite Inputs
2x S-Video inputs (FYI S-Video is NOT HD compatable)
2x standard cable inputs

You were mentioning the XB360 and pictures from the PC. You can sync your PC up with your XB360 and view your pictures from the XB360 dashboard so no need for extra stuff.

I have my rig setup like so:
- Cable goes into my HD-DVR (gotta record in high def)
- HD-DVR goes into Component 1 (was HDMI-DVID but I change dit back to component)
- XB360 goes into Component2
- Wifes gamecube in composite1.

Thats it. My XB360 not only plays my DVD's, but I loaded a WinXP Media Center 2005 as my OS on my PC so I can stream music, photos and full XVID/DIVX movies to my XB360 so my 160gigs of movies can be viewed on demand as your XB360 sync's with the media center interface on your computer.

[hellrasiermike]

Alright guys, since I sell these sets at HHGreGG I thought I might add my two cents.

When you are looking to buy a tv for gaming your going to only look at six different aspects of the set. That being Size, Color Capacity, Response time, Contrast, Burn-in, and resloution.

On size the simplest thing to do is stand infront of your tv and pace your steps back to where your normally sit. Then do the same thing at the store. If your eyes "walk" from either side of the tv your looking at something to big. And if you have to squint at it, your looking at something to small. The old rule that you need 10 inches of screen size for every one foot of distance is wrong for the simple fact that we all don't have the same eyes. And what may seem to close or far to you might look just right to another.

On color, most sets these days can produce more color the the human eye can differentiate. You picked a good model in the PX60U series from Panasonic. They hold the original patent to plasma sets and this is their ninth generation. But take a look at a Xbox 360 display anywhere. They are all (and I mean every single one) Samsung screens. Back before the launch of the 360 Microsoft dropped about 10 million dollars in research to figure out which Manufacturers screens produced the best color when interfacing with a 360. It says something that they chose Samsung to the tune of 56,000 screens bought. The new series out from Samsung has the only 13bit color porcessor in the world certified for the 360. And you can get it in Projection, LCD and Plasma.

Response time is and issue that only we fanatical gamers take to heart. When it come to the three types of HDTV sets available, only two stand out. That being Projection (DLP to be specific) and Plasma. I know everyone says to get a LCD for gaming but they don't what talking about. Believe me, I've had plenty of time to tinker and the lag on a LCD drove me nuts. You see it even if you have it on a game mode. You have to understand when it comes to LCD they are TV's first and a Computer/Gaming screen last. Thats just how their designed. Projection and Plasma sets have no noticable lag when placed in a game mode.

Contrast is something not a lot of people think about or understand, but it is crucial. Contracts is what makes your whites and blacks whites and blacks, not a form of grey. Their what stands behind every pixel on your screen (all 2 million of them). The next time you go into a store just look at an LCD vrs a Plasma. Look at the skin tones and the greens and you will see the grey in the LCD. Remeber the HDTV formats will show you a heck of a lot more in color then we've ever had before. Of the three types of sets you can by Plasma ranks highest with a true 10,000 to 1 contrast ratio. Projection comes second with 6,000 to 1, and LCD with 3,000 to 1. Now I know some people might bring up the fact that some companies are advertising LCD with 6,000 to 1 and Projections with 10,000 to 1, but its all bogus. The screens built in may be capable of those contract ratios, but the computers running the set are not. The only set capable of a true 10,000 to 1 ratio is a Plasma.

Burn-in is the great bogey man of Plasma HDTV's. Most people have the miconception the Plasmas are the most vulnerable. "Consumer reports" did a test last month (Sep 06) in which a Samsung Plasma and a Panasonic Plasma were pitted against a Samsung LCD and a Panasonic LCD. Both Plasma and LCD sets where left on a PS2 screen for two days. And both sets had severe burn-in afterwords. But after leaving the screen wipe program on for only eight hours, on both the Samsung and Panasonic Plasmas, the burn-in was completely erased. The LCD's screen clean function could not remove the burn-in. And keep in mind that the projection screen clean function isn't any better than the LCD's.

Resolution is another factor I don't think a lot of people understand. Originally there were only three standards; 480, 720 and 1080. Your DVD would be good example of 480. However, with the 720 resolution some people complained of seeing a "screen" in front of the TV. What the were seeing was the seperation between the pixels. It was from this that the term "screen door effect" was coined and it can be very annoying. So the industry responded with a fourth resloution, 768. It allowed for a 720 feed to be smoothed out so there would be no "screen door effect". 1080 is the diffinitve HDTV format, and it is already the standard for both Blu-ray and HD-DVD. If you plan on getting a PS3 its a must, but for the 360 its not really needed. A 768 set will do.

In closing I've been looking for the exact same thing as you man. The set you really need to go for is the Samsung Plasma HPS4253. Its only $1799.99 and has the right color processor (Xbox 360 certified, its the same one in their LCD's), Frame rates (absolutley no lag playing Halo 2), contrast (10,000 to 1) and its 42 inches. I know its more expensive than the panasonic, but this set was designed for this kind of gaming. It is so worth the extra $200. Email me if you want/need anymore details.

Regards,

Mike D

On a side note, all those that have bought or are looking to buy the models carried at Sams Club, Costco and Walmart. The sets carried at these stores are all 720 sets (unless their 1080). If you think your saving something by buying a visio at Sams vrs buying a Samsung at Circuit City, your not. Trust me your not. It is worth spending that extra $200 to $400. You'll understand when you pop in "War of the Worlds" on your HD-DVD player two years down the road and wonder why it doesn't look any better than the DVD version on your old tube. Remember, this is an upgrade. We(sales staff) are not as dumb as we look and you (customer) are not as smart as you think. Your not being clever by being cheap, your just setting yourself up for a big and expensive disapointment.

[trevorjk]

ive heard panasonic and samsung are suppose to do extreme advertising campaigns on the plasma and lcd big screens (30-50 inches) late this year. wich should drop price substantially. just an fyi