The Great Cheapest & Best Plasma Hunt

securityman

Slightly off topic but, i need to get a wall bracket for this plas if any one can help

http://www.stoneaudio.co.uk/stoneaudio/products/details.asp?product=513

Cheers

24seven

Slightly off topic but, i need to get a wall bracket for this plas if any one can help

http://www.stoneaudio.co.uk/stoneaudio/products/details.asp?product=513

Cheers

Take a look here I'm sure if you drop them an email, they will be able to help

securityman

Thanks 24seven, i have emailed them.
I have found it hard to get it for the 61in.

Hope i have more luck with them.

Pixel_2

Hi, I'm new to this site but being in the business I'd like to add some comments and info to what's already been discussed.

Very simply with plasma and LCD TVs you get what you pay for. Flat does not equal good and there are some very ropey pictures out there as many of you have pointed out.

Many of the cheap panels available are not TVs but purely displays, so you have to add tuners, speakers etc and this can lead to quite complcated wiring arrangements. Big manufacturers such as Sony no longer produce consumer panels without the necessary standard conections such as SCART, but produce flat TVs instead. Both Sony and Panasonic sell plasmas with built-in Freeview and all the connections you would find on the back of any TV which keeps it very simple.

The PW6 mentioned in earlier posts is an excellent set but only comes as standard with a SCART terminal board. Any other connections are extra at over £100 a time. This set has just been replaced by the PW7 so the '6' should be going cheap.

Whether you go for plasma or LCD is mainly down to screen size. If you're looking at 32" or below then it's going to be LCD as there are fewer manufacturers producing plasmas this size any more. Above 32" then go for plasma as it is cheaper than LCD and performs better. Screen burn is only an issue for computer games. If you use a plasma TV like you would any normal TV then you will not have a problem. I have never had a customer complaint about screen burn in four years of retailing plasma TV.

The big issue for me in deciding which model to buy is high definition TV. High definition TV is available in the US at the moment where the Discovery Channel is in Hi-Def as well as major sporting events. You can also receive hi-def in the UK via the HD-1 channel broadcast on satellite. Launched in early 2004 and broadcasting in 1080i the picture is simply stunning. I have it linked up to Sony MRX series plasmas in my stores and the difference between hi-def and Sky/Freeview is night and day.

To receive hi-def you need a display with at least 720 lines vertical resolution and either component video or HDMI. Some screens are the right resolution but don't have the connections, some have the connections but not the resolution, so you really have to do your homework.

So why hi-def? Sky have announced they will start hi-def broadcasting in 2006. They will broadcast in 720p but will allow other channels in the package to choose which format they use. Now here's the spanner in the works. Sky content will only work on TVs with a HDMI input which supports copy protection (they don't want you copying the latest movie on to blu-ray). Quite simply there are hardly any plasma/LCDs on the market which do this at the moment.

So to summarise, if you must have something flat and cool looking go ahead and get something cheap but it won't perform as well as a good CRT TV.

If you have no intention of ever giving Mr Murdoch a penny then there are plenty of good plasma/LCD TVs out there at the moment, especially from Sony, Panasonic and Philips.

If you have Sky and want hi-def then wait. However you may not have to wait long. I expect Sony's latest range to be Sky compatible and it shoule be out in the mid part of this year. Other manufacturers will do the same.

Hope this helps!

jd79

Thanks for this, Pixel. Very interesting and informative.


JD

securityman

Take a look here I'm sure if you drop them an email, they will be able to help

They could not help me with the wall bracket.

Any one else thet can help?

Mr_Mister

The current range of Plasmas & LCDs are only good in the short term as the future is High Definition TVs which will become common in the next few years. Another technology to look out for is OLED (Organic LED) which is miles better than LCD but expensive at the moment to produce.
So if you have money to splash around now, go for the Plasmas but new technology is around the corner which will make the displays of today look medieval.

barmonkey

no price yet but i want one ;D

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=20715

kes74

Something to be aware of about the plasma offer which started this thread - There is currently a thread on AV Forums directly concerning the quality of the Tiny.com products:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=180302&page=1&pp=15

Note that a Tiny.com representative has started to post responses to the concerns being raised (first is #146) so that is a positive in the tide of negativity, so hopefully there will be a satisfactory solution to the problems being experienced. My view is that quality faults are understandable but if they do occur then resolutions must be forthcoming, and until that is the case I'm putting off the purchase of the 50 inch plasma I was considering.

ilovefreebies_2

61 inch is huge!