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Re: You're approaching this the wrong way...

206.109.43.194

Posted by Jim Cate on July 6, 2003 at 20:45:49

In Reply to: You're approaching this the wrong way... posted by Harmonia on July 5, 2003 at 19:21:15:

I think that many of your points were acknowldeged in my initial note, in which I recognized that the plasmas seem to have better brightness and can be effective on some material, though not so well on others. However,if we are talking about an HDTV for a "home theater" (this IS the home theater discussion section) in a medium size room (e.g., 20 x 15 feet or larger), I don't think that the present flat panel sets would do the job. They are great for viewing DVDs, provided you can position them rather close to your seating area, but they don't provide the "home theater" experience available on a good rear or front projection set of 65 inches or more. - It seems that many buyers of panels plan to position them on a wall, rather than on a stand spaced several feet out from the wall. This would normally mean that, hanging on the wall, they are positioned several feet farther away from the seating area, and rearwardly of the usual position of a RPTV. Logically, assuming that the seating area remains the same, one would need a somewhat larger display area than the 65-inch set positioned several feet out in the room. - In other words, to achieve the same viewing angle, a plasma set of around 80-inches would be about right, assuming, again, that we are talking about a home theater application.

Regarding your suggestion that i'm approaching it the wrong way because I noted that even the high-end plasmas have a resolution less than half that of good 1080i rear projection sets, it's interesting to me that considerations of the resolution of HDTVs in terms of the number of horizontal and vertical lines was considered entirely appropriate and meaningful prior to the advertising of plasma sets, but now, raising that issue seems to be an indication that I'm a "techi" (you asked whether I was an engineer, apparently implying that I have a fixation on specs and technical factors and a limited appreciation of the more important criteria). I suppose that if I were advertising a set costing three times as much as rear projection sets providing substantially better resolution, I might try to come up with "techi" inuendos as well.

Regarding the comments on 720p vs 1080i, my present set is a Zenith 65-inch rear projection HD with 9-inch CRT projection tubes, which I have had for around three years. (My interest in plasmas is the eventual replacement of my present set when, or if, a true 1080i panel set of comparable display size is introduced.) In our area, there are several stations broadcasting in 720p, and three broadcasting in 1080i, plus several 1080i stations on satellite. On my set, the 1080i broadcasts are SUBSTANTIALLY clearer and more detailed and more impressive than the 720p programs. - It's like looking at a football game through an open window. And although 1080i pictures aren't available on DVD yet, it seems likely that the blue laser HD systems will be available fairly soon. In any event, as indicated previously, I wouldn't want to spend $10,000 on a set that won't be ready when HD DVDs come on the market.

The point I was trying to make is that the HD plasma sets are being promoted in a very deceptive manner, and customers are being assured that they provide the same or better resolution than 1080i rear projection sets, which simply isn't true with respect to the better quality RP sets.

Jim

Jim

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