Plasma TV question???? — Community

#1 Jan 22, 2005 at 4:48 am

I have been reading about plasma TV and I had a question. Why do plasma TVs only come in 1366 X 768 or some similar resolution like that?

Is there every going to be a true HD plasma made that does a 1920 X 1080?

I hope this is not a dumb question. I am just trying to learn about plasma TV's. I have been thinking about getting one in the future. Is this the way to go or not?

BTW: If I would get one it would be a 50 inch size screen.

As always thanks for any info?

#2 Jan 22, 2005 at 3:57 pm (edited Jan 22, 2005)

Plasma has always come in 720P native scan rates and that makes it HD. 1080I is also HD. They are two HD formats. The others are 1080P24 and 1080P30 which is supported by your STB but is not available as output scan rate, it is converted if, IF, anybody is even using it.

There are 1080I plasma displays. Which ones? Subscribe to HDTV Magazine and you will receive the Rudolfo Report coming out shortly that covers ALL HD equipment from CES. That said they are very pricey and makes 720P plasma look inexpensive.

Subscribe to HDTV Magazine!

Plasma works best in bright viewing environments so even at night it is recommended you keep your room lighting turned on. Due to the glass screen they can suffer from glare. Plasma is the most susceptible display to burn in. It is a fixed pixel display.

Have you considered an LCD flat panel?

#3 Jan 22, 2005 at 7:00 pm

Richard,
I am a subscriber to HDTV magazine. I have the Rudolfo report from last year and I will probably get the one this year. I think I renewed my subscription to HDTV magazine about this time last year so I could get the Rudolfo report.

Yes I have considered LCD flat panel. I am not sure for future considerations which is the best way to go. Plasmas really look great but my son plays alot of XBOX and gamecube on my RPTV(Hitachi 53 inch) so I am afraid of the burn in with getting a plasma.

I am surprised that you said that GLARE was a problem with the plasma since the ones that I have looked at in the Sears, and ultimate electronics stores appear very bright and glare does not seem to be as much of a problem with them as I experience with my RPTV.

I bet a 1080I plasma would be very expensive. Is that right?

Thanks for the info and I will be on the look out for the Rudolfo report.

#4 Jan 22, 2005 at 8:57 pm

If you want 50 inches and you can't wait another year then you may have to go plasma, but burn-in would be a major concern with video games.

With a fixed pixel display like plasma or LCD or DLP you normally get 720p or less. Why no 1080p? Easy. 720p requires 921,600 pixels. 1080p requires 2,073,600 pixels, or more than double and the cost increases per pixel.

The new LCDs are getting better and bigger but are still quite expensive. If you can wait or go with a smaller screen size you won't have to worry about burn-in or the other plasma problems.

#5 Jan 22, 2005 at 9:31 pm

I am surprised that you said that GLARE was a problem

Any display with a glass like screen surface will have glare problems. With an RPTV there are ways to change that. With direct view CRT and plasma you can't because the glass is part of the screen. How much of a problem you will have with glare depends on the room lighting and the image you are watching. Bright images may not be a big deal but dark images always are.

#6 Jan 24, 2005 at 6:39 pm

mjm76,

The odd "768" is a computer resolution. Yes, that's not a good thing. It means that the TV has to convert 720 and 1080, and 480 for that matter, to 768. Some brands do it well, others a horrible at it. The plasmas that are 720 native are better, IMO.