namlook

This seems too good to be true. A 42" Plasma that is HD capable for $1399 shipped?

42" HD Plasma with built-in tuner

Spiky

First off, it isn't HD resolution. No 42" plasma is.
Next, PC Connection has gone way down in my estimation. I used to purchase from them all the time around a decade ago. But now they are about the same as the Brooklyn ripoff joints.
Never heard of 3G Technology, couldn't possibly comment on the quality. But "too good to be true" often is accurate for products like this.

REL77

I too highly doubt this.. Save your money, get something better.

DVD Josh

The deal's legit, I've been reading about it on FW for quite some time. Until someone takes the plunge though, we won't know more.

renaldow

I googled the model and got lots of articles about new low cost plasmas. I don't think it's a scam or anything, but like DVD_Josh says, until someone actually buys or sees one, we'll never know the quality.

BDB

discussion thread on avsforum

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...ighlight=42TN2

Spiky

I didn't mean that this TV is a scam. I just mean that the first wave of low-priced plasmas will probably not match up PQ-wise to a nice Panny or Fujitsu for twice as much cash.

BDB

you can get the panny 42" ED for under 1600 now which is insane. I've had mine 18months and got a great deal at 2100. I think I'll wait a little while then get a 50" HD and move the 42 to the kitchen.

renaldow

Mounted under the cabinets?

namlook

I thought 1024 x 768 was HD resolution? Are ED TV's 1024 x 768? Over in the AVS forum thread people are saying this set is HD.

DVD Josh

I didn't believe Spiky either at first but:

1) He knows his shit
2) So I believe him
3) Plus, he proved it with some nice math and other stuff.

I love me some Spiky.

drmoze

That doesn't change the raw specs. 768 is considered 'HD' and not 'ED' even though it isn't a 'true HD' 1080. It is still much greater than the ED 480. Regardless of what Spiky says...

DVD Polizei

ED is 480i/p. At least I thought.

DVD Josh

Well, to address both you and Polizei at once, you are both mistaken

The bottom line that due to the increased pixel size of Plasma, 42"ers do not have enough to achieve true HD resolution. It's a physical limitation of the technology, regardless of what the specs say.

And no, 480p and 720p are ED resoultions. HD is 1080i and greater. 768 is a PAL resolution anyway.

Spiky

Ok, that's just a bit too far, Josh. Let's keep the L word for our HTs and the PQ. And let's throw out the math to correct some of this...

HDTV res: 1280x720p and up, both i and p. (note 1280, not 1024)
EDTV res: 480p and up to HD level. Not 480i.
SDTV res: 480i and down. But it's all called 480i, even though VHS can only do half that.
1024x768: Actually, this is a PC resolution, not really TV. It really falls under ED since it isn't wide enough for HD, even though the vertical res is more than adequate. If you do the math (1024 / 4 * 3 = 768), it should be 4:3, but plasmas do not have square pixels, so the TV shape is physically 16:9.

If y'all need it, I can go pull up some websites, but right now I'm lazy.

Spiky

Oh, and that "true HD" phrase that some people like to throw around is nothing more than bitching about which res is better. In many ways 720p looks better than 1080i, even though 1080 has more lines. Because progressive looks better. "True HD" is anything in the ATSC spec, which I put in the above post.

namlook

Thanks for the summary on the HD resolution. I have read many times people stating that 1024 resolution is an HD capable resolution. Perhaps it is like "almost" HD, so it looks almost as good?

720p definately looks better than 1080i for fast motion things like sports. 720p is 60 frames per second while 1080i is only 30 fps.

Also, my LCD TV is 1280 x 720 and seems to look best at the 720p setting for all HD broadcasts.

DVD Josh

Well, that's because 720p is it's native resolution

Adam Tyner

Well, 4x3 is a ratio, so it's 4 / 3, not 4 * 3. But...yeah.

Spiky

Adam,
That isn't a ratio, it's an equation. Try it out. I suppose if you want a definition, it's a proof for the following relationship of ratios...

4:3 = 1024:768

Or, as equation...

4 / 3 = 1024 / 768 = 1.333333 (continuing)

Adam Tyner

I just mean, " * " is typically used to indicate multiplication, but in this case, you're dividing, not multiplying. Just clarifying that in case anyone saw that and got confused since 1024 / 12 isn't 768.

namlook

So why do they have a 4:3 resolution on a widescreen TV and how does this affect picture quality?

Also since plasma has burn in how well can you stretch a 4:3 picture on a plasma?

BDB

yup kitchen will be redone, under cabinet and over counter

namlook

That must be a huge kitchen. A 42" TV would look ridiculous in my kitchen.

Spiky

Perhaps this will clarify properly:
1024/4=256
256*3=768

I'm not sure what you learned about equations, but for one-line equations I learned that all division and multiplication functions go in order from left to right, and then all addition and subtraction. Maybe we went to different schools.