CRT vs. Plasma
 

I currently have a 36-inch Sony Trinitron CRT TV (flat screen tube), and DVD’s look great on it. I’d like to upgrade to plasma, and I’ve been looking at a few 50-inch models, specifically the Samsung PN50B450 (720p). I was told that my DVD's won't look as good on a 50-inch plasma TV as they do on my CRT. To test this theory, I tried playing a DVD on a friend's 42-inch Akai PDP4290 plasma TV. To be honest, I though the picture looked terrible - very grainy, bad pixelation, etc. Maybe it's because this particular model plasma TV is several years old, but if this is what I can expect (maybe even worse) from a 50-inch plasma, I'd probably do better to just keep my CRT.

So my question is do standard DVD's played on a standard DVD player look fine on most 50-inch plasmas? I'd love to go bigger with a widescreen, but if I'm going to be sacrificing picture quality, I don't want to spend the money.

By the way, I will not be connecting my computer or playing video games on the TV. I also have no plans to upgrade to Blu-Ray anytime soon.

Thanks!

Re: CRT vs. Plasma
 

Don't use Akai to judge all plasmas. Or any plasmas for that matter.

A properly calibrated, well rated plasma will look better that your SDTV any day of the week.

That Akai is a terrible television. Rated as one of the worst plasmas. A Samsung, Pioneer or Panasonic 50" 720p plasma will look great with DVD.

But don't fool yourself into thinking you wont upgrade to Blu-ray anytime soon. You're running SD right now. Wait until you get a taste of HD. You will slowly convince yourself that if you got a good neough deal you will upgrade. Then you say you will only buy some must-have new releases. Then you will justify buying Trye Romance because you got a good deal and you can sell your SDDVD. Then you will start getting rid of all the DVDs that have a Blu-ray counterpart. Then you will be responding to a guy on the internet asking if he should upgrade his TV at 7am.

Doesn'[y happen to everyone buy never say never.

If your comments were used to not have anyone talk you out of a plasma or into a 1080p TV, it won't happen much here. Most of us believe 1080p is a marketing scam and that plasma has the best picture.

buy either a panasonic or samsung 720p plasma and use the following link to calibrate your TV after break-in.

www.tweaktv.com

Re: CRT vs. Plasma
 

Very difficult to do an A/B comparison like that. Unless you have both TV's properly calibrated side by side in the same room and light with the same player you are comparing the proverbial apples and oranges.

If you read the various reports in this and other forums you won't find many if any people wishing for their CRT back. There has to be a reason for that. That reason is that a Plasma TV from any of the quality manufacturers will blow you away once it's set up properly.

To do list:
Buy plasma (I prefer Panasonic or Pioneer over Samsung)
Buy a Blu-ray player
upgrade all firmware
setup a decent 5.1 system capable of HD sound.
Calibrate TV (www.tweaktv.com is a good place to start then adjust to taste)
Fill up your Blockbuster queue with BD rentals and your Amazon cart with BD's
take a few days off work because you won't want to leave the house.

Re: CRT vs. Plasma
 

In addition to what others have written, it matters what kind of DVD player you use and how you have it hooked up to the plasma. A good upconverting DVD player hooked up via HDMI and set to output a 16:9 image is important in this equation.

I have an Oppo upconverting DVD player hooked up to a 50-inch Sony SXRD and the image is excellent.

Re: CRT vs. Plasma
 

The quality of the image starts with the source. I have 30" Samsung dynaflat CRT HDTV set up in my son's playroom (it's about 120lbs.) with a PS3 and a DirecTV HD DVR box hooked up. In my bedroom I have a Samsung 50" Plasma with a Toshiba HD-DVD player and the exact same DVR. When watching any HD programming, the CRT does seem to be a bit brighter and the colors more sharp. But this also may be due to the fact that the CRT is 1080i and the Plasma is only 720p. But, when watching an HD-DVD or Blu Ray, the pictures are very comparable. I would really buy the best TV in your budget, and get a good source. Also keep in mind that everyone on this forum has different opinions on what looks good and what doesn't. Get what you think has the best picture and you'll be happy.