i've searched previous threads and didn't really find enough info. so here goes it. what are your opinions/recommendations on 1080P plasma tvs? after doing some research i'd really like a plasma over a lcd. reasons being: better blacks, contrast, saturation, and viewing angles. ideally, i'd like to use this tv for home viewing: Blu-Ray, Cable TV, DVDs and for monitoring HD footage shot from my Sony EX1 1080P camera.

let me know your experiences as well as recommendations.

thanks,
mike

Panasonic's PZ800 or PZ850 series are awesome for the price. We have a 42" & 50" PZ800. I highly recommend them.

Also, is it true you can't see the benefits of 1080P on sets smaller than 50"? Cnet.com has stated this in several articles that i've read.

Pioneer has indicated that they are getting out of making Plasma TV's...

There is a store in Dallas that constantly has sales of the Pioneer Plasma TV... buy one
get the second one free...

also from what I understand the best TV on the market at this time is the Laser View DLP

Mitsubishi Electric LaserVue® - Beyond Flat TV, Experience True Dimension™ (http://www.laservuetv.com/home.php)

Panasonic, Panasonic, Panasonic.

Their 11 Series professional line plasmas are second to none.

If you can't afford the 11 series and all the required accessories their Viera line isn't half bad either.

yeah Ethan, I was just on panasonic's website looking at them. the TH-42PF11UK caught my eye. although its gonna run me about $1900.00 USA.

Learn about Panasonic's TH-42PF11UK (http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelDetail?displayTab=O&storeId=11201&catalogId=13051&itemId=304736&catGroupId=14624&surfModel=TH-42PF11UK)

30,000:1 Contrast Ratio seems nice. What's up with Pixel Pitch? I'll google it, but can someone here also explain it?

The TH-42PH11UK for about $1000.00 looks interesting even though its only 720P and 15,000:1 Contrast Ratio. Industry leading 18-bit digital imaging processing must be impressive as well. I guess???

I wonder how they handle SD(480i?) Cable TV signals?

Here is a list from Amazon sorted by average customer review. Click on each and read the user reviews. They will be very helpful:

Amazon.com: plasma tv 1080p: Electronics (http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1242913850/ref=sr_st?keywords=plasma+tv+1080p&rs=172282&page=1&bbn=172282&rh=n%3A172282%2Cn%3A%21493964%2Ck%3Aplasma+tv+1080p&sort=reviewrank)


Same for Newegg user reviews:

Newegg.com - Televisions,Plasma TV, (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2002640385&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Pagesize=50)

John

Also, is it true you can't see the benefits of 1080P on sets smaller than 50"? Cnet.com has stated this in several articles that I've read.

Yes. The larger the set, the more you can notice the difference. 720p are actually the best buys on the market if you are going for something smaller.

Also, don't forget, the 16:9 TVs are smaller than their equivalent 4:3 sets because they are measured diagonally so you may want a larger TV than you think. Go to a store like Best Buy and look at the TVs and pick the size that looks right to you. Then research it as I listed above using user reviews.

John

Thanks John. that was helpful. After 4 days of around the clock research, I'm gonna have to agree with Cnet.com.
HDTV resolution explained - HDTV World - CNET.com (http://www.cnet.com/hdtv-resolution/?tag=rb_mtx;contentNav)

1080P is over-hyped.

I visited a bunch of stores this week after researching on-line what tvs to look for. i had my mind set on the new Panasonic TC-P42G10 1080P plasma. Cnet rates this tv very high just below the extremely high priced Pioneer Elite Kuro models. so at the stores i was shocked at what i was seeing out of a 720P set next to all these 1080P models. so, i rotated my view between several 1080P plasmas that were 46"(Panasonic TH-46PZ85U), 50"(Panasonic TH-50PZ850U), 42"(Panasonic TH-P42G10) and this little 42" 720P set. i was blown away at the results. now, i know at the stores the feed is split into dozens of runs thus decreasing the quality of the feed, but the playing ground was even if that's the case and the Samsung out performed all the others. i even got the remotes from the store clerks and tried to calibrate the monitors to my eye. not only did the Samsung PN42B450 out perform all the others in color accuracy it did an amazing job with color saturation, skin tones, and noise reduction as well. another feature the samsung had over the panasonics is Menu functions. you could really tweak the Samsung image where as you had less control over the Panasonic models. the Panasonic TC-P42G10 is a great tv, but at nearly 2x as much $$$ i'll be purchasing the Samsung model.

Samsung PN42B450 720P plasma
42? widescreen plasma HDTV PN42B450 42" 720p Plasma HDTV - plasma TV - televisions | SAMSUNG (http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/detail.do?group=televisions&type=televisions&subtype=plasmatv&model_cd=PN42B450B1DXZA)

Thanks John. that was helpful. After 4 days of around the clock research, I'm gonna have to agree with Cnet.com.
HDTV resolution explained - HDTV World - CNET.com (http://www.cnet.com/hdtv-resolution/?tag=rb_mtx;contentNav)

1080P is over-hyped.

I visited a bunch of stores this week after researching on-line what tvs to look for. i had my mind set on the new Panasonic TC-P42G10 1080P plasma. Cnet rates this tv very high just below the extremely high priced Pioneer Elite Kuro models. so at the stores i was shocked at what i was seeing out of a 720P set next to all these 1080P models. so, i rotated my view between several 1080P plasmas that were 46"(Panasonic TH-46PZ85U), 50"(Panasonic TH-50PZ850U), 42"(Panasonic TH-P42G10) and this little 42" 720P set. i was blown away at the results. now, i know at the stores the feed is split into dozens of runs thus decreasing the quality of the feed, but the playing ground was even if that's the case and the Samsung out performed all the others. i even got the remotes from the store clerks and tried to calibrate the monitors to my eye. not only did the Samsung PN42B450 out perform all the others in color accuracy it did an amazing job with color saturation, skin tones, and noise reduction as well. another feature the samsung had over the panasonics is Menu functions. you could really tweak the Samsung image where as you had less control over the Panasonic models. the Panasonic TC-P42G10 is a great tv, but at nearly 2x as much $$$ i'll be purchasing the Samsung model.

Samsung PN42B450 720P plasma
42? widescreen plasma HDTV PN42B450 42" 720p Plasma HDTV - plasma TV - televisions | SAMSUNG (http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/detail.do?group=televisions&type=televisions&subtype=plasmatv&model_cd=PN42B450B1DXZA)

How did that television work out Mike? The reviews on that set are fantastic.

John

ahhhh. unfortunately i was unable to purchase it due to unexpected expenses. this economy really sucks. it looks great in the stores though. if i do happen to get it into my living room, i'll be sure to post the results immediately.

-mike

ahhhh. unfortunately i was unable to purchase it due to unexpected expenses. this economy really sucks. it looks great in the stores though. if i do happen to get it into my living room, i'll be sure to post the results immediately.

-mike

Sorry Mike.

Things are really rough these days. Hope it works out for you.

Regards,

John

Panasonic's PZ800 or PZ850 series are awesome for the price. We have a 42" & 50" PZ800. I highly recommend them.

Panasonic - VIERA / 42" Class / 1080p / 600Hz / Plasma HDTV

Is this the 42" you are talking about Tim?

Samsung PN42B450 720P plasma

How would you guys rate this for use as a computer monitor?

I've got an LN46A650 taht I absolutely love. No complaints, except for some 8-bit image banding, which isn't the TV's fault.

Have you tried the new Samsung LED TVs yet? My EX1 footage looks great on a Sony Bravia 52" XBR. Also, you'll want one of those $100 Western Digital WDTV Media Players to play your 1080p or 720p mp4 files.