plasma question

[trev1976]

if you play older games on a plasma screen which were designed in 4.3 how do they come out on a plasma screen (im presuming with black lines either side of the picture) also nearly all my consoles are RGB scart so if i got one of those RGB scart coverters for a plasma screen would the picture look any better than the RGB on a CRT tv? or would i have to by a whole new load of cables to do my consoles proud on a plasma?

also you can by these prog scan converter boxs which supposedly convert any video input to prog scan on a plasma,what are these like?

[wod]

on a plasma screen it best to use component connection for consoles, so you'd need to buy some new cables for them

[gtskater]

Apart from the increase in cost, what are the other disadvantages to a Plasma? Are they a lot / hard to maintain? Do they wear out easily? Do you have to be especially careful with them?

[trev1976]

yeah as much info here would be great ?3000 a lot of cash to part with..

i think my older consoles which dont have components are gonna look a bit ****

[yashiro]

Have you not considered a projector? Much more bang for buck imo.

[choddo]

You do know that they make CRTs in 16:9 as well, right? The handling of 4:3 images isn't a unique problem with plasmas. You have different modes so you can stretch or scale or border the image. It's worth it for all the other media that does support the format. 4:3 is dead.

Plasmas are a damn good display, well worth the cash if you have the room for em, I don't got one yet but several friends do and they always look impressive (my TV is a very good 32" Sony CRT and it certainly doesn't look as good). The external de-interlacers are pretty much essential on older displays but more recent models have better electronics internally in order to process standard RGB signals (most need a SCART-BNC/phono adapter) but component is ideal. VGA is also fantastic of course.

C

[tankplanker]

If you're going to get a plasma try to steer clear of the cheaper ones, contrast & bluring can be really bad on these. The panny (best contrast) or the pioneer (best dot pitch) are the ones to go for. I think they do "pro" models for both makes, these offer higher res and normally have better build quality/QA, but they do cost slightly more and offer less connections.

I would also suggest that you don't bother with the external tunner/connections boxes if you have digital TV. Just get a scart to component convertor from www.keene.co.uk and a scart switcher. If you need a component switcher, www.scanlan.ltd.uk do a nice one.

I would strongly recommend an external de-interlacer or scaler (don't scrimp on these either) for older consoles. Big screens always show up crappy quality sources for what they are.

I'd agree with yashiro, assuming that you have a perfect room for it (near total darkness and enough "wall" for a 6/7 foot screen to hang against), a projector costing the same (including the screen) will crap all over the plasma.

[trev1976]

If you're going to get a plasma try to steer clear of the cheaper ones, contrast & bluring can be really bad on these. The panny (best contrast) or the pioneer (best dot pitch) are the ones to go for. I think they do "pro" models for both makes, these offer higher res and normally have better build quality/QA, but they do cost slightly more and offer less connections.

I would also suggest that you don't bother with the external tunner/connections boxes if you have digital TV. Just get a scart to component convertor from www.keene.co.uk and a scart switcher. If you need a component switcher, www.scanlan.ltd.uk do a nice one.

I would strongly recommend an external de-interlacer or scaler (don't scrimp on these either) for older consoles. Big screens always show up crappy quality sources for what they are.

I'd agree with yashiro, assuming that you have a perfect room for it (near total darkness and enough "wall" for a 6/7 foot screen to hang against), a projector costing the same (including the screen) will crap all over the plasma.

cheers for the info tankplaner i am only interested in plasma (just got to save up some cash now )

[NeilMcRae]

They either come out streched 16:9 or 4:3 depening on the plasma and the mode you set it in. I can run things in 4:3 or a mode called Panasonic Wide which does something funky to the image that doesn't make it too streched.

and its www.scancom.ltd.uk

Most Plasmas will take RGB signals also and composite or svideo. I've had my N64, Jaguar, 2600VCS and my Intellivision running on the plasma with no problems.

Neil.

[trev1976]

They either come out streched 16:9 or 4:3 depening on the plasma and the mode you set it in. I can run things in 4:3 or a mode called Panasonic Wide which does something funky to the image that doesn't make it too streched.

and its www.scancom.ltd.uk

Most Plasmas will take RGB signals also and composite or svideo. I've had my N64, Jaguar, 2600VCS and my Intellivision running on the plasma with no problems.

Neil.

so do you run your N64 and jag on s-video and they look ok. what model tv do you own? see thats what i was worried about streching the pic so far that it looked real weird but im not keen on the black borders either side of the image
also do you use the vtb-100 or do you connect your older consoles straight to the TV

[NeilMcRae]

Jag and N64 both run in composite mode only cause I don't have the Svideo cables for them, working to get both to run of RGB.

I have the prior model of this screen:

http://www.av-sales.com/plasma/html/panasonic_th-42pw6b_plasma.html

I'd recommend getting the V6 of this as the new modules give much more flexibility.

I have a Audio Authority auto switching component selector with all
my component capable consoles hooked through that, Dreamcast through the VGA port. Budget a couple of hundred for cables mate.

Regards,
Neil.

[marcus]

Neil any reason why you didnt go for a screen with higher resolution - it was a buying factor for me when I bought mine that it could display 1024 x 768?

Dont expect wonders with N64 reproduction, big screens will make the games look very ugly, I struggle to play my N64 on my 42" screen even via S-Video (composite looks terrible). In terms of older consoles, Id say a smaller screen is far more preferable. Obviously, they do look awesome with the latest batch of consoles however, but expect to have to fork our a small fortune for component leads and a switchbox. I spent somewhere in the region of ?200+ to get my XB, GC and PS2 all hooked up via component.

[choddo]

Don't higher res screens tend to be a bit darker? Just something I heard but haven't had a chance to compare for myself. And for TV / console (if you ignore HDTV or higher res output from the xbox for example) the lower res is certainly good enough.

[NeilMcRae]

Marcus,

Resolution wasn't a factor as I wasn't planning on plugging in a PC which is really the only driver on resolution. If you have a hi-res screen and you not pumping it with high res images [i.e. from a PC] then the screen image you get is upscaled by the scaling engine.

I looked at the screen you've got and the Panasonic HD [hi-res version of mine] model and a few others some higher res, some lower [same screen just higher resolution] and the difference for gaming and DVD playing was zero. But the Panasonic, as I've noted before, was the brightest of all the screens I tested, next was Pioneer which had much better colours but was at a 2K premuim above the Panny and was 43inch which made it not fit in my cabinet. We used a calibration tool to tell us about the brightness/contrast ratio but a when we had the panels hooked up in the darkness you could spot the two that stood out by a long way, the Pioneer was the best, Panny a close second. One thing that I was pleased to see is that the specs closely matched the reality.

The thing that effects how well the older consoles play on these screens is the scaling engine within the screen. They are all very different and they all have pros and cons. I found the Panny better for games than the Pio but the Pio better for DVD's than the Panny. One of the interesting things is that one of my mates found some of the screens flickered, he actually liked a Samsung one [which was the cheapest] as with his eyes it didn't flicker - so there is some subjectivity within this type of testing. I thought the Samsung sucked royally though.

But I agree that the older stuff looks questionable on non-CRTs. I'll hook up the N64 and take some snaps.

I'm in the market now for another plasma for the kitchen as I've given up with LCD so I'll be having another mass review, I'll make some notes and take some pictures for a mini review of plasmas. Going to ceiling mount it this time, run for your life McRae with a power tool

Regards,
Neil.

[trev1976]

cheers for the info neil , let me know when you have a few pics to look at very interested in seeing them

cheers mate
Trev