SD plasma - best eBaying ever, go buy!

[sadat]

In an impulsive moment of excess, I went and bought a standard definition 42 inch plasma screen for no good reason. I already have a 32 inch high definition Sony Bravia, and have a Blu-Ray player hooked up to it which makes for a pretty good setup. But having got it, I've just gotta recommend you do the same. It's great!

Got a NEC plasma monitor panel for ?250 off eBay, and I am literally astounded by how good it is. It's about 4 years old, and has connections for pretty much anything you want to plug in apart from HDMI. As it's a monitor it doesn't have a tuner for television, but that can be connected up through component if it's wanted. I rarely watch TV anyway. Also there are no built in speakers, but that's a good excuse to get a decent amp and surround sound setup.

I've hooked my 360 up to it via VGAs for DVDs, and set it to output at its highest setting. So it's basically a high def image being downscaled for a low resolution screen - and standard resolution DVDs look incredible. I tried the exact same scene off a standard definition DVD on my smaller HD LCD panel and upscaling Blu-Ray player, and it just doesn't look as good. The extra pixels and clarity of a modern panel seem to spread out any additional detail and highlight the blockiness, losing the benefit of upscaling, even though the screen's smaller. Blu-Ray is kinda wasted on a SD panel, but it does look great. Gaming use is spot on too - an SD panel is the exact size that a Wii outputs, so everything looks crisp and unblocky. There are some worries about screen burn-in, especially on the older panels, but mine has a setting to incrementally shift the whole image by a pixel or two in any direction every few minutes, which I imagine is a standard thing and should help.

My advice to anyone looking for a second SD set is to go out and get one of these cheapo panels, rather than go hunting for a CRT or getting another HD screen. Makes more sense, doesn't it - get a screen with the right number of pixels for the things you're going to be using it for and everything falls into place nicely.

[J0e Musashi]

An SD plasma? Idgi.

[charlesr]

I think the real reason it looked better on your plasma is that plasma gas bubbles tend to "smudge" the detail, much like the phosphorous displays in CRT TVs. If you watched the same thing on an HD plasma it might look better (to your eyes) than the LCD too, i.e. it's not the resolution of the screen, it's the nature of the display.

However, yes, a 'cheap' SD plasma would make a good alternative to an SD CRT, especially if you are cheesed off with geometry problems on large CRT flatscreens.

[kernow]

A lot of B+O early flatscreens are SD too. ( and probably still expensive hehe)

[Salsa Party Animal]

So how much different on old plasma and 1080P for SDTV games ? for picture.

[sadat]

250 quid is a phat lump of money, but pretty damn cheap for a massive plasma telly, isn't it? I suppose I should be thankful to be able to spend that much on something as frivolous as this...

I haven't hooked up the SNES or PS2 yet - but I guess the 480p Wii counts as SD? I tried the opening hub world on Mario Galaxy, which is just a riot of colour and things going on. There's not THAT much difference between Wii on VGA through the plasma and the HD LCD in terms of overall quality, and they're both acceptable - they do look alright in their own way, just noticeably different. The plasma feels like an arcade, whereas the LCD feels like a screenshot, if that makes any sense. Personally I prefer the arcadey look for SD games, but I'm sure others would prefer the other. I'm not sure what the X360 does to the image of old Xbox games, but the picture on Outrun 2 does seem a lot punchier and more colourful on the plasma. Hi-def games and Blu-Rays look great on either set, and even better on the LCD where the higher detail's evident. I tried Geometry Wars and bits of the Orange Box, and they looked a bit better on the LCD. And the VGA cable gives out better upscaling than component leads on the 360 for DVDs.

What a previous poster said makes perfect sense - the larger plasma does seem to blend colours well, and looks bolder from a distance. Whereas you see more detail on the LCD - though my LCD screen is smaller so harder to compare. So surely a HD plasma screen is the way to go in the UK for now, what with us being a few years off HD television and Blu-Ray prices being crazy for a little while yet? Having said that, I don't want to start a forumwar between plasma and LCD screen users! And I suppose that the differences can be minimised by someone who knows how to set up the colour and brightness levels on these things properly...

[charlesr]

An ED Plasma ( enhanced definition - they are progressive scan 480p) with a Wii plugged into it via component would be an ideal setup for the Wii. When people want to know SD performance, they really mean how does it handle RGB scart and composite (or perhaps svid).

There are pros and cons for LCD and plasma (HD) - only way to be sure is try it in a shop with your kit.

[smokedog]

Be careful when buying 2nd hand Plasmas, especially plasma monitors over the internet without seeing it. They normally been used as display sets and are left on continuously. As a general rule, plasma's have a 5 year life if switched on constantly.

[Lyris]

Sorry for the old thread bump.

I think the real reason it looked better on your plasma is that plasma gas bubbles tend to "smudge" the detail, much like the phosphorous displays in CRT TVs. If you watched the same thing on an HD plasma it might look better (to your eyes) than the LCD too, i.e. it's not the resolution of the screen, it's the nature of the display.

That's not actually the case - it's a commonly held belief that "Plasma displays aren't as sharp as LCDs", but actually, both address single pixels so there shouldn't be any blurring. Although some very intricate on-off-on-off pixel patterns occasionally become slightly noisy.

But: especially on older Plasmas without today's anti-reflective glare coatings, you might notice bright white on jet black areas "glow" in a CRT-like way, so in that regard you could say they can blur slightly.

For what it's worth, I don't think there is much to be gained by buying an SD-resolution display to play SD games on. A 1080p screen with crisp scaling (like the new Panasonic consumer Plasmas) will probably also give you a great experience. With that said, the fact that an SD/ED PDP's pixels are bigger means that you'll have the 'screen door effect' (visible pixel grid) covering the picture which might make poorer sources more tolerable.

[sadat]

The old skool plasma's still going strong! Using a 360 via VGA, and as it's not sat next to a HD screen it looks just fine. I'm not sure if it's wearing out or it's just that it's in a different room with big windows, but it doesn't seem as bright as it used to...

I think you're on the button about the glare though, is that completely gone from newer plasmas? [Have my eye on a Panasonic G20 plasma at the moment for movies and the odd game, fairly likely to pick one up in the new year sales regardless]