I am going to be buying my first Plasma in a few weeks and it will be a Phillips 50" model PF7320a. I have no need to jump into the HD wars right now and I am waiting for the smoke to clear. I want to be ready when everything, most, is all cleared up. I was wondering about the picture quality I can expect with just regular SD reception and maybe some OTA HD reception. All I want is a clear crisp picture that will look good. Any answers? Thanks, Mike
Plasma for SD viewing
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shodobe said:
SD on a 50" HD-capable screen will look worst than on an old 27" CRT. The OTA HD will look great, though.
I would asked the salesperson at the store to change the channel to a SD channel that way you can see what it looks like before you buy. The OTA HD should look better than anything running in store.
I hate to say it, but when I first hooked up my SD only Dish 4900 to my brand new Plasma I was quite disappointed. The picture looked terrible, and I feared that my Plasma was a very bad choice. DVDs looked very good however and I was getting interested in HD.
Finally, I did get a HD tuner and wow what a difference. Even SD digital OTA channels looked good on the Plasma. This proved to me that it was Dish's SD channels and not my plasma which was at fault. Dish compressed the SD channels to a point where they looked very good on my old 27" CRT TV, but on a widescreen plasma, they looked terrible.
On a 50" I'm afraid that you are not going to like what you see as far as SD programming goes. But however since HD is an option (and with MPEG4 about to launch, you are getting in at the right time) you can use that to get the most out of your TV.
Finally, I did get a HD tuner and wow what a difference. Even SD digital OTA channels looked good on the Plasma. This proved to me that it was Dish's SD channels and not my plasma which was at fault. Dish compressed the SD channels to a point where they looked very good on my old 27" CRT TV, but on a widescreen plasma, they looked terrible.
On a 50" I'm afraid that you are not going to like what you see as far as SD programming goes. But however since HD is an option (and with MPEG4 about to launch, you are getting in at the right time) you can use that to get the most out of your TV.
Buying a Plasma and not getting an HD receiver is like going into 35 degree water inch by inch, very painful. Seems to me that you are jumping in by buying the Plasma in the first place so go the HD. You will NOT be happy with your picture from a SD receiver. But, if you decide not to.....hook up your lowest quality video input i.e. RF or the composite (yellow). But definately go digital.
Wally
942, (2)811, 50 pioneer plasma, infocus 5700 w/ draper 105" screen, JVC D'alia 48" HDTV
Wally
942, (2)811, 50 pioneer plasma, infocus 5700 w/ draper 105" screen, JVC D'alia 48" HDTV
I just hooked up a Panasonic 42" HD Plasma to and 811 HD receiver. I'll start with saying that HD looks absolutely amazing, both Dish's and OTA. Dish's SD ranges from horrendous to acceptable. Some shows at some times are fine to watch, others are almost unbearable. OTA digital SD shows look great still though, so it is definately the fault of Dish's compression. Sometimes I prefer watching SD on my 27 and 32" CRTs.
AndyOI said:
You should try hooking up a 311 to your Plasma. The SD on my 811 was far better than my 311.
Take this for what it is worth. I have a 61 inch Samsung 1080P(ISF calibrated) hooked up by HDMI cables from my 942. The calibration makes SD look acceptable. HDTV looks fricken awesome. I have a 42 inch Panasonic Plasma in my bedroom that is hooked up by the RF modulator on my 942 and the SD looks better than my Sammy. Possibley could be related to screen size, but I do think SD may look slightly better on a plasma.
These are very good responses but I was wondering if what I am hearing is plasma looks great with a HD reciever but SD doesn't look good at all on a regular 510 reciever. I know that most of what is on Dish is not HD but SD and digital but there are very few HD channels worth watching. So what does everyone do to acheive quality picture reception on their non-HD reciever? I plan on getting HD soon but I know that there are alot of channels that are not HD that I watch, ie. Golf Channel and MLB IE. So what is the answer, no plasma or go with something like DLP.The only reason I am going with this particular unit is it is going on sale in a few weeks $400 off ay Costco. Of all the channels that are HD only ESPN or Discovery Channel would be watched. I hope that the locals become HD soon. What do all of you do when something comes on that isn't HD and you have a plasma HD TV only to watch. I don't want to go out and pay alot of money for something that will disappoint me. Thanks
