Looking to buy a widescreen plasma... (1 Viewer)

[MarcoBiscotti]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking to purchase a 60-61" widescreen plasma monitor as I'm in the process of building my home theatre and I'm hoping I could get some advice from all of you as you seem to know what's currently considered top-quality on the market.

I will eventually be purchasing surround speakers, amps, subs, etc. but I'm currently not working with anything so I would really appreciate some advice on top of the line 60-61" ws plasmas that would offer me the absolute best and clearest picture quality when watching dvd's, etc.

Can anyone offer suggestion?

Thanks a lot!

 

[NickSo]

I don't know much about Plasmas, but many here and at AVS who were once looking for Plasmas converted and purchased a Front Projector... Have you considered goign that route for your HT?

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

I haven't, simply because of my enormous dvd collection. I have over 500 discs and would like to set up a theatre room in which I will have built-in wood furnishing displays encompassing the walls to systematically shelf my inventory, and a raised center floor with reclining leather theatre seats all facing what will soon be my home theatre set-up, which I'm hoping will consist of a wide plasma screen monitor (~60") along with all the fixings - surround speakers, amps, subwoofers, dvd units, satelite recievers, etc. I'm really looking to go digital, only Im not very farmiliar with what's considered "quality" in the high-definition plasma screen market...

 

[ChrisWiggles]

This also sorta makes no sense. Again, the ultimate factors are your room situation, etc, and ultimate picture quality. IMO, the best still remains an analog FP CRT. And would provide you a VASTLY superior picture, for WAAAAAAAYYYY less money than a huge plasma. And will beat it in terms of resolution as well, going way beyond what DVD can furnish.

It sounds like I may be missing some underlying reasons you want to go plasma; Or...you have some misconceptions as to what is available, and the strengths/weaknesses of various technologies and displays.

I by no means consider plasma a poor display option, it can certainly throw a great picture, but even I would prefer a digital projector over a plasma (i am *not* a fan of digital projectors). Unless you have very specific limits of floor space that you cant get an RPTV in the room, and you don't want any kind of front projector (for instance you can't have good light control), then I sorta fail to see why you'd shell out huge $$ for a plasma.

 

[Gregg Loewen]

hi

Im in agreement with Chris. ?????

In a dedicated room, why go with a plasma, (unless you have some severe space limitations)?

Regards

Gregg

 

[chris_clem]

This is soooo true!

I started visiting this forum early this year looking for advice on my first HT system and was then looking forward to getting an RPTV or a Plasma somewhere down the line. Now I have a 100" screen and a Panny 300U LCD projector. Back then, I never thought I could afford to have a screen this size with stunning image quality You should really try to at least consider FP as an option, you can get a good projector and screen (plus some money left over for the sounds) for the price of a good plasma!

 

[Yee-Ming]

As someone who is considering a plasma, I'd second all the other fellows who are telling you to get a FP. In a dedicated room, why not? Better quality for less price. Much less -- a 60" plasma must be something in the region of US$25K? I'm sure half that will get you a very good FP and screen, and if your room is a dedicate HT, your screen would be permanently fixed in place and you don't worry about the other problems associated with retractable screens (e.g. wrinkles, flapping about, wear and tear).

The only reason I have to get a plasma is because it will be used in the living room, and an FP is just not practical. I wish I could go the FP route, but in my case it's not viable.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Wow, I guess I had some misconceptions as to the compatibility of projectors... I always just assumed that they could only playback film reels. Can someone school me on what's needed for a proper front projector set-up as well as the pros to investing in this venue? My only 2 concers are the lighting and the fact that not all of my dvd's are big-biudget studio releases. I own some other region less than top-quality animated transfers as well as some concert footage, etc which I just can't imagine viewing on a front projector... though I really don't know anything about them so I may be way off base. Can you guys please inform me... how would I go about setting everything up and does anyone have any suggestions for quality projectors and/or retailers? Thanks so much - I really appreciate it!!!

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Marco:

Yes, there are two very diffirent kinds of projectors, those being film projectors, and video projectors. *SOME* people, actually have a film booth with big film projectors, but this is a pretty hard-core HT. We're talking video projectors. You feed them video from a DVD player, or pretty much any video source, and they throw up a picture on the wall. I'm sure you've seen these projectors before, perhaps at work, or in public places, etc.

There are a variety of different technologies of video projection, with different strengths/weaknesses. You'll have to help us with your budget, but seeing as you were eyeing a very big (and expensive) plasma, I imagine it's pretty big. You'll probably want to be looking at the most recent DLP projectors, or if you have the space and a dedicated, light-controlled room, a used CRT projector would be the best option.

The advantages of using a projector, are of course, a very big screen. You will need a screen, and of course, want to be able to get the room quite dark for watching.

You are in the pricerange (again I'm assuming) where you'll be getting very nice projectors with resolution capabilities much higher than plain 480i/p from DVD. Likely you'll also want to purchase some kind of video processor, or use an HTPC, to increase the resolution. Blown up to 8 feet or so, even DVD won't look so hot anymore, so some video processing is VERY helpful in this regard. Regardless of the technology, it doesn't matter what you watch, the bigger the screen, the more you'll see weaknesses in the source. You should visit some high-end shops around you, and see some front-projection theater setups. It should give you some ideas.

Also, if you desire to save a LOT of money, and have the *best* video available, then a FP CRT bought refurbished, and driven by an HTPC is the way to go. Around here, people are mostly dealing with entry-level digitals, so I strongly suggest you peruse the CRT forum along with the >3500 digital projector forum at AVS.