Trying to make a new Plasma room ... help (1 Viewer)

[Vincent_H]

There is a nice sitting room in our new home which we'd like to make the "place to watch movies". There is not quite enough room for a projection TV and really the room is screaming for a flat-screen plasma right above the wood-burning fireplace. Turning that cool vision into a reality is my new challenge.
I am learning about plasma TVs and the Panasonic TH42-PWD4 seems to be getting alot of press. At $4599 it sounds like a good price from DTVCity. Anybody have hands-on experience with that model or vendor?
My price range is low. I gotta keep it under 6K. Any other thoughts in that range?
As for logistics, I think I can set-up all other components in the room behind the plasma room and run all cable through a hole the wall next to the TV. The cable TV is already run in that fashion. Having all of the cords uniformly run from the hole to the back of the plasma is more likely than running the cable between the small space between the brick and the drywall so that it is unseen. I am open for ideas here. Also my cable box is going to have to sit somewhere the remote control can hit it.
Finally I am considering the straight wall mount vs the tilt wall mount since the plasma will sit at about standing eye level. Any thoughts here?
I am totally new at this plasma stuff and am uncertain about installation complexity. I have read that I'm not the first guy to hang a plasma over a fireplace but am cautious about risk and precautions to be aware of. Perhaps a professional installer is appropriate ... if I can find one in Rochester NY.
Either way I am excited to dive into this and I'm glad I found this forum. You people seem to know what you're talking about.

 

[Mark Larson]

pics?
visualisations?

 

[James Stierman]

That plasma is a nice model, excellent picture. Be sure you know it cannot display a true HD siganl, it doen converts to 480p. I would contact panasonic before you buy it to make sure they are an authorized dealer, because the price seems low. But other than that it is a great set for home theater. DVDs look great, we had a Harmon Kardon DVD 50 hooked up to it. It doesn't have any speakers but you will have surround sound so it doens't matter. The only bracket i know of is made by panasoinc and is 599. It allows tilts of 5-10-15-20 degrees. It has 3 inputs, one composite or S-video, one RGB or component, and one VGA. Any othe questions let me know.

 

[Yee-Ming]

some mags I've read caution against hanging a plasma above a fireplace, the heat being bad for electronics and all. but YMMV.

since it's for "watching movies", have you thought about getting a front projector (and screen) instead? even bigger viewing area, for probably a similar price as the plasma (which are still very expensive). although I think a flickering flame under the screen might be rather distracting in a darkened room.

 

[Drew Eckhardt]

Two terms for your enjoyment:

Front projection. Twice the diagonal/four times the area of affordable plasma is reasonable (although you could go bigger if you seating distances force it), and the quality will beat a worn 35mm print.

Light control. With front projection, you can't have anything darker than the screen. Attractively colored but still opaque blinds are available to make your room black so this is not a problem.

 

[Corey Holter]

Vincent,

For a more extensive discussion about plasmas, go to avsforum.com. They have a very active plasma discussion area. They also have photos of different plasma set-ups, including some above fireplaces.

I personally have the Panny 42" and love it.