"Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in."
-Michael Corleone
Thanks Sony and PD for my latest G.A.S. of a 1920x1080 HDTV. My current 60" rear projection Sony is a great TV and have gotten over 4 years of enjoyment out of it but at only 1080i, I feel like I'm really missing out. Also being older LCD technology, the blacks are almost gray with a milky film on the display. HD content looks great, but still... the depth of picture could be greatly improved.
Its hard to tell from the description, but it sounds like you have or had a 720p LCD RPTV, but were feeding it 1080i signals? If so, the first thing I would recommend is to make sure you don't do that, and feed it 720p signals instead. There are several reasons for this.
The first reason is that there is rarely any benefit in feeding a display a higher resolution signal than the display’s native resolution.
The next reason not to do that is because there are usually many bad things that can and do happen when you do that. The reason for this is the TV wont be able to display the signal without first scaling it down to match the resolution of the TV and doing so, depending on the quality of the signal and the video processor used to do the scaling, may degrade the image quality.
For instance, four years ago, less than 25% of all popular HDTVs performed accurate deinterlacing when fed an interlaced signal
(480i, 1080i, etc). Proper deinterlacing is a complicated and multi-step process, and when done incorrectly can severely degrade the quality of the original image. Even today, many HDTVs, even 1080p HDTVs do not perform accurate deinterlacing, even when the manufacturers claim they can... because technically speaking they can... they just do a really lousy job of it and thus the owners of those models are left with below average quality images from interlaced sources.
While this may or may not be an issue you are having, many people mistake or are mislead into believing that when they read in the specs, or are told by a salesperson that their 720p TV "supports" 1080i, they are left with the belief that means their TV will display 1920x1080 images, when in fact all it means is the processor in the TV can "accept" a 1080i signal, but then it scales it down to match the native resolution of the TV... and this is where problems can and often do arise, especially with 1080i signals as they not only have to be scaled, but also have to be deinterlaced
(except for those with CRT HDTVs... but that's another story, for another time) 
This is also why for many people, depending on the model of HDTV they own, will discover that 720p looks better than 1080i, even on 1080p TVs. In fact, even with a display that can accurately deinterlace an image, if the original interlaced signal was not properly flagged, as often is the case, then the individual interlaced fields can’t be properly matched up... resulting in a loss of vertical resolution.
Of course, all of this may be useless info, especially if you are buying a new display.
Yesterday, against my better judgment, I went down the Best Buy just to see what was in stock. Of course it's the most expensive TV's that catch my eye. The first one was a 58" Panasonic TH-58PZ700U 1080p Plasma, and the second a 60" Pioneer PDP-6010FD 1080p Plasma. The Panasonic looked great but amazingly enough, looked more than just 2 inches smaller than my current 60". The Pioneer on the other hand was nothing short of jaw dropping. Both sets looked great, but the Pioneer seemed to be in a totally different league.
Both sets have a 1920x1080 native resolution, both have hookups for analog, composite, component, HDMI, as well as VGA inputs for PC based media applications.
Burn in or Image retention are a couple of major concerns of mine as I plan on using this TV for movies, games, and PC media operation. Both sets have a 'Game' mode to help the buyer feel confident that the set can be used for gaming without fear, but I have read enough user reviews to be concerned dropping this amount of cash on a possible permanent etch a sketch. Even with the 'Game' mode, burn-in images are not covered under warranty. *odd*
So, should I compromise image quality and go the safe route of a LCD/DLP where I don't have to worry about burn-in or IR, or should I take my chances so I can gloat at the incredible picture of the Plasma? Are there LCD/DLP's I should consider with a comparable picture? If the plasma is the way to go, which one (leaning towards the Pioneer)?
I'm not normally a fan of Plasmas, an opinion I have shared and explained the many reasons why in this forums
Electronics & Home Theater area.
Some of the problems I have with Plasmas in general are:
The poor color accuracy of most plasmas
(they generally have a green push, which simply can’t be accurately calibrated without sacrificing accurate reds and blues).
Larger, thus more noticeable pixel grid lines
(often referred to as screen door, as the cross pattern of the grid is reminiscent of looking through a screen door). Most LCDs suffer from this as well, while most newer DLPs and LCoS displays have practically no screen door at all.
Burn-in issues. Like CRTs, Plasmas use phosphors, and as such, depending on the images displayed and proper use, can permanently damage the display. Rather than go into the finer detail on what causes this type of burn-in, for those interested I'd recommend starting of by reading through the wiki listing for
Phosphor Burn-in, and for more detailed explanations, reading some of the referenced sources.
BTW: While it is true that most plasma models offer features that can help prevent burn-in, most of these features have a negative impact on the image quality... especially ones that simply stretch the image to fill the screen, or zoom and crop the image... and these techniques still wont protect you from the worst kind of burn-in and that's from static images... as often found in many video games... like your score, or anything that is bright, and constantly displayed on the screen in the same localized area... which a game like GT5
rologue has a lot of static images during gameplay.
The highly reflective glass screens, such that you can see everything in the room reflected onto the screen while watching anything except for when images that are very bright and white are displayed... I personally find it very distracting. Although now many Plasma models are coming out with similar anti-reflective plastic screens similar to those used by LCD TVs... which also makes them much lighter... although these screens can have a negative impact on the image quality in terms of "softness" and black levels.
OK... now here's the good news.
Of all the plasmas I've ever tested and or done video shoot outs with, the ones from Panasonic and Pioneer
(more specifically, the Pro Series from Panasonic and the Elite Series from Pioneer) where all exceptional displays! 👍👍
Yes, they are still just as vulnerable to burn-in as any other display
(don't believe the manufacturers hype on this issue... there is no magic feature that prevents this without having a negative impact on the image), and yes, they have highly reflective glass screens so you'll be seeing yourself in a lot of the stuff you watch.
However, their video processors are top notch, as is their superb build quality. Like most Plasmas, they have a superior black level
(thanks to the use of phosphors, unlike LCD which requires a back light... although LED backlights may help improve black levels for LCD displays, just as they have with DLP RPTVs, like those used by Samsung's latest RPTVs).
However, these plasmas from Panasonic and Pioneer not only are few and far between, but they also come at a hefty price, certainly compared to displays of the same size and resolution.
Waiting for new technology on the horizon seems silly to me as I will be forever waiting, so current models available today should suffice.
So very true, and something we have all learned from buying computers. If you always waited to buy because you knew something better was going to come out next year, you'd never have a computer.
I will say this; if the primary use is for gaming, then I would strongly recommend you avoid Plasmas... there are just too many ways for things to go bad down the road. Yes, there are exceptions, and depending on each person's needs, requirements, and uses, a plasma TV may very well be a good choice.
Personally though, if you can spare the space, I'd highly recommend the
new 1080p DLP RPTVs from Samsung that use their new LED light engines. They offer superb image quality, excellent video processing, easy to calibrate, and feature HDMI v1.3 which very few displays do, and with the PS3 will support a significantly wider color gamut
(billions versus millions). While I have yet to check it out first hand, their latest 61" model,
HL61A750A has been wowing the critics, and can be bought for around $2,000. You can still buy their previous LED model, HLT6187S,
(feels odd to call it "previous" when it came out only four months ago... but that's technology for you!) but I suspect you may have trouble finding it for less than $1,500 and frankly from what I have heard, the HL61A750A is worth the extra amount... that said, I have logged several hours tinkering around with and calibrating a HLT6187S, and while certainly not perfect, its far better than most displays I've had the pleasure of testing. 👍
Now if space is an issue, then there are still some very good LCD direct view models to choose from. It's hard to go wrong with most LCD HDTVs from the "Three S's"
(Samsung, Sharp, and Sony).
Oh, and before I go, HDMI > VGA > Component > S-Video > Composite
Also, unlike analog video such as component, there are not significant differences that impact image quality between HDMI cable that costs less than $1 per foot like that sold at
www.monoprice.com and the HDMI cable regularly selling at places like Best Buy that cost as much as $100 for a 12' run.
What ever you end up getting, I'm sure you'll love it, as it's hard to find lousy TVs these days as long as you do a little research first. Have fun with your new TV and all it's 1080p glory! 👍
OK... now back to the Bat Cave for me!
Probably too damn heavy for them to move! Hope it's worth the weight!
... is it even possible for someone to fill all those ports! 
