I am going to be buying a new HDTV soon, and was wondering if anyone knowledgeable about LCDs and plasmas could give me some input on questions I came across during research in newspaper articles and on avsforums. I am leaning towards a Panasonic 42'' Plasma but wanted to make sure it would work well for my purposes.

1) My room is small (so moderate viewing angles) and moderately bright (light leak despite closed blinds). Is this too much light for current-gen plasmas like Panasonic? My current SD tube TV does show some reflections.

2) Plasmas no longer seem to have burn-in concerns. But do they still have "temporary image retention"? I will be using this for a fair amount of gaming (PS2, Wii, probably PS3 soon) and will sometimes be connecting a Windows computer, so it might be an issue for me.

3) I will be watching a fair amount of SDTV still. Does one or the other display SDTV images any better?

Thanks for any info!

Check the resolution stats. Most 42" plasmas don't conform to the ATSC standard for high definition although they are marketed as "high definition".

Check the resolution stats. Most 42" plasmas don't conform to the ATSC standard for high definition although they are marketed as "high definition".

I thought they do, since they use rectangular and not square pixels. They're not really 4:3 despite the stats ...

I thought they do, since they use rectangular and not square pixels. They're not really 4:3 despite the stats ...

The lowest ATSC Standard for HD is 1280 x 720 pixels.

Here's a discussion:

http://www.highdefforum.com/flat-panel-tvs/20198-why-1024-x-768-not-hdtv.html

I am going to be buying a new HDTV soon, and was wondering if anyone knowledgeable about LCDs and plasmas could give me some input on questions I came across during research in newspaper articles and on avsforums. I am leaning towards a Panasonic 42'' Plasma but wanted to make sure it would work well for my purposes.

1) My room is small (so moderate viewing angles) and moderately bright (light leak despite closed blinds). Is this too much light for current-gen plasmas like Panasonic? My current SD tube TV does show some reflections.

2) Plasmas no longer seem to have burn-in concerns. But do they still have "temporary image retention"? I will be using this for a fair amount of gaming (PS2, Wii, probably PS3 soon) and will sometimes be connecting a Windows computer, so it might be an issue for me.

3) I will be watching a fair amount of SDTV still. Does one or the other display SDTV images any better?

Thanks for any info!

1. There is slightly more glare from a plasma than an LCD, however you mention that when viewing during daytime you have blinds so any glare should be minimal to non-existant. Most new and mid-high to high end plasmas ( the only ones worth buying ) have improved drasticlaly.

2. There are still burn in concerns to an extent. You really should not use a plasma as a PC monitor to leave your PC idle for 16 hours and then wonder WTF happened. If you're a movie/tv/mediacenter with screensaver you'll be perfectly fine. There is some retention if you watch black bar movies for 6-8 hours straight, however these go away after watching something else that "uses" these unused plasma cells.

For watching SDTV plasma is better by a very long shot. Mostly every single LCD panel (tv/pc monitor/etc) does a crap job displaying images that are NOT at the screen's native resolution. SD is at 480i, and your LCD is probably at 720 or 1080 so it will look quite poor.

Good luck.

1. There is slightly more glare from a plasma than an LCD, however you mention that when viewing during daytime you have blinds so any glare should be minimal to non-existant. Most new and mid-high to high end plasmas ( the only ones worth buying ) have improved drasticlaly.

2. There are still burn in concerns to an extent. You really should not use a plasma as a PC monitor to leave your PC idle for 16 hours and then wonder WTF happened. If you're a movie/tv/mediacenter with screensaver you'll be perfectly fine. There is some retention if you watch black bar movies for 6-8 hours straight, however these go away after watching something else that "uses" these unused plasma cells.

For watching SDTV plasma is better by a very long shot. Mostly every single LCD panel (tv/pc monitor/etc) does a crap job displaying images that are NOT at the screen's native resolution. SD is at 480i, and your LCD is probably at 720 or 1080 so it will look quite poor.

Good luck.

Thanks. You confirmed everything I had suspected and pretty much confirmed that a plasma is the way to go, assuming I like the displays I can find in my price range. I'm looking at a Panasonic TH-42PZ85U or TH-42PZ80U.

Thanks. You confirmed everything I had suspected and pretty much confirmed that a plasma is the way to go, assuming I like the displays I can find in my price range. I'm looking at a Panasonic TH-42PZ85U or TH-42PZ80U.

I have a Panasonic Viera 42" plasma (can't remember the model #) and I can honestly say that I haven't seen a better picture on any other TV. Plasma or LCD.

Just take a walk round an electrical store and look at the pictures on screen. let your eyes make the decision for you and I'm sure most people would choose the plasma.

The previous poster who said the glare on a plasma versus LCD screen isn't correct. The actual glare on the screen is a result of the finish on the TV. The brightness level of a plasma versus LCD does result in a change of perceptible glare. Also, plasmas tend to have better viewing angles and more vivid colors in the dark range. I have a plasma TV and I don't have any glare. The LCD TVs we have a work catch a lot of glare so we have Anti-Glare Filters for LCD TVs from ViewGuard on both of them.

1) I have room darkening curtains in the event of a TV glare emergency but really my Panasonic plasma doesn't have any major glare issues.

2) My PC, 360 and PS2 are all connected to my plasma. The PC gets daily usage on it. I have not had any image retention issues whatsoever. I have never, ever left a still image on the screen more than 30 minutes. I simply shut the TV off if I am going to be away from it and the sleep timer at bedtime.

3) SDTV looks fine on my plasma from the normal viewing distance. It looks like s**t if I sit a few feet away. I believe how good SDTV looks is based more on the TV itself and not on plasma vs. LCD.

You din't ask but I love my Panasonic plasma and there isn't any TV I would trade it for ... except perhaps for a Pioneer plasma.

I am in the same boat as you. My basic cable is all SD except for the networks that are HD, so most of my viewing is SD.

I ended up buying the pany 42 inch 1080P from newegg for $799 about a month ago. It does a fantastic job with the SD cable.

I am 100% happy with this tv!