Well, after some research on watching Blu-Ray on a 720P / 1080i tv (Blu-Ray is designed for 1080P) I took the plunge and bought a Sony Blu-Ray player on sale. I have a 42" Panasonic Viera 720P/1080i plasma tv.
I have the Blu-Ray player outputting a 720P signal via HDMI direct to the tv and after some comparisons with my friends Sharp Aquos 37" 1080P and I can happily say that my tv looked much better. Sure, it's not apples to apples as we compared lcd to plasma but there was a noticeable difference in clarity between the two; his being able to natively accept a 1080P signal.
I think I have the same Panasonic plasma that you have. I think the picture looks fantastic. I wasn't sure about investing in a Blu-Ray player though due to the set only being 1080i. I guess it doesn't matter though from you you say, it still looks great.
I've never really liked the picture on any of the LCD sets I've seen including the Sharp Aquos series. I just find them all to be too contrasty and lacking in subtlety.
I was nervous the first time I plugged it in...I didn't want to have to replace my tv.
LCD excels at video gaming, movies /tv (especially sports) plasma is the way to go. The Sharp Aquos is the best LCD tv you can buy. The two technologies cover different niches.
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Dr.G.
14" G4 iBook
15" MacBook Pro (July, 2009)
13" MacBooK Pro with Retina Display
Paix
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read these books." Mark Twain
Yes regular DVD's work on Blu-ray players and upconvert the picture to 1080i on HD tv's but it only looks a bit better then regular DVD's from what I have seen.
I have a Sharp LCD, and my brother has an LG Plasma, and although his Plasma looks better overall, I find the colours look brighter on my LCD then his plasma.
I would of bought a plasma hands down but I play a lot of games, and the burn in is just terrible on plasma. I heard some Plasma's have new anti-burn in but I do not know anything about it, and I am not sure I would take the chance with the burn in from what I have seen.
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"By not caring too much about what people think, I'm able to think for myself and propagate ideas which are very often unpopular. And I succeed".
Albert Ellis
13.3" Macbook Air 1.86
8GB ipod Touch
1GB ipod Shuffle
Last edited by Clockwork; Nov 23rd, 2008 at 02:53 PM.
__________________
Dr.G.
14" G4 iBook
15" MacBook Pro (July, 2009)
13" MacBooK Pro with Retina Display
Paix
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read these books." Mark Twain
I was conerned about burn-in with the plasma...I was playing Tiger Woods and had it paused for some reason (someone at the door perhaps) and I burned the screen.
My friend who sold me the TV told me a trick he uses as he and his son play video games all the time. You turn your TV to an HD channel and leave it there for about an hour. This illuminates and refreshes the phosphors (sp?) in the screen and you are back to normal. I have no remnants of burn what so ever.
Your lucky it fixed it. My brother decided to play WOW on his plasma a couple years ago when he first bought the t.v, and now it has permanent burn in. It is fading now but you can still see it if you look closely.
I have heard the new plasmas and a new anti-burn in technology but the older plasmas like my brothers burns in pretty bad at times.
__________________
"By not caring too much about what people think, I'm able to think for myself and propagate ideas which are very often unpopular. And I succeed".
Albert Ellis
13.3" Macbook Air 1.86
8GB ipod Touch
1GB ipod Shuffle
Linear Mode
