Plasmated!
April 16th 2010 08:51
People knowing me will finally breathe a sigh of relief. Why, you ask? For the longest time I stayed away from these LCD or Plasma TVs purely because I did not like the way cricket action was shown in these panels. The CRT TV was the best for me in this area.
But last week I caved in, went out and got myself a Panasonic Plasma C4210D - 42 inch Plasma TV. Does that mean I am absolutely happy with the way cricket is shown here? Not entirely. But if there is one thing I have learnt while pursuing this hobby of ours it is that if you are not ready to make conscious and considered compromises then that is the surest way to disappointment and ultimately frustration.
In my case that compromise was that movies (of which I see at least 2 in a week) looked absolutely, lip-smackingly wonderful and bewitching on this TV.
About the actual decision - this was not the kind of decision that took me months like when I had to decide on my music system. I went to the shop and bought what I liked. While i had seen the LG PQ60 and 70 Plasmas and the Samsung B450 Plasmas earlier, on the day of my purchase I only had a choice between a Panasonic Plasma or an LG. Hands down I picked the Panasonic. Thanks to the cordiality of the owner of the Abirami Audio/Video store owner I was able to take a demo of the Panasonic C42 in total darkness with material:
1) From an Airtel Digital TV (composite out)
2) HD content (from a Blu Ray Player)
3) Content from my laptop (via HDMI at a resolution of 1920*1080)
Suffice it to say that I was very impressed at the quality of the whites and blacks produced. Earlier on I had decided not to buy a Full HD TV because it has to serve my purpose of watching a lot of cricket in SD quality as also working well with movies. From previous experience I had ascertained that viewing a Blu Ray on a 720p TV (HD Ready) is not a sea change from viewing it in a 1080p (Full HD) TV. But the reverse is not true. Watching low resolution content on a Full HD TV can be a true eyesore and a huge let down not to mention.
I have seen the PV8 (although only in store conditions) but I figure that the higher contrast ratio of the new C42 makes it a bit more alluring in terms of picture. Plus I heard from the owner of the store that image burn in in the newer line of TVs has been reduced to a great extent.
HD Ready or Full HD?
Even low resolution content from my laptop looked brilliant on the Plasma and I was pleasantly surprised by another aspect. While the TV is branded as HD ready (supporting only 720p), when driven through the HDMI port of a laptop or a computer supporting this resolution, the TV gladly displays Full HD resolution. Yes, sir, that was a pleasant shock to me. While the Panasonic personnel who came to our home later on did not have a clue when I showed this to them (nor did their service supervisor back at the office who we called up), I found out from the internet that resolutions of upto 1920*1080 are supported via HDMI when the refresh rates are set at 25, 30 or 60 hz. (I am using 60 hz).
And as people may be aware I am using my HTPC as my primary source (although that is set to change with the introduction of a DAC in the near future) it gives me a fulfilling feeling that I have a Full HD TV for the price of a HD Ready TV - for whatever it is worth .
Note about image burn-in:
The personnel from Panasonic were very categorical in their assessment that there would be no image burn-in in this Plasma and that these are a thing of the past even with static logos displayed in the Tata Sky channels. I trusted them and watched a few IPL matches on the TV. Subsequently I noticed the SET Max logo along with the 'LIVE' symbol being show on the right top corner of the screen when I had a blank screen up and running. Immediately I switched the TV to a staple diet of movies from the HTPC and the PS3. Long story short, the logo is now not visible at all. And the resolution is that Tata Sky viewing on this TV (or at least cricket) will be done only after 200 hours of break-in.
The problem with me watching cricket is that I tend not to change channels in between overs.
Finally I must thank Venkat for directing me to go to Abirami Audio/Video where I got good service in an amiable setting.
NOTE[April 19, 2010] - Thanks to friends at Hifivision, found that while the TV appears to show 1920*1080, it is just being scaled and shown in my HD ready panel which supports a maximum resolution of 1366*768. The reason why it is able to show the Full HD resolution without issues is because the aspect ratio of 16:9 is still being maintained. The best picture I have found is attained when I do not force Full HD and just keep it at 720p (on my PS3) and allow the TV to choose the appropriate resolution depending on material.
But last week I caved in, went out and got myself a Panasonic Plasma C4210D - 42 inch Plasma TV. Does that mean I am absolutely happy with the way cricket is shown here? Not entirely. But if there is one thing I have learnt while pursuing this hobby of ours it is that if you are not ready to make conscious and considered compromises then that is the surest way to disappointment and ultimately frustration.
In my case that compromise was that movies (of which I see at least 2 in a week) looked absolutely, lip-smackingly wonderful and bewitching on this TV.
About the actual decision - this was not the kind of decision that took me months like when I had to decide on my music system. I went to the shop and bought what I liked. While i had seen the LG PQ60 and 70 Plasmas and the Samsung B450 Plasmas earlier, on the day of my purchase I only had a choice between a Panasonic Plasma or an LG. Hands down I picked the Panasonic. Thanks to the cordiality of the owner of the Abirami Audio/Video store owner I was able to take a demo of the Panasonic C42 in total darkness with material:
1) From an Airtel Digital TV (composite out)
2) HD content (from a Blu Ray Player)
3) Content from my laptop (via HDMI at a resolution of 1920*1080)
Suffice it to say that I was very impressed at the quality of the whites and blacks produced. Earlier on I had decided not to buy a Full HD TV because it has to serve my purpose of watching a lot of cricket in SD quality as also working well with movies. From previous experience I had ascertained that viewing a Blu Ray on a 720p TV (HD Ready) is not a sea change from viewing it in a 1080p (Full HD) TV. But the reverse is not true. Watching low resolution content on a Full HD TV can be a true eyesore and a huge let down not to mention.
I have seen the PV8 (although only in store conditions) but I figure that the higher contrast ratio of the new C42 makes it a bit more alluring in terms of picture. Plus I heard from the owner of the store that image burn in in the newer line of TVs has been reduced to a great extent.
HD Ready or Full HD?
Even low resolution content from my laptop looked brilliant on the Plasma and I was pleasantly surprised by another aspect. While the TV is branded as HD ready (supporting only 720p), when driven through the HDMI port of a laptop or a computer supporting this resolution, the TV gladly displays Full HD resolution. Yes, sir, that was a pleasant shock to me. While the Panasonic personnel who came to our home later on did not have a clue when I showed this to them (nor did their service supervisor back at the office who we called up), I found out from the internet that resolutions of upto 1920*1080 are supported via HDMI when the refresh rates are set at 25, 30 or 60 hz. (I am using 60 hz).
And as people may be aware I am using my HTPC as my primary source (although that is set to change with the introduction of a DAC in the near future) it gives me a fulfilling feeling that I have a Full HD TV for the price of a HD Ready TV - for whatever it is worth .
Note about image burn-in:
The personnel from Panasonic were very categorical in their assessment that there would be no image burn-in in this Plasma and that these are a thing of the past even with static logos displayed in the Tata Sky channels. I trusted them and watched a few IPL matches on the TV. Subsequently I noticed the SET Max logo along with the 'LIVE' symbol being show on the right top corner of the screen when I had a blank screen up and running. Immediately I switched the TV to a staple diet of movies from the HTPC and the PS3. Long story short, the logo is now not visible at all. And the resolution is that Tata Sky viewing on this TV (or at least cricket) will be done only after 200 hours of break-in.
The problem with me watching cricket is that I tend not to change channels in between overs.
Finally I must thank Venkat for directing me to go to Abirami Audio/Video where I got good service in an amiable setting.
NOTE[April 19, 2010] - Thanks to friends at Hifivision, found that while the TV appears to show 1920*1080, it is just being scaled and shown in my HD ready panel which supports a maximum resolution of 1366*768. The reason why it is able to show the Full HD resolution without issues is because the aspect ratio of 16:9 is still being maintained. The best picture I have found is attained when I do not force Full HD and just keep it at 720p (on my PS3) and allow the TV to choose the appropriate resolution depending on material.
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