CRAIGFIN

I will be getting a 42" Plasma screen fairly soon. I have been looking at the spec of various screens, and understand most of it, bar one thing. I have seen the spec for Contrast quoted as a ratio. I have seen it vary from about 500:1 through to 1000:1. What does it mean?, and which is the best spec, high ratio or low?

Cheers,

Craig.

SiCotty

Craig,

I've been looking at this a lot and these are the two best screens you should go for. Be carefull buying budget plasma screens as the picture will be crap.

Best to go for are:
Panasonic TH-42PW6
Pioneer PDP-434HDE

The Pioneer is geating fantastic reviews with most people saying this is the best plasma on the market. The main thing is that it comes with a digital HDMI connection for your DVD player (currently only pioneer DVD players support this). When you hook up a suitable DVD player the picture is supposed to be amazing.

I went for a Tosh PF2 36" CRT as I could not go to the 3-4k needed for a good screen and did not want a budget plasma.

Pick up a copy of what hifi january for a good plasma test.

Si

mr_gazza

I'm no expert but...

I would wait until the LCD screens are available in 42". I believe this is scheduled for early 2004.

Plasma screen suffer from image burn as do rear projection my TV is marked with the sky news logo

LCDs do not suffer from this. They also last a lot longer and use a lot less electriciy.

Gary

Rasher

what is the life span of a plasma screen TV???

corradoboy

The contrast ratio refers to the difference between the darkest (black) to the brightest (white) colours. The higher the CR the better. Panasonics are as high as 4000:1 by using tinted filters on the front glass. I'd recommend the Pana PW6 (display) or PA20 (TV) which can be had for around £3k. Find the best price you can on the net, then phone John Lewis' Cheadle store and ask for their best price, then get them to beat the net price if it's lower. You'll benefit greatly by buying from them as you get a 5yr guarantee free (invaluable). You can already get a 40" LCD by Samsung, but I'd wait for the next generation due out later in the year, as so far they're not as good as plasma. Organic LED is lining up to kill them both off in about 2 years time. If you really must have the best then have a look at the Pioneers with HDMI, but it'll cost you as you'll need a new DVD player (£600+) as well as the £4.5k screen. There are a few similar technologies due from other manufacturers soon, so it's life might be short unless it remains the best.

r32

Pick up a copy of "what hi*fi sound and vision" ultimate guide on televisions, its in the shop now (3.99) and explains all the differences, good and bad between CRT, plasma and LCD screens.
Worth gettng.
Upshot is CRT are still the best at the moment, with plasma best for big screens, new HDMI Pioneer is outstanding, need HDMI DVD though cheapest at 600 notes. LCD basically dont bother, poor angles and not good ranges of colours, ok for small screens but not there yet.
Read it for yourself.
Good luck, I have been delving into which to buy for about a month. Looking at test reports, talking to the trade, internet chat rooms the lot and I'm still confused. Guy in the trade did say that plasma prices are set to tumble big style.
STEVE............

CRAIGFIN

Thanks for the replies fellas.

Craig.

Scooby96

Or have a look here

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

me mate had a few projections tv's due to problems, had a sony a toshiba and finished with a panasonic and out of all of them the panasonic is the one he said was the best