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Pioneer Plasma for Video + DVD + PC ?

I am still a little confused on 720 vs 1080 and plasma vs LCD and under what circumstances I need to use a scaling device.

I do know that I would like

1) a monitor without the cheapo speakers and amp
2) multiple inputs to use computer, cable box, DVD etc
3) in an ideal world, looks great with digital photos
4) for PC, will probably use an ordinary laptop with VGA cable

The device below seems attractively priced

http://www.plasmabay.com/plasma/Product.asp_X_Sku_Y_PDP427CMX

but I dont know if this will work well with my PC?

Or look miserable due to "scaling" issues?

I recently bought 3 Sony MFM monitors because they offer multiple inputs and look great as a computer monitor with 1500 x 1024 resolution or something.

However, they have cheapo amps and speakers and are only 19" in 4:3 and 20" in 16:9.

For PC, these were clearly superior to a Samsung "HD" LCD TV which apparently was a 720 device.

But then I read articles which say that 1080 device and 720 devices should be virtually indistinguishable unless you are seated very close, watching slow moving images etc.

Sorry I am still clueless. Any advice greatly appreciated. The guys at avsforum are way too smart and too technical to deal with my pathetic question.....

Thank you
cwlondon
cwlondon OP
1,210 posts
 
Kennyt - thank you.

Part of my frustration here is that the 1080 devices seem very consumer oriented, typically with cheapo speakers, amps and stands, compared the sleeker cleaner but 720 monitors for the "pro" market where both Pioneer and Panasonic models seem attractively priced.

I am not sure why the "pros" need less resolution than coach potatoes watching TV?

The newer 1080 devices also seem to be 42" and up? Other than the Dell monitors at 30" everyting seems so big to me, as I am using this in a "nearfield" setup, and dont necessarily need even 42".

Why we dont have a range of 1080 choices, in a variety of sizes, offering a variety of inputs for both PC and video, with appropriately "high end" build quality and bezels, and without the cheapo integrated speakers and amps is beyond my comprehension.

I suppose it is because the average TV watcher is not an obsessive audiophile freak like me?
gigiandgogo
2 posts
 
I have a Pioneer Plasma 50" and love it. We sit about 14' away and while it doesn't dominate the room, it fills it pretty nicely. We could have used up to about a 55" screen with our size room (the recommended size is even bigger), but love the Pioneer and thought the picture was the best of the bunch. We look at pictures quite often on it from our trips and they look very good.

We use an upconvert dvd player thru the hdmi input and it is very, very good. We also watch a ton of hd content from our dish network dual tuner hd tuner (alot of espn-hd and rush-hd) and it is very, very impressive.
samuellaudio
91 posts
 
gigiandgogo, what dvd player do you recommend?
Ag insider logo xs@2x
dbphd
1,628 posts
 
Isn't burn-in from stationary text likely to be a problem if you use plasma for a computer monitor?

I don't understand why Cwlondon can't just ignore and by-pass the "cheapo" amps and speakers, or why he believes the build qualty is better in so called commercial units by the same manufacturer in which the amps and speakers have been deleted. AIUI, commercial Panasonic units do have more adjustments available to technicians than thier consumer counterparts if that's important to him.

db
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