Plasma 42 inch ....

The pioneer pro elite and fujitsu 50 inch plasmas are thought to be among the best so you might want to see if they have smaller units in the same top line range. If you don't need to hang your screen on a wall and don't view at extreme angles, check out the new 50 inch sony SDRX grand wega sets. They better all the DLP and LCD sets I've seen but start at 50 inches. I believe that plasma sales are on the decline and some companies may stop production in a year or two as other technology is taking over. The best plasmas (IMHO) still have the most movie like picture but not the ultimate resolution of the newer technology but things seem to change every month.

Pioneer Elite 43" would be my first choice in a commonly available plasma that size. The Panasonic Onyx 42" is specifically the only Panny I consider comparable and it is very good. Scarcer but even more film-like than these to is the Runco plasma. I believe it uses the same glass as the Pioneer Elite, but a further improved chipset.

The Fujitsu plasmas are quite good and are contenders, but IMO video just doesn't look as good framed in silver as framed in black.

Phil

Phil

If you use your plasma in dim light the Panasonic still is tops. The Panny black levels still best the rest ( Fujitsu is the exception, but they use Panasonic Glass-Pixels). Our eyes are much better able to see differences in contrast levels than pixel counts as we move further away from the monitors. Pannys superior contrast ratios and black levels make it the best for dim lihgt becuase of these factors.

In ambient light. Pioneer is a good choice. Pio 5060 for instance But they are very restrictive in their dead pixel return policies and are closing Plasma plants next year and importaing glass from other vendors.

Their isnt anything special about a Runco plasma other than its price. It isnt using a superior chipset, whatever that is referring to. ( Usually this refers to a deinterlacing chip in common usage but thats what good DVD players are for- you generally dont rely on a monitors chip alone for deinterlacing)

Lots of misinformation in the first response as well. Plasmas sales have skyrocketed andsome companies cant keep up with demand. Companies with QA problems, restrictive internet sales policies and authorized reseller agreements are quickly falling by the wayside. But the remaining manufacturers are cleaning up. The analogy here is Toyota GM- overall car sales worldwide arent declining but some companies arent doing as well as others.

AS far as the best value/performance purchase-- an easy pick- The Panasonic PWD8UY commerical plasma monitor which including the stand-- costs 1500 from authoprized resellers if ya know where to look. I am not aware of other contenders at the 42 inch level. AT the 50 inch, then you go with the Panny 50 inch HD commercial set for 3000.

The regular series Panasonics are not nearly as good as the Onyx series nor the Elite, though their black levels are very good. Also some or all of the standard series do not have 3:2 pull-down for film. They're OK. The Onyx series is another matter entirely, fully competitive with anything out there.

The Runco plasma is exceptional. If you can't see the difference...well, I can't suggest how to fix that.

The standard Pioneers are very good, better than the std. Panny's, IMO, but not equal to the Elites or the Onyx.

Panasonic's standard-setting contrast ratio is unfortunately offset by more LCD-like "video-ness" to the image character. Fine on video, not as accurate on film material transferred to DVD. However, if you're considering Panasonic, Pioneer, Runco, Fujitsu and perhaps the new Hitachi, in plasma, you're considering good images compared to plasma from Sony, LG and all the 16 bit LCDs.

Phil

Phil