Plasma 42 inch ....

The Panasonic units have been going gangbusters in the marketplace, and before I left retail earlier this year, I sold my share of them.

I work with Hitachi units for custom install both because of the quality of the Alis panels, but also because of the all-discrete hex codes, which not all brands have. Not a big deal to the casual buyer, but if you are programming a sophisticated control interface, then suddenly it really matters.

FWIW, my employer and I spec more 55" sets than 42" ones. What that says about the market, I don't know... :)

I like the Fujitsus a lot, but I don't like the silver cabinetry.

Nice thread. Can anybody suggest which of the above is more future-proof with regards to Blue-Ray, etc.?

Thought I'd add a couple of things based on the recent posts-- I was in a high end store two days agao looking at Fujitsus, Hitachis ( Plasmas) as well as the new Sony SXRD ( LCos) displays. I do think that adding Hitachi to the consideration is a good call. They ARE very full featured. The Fujitsu still has the edge in pure PQ, but they are only monitors without all of the features of the Hitachi. I still maintain that in the end, the Plasma world is gonna boil down to Hitachi and Panasonic and thats it.

AS far as which technology is compatible is HD-DVDs/Blu-Ray-- well that gets interesting. In the December issue of The Perfect Vision- their is an article about advertised 1080P displays that cant really display 1080P. It seems you are safe with Panasonic and Hitachi Plasmas . However, my guess is that the actual HDMI plug, meaning the physical plug itself--is actually gonna change. Too many problems with the current one.. What to do? Heck I Dunno. I am gonna wait until the dust settles etc.. but I already have a nice home theater.

We bought the Hitachi, but we may take it back. The problem is not the set itself so much as the difficulties we are having adjusting to widescreen, high def, loss of TiVo and so forth. It's less easy to just sit down and watch TV and, as great as the PQ is on HD and DVDs, we're not sure it's worth it. Plus, I am beginning to notice things that are bugging me (color banding in black-and-white films, lack of focus in some parts of the screen, odd distortions in crowd scenes). This is not unlike high-end audio in that I find I am focusing so much on the picture that it can get in the way of enjoying the content. On thge other hand, I have found myself deeply immersed in programs that I might of passed by with my old TV, such as a Discovery piece on India and some segments of an Isle of Wight concernt in HD, which gave me goosebumps it was so involving.

And what's with widescreen DVDs that display black bars across the top and bottom?

Drubin- What connections were you using? And what model Hitachi ( ie is it the latest). I dont understand loss of TIVO ( but then again I dont have one) and the other comments about color banding etc- I dont have any of that. ( i have a panny plasma myself)The bars you mention are normal for many DVDs depending on if they were pordicued in the 1.85:1 aspect ration or the 2:35:1 ration and anamorphic vs non-anamorphic. The aspect ratio button on the plasma controlk shou,d allow for a zoom mode, which will remove black bars or greatly lessen them