When will a 60"+ true 1080P plasma be available?

i'm also in the market for a plasma...the room has been treated and would love to have a nice 50" 1080p plasma for the wall...for me, the plasma is the better choice aesthetically for my small room...never heard of the nec's-think i'll look into them, but love the panasonics...brent

i have a panasonic 50" (th-50phd8) which accepts 1080p. at 1366x768 resolution, its not true 1080p.

if u r looking for picture quality (given your search for 1080p), i suggest using an external video processor/scaler (dvdo vp30 @ $2000) with a 60" plasma panel that accepts hdmi/dvi-d input. all panasonics have hdmi/dvi-d as an optional board.

i'm upgrading my video processor (kramer) to the dvdo vp30 and have tested the dvdo hd+ model with stunning results (on 720p & 1080p). i mainly watch satellite tv and very little dvd. i'm told hdmi (digital) is a step up from component (progressive analog). my equipment should arrive in a few weeks...

Cics - Why spend $2Gs on an external processor, when 1080P displays will be coming out in a couple of months, eliminating the need for scaling (assuming 1080P inputs of course)?

My cable box is 1080i, so the only thing a true 1080P dispaly would need to do is the de-interlacing, which I would hope you don't need a $2k processor to do competantly.

its amazing what difference an external processor will do for picture quality and this gets better with quality input (in your case 1080i).

panasonic's latest internal video processor doesn't come close to what the DVDO is able to do. i would suggest you at least test it on a plasma. my take on this is that plasma and other display devices do not have advanceed image processing capabilities (noise reduction, color management, sharpness, detail, etc).

the difference is very clear on live sport. my sattelite feed to the processor is RGBs (the equivalent to component).

Cics - Yes, this is interesting input. So if I am to understand you correctly, you are saying that the processsor does much more than just converts the resolution?

As of right now, the 3 brands of plasma that interest me are the Pioneer, NEC, and Panasonic. I like the color reproduction better on the Pios and the NECS then the panasonics.

Have you tested this processor either a near-current or current model Pioneer or NEC?

I would love to test it on a plasma, however that requires somehow obtaining one. Would any b&m vendors in the boston area have one for me to try? Or is the only way to test it to buy it, and then try and deal with the return policy if its improvements are marginal or null?

thasnk