"Commercial" plasma screens the real deal for HT?

Most of the commercial plasmas I've seen have been pretty close to the consumer versions, but without some of the bells and whistles. I bought a commercial Panasonic EDTV plasma--great deal, and quality-wise no different than their consumer models. Like some of the other commercial units, it had blade slots so you could add on other inputs--I added a DVI/HDCP card for that input. Pioneer also has a well regarded line of commercial units. If you don't need speakers, it can be a good deal. Probably not the end all or be all of HDTV, but worth considering. The gurus over at http://www.avsforum.com can give you specifics.

You also have the flexibility, if you are interested, in buying four of them (or nine of them) for a really big plasma screen. ;)

If you are concernced about having some big box between your speakers I would reccommend looking into getting a front projector for your space. You would mount a screen on the front wall, the projector on the back wall and have nothing between your speakers.
I have the BenQ pb6100 which can now be had for about $750 or so. From 14 feet back I have a beautiful 90" diagonal picture on a pull down screen on my front wall. If you are looking for an immersive movie experience at home, that is the way to go. Check out AVSforum.com for alot of info and screen shots on what you can expect from a front projector. There are many that can be had for around what you want to spend and they are alot more fun than a tv. Send me an e-mail if you want some more info.

I have the "Commercial" version of a 42" Panasonic plasma. It is identical to the "residential" model, except for some bells and whistles that an audiophile would not use. You save money not only because some stuff is omitted, but also because the commercial distribution chain has lower markup.

Even though it has no speakers, it does have two ten watt audio amps, with volume control on the remote. They don't play very loud with low efficiency speakers, but if you used high efficiency single drivers they might do the job for you.

Beheme,

I own the consumer version of the current Panasonic 42" EDTV Plasma. I really like it. The commercial version has the same picture quality, but loses the table stand, speakers, hi-def tuner and cable tv tuner. If you don't need those features, the Pansonic is a great monitor (42" EDTV monitor <$2000). Heck, I saw the 37' consumer version at Circuit City last week for $1795. Surely the 37 commercial version would be under $1700.

I really like the Panny EDTVs for the price. I'm enjoying it even more than I expected. The picture is really good at 8' viewing distance. Yes, I would like HDTV, but the EDTV picture quality is so good that I'm glad I didn't spend the extra $1500-2000 for the HDTV version.

Enjoy,

TIC

Commercial version has higher radiation due to spec requirement, but probably close to consumer version since it's not cost effective to use 2 different types of internal organs for different models.

However, consumer version usually has the benefit of extra features like screen refresh or screen saver when still image is displayed after prolong period of time. NEC model in particular allow you to change your BNC input to component and double your component inputs instantly. There are numerous features that are not available on consumer version, but most of them are not really useful for HT use.

So to save money, commercial version is definitely the way to go.

As for resolution, 480P display is adequate when you sit 6'+ away from the PDP and SDE will not be visible.