Panny plasma Vs Comcast HDTV, HELP

Sorry, ive been gone for a bit, just got back.

I FOUND THE PROBLEM, and Edsilvia nailed it right on target. He even got the page right. LOL

The aspect controls for the TV only work with sub 1080i/720p signals.
The comcast box sends out a 1080i signal over the coax, regardless to the quality of the picture. So even SD will still be sent in an HD 1080I signal. That is why i couldnt use the aspect function. Apparently, my roomates CRT panny doesent seem to have this problem, might be beause he is using HDMI and not component....

I searched through that cable box 10 times and couldnt find any settings. Turns out, there is a special menu that is not normally available. you have to shut the cable box off, then hit "Menu" and it lets you into an entirly different menu system.

On that it was set to pass 1080I on all signals, basically, i set the box to only put out a 480p signal which is all my TV is really capable of doing.

So, now i CAN use the aspect controls, and my TV is still putting out the best pic it can.

Honestly, the panasonic ED plasma's are the best performance for the price as far as im concerned. I bought the TV at a Soundtrack/Audioking/Ultimateelectroncs store, it was sittin there next to many HD plasma's and LCD TVs... I still think the only flat panel TV in the store that looked as good was the HD version, and i could only tell when i was very close looking at lettering....
It was sure cheaper than the HD models, but that wasnt even really a selling point for me, i could have spend several grand more, i just couldnt fiure out why i would want to when this little EDTV is trashing the competition and it wasnt even HD.... I know not all things are equal in those stores, and i know they jack up the video of them to be bright and vivid as possible, but a lot of the other TV's just couldnt get the realizm that this one got.

I'm loving this TV, and will never look back.

Cinematic,

Ya know, i gotta say something, why does everyone feel the need to point out to me that this is an EDTV and not an HDTV? im pretty sure i made that abundantly clear in the post i put up. Same thing happened on some different forums, instead of helping me fogure the problem they decided they needed to sit there and point out the blatantly obvious.

You even quoted what i had said, as seen below, and where i said i am unable to get HD on coax and then quite clearly in parenthesis i stated "As expected" then decided to show me up by telling me resolution capabilitys of coax....
as that was ever in question....

"When watching the source through the COAX input, i am unable to get the HD (as expected)."

anyways, every single time i see you post on here you seem to have to try and show people up.... you feeling a bit insecure or something?
you miss the point in almost every single thread i have seen you write in.

Why dont you go ahead and analyze my system and tell me how horrible it is while yer at it? Take yer best shot, with what ive seen you post on here in the past, i hold nothing you say with any credit.

man. i dig the tv, i dig my stereo. and im happy with them to the point where i now spend a lot of my time and money pursuing other interests.

Good day.

Slappy-

As I indicated a few months ago in a private email exchange we had, I also think the Panny 42 EDTV is an awesome display. Great contrast ratio, beautiful color rendering, on and on.

Don't be too hard on Sinnamatik_dizplays. His posts all come on a bit strong. With a moniker like cinematic _ displays, he has to know more than us about video.

Enjoy your panel!

Cinematic doesnt get out much, lol

Slapster,

Good to hear that you found the aspect setting. For my PACE cable box with Time Warner Cable, The "Display" button is right on the front panel of the STB. Can't miss it!

I also own the Panny EDTV model TH-42PD25U. I agree that it is a great Plasma regardless of price. Honestly, considering I don't watch any OTA HD programming, I think the EDTV Panny is an incredible bargain. Amazingly, no other Plasmas have yet matched the feature set of the Pannys. How about integrated speakers, included table stand, NTSC, ATSC, and QAM tuners, cablecard support, HDMI and memory card reader. And that was in the previous version, not even the current one.

I only bought a plasma TV because I needed to increase my viewing distance and having the TV be 20" thinner was the best way for me to do it. Now that I have it, I couldn't be happier.

Enjoy the TV!

TIC

This is going to be fun;

1. Ya know, i gotta say something, why does everyone feel the need to point out to me that this is an EDTV and not an HDTV?

Well you didn't seem to understand the difference when it came to screen modes now did ya. You even compared your TV to your roomates tv which is an HDTV!!! Edesilva has the manual and doesn't get it either, you don't have enough resolution to stretch 1080i, 720p and 480p. HDTV plasma's can do this if they have the software on board, ie Pioneer, Samsung....Panasonic.

Uh.

2. Apparently, my roomates CRT panny doesent seem to have this problem, might be beause he is using HDMI and not component....

No master of obtuseness, his tv has the equivalent 1024x1280 resolution, it is a real HDTV. Not compatible like yours.

3.anyways, every single time i see you post on here you seem to have to try and show people up.... you feeling a bit insecure or something?

No I was just making fun of your for not being able to hook up your tv and then 10 guys who were no help either. I gave you the answers I just didn't spoon feed ya, which it appears you needed.

4. On that it was set to pass 1080I on all signals, basically, i set the box to only put out a 480p signal which is all my TV is really capable of doing.

Gee I didn't know that, wonder who the first person was who brought that concept up.

5. I've owned the commercial version of the TH-42PD50U. It is HDTV compatible, meaning fully capable of receiving HD signals in 1080i or 720p. The internal scaler then downconverts to the displays maximum resolution. This isn't so unusual, since most plasmas aren't exactly a 1:1 ratio of pixels to HD resolution--its just that in this set the display loses a little more of the information. The monitor will display a 1080i or 720p signal to the best of its ability.

And does this have anything do with stretching an image or having variable screen modes? No.

6. The problem is that 1080i and 720p are *inherently* widescreen. The manual sez that the aspect button does not work with 1080i or 720p input signals. See p. 21. Its not a matter of running out of pixels.

Then why doesn't it allow it?, because it has too many pixels? I'm not sure slappy understood his cable box was outputting 1080i on SD channels by generating the side bars. Maybe I misread his post?

7. The double boxing problem is an STB issue or a Comcast issue. Try using the S-Video to watch SD/AD (but not HD) off the box; should give you back the aspect/zoom at least. Frankly, some prefer the use of S-Video over component/DVI/HDMI because it tends to "blur" the picture a tiny bit and mask the resolution conversion problems.

Need I say more?

8.Why dont you go ahead and analyze my system and tell me how horrible it is while yer at it? Take yer best shot, with what ive seen you post on here in the past, i hold nothing you say with any credit.

Well, that's not my job and you haven't complained about the general quality of CD playback on your system in an open forum. So it's none of my business really.

9.man. i dig the tv, i dig my stereo. and im happy with them to the point where i now spend a lot of my time and money pursuing other interests.

I never said one thing about your system, never will unless hell freezes over and you ask my advice. I thought it was funny you couldn't operate your tv because you hadn't read the directions but I said that already.

10.You even quoted what i had said, as seen below, and where i said i am unable to get HD on coax and then quite clearly in parenthesis i stated "As expected" then decided to show me up by telling me resolution capabilitys of coax....
as that was ever in question....

"When watching the source through the COAX input, i am unable to get the HD (as expected)."

What is funny is I was trying to point out that changing screen modes has to do with the resolution of your tv and the signal source, which you now know. So was the other guy but you didn't understand we were trying to fill in some background not show you up.

So there we are. I love this place.