Panasonic Plasma Differences??

[Weasel]

Ive been shopping for 42" Plasma televisions and I am confused about the differences between The Panasonic TH-42PHD8UK and The Panasonic TH-42PX50U can someone give me some insight??

The Weasel

 

[BMXTRIX]

What confuses you?

I believe the glass is the same on both models, so the image quality will be the same.

But, the 8UK does not have speakers, does not have a CableCard slot, does not have HDMI or DVI inputs and only has one of composite, component, and VGA.

The other model has a built in over the air HD tuner, CableCard slot, speakers, 2 composite, 2 component, and 1 HDMI input.

For a few hundred bucks more, those are the things you get. Otherwise, they are very similar.

If you plan on using an external cable box, never hooking things up digitally, have an external audio system, etc. Then, the 8UK is a great way to go. But, I would still get the HDMI card for it so I can connect things digitally down the road.

Read the specs on them both:
http://www.bestbuyplasma.com/Plasma/product.asp_X_Sku_Y_TH42PX50U_Z_tab_Y_tab2

http://www.bestbuyplasma.com/Plasma/product.asp_X_Sku_Y_TH42PHD8UK_Z_tab_Y_tab2

 

[Weasel]

Burn In!

I keep being warned about the burn in on the plasmas. I do not play video games the T.V will be for sports and television shows. But people say just the scores in the corner and the bars from shows like cnn can burn in. Is this true? I dont want to watch a football game and than have the score in the corner for the life of my plasma!>?

 

[BMXTRIX]

Sure, if you leave it on that one channel for 2 or 3 days straight without turning it off or changing the channel.

Or, in simple terms, if you want to burn in an image, you will have to try REALLY hard to do so with current plasma displays.

Watching movies in letterbox format, or a ball game, or the news, for a few hours will not damage the display.

You should use the plasma for a week or two and just be more careful to not leave stagnent images up on screen. But, after that time, you should be fine.

I have an older, cheaper, plasma that has no burn-in just because I'm a bit careful. It doesn't take much to have some caution and many new cable boxes and sat receivers that have VCR fucntonality, will dim the image or un-pause if the same image is left up for more than a few minutes.

Being aware is good - being concerned is fine - but actually worrying is not worth the effort. Plasma is a great deal and a great image for the money. Most of all, it is reliable and will last you years, even decades, if you just show a bit of care.

 

[Ax-man]

Being aware is good - being concerned is fine - but actually worrying is not worth the effort

I totally agree.

Our Sony plasma is going on 2 years without a hitch, we really do like the thing.

 

[jcPanny]

Plasma Burn In

Some of the new generation plasmas have a technology that slightly moves a stationary image on the screen a few pixels at a time to prevent burn in. In normal usage I think it is nolonger an issue.

 

[Weasel]

Panny

Does anyone know if the Panasonic TH-42PX50U has the technoligy to help prevent burn in.? and thanks for the advice.

The Weasel:

 

[turbodog]

I've owned 2 of the TH-42PX50U's for about 3 months now. I did considerable (web) research before buying. I believe this model to be as burn-in immune as any. I have not obsessed over it, but did turn down the picture brightness from the factory settings and used stretch or zoom modes to view SD channels for the first few weeks. I am very happy with these TVs so far. My ONLY nit is that they don't allow aspect changes when receiving HD signals (have to do it with the dish DVR or DVD player instead, no big deal). I was a little disappointed that I could not access overscan adjustment.... but so far have had no reason to want to adjust anyway.

 

[beam3]

Does anyone know if the Panasonic TH-42PX50U has the technoligy to help prevent burn in.? and thanks for the advice.

The Weasel:

That model you are looking has the latest technology to protect against burn in. It is a 8th generation plasma, meaning it's the most current. The new pannys also last 60,000 hours before they reach half life brightness.

For the first 100 hours they suggest you should not crank the brightness extremely high on the display, and as turbodog said, you can stretch or zoom the picture to fill the screen as well.

I wouldn't be overly concerned with burn in, the burn in on this plasma is comperable to the succeptibility of burn in on a direct view crt.

If you want any other info let me know, I can provide you with anything you want to know on the Panny line.

 

[mitch57]

If you want any other info let me know, I can provide you with anything you want to know on the Panny line.

So what settings does Panasonic recommend for the first 100 hours or so? I have my TH-50PX50U set at "0" for everything except picture which I have set at "-6".

 

[beam3]

So what settings does Panasonic recommend for the first 100 hours or so? I have my TH-50PX50U set at "0" for everything except picture which I have set at "-6".

I unsure of the specific neumber level to set it at, they just recommended not to crank it in the beginning. I could probably find out if you would like numbers. You're settings sound fine though, I will look into numbers further tomorrow and play with the set to see the differences.

 

[westcott]

New gases New Technology

Burn in really is a thing of the past.

Newer gases are used in the new panels that are far more resistant to burn in. It really is a non-issue in today's units.