Pioneer PDP-425CMX for $995 with free shipping

[trevinom]

I was getting ready to pull the trigger on this deal, but figured I'd ask you guys if you knew anything about it. I tried googling it but didn't get anything significant. I did see that it only has 2 inputs built-in, D-sub and DVI. To add standard connections, you have to purchase some BNC card. The card is $143 at the cheapest place I found it. What say you guys?

forgot to put in linky

 

[Caesar]

Check avsforum for reviews

 

[Yzzim]

Contrast Ratio: 3000:1

pretty low for a plasma

 

[d94]

not 720p...

 

[SleepyB]

Originally posted by: Yzzim
Contrast Ratio: 3000:1

pretty low for a plasma

Nah... Since there is no standard for measuring the contrast ratio, every manufacturer fudges their numbers, so don't believe those 10,000:1 ratios.

This is a pretty good deal and has free shipping too. Usually shipping these things costs $150-$200. Debating between 42" vs 50" right now. This and the Panasonic 9UK series are the ones I'm considering right now.

This is a bare display. So you'll need to buy a stand or mount and some speakers. If you have a home theater, you're set for the speakers.

Probably need to buy the extra input card for component, s-video, and composite in. There's also other fancier cards with like HDMI, tuners, etc... but those cost a lot more.

 

[Yzzim]

Originally posted by: d94
not 720p...

I thought a resolution of 1024x768 could handle 720p?

 

[Yzzim]

Originally posted by: SleepyB

Originally posted by: Yzzim
Contrast Ratio: 3000:1

pretty low for a plasma

Nah... Since there is no standard for measuring the contrast ratio, every manufacturer fudges their numbers, so don't believe those 10,000:1 ratios.

This is a pretty good deal and has free shipping too. Usually shipping these things costs $150-$200. Debating between 42" vs 50" right now. This and the Panasonic 9UK series are the ones I'm considering right now.

This is a bare display. So you'll need to buy a stand or mount and some speakers. If you have a home theater, you're set for the speakers.

Probably need to buy the extra input card for component, s-video, and composite in. There's also other fancier cards with like HDMI, tuners, etc... but those cost a lot more.

While I've heard that manufacturer's do fudge on their numbers, I've seen quite a few cheap LCD's that have a low 800:1 or 1000:1 contrast ratio and they look terrible compared to some Samsung's have that a 3000:1 ratio. Maybe it's just me, but I could definitely tell a difference.

 

[trevinom]

Originally posted by: Yzzim

Originally posted by: d94
not 720p...

I thought a resolution of 1024x768 could handle 720p?

This is what I was hoping to get information on. I googled this PDP and couldn't find any site or brochure that listed whether it would handle 1080P. From what I've read, for screens of 40'+, you want them to be 1080p or the aliasing and pixelization becomes apparent. I'm also getting a little confused with the resolution. The link to avsforum provided by CaesaR
(much appreciated) made reference to a resolution of 1280x768 and 1365x768 and native resolution and I'm more confused now than when I first started looking into these . I just want to be able to play my PS3 in 1080p, that's all.

 

[SleepyB]

This panel has a native resolution of 1024x768. It can handel 720p stuff fine, but you do lose some horizontal pixels, since it has to rescale 1280x720 -> 1024x768. It has rectangular pixels, instead of square pixels, because they cannot make the plasma element small enough for this size. Like all flat panels, it's best to run it at it's native resolution for PC work. But for video, DVDs, and games, it's probably not that noticable since it's all in motion.

I think the set will take a 1080p input (not sure), but it will rescale it to fit the resolution it has. 1080p is kind of overrated right now, especially for sets smaller than 50". If you want it, you're going to pay a premium for it. And the only things that have 1080p for the 40" size are LCDs, and that'll cost you $3000+.

Trust me, it's not worth it... Maybe in three years, but right now 1080p way too expensive.