37" Plasma + PC= Nice

[mozzartusm]

After much thought I bought a Panasonic 37" Plasma mainly for my PC. I was tired of the small displays and needed something big. For $2200.00 this thing blows me away. If anyone is interested in details then I will be happy to answer any questions. I never see much info on this type of setup, so I thought that I would mention it.

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[palmerg]

Sounds quite nice, expensive, but nice! What's the model number of the Panasonic? Is it the TH-37PX25U/P? If it is then it looks like it's analog input (or can you connect video card DVI to the HDMI via a converter?). Is it sitting on the computer desk or is it also your main TV unit? I'm assuming it's 1.77:1 AR (16:9), what resolutions does it support (looks like the above model is max PC resolution of 1024x720 with D-sub15P connection required - so not all pcs may be compatable without a conversion adapter) and what video card are you using (you may have your rig posted elsewhere but I'm to lazy to look it up, sorry)? Don't know much about Plasma technology. Is there somthing akin to response times? Have you played any FPS games yet?

Oh and what is the meaning of life?

I guess the model number will help the most

 

[p05esto]

Wow. I often question if screens can be too large. Does your head need to rotate a lot just to view from one side to another. Is it too much? How's the crispness and readablity of text. Same as an LCD/CRT? What's the resolution? How's the ghosting on games? Do plasmas have response limitations like LCD or frequency Hertz like CRT or something completely different. How does plasma work? little lights or what? Sooo many questions.....

<A HREF="http://www.ericstoffers.com" target="_new">(My little web site)</A>

 

[palmerg]

briefly looked at the Panasonic website. It seems that they make 2 37" plasma models. The one I mention above and one other. They both have RGB analog inputs. The resolutions stated above for that model hold and the res for the other model is lower. They do have scan frequency limitations and some cautions about details not being displayed or black screens if these limits aren't adhered to. I would suppose that at those resolutions having the 37" on your desk isn't a good idea since you may get neck strain as well as being too close and getting an eyeful of pixels (orwhatever plasma term applies) instead of detail. I will wait for mozz to tell us what he thinks (although from his initial comments it appears that he really likes it) but my intuition tells me that this will work but will be much better at normal TV viewing distances (7-12 feet away). I suppose it also will require wireless (IR, RF or BT) input devices.
Waiting to hear.....

 

[mozzartusm]

OK, sorry it took so long to get back. Nest time PM me and remind me. I forgot that I had posted this. The model # is TH-37PD25UP its the little brother of the TH-42PD25UP which of course is the 42" version. Go to Cnet and look up their review on the 42" model. They never do reviews on both big and little brother but the difference in the size doesnt effect performance.

This one has Analog inputs for cable and regular Antenna along with a 15 pin PC input, HDMI,PCMCIA Card slot, 3 different RCA sets of inputs as well as S-video and inputs for a Digital TV tuner box. Is has the capability of displaying 1080! and 480p. Oh, and it has the digital Audio inputs as well.

I still have alot to learn about this set, but so far I can tell you that the 15 pin input has been perfect for using the PC for watching DVD's surfing the web is clear, and I have ran 3DMark 01,04 and it looks really good. The problem with me saying much about games is that I am not a gamer. Yall are going to need to give me some suggestions as to what benchmarking programs or otherwise that I can run and get some results back to you.

Currently I am using a X700 Pro. I have used the S-video output which was not great at all, the PC output which is my pick at this point, and have played with the DVI output some through a DVI - HDMI converter cable. This hasnt worked well yet, but im not sure if it is my lack of knowledge or if it is a limitation of the set. I thought that the digital cable would produce the best result but I still cant say for sure. Im trying to find out who to e-mail at panasonic to ask this question. Also I have notice that there are some programs on ATI's site that may be a workaround.

As for viewing, I sit between 6 to 9 feet away. This was my intention the whole time. You can certainly back up much more than that with no problem, but if you got to close the size of the screen would keep you neck moving to much. I can get up close and dont see anything that stands out as far as pixels. I have a wireless keyboard and mouse so it works out great for me.

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[p05esto]

Interesting. Probably too low of resolution for real LCD like crispness at normal distances but who knows. It all depends on what you do with your computer. Web/dvd/games it could be great...but I'm a web developer and programmer so maybe not so good for that. I'd love to see that in person though. I remember seeing about that size Plasma a few years ago for $7k and was very impressed then. Let the prices continue to fall!

<A HREF="http://www.ericstoffers.com" target="_new">(My little web site)</A>

 

[mozzartusm]

Guess what? This was one of the highest rated Plasma's on Cnet and it ended up costing me $2200.00 brand new. I have been running some programs since my last post all of which are very graphics intensive and it looks great. My eyes are very sensitive to anything like the Rianbow effect, or bad contrast and especially response. Ill keep on checking it out and reporting back. Let me know if you find a program or benchmark that i can run that would give you some kind of idea what this thing is capable of.

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[palmerg]

SOunds great!
Did read the operators manual on the panasonic website and I sent them a query email to see if the HDMI connection could be used for Video Card DVI input since the X700 is DVI 1.0 /HDMI compliant. No response on the email but the guide I saw on-line did say that the HDMI terminal connection is not intended for use with computers. That's in Notes: on page 14.
Maybe there is some SW out there somewhere? Anyway it sounds like your getting what you wanted without that.
I didn't read if that Plasma has any anti-burnin protection (heard tell that some do) but I guess it would be a concern for you if the tv is used with PC and you left it on too long.
I would like to see the setup as well.
Best of luck and enjoy...

 

[palmerg]

Why don't you DL the Doom3 demo and give that a whirl.
<A HREF="http://www.doom3.com/" target="_new"><font color=red>get it here</font color=red></A>
Or not - up to you

 

[mozzartusm]

I read that part about the HDMI not being intended for PC use. I was taklking with some of the guys in the graphics card forum and they seem to think that one of the software mod tools would give me the ability to come up wiith a custom format that would work. I did try the HDMI briefly and it works, but the picture doesnt fill the screen.

As for burn in. This one does have some of the safety measures however its something that you must keep in mind. You just have to make sure that you dont let something like a stock ticker tape run for an extended period of time. Please let me know if you here back from Panasonic.

Thanks


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