Panasonic TH-50PX60U 50-Inch Plasma HDTV (2006 Model)
This Is the TV to Buy
All TV's lose brightness as the years pass.  To my surprise I have discovered that the latest generation plasma TV's, such as this one, actually maintain brightness better than the old cathode ray tubes did.  Therefore this TV will last even longer than the one it is replacing. <br /> <br />Projection HD TV's on the other hand, fade in brightness far more quickly than you are used to.  And LCD HD TV's, although good in brightly lit rooms, have a limited viewing angle that this TV does not.  Your preferred choice is now clear, Plasma HD TV.  Go to the Panasonic website to make sure you are actually buying the latest one.  Currently this is the TH-50PX60U model. <br /> <br />So what can you expect your viewing experience to be with an HD big screen TV anyway?  You will have a lot of learning to do.  First of all, you will find that most of what you actually watch is not available in HD.  No DVD is in HD.  TiVo will not display in HD unless you have a Direct TV satellite dish and a special HD TiVo receiver.  It may be a challenge for you even to get true HD at all even after you upgrade your digital cable box to HD. <br /> <br />DVD's you watch will look near to HD quality, even though they are not actually in HD.  Good quality regular TV programming will also look good even if it is not actually in HD.  Some TV programming will look absolutely awful on your HD big screen, however, and horrible flaws in resolution and detail that were not visible before will make some programming actually unwatchable. <br /> <br />You will soon be able to tell which programs were actually filmed and which were recorded with video cameras, due to the color blotching all video cameras leave.  Horrible stage makeup on some faces that you couldn't even see before will also become noticeable when watching some shows! <br /> <br />If you do not hook your HD digital cable box up correctly, you won't be able to see HD even on the HD channels.  You must hook up the composite video (three videoand two audio jacks) or the HDMI or DVI connectors to get the HD feed.  If you use the normal video output (one video and two audio jacks or the s-video) you will get a 480 interlaced non-HD picture by mistake. <br /> <br />Old fashioned TV is 480 interlaced.  Some DVD players have 480 progressive scan.  This HD TV has native 720 progressive scan HD.  Another common format is 1180 interfaced HD.  1180 progressive will be coming eventually.  720p is currently thought to flicker less than 1180i.  1180p isn't even available yet.  1180i is translated perfectly into 720p on this TV nonetheless so you can watch all modes and will be able to continue to watch all modes for some time to come. <br /> <br />This TV has a 10th generation plasma screen, with a remarkable 10,000:1 contrast ratio.  Star Wars Episode II Attack of the Clones is truly remarkable to view on this TV even in 480p mode which is the best you can get off of a DVD. <br /> <br />Nowadays you can pick up a micro fiber cleaning cloth at auto parts stores.  When using one of those you can feel the grip of invisible dirt even upon surfaces that look clean.  However, I feel no grip at all when dusting this TV, leading me to surmise that the glass surface of this TV has been somehow microscopically perfected.  And I am glad to say that little dust seems to be sticking to it.   <br /> <br />On this TV I can split the digital cable wire and get non-scrambled true HD TV channels directly off the cable wire without even using the HD cable box or the composite or HDMI inputs.  For scrambled HD TV, the DVI feed from the HD cable box goes to the TV's HDMI input for true HD and the S-Video feed from the HD cable box goes to the TiVo for non-HD TV.  You will be able to record HD programming from your digital HD cable box on your TiVo, only the programs will automatically get changed to 480i non-HD from using the S-Video output connector from your cable box.  The HD channels will still look better than normal, however, even after you switch back to your TiVo to see something on an HD channel that you recorded in 480 mode.  You will want to be there to watch programs on HD channels live in true HD now, of course, instead of later on as recorded by TiVo. <br /> <br />You will find yourself to be ahead of the curve.  Your TiVo won't work correctly.  Most channels won't be in HD.  Your DVD's will all be in the old format.  And your cable guy won't have the slightest idea how to actually hook you up to see actual HD, so don't let him or her walk off with the 5 wire red green blue and audio composite video cable you will need! <br /> <br />And Eureka, you will know instantly once you actually get true HD on your new TV!  Even though there are only a handful of HD stations at present (Discovery HD, ESPN HD, TNT HD, InHD, InHD2, ABC HD, NBC HD, CBS HD and Fox HD and one HD feed for each of the four movie channels) you will find you only want to watch whatever is on in HD instead of whatever you used to watch before.  Get ready for a life changing experience, therefore.  But let them take a while to get those HD DVD's rolling, so you don't have to replace your entire collection of movies with a new format again so soon after having just changed them all!   <br />