Panasonic TH-42PD50U 42-Inch Flat Panel EDTV Plasma TV
Love this TV...best picture in store even though EDTV
I have had several TVs in the past 5 years, 2 projection Sonys, a Wega, and I can tell you this is the TV for under 2200 to end them all. I didn't want to spend over 2k on a tv because it just seems like over kill. I wanted to get an HDTV, because I had one before that was a sony projection. That was until I saw this one in the store. I talked to the guy at Bestbuy and he said that they haven't put this one out because they wanted to move some of their older models first. This TV will produce as good of a picture as any at the store. I sat and looked at all of the options, and money aside, not one TV at best buy or circuit city produced as good of a picture as this one. I have brought it home and have been watching it for a week or so. DVDs look great, XBOX with the colorstream cable looks awesome as well. I am still waiting for my HD box to arrive, so that I can hook up the HDMI cable. I couldn't be happier than with this TV. This is the first non Sony TV I have ever bought, and so far I am not disappointed.  <br /> <br />Since my first comments have been getting a lot of feedback, I figured it would be a good idea to give a follow up to those still on the fence.  <br /> <br /> <br />1) I received the HD box, and it looks even better. I connected with an HDMI cable which eliminates component cables and uses just one small connector, which controls all three component inputs as well as the audio to the TV (which most people use their receiver, but this is a nice option to have). Do not buy this cable from BB or CC, they WAY over charge. I bought one for $20 from some website and it works great, they charge well over $100.  <br /> <br />2) I wall mounted the TV, directly across from a large window, and there is minimal glare. This is a window that produces a lot of light, and the picture is still fine even at high noon.  <br /> <br />3) I went back and doubly compared the picture, and once again I believe the picture on this TV to be as good as any high end Sony outthere. I am not naive, I understand lines of resolution and the down conversion of the HD signal should in theory not produce as crisp of a picture as an HD set, but from my point of view it does to the naked eye.  <br /> <br />Answer to question:  <br /> <br />How is this TV's picture when you play your regular DVDs and especially non HD (but digital) satellite signal. I recently baught a Sony Wega LCD projection TV that is high definition but realized channels like CNN look blurry, espcially when I play some of my DVDs etc...  <br /> <br />This TVs pixels are pretty small, so the regular picture is good, especially on DVDs because DVDs native resolution is 480 which is the resolution for EDTVs. When you play DVDs on an HDTV it actually has to down convert it. To be honest the TV looks MUCH better with colorstream component cables or HDMI versus s-video. Same goes for DVDs, the three separate components look much better than S-video did. You may want to try that on your Vega. Also it depends on the size of the TV, the bigger the TV the blurrier the picture is going to seem, versus the HD signal. I noticed that as well on my 57\\" Sony projection that I had. I would say the difference is much less on this plasma. I can't really speak for other plasmas, and the comparison I made in the store were all on HD signals, so you can't compare it to normal digital channels.  <br /> <br />I did originally have this going through standard digital cable and an S-video cable, and per Panasonic the \\"viera\\" filter this tv has helps smooth it out. But I did notice a difference switching to HDMI.  <br /> <br />ONLY BAD THING: <br /> <br />No front AV inputs, it is starting to get on my nervers on occassion because I have it wall mounted, so way to reach back to plug it in.  <br />