Hi all.

Looking for a bit of help and advice...

My trusty Sony 29" CRT that I've had for about 10 years has decided to give up on me - so I've decided to take the plunge and go for something bigger and slimmer!

I basically watch freeview (use a Humax 9200T PVR) and DVD's. All my DVD collection is SD and I can't afford to change them all for HD versions!
Also have a Wii that is used by the family...and could possibly be hooking up PC to it but not essential.

Now as I understand things it's the quality of the digital image processing/upscaling that makes the biggest difference to the output that is seen... I think!!

So what Plasma/LCD would give me the best SD picture for freeview and DVD's?? I was thinking of getting something around the 42" size...

(I know I could get a DVD with good upscaler but am happy with what I have at the moment!)

I'm fairly flexible with budget but wouldn't want to spend more than £1000 if I can help it! But could be persuaded if needed

Any and all suggestions most welcome.
Cheers
A.

Ok, if you want to hook a PC up then I'd steer you towards LCD (Sharp XD1E, Samsung M87 or Tosh 42X)

If you want good SD and films then Plasma and the Panasonic PX70 (42") would be my bet.

If you really wanted to push the boat out I'd get the Pioneer PDP-428XD, but it all your budget and then some.

For £1000 you could get the Panasonic PX70 and a DVD upscaler (Pioneer DV600-AV 1080p)

Cheers.

A friend of mine is just in the process of getting a Panasonic PX70 so might wait a week or so have a look at what that the picture quality is like.

After comparing Plasma and LCD for SD broadcasts (which i figured would still be the majority of viewing for at least the next few years) I went for the Panasonic plasma. It's much clearer than any LCD picture I saw for standard TV broadcasts, especially football etc. where the images are fast moving. The TV itself will upscale images to a certain extent so your DVDs should look fine.

Have since purchased a PS3 and I have to say that the HD images are stunning too.

It does it to more than a certain extent, it'll probably do it better than an upscaling DVD player will, I use 576 for DVDs out of the HDMI rather than upscale. It won't do as well as a proper video processor but that would cost more than your TV anyway.

If this is the case, am I getting the best picture I can (on a non-HDMI Panny DVD player) by using Component and letting my Panny TH42PX70 upscale to 576?

Rgds,
Scorp

That's what I found on mine - the difference isn't massive but it is there, I have the Panny EX75 and 50PX70. Mine are connected via hdmi rather than component but the results should be similar.

This does make sense, if the DVD player upscales to 1080i then the TV has to de-interlace and downscale as well rather than just upscale from 576p. It's always best to compare and see for yourself though. Having said that, I do believe (I'm not certain so this may be wrong) that the PX70 series upscales everything internally to 1080p for video processing then downscales to the native screen resolution, so maybe it just has a better upscaler than my DVDR.