Plasma 42 inch ....

Pioneer Elite 43" would be my first choice in a commonly available plasma that size. The Panasonic Onyx 42" is specifically the only Panny I consider comparable and it is very good. Scarcer but even more film-like than these to is the Runco plasma. I believe it uses the same glass as the Pioneer Elite, but a further improved chipset.

The Fujitsu plasmas are quite good and are contenders, but IMO video just doesn't look as good framed in silver as framed in black.

Phil

Phil

The regular series Panasonics are not nearly as good as the Onyx series nor the Elite, though their black levels are very good. Also some or all of the standard series do not have 3:2 pull-down for film. They're OK. The Onyx series is another matter entirely, fully competitive with anything out there.

The Runco plasma is exceptional. If you can't see the difference...well, I can't suggest how to fix that.

The standard Pioneers are very good, better than the std. Panny's, IMO, but not equal to the Elites or the Onyx.

Panasonic's standard-setting contrast ratio is unfortunately offset by more LCD-like "video-ness" to the image character. Fine on video, not as accurate on film material transferred to DVD. However, if you're considering Panasonic, Pioneer, Runco, Fujitsu and perhaps the new Hitachi, in plasma, you're considering good images compared to plasma from Sony, LG and all the 16 bit LCDs.

Phil

Phil

Size selection is a function of viewing distance. The issue currently is that a 42" plasma and a 61" plasma have the same resolution (pixel count). So it's not necessarily better to go bigger if you can't increase your viewing distance for the same effective image quality. Now, if viewing distance is fixed and resolution increases for a larger screen size, different story but that's not how it is right now.

Phil

The Panasonic Onyx and standard series are indeed different in PQ, and this is easily apparent in any setting where both can be compared side-to-side with same signal and quality of adjustment. 3:2 or 3:3 pulldown is available in DVD players but that doesn't address other digital sources that are transmitting film-based rather than video-based programming. It also doesn't mean some sets don't do it better. You can plainly see this effect on the mass-market Pannies displaying film-based media from non-DVD sources, and it is addressed in the Onyx series, as well as Pioneer and most others. For most people it is a small issue, since most people are not critical.

As for the Runco, well of course they don't make their own glass. But again, I've seen it in direct comparison with Elite, Onyx, Fujitsu, and it is clearly more natural. I didn't expect this, so was surprised. Worse, it costs more. But damned if no matter what you did to the picture, the Runco PQ dominated the group.

The limitation of LCD, and the cause of their false vivdness compared to good plasma sets, is their 24 bit displays. 16.7 million colors isn't nearly sufficient to show film, and this is easily demonstrated by the superior subtlety and gradients visible in the 1+ billion color displays in Pioneer, Hitachi and Panasonic plasma.

I agree the new Hitachis look promising, and the newest Elites have advanced as well.

Phil