Using 42" Plasma display on a G5?

[DELKIN]

Does anyone have any experience using a plasma display as a monitor on a G5 or any other computers? I recently came into a 42" plasma near the end of its life span and I am contemplating using it as a monitor on a new G5 but I am concerned about resolution.

[Hodapp]

Native resolution is what... 1024x720? 1024x640? That is very low. I've got a new Panasonic 42 inch Plasma coming my way to use as a monitor, but it's going to be used as a digital jukebox display for my home-theatre PC to do visualizations and stuff, so I'm not very concerned about the resolution.

I think it would be fairly unusable for a real monitor, at least for anything you'd want to use for an extended period of time looking at or trying to read off of.

[DELKIN]

I was afraid of that. And I had these great ideas of a high resolution 42" monitor. Oh well thanks for the info.

[Counterfit]

Plasma TV's are high resolution compared to a normal NTSC TV, but not at all when compared to a computer monitor.

[kaizer]

Well, it could be used as a second monitor. I'd love the idea of watching movies, iTunes visual on a 42...

Alternately, you can Bluetoothed your Mac with a wireless keyboard and mobile phone (Salling Clicker). Imagine sitting on the couch in your studies while surfing the net/movies/etc?

Mega cool!!!

[slipper]

this is off-topic but i heard plasma TVs need to be refilled with plasma gas every several years which cost a lot. is that true?

[Hodapp]

Yes, but 'regassing' as they call it is largely a myth, as I've never found anywhere that can do it for a resonable price... Just buy a new one. :)

[crazzyeddie]

Ive done quite a bit of research into using a high-def TV as a computer monitor. What I found is the best solution is the DLP TVs. They have decent resolutions (1280x854, or close to it) with DVI inputs. They also do not have any space between the pixels due to the DLP chip. They are cheaper than plasmas, and they have no lifespan, only one ilghtbulb ($50 - $100) to be replaced every 2-5 years.

[Hodapp]

DLP technology is amazing, I've got a Samsung DLP TV as my main monitor for my home theatre, and I could not be happier with the purchase. My TV has a VGA in, and I've hooked my PowerBook up to it before, very good image quality for playing games and stuff, but reading text or browsing the web leaves much to be desired. (Just because it gets kind of tedious reading far away in my opinion.)

If you buy a Samsung TV, make sure you get a HLN series TV. You might have to ask for it out of the back, or have it ordered specially, as it has essentially version 2.0 of their image processor. A LOT of places are selling the older HLM models, and are willing to give you great deals on them... Buyer Beware!

The HLN series also has a black border around the screen, HLM's are silver, if I recall correctly.

[crazzyeddie]

Cnet is touting reviews of the new Samsung DLP TV's today... I have seen them in person and they are truly amazing with brightness, quality and response time.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6485_7-5118600-1.html?tag=cnetfd.ldgif

[edesignuk]

Originally posted by crazzyeddie
Ive done quite a bit of research into using a high-def TV as a computer monitor. What I found is the best solution is the DLP TVs. They have decent resolutions (1280x854, or close to it)
My Pioneer 43" (http://homepage.mac.com/edesignuk/PhotoAlbum9.html) plasma has a resolution of 1280x768, and it looks gooooood :p

[dudewheresmymac]

i have a 42" panasonic and i have hooked it up to my wintel laptop and it is pretty cool for playing games like GTA on but not much else.............

[mgargan1]

well... working at gateway, i have learned a lot about tv's. The resolution totally depends on the definition... if the tv is ED, then the resolution is 8xx by 4xx?? i forget the x's... the resolution of a 42" HD monitor is 1024x1024, and a 50" is 1366 x 768... that's the industry standard. And yes, we have a DLP and it looks amazing!! The DLP is definitely the way to go if you don't care about size and space, but the plasma's look soo sexy.

[Kid Red]

OK, some facts now. Plasmas not only need to be re-gassed but they also slowly degrade over the years with a life span of around 10 years give or take depending of model. They also suffer burn in which is heart breaking after spending $3k+ on one. Some newer models do have burn in protection however.

DLPs are not the end all. Most common DLPs are 1 chip models, and the top of the line 3 chip ones are in the tens of thousands of dollars. Additionally, DLPs suck at viewing angles, have hotspots and rainbow effects. So like all rear projection, unless you sit right in front of it, you don't get a great picture. DLPs do have great black levels tho. The last straw for me is regular NTSC reception is absolutely horrible. Bulb life is 8-10k hours.

Plasma short term, LCD long term, OLED is the possible future in which flat panels will be king. LCOS and DLPs are short terms flashes in the pan unless dramatic changes happen.

[Counterfit]

I saw Sony's 30" LCD HDTV at Circuit City one day. *droolage*. And that case!

[themadchemist]

Originally posted by io_burn
DLP technology is amazing, I've got a Samsung DLP TV as my main monitor for my home theatre, and I could not be happier with the purchase. My TV has a VGA in, and I've hooked my PowerBook up to it before, very good image quality for playing games and stuff, but reading text or browsing the web leaves much to be desired. (Just because it gets kind of tedious reading far away in my opinion.)

If you buy a Samsung TV, make sure you get a HLN series TV. You might have to ask for it out of the back, or have it ordered specially, as it has essentially version 2.0 of their image processor. A LOT of places are selling the older HLM models, and are willing to give you great deals on them... Buyer Beware!

The HLN series also has a black border around the screen, HLM's are silver, if I recall correctly.

Listen to this guy! He knows what he is talking about...We picked up the HLN last year and I really, really like it. We got a great deal from Circuit City, too. What size do you have, io_burn?

edit: oh, and this idea of using a 42" plasma as your primary monitor is just vulgar.

[Hodapp]

I've got the HLN437W :)

43 inches of DLP goodness :cool:

[MisterMe]

Originally posted by Kid Red
OK, some facts now. Plasmas not only need to be re-gassed but they also slowly degrade over the years with a life span of around 10 years give or take depending of model. They also suffer burn in which is heart breaking after spending $3k+ on one. Some newer models do have burn in protection however.

DLPs are not the end all. Most common DLPs are 1 chip models, and the top of the line 3 chip ones are in the tens of thousands of dollars. Additionally, DLPs suck at viewing angles, have hotspots and rainbow effects. So like all rear projection, unless you sit right in front of it, you don't get a great picture. DLPs do have great black levels tho. The last straw for me is regular NTSC reception is absolutely horrible. Bulb life is 8-10k hours.

Plasma short term, LCD long term, OLED is the possible future in which flat panels will be king. LCOS and DLPs are short terms flashes in the pan unless dramatic changes happen. DLP is the technology used in commercial digital cinema projection.