Finally, I've bought my very first HDTV. It's a Panasonic Viera 42 inch Plasma HDTV.
Why Plasma? After looking at so many models and frequent visists to AV forums, I realised there are many advantages of Plasma against LCD TVs.
1. It does not have motion flow problem as to LCD.
2. Plasma screen can be viewed in all angle without compromising the quality
3. It has higher contrast ratio with deeper black.
4. The lifespan now increases to 100,000 hours
5. Overall, in long run, plasmas has better power consumption.
6. Plasma has a stronger glass panel with shock resistance.
Manufacturing plasma tvs are cost more than LCDs. That's why you don't see many brands carrying Plasma range. The best plasma in the market with high price tag is Pioneer and follows by Panasonic.
This model has 15,000:1 native contrast ratio and 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, which makes black blacker with minimal picture washed out effects. There are 3 hdmi ports, 1 SDHC card slot at the front and 1 VGA PC input. It comes with swivel stand.
This is not a Full HD model. As I mentioned in my previous post, you can't tell the difference between a 720p and 1080p when you watch within 10 feet from the 42 inch screen. 720p movies already very sharp and awesome. After that, you cannot accept standard definition in your CRT tv anymore. Click here to look at the chart on "Screen Size Vs Viewing Distance".
This is a very affordable HDTV based on the specs given. It's really value for money.
I am planning to get HD media player with plays all my mkv HD 720p files from a hard drive. Still exploring what's good in the market. Dvico TVIX sounds good.
