32 Inch Plasma

[mcduck]

big w has a 32 ich awa plasma in next thursdays catalouge for $698 , does this mean that other manufacturers might follow? i would really love to have a plasma in the lounge room, but need about this size as i am not willing to get rid of my entertainment unit. i suppose it would be asking to much for one with a HD tuner?

Edited December 10, 2007 by mcduck

[jokiin]

big w has a 32 ich awa plasma in next thursdays catalouge for $698 , does this mean that other manufacturers might follow? i would really love to have a plasma in the lounge room, but need about this size as i am not willing to get rid of me entertainment unit. i suppose it would be asking to much for one with a HD tuner?

I thought JB would have had their version here first, the Soniq was ready in October, not sure why they haven't released it yet. They are all using a new panel from LG, only 852x480 though, not sure if LG are releasing here either

[automan]

Saw a 32" Plasma at Good Guys.

Brand is GVA.

852 x 480 Resolution

$797.

Nice looking telly, all matt black looking.

[Junkyard]

i didn't even know they made 32" plasmas ?

[Guest iann]

I thought JB would have had their version here first, the Soniq was ready in October, not sure why they haven't released it yet. They are all using a new panel from LG, only 852x480 though, not sure if LG are releasing here either

Yes, it's here already, I saw the Soniq QV320PH at JB in Mt Druitt (West Sydney) for $798.

Picture quality was stunning even for a 852x480 panel, (they probably turned up all the settings on the TV so it would stand out).

From the specs on the Soniq website it looks like it has an analogue tuner.

Regarding the AWA sets, I have seen a few AWA Plasma's on display at BigW and they were awful.

Whether it's because they are awful, or whether it's because they weren't set up properly, I don't know, but my first impression wasn't good.

[shepp]

NEC will be releasing one before xmas, LG are not releasing their 32" in Australia

[jokiin]

NEC will be releasing one before xmas,

It won't be any better than any of the others available, NEC has become just a badge only these days

[BribieG]

A few months ago I was reading about smaller plasmas - forgot where otherwise I would post some links - Up to now the difficulty with smaller plasmas has been that plasma 'pixels' are bubbles of gas embedded in a glass plate and it has been technically difficult to make them smaller. As a result of this physical constraint, plasma panels have nearly all been 42 inches upwards.

However the plasma industry has devoted squillions to reducing pixel size in order to bring out full HD plasma panels. Simple arithmetic, they have to cram nearly three times as many pixels on to a panel 1920 x 1080 for Full HD as opposed to 1024 x 768.

Now that they have the smaller pixel technology available, ideal opportunity to translate that to smaller panels.

Don't worry, the smaller panels aren't being produced to woo you or me in Australia, the Chinese realise that there is a massive market in their own country for small Plasmas to sell as CRT replacements. Living in small homes, most middle class chinese would love a smaller affordable flat panel and they are going to get them.

Ideal bedroom item. When they get down to about $500 I'll probably get one to replace the 51cm.

Edit: just a sneaky thought - if they do get down to that price, despite the poorer resolution they might just kill of a large part of the 24 and 26 inch LCD market as the smaller LCDs, in my experience, tend to be bought as second TVs.

Edited December 11, 2007 by BribieG

[jokiin]

Don't worry, the smaller panels aren't being produced to woo you or me in Australia, the Chinese realise that there is a massive market in their own country for small Plasmas to sell as CRT replacements. Living in small homes, most middle class chinese would love a smaller affordable flat panel and they are going to get them.

You'd be surprised how many Chinese homes have 50" plasma's hanging on the wall, the smaller sizes are generally not as popular, they may take away from the smaller LCD market though

[Tv_man]

This sounds like a good deal. The plasmas always are set on low resolutions in bigw making the pic awful to watch. But with the right resolution this will be a beauty .

Anyone certain that the panel is lg?

[mcduck]

then there is hope i won't jump in right away, but wait for one with a tuna (very lame joke)

[Tv_man]

then there is hope i won't jump in right away, but wait for one with a tuna (very lame joke)

Then you will have the catch of the day

[Tv_man]

Then you will have the catch of the day

[BrindiCruiser]

Is 480 by 850 resolution a standard def screen or is it the bottom end of high def?

[jokiin]

Is 480 by 850 resolution a standard def screen or is it the bottom end of high def?

It's the bottom end of SD

[mcduck]

Then you will have the catch of the day

lame or lamer?

[BribieG]

Is 480 by 850 resolution a standard def screen or is it the bottom end of high def?

The reason that plasma 'SD' screens have always been 850 x 480 is that 480 'lines' or pixels is the SD standard for NTSC television as used in the USA and Japan. Our PAL system here and in most of Europe, UK, NZ etc has a vertical resolution of 576 lines.

So a 480 pixel plasma display can't even display PAL properly which is why most cheap plasmas you see in pubs and clubs and Foxtel Kiosks look shytehouse.

Another problem with the big (42inch) SD plasmas is that they have so few pixels that they display the so called 'fly screen' effect, as if you are looking through a grid of flywire.

However having said all of the above, the saving grace of a smaller plasma such as the 32 inch is that, if used as a second set say in a bedroom or rumpus room and you are watching from a fair distance then the PQ might not be too bad for the price. I'll get myself off to a Big W soon and have a look.

[jakes]

I had a look at the specs for the Soniq 32" plasma on their site. It has a 50:1 contrast ratio Surely they should be able to better than this? I can only assume that black is a shade of mid-grey on this panel? Anyone know if the AWA is any better on this front?

[jokiin]

I had a look at the specs for the Soniq 32" plasma on their site. It has a 50:1 contrast ratio Surely they should be able to better than this?

It's a misprint (I think it's actually 1500:1)

[jakes]

It's a misprint (I think it's actually 1500:1)

Thanks jok11n, that sounds somewhat better. I had initially thought that is was a misprint when I looked at the specs on the product page, so checked the manual to confirm and it was there as well, so I took that as confirmation that the CR is actually that.

Edited December 13, 2007 by jakes

[jokiin]

Thanks jok11n, that sounds somewhat better. I had initially thought that is was a misprint when I looked at the specs on the product page, so checked the manual to confirm and it was there as well, so I took that as confirmation that the CR is actually that.

It seems they got it wrong initially and then have used that info everywhere, not even sure if they have realised yet

[digitalj]

I wouldn't be surprised if they brought out a 26" Plasma TV, after all, there are 58" Full HD Plasma Tv's out there and by doing a calculation:

480/1080 x 58", you get ~26"

[BribieG]

Checked one out an hour ago at Big W Morayfield. My 22yo has just bought a car and got it for $2000 less than his budget so he's got some money burning a hole in his pocket. Lives with his mum and they have a 50 inch pana but he wants something to hang on the wall of his bedroom and had been thinking of a 32 inch LCD. Mostly for watching DVDs or the occasional TV show when he doesn't agree with the family choice on the pana. Told him about the new small plasmas and we went for a look.

They had a big display of them at Big W labelled "everyday price" so it's not just a catalogue special. The one they had set up was in a stand alone display connected to a DVD player, in other words not showing the usual signal via a splitter.

Being stand alone I was able to sneak round and check the back. No HDMI port but a couple of component 'triads' and a D-SUB for a VGA connection to a PC. Naturally the clowns had it running on composite.

Sound from the onboard speakers was quite nice. PQ on the LG panel was surprisingly good for composite. The store staff obvioulsy haven't tweaked the picture because the black levels weren't too good but remember we're talking BIG W here not JB or Harveys. Give me a set of component leads and half an hour alone in a room with this sucker and I'm confident I could get a huge improvement on what I saw at the store.

Being only 850 x 480 I had expected to see flyscreen effect, but because of the smaller pixels, if you sit and watch the unit at the same distance you have been watching your Rank Arena CRT for the last 15 years, the PQ is actually very nice indeed, and with tweaking would be up there with anything on a CRT, whilst remembering that it doesn't aspire to being HD. Flyscreen was only obvious when getting up fairly close, about a metre. To me this would make it useless for PC use despite the D sub, but maybe some users would connect their PC to use the DVD drive to watch movies.

Excellent colours, and of course no flickering or geometry problems - I mention this because I reckon these new WS plasmas could well be the final nail in the coffin of 68 cm CRTs for anyone with around $500 to spend. I reckon that's what they will be going for by the end of next year.

If it wasn't Christmas and if my rego wasn't due on December 28th (Don't buy a car prior to Christmas you'll regret it for years afterwards ) - If it wasn't for that there would be one of these units sitting in my bedroom this evening. The lad is having a think but I reckon he'll buy one as well. He's off to his Nana's in Bundaberg for 2 weeks and doesn't want to buy till January, and check prices then.

[evil_josh]

If it wasn't Christmas and if my rego wasn't due on December 28th (Don't buy a car prior to Christmas you'll regret it for years afterwards )

Sorry to throw this way off topic but a short while ago when paying my two regos at the same time at the RTA (bought the cars at different times but by luck the regos are within two weeks of each other). I was lamenting this situation to the RTA lady and she claimed that you can change your rego due date. Not sure how it works (as I was just making conversation - it is handy to pay both regos at once saves me doing it twice) but may be worth checking out.

Also good analysis on the Plasma! (phew back on topic again)

Josh.

[mcduck]

Sorry to throw this way off topic but a short while ago when paying my two regos at the same time at the RTA (bought the cars at different times but by luck the regos are within two weeks of each other). I was lamenting this situation to the RTA lady and she claimed that you can change your rego due date. Not sure how it works (as I was just making conversation - it is handy to pay both regos at once saves me doing it twice) but may be worth checking out.

Also good analysis on the Plasma! (phew back on topic again)

Josh.

easy, you do one for 6 months, and then continue yearly. rego's now 6 months apart. when we bought our secondhand car with 6 months rego, thats what i wanted to do, but Hubby went straight into yearly, so now we have rego in the first week of January and the insurance in Febuary. now back on topic, BribieG says the awa is quite a nice little unit.