HD vs, ED [Archive] - High Def Forum - Your High Definition Community & High Definition Resource

new2hd/ed

06-01-2004, 02:35 AM

Hey all, I was in several local audio / video stores wanting to take advantage of their "Memorial Weekend Blowout Sales" and was set on getting an HD set, I heard Fujitsu was the absolute best but they were pretty pricey at $7000. The more I thought about it the more I realized I really didn't want to spend that much. I was at a store out here in L.A. called "Best Buy" and saw a 42" Samsung ED TV that really blew away the pictures on Sony 42" HD's right next to it, I was quite amazed that this set was $2999 compared to the $5800 they wanted for the Sony's. I figured Samsung was a cheap brand and since I signed up for Voom (due for installation 6/8) I better stick to HD. So another place I went was "Good Guys" which seems to have higher end product well they had a 42" Samsung HD for $5800 which looked better than alot of the Mitsubishi's next to it, so I tell the store mgr. I thought the ED I saw at the previous store looked better than than some HD's and he say's "if your going to get a HD signal you don't want to even consider an ED". After 5 hours shopping the last place I went was "Paul's TV" he's been advertising he's "The King of Big Screen T.V.'s" for 40 years. Well the sales guy there say's they don't even bother selling anything but the top 2 ranked plasma TV's which they say are Panasonic (#1) and Mitsubishi (#2). He recommended the latest Panasonic ED ($4500) because there was really no difference to the naked eye unless your standing 2 feet away from it and look closely to see that the pixels are just miniscully bigger, standing 3 feet or more away there's no difference, believe me I was absolutely set on an HD and stood there for about 45 minutes constantly comparing the picture and asking myself if it was worth an another $1500 to own the Panasonic HD just because it said "HD". Well I talked the guy into taking $300 off the ED and went for it. The contrast ratio is 4000 / 1 (HD is 3000), compared to the 1000 ratio on the cheaper brands. So rather than spending $6000 I got a great set for $4200. Does anyone think ED is way inferior to HD?? Did I make a mistake?? I'm sure I can always get the HD if I change my mind...it won't be delivered for a few days. Hey rbinck, you seem very knowledgable, could you reply?? ALL OPINIONS MUCH APPRECIATED, THANX.

rbinck

06-01-2004, 08:52 PM

Without specific model numbers, I can't be sure what you are looking at with the two sets. At the prices you have mentioned, I assume these are all plasmas. If you want to get some idea of what the deal money wise is, go to www.plasmahouse.com (http://www.plasmahouse.com/) and do a comparison. This is a pretty good source for plasmas online... I have bought from them in the past and they sell Zenith plasmas near what we buy them direct from Zenith for.

The Samsung 42" EDTV (http://www.plasmahouse.com/itemdesc.asp?CartId=10501172B-EVEREST-LRYA80&ic=PPM42S3&Cc=&tpc=) has a pixel matrix of 852 x 480 vs the Panasonic 42" HDTV (http://www.plasmahouse.com/itemdesc.asp?cartid=10501172B-EVEREST-LRYA80&ic=TH42PX20UP)that has a pixel matrix of 1024w x 768h. Anyway you try to cut it, the HDTV Panasonic is going to have a lot smaller pixel. Look at it this way, given the same screen size, the EDTV has 408,960 total pixels and the HDTV has 786,432 pixels. In the case of pixels, more is better.

Click on the above links to see complete details of the two TV I used for comprison. If these are not the TVs you are comparing, then snoop around the site some as they pretty much have every plasma that is available.

A word of caution. Sometimes a store will help a customer lean toward a particular purchase based on factors other than what might seem apparent. Right now, manufacturers are trying their best to get rid of their EDTV inventories and some are offering some sweet deals for their dealers to move them. Why? Because the HDTV level 42" plasmas are just now becomming available. It was not too long ago that the only 42" plasma we could get that was at a HD level was a Hatachi that had a resolution of 1024w x 1024h. Now there are several that are getting to the HD level. Samsung has a 42" HDTV, the model PPM-42H3 (http://www.plasmahouse.com/itemdesc.asp?CartId=10501172B-EVEREST-LRYA80&Ic=PPM42H3&Cc=&tpc=) plasma at 1024w x 768h as well.

Although the purists say true HD starts at 1280w x 720h, Panasonic claims HD on the basis of the 768 lines.

ps. What was the source of the pictures?

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	High Def Forum - Your High Definition Community & High Definition Resource > High Definition Viewing Mediums, HDTVs > Other/General High Definition Viewing Mediums Lounge > HD vs, ED PDA HD vs, ED new2hd/ed 06-01-2004, 02:35 AM Hey all, I was in several local audio / video stores wanting to take advantage of their "Memorial Weekend Blowout Sales" and was set on getting an HD set, I heard Fujitsu was the absolute best but they were pretty pricey at $7000. The more I thought about it the more I realized I really didn't want to spend that much. I was at a store out here in L.A. called "Best Buy" and saw a 42" Samsung ED TV that really blew away the pictures on Sony 42" HD's right next to it, I was quite amazed that this set was $2999 compared to the $5800 they wanted for the Sony's. I figured Samsung was a cheap brand and since I signed up for Voom (due for installation 6/8) I better stick to HD. So another place I went was "Good Guys" which seems to have higher end product well they had a 42" Samsung HD for $5800 which looked better than alot of the Mitsubishi's next to it, so I tell the store mgr. I thought the ED I saw at the previous store looked better than than some HD's and he say's "if your going to get a HD signal you don't want to even consider an ED". After 5 hours shopping the last place I went was "Paul's TV" he's been advertising he's "The King of Big Screen T.V.'s" for 40 years. Well the sales guy there say's they don't even bother selling anything but the top 2 ranked plasma TV's which they say are Panasonic (#1) and Mitsubishi (#2). He recommended the latest Panasonic ED ($4500) because there was really no difference to the naked eye unless your standing 2 feet away from it and look closely to see that the pixels are just miniscully bigger, standing 3 feet or more away there's no difference, believe me I was absolutely set on an HD and stood there for about 45 minutes constantly comparing the picture and asking myself if it was worth an another $1500 to own the Panasonic HD just because it said "HD". Well I talked the guy into taking $300 off the ED and went for it. The contrast ratio is 4000 / 1 (HD is 3000), compared to the 1000 ratio on the cheaper brands. So rather than spending $6000 I got a great set for $4200. Does anyone think ED is way inferior to HD?? Did I make a mistake?? I'm sure I can always get the HD if I change my mind...it won't be delivered for a few days. Hey rbinck, you seem very knowledgable, could you reply?? ALL OPINIONS MUCH APPRECIATED, THANX. rbinck 06-01-2004, 08:52 PM Without specific model numbers, I can't be sure what you are looking at with the two sets. At the prices you have mentioned, I assume these are all plasmas. If you want to get some idea of what the deal money wise is, go to www.plasmahouse.com (http://www.plasmahouse.com/) and do a comparison. This is a pretty good source for plasmas online... I have bought from them in the past and they sell Zenith plasmas near what we buy them direct from Zenith for. The Samsung 42" EDTV (http://www.plasmahouse.com/itemdesc.asp?CartId=10501172B-EVEREST-LRYA80&ic=PPM42S3&Cc=&tpc=) has a pixel matrix of 852 x 480 vs the Panasonic 42" HDTV (http://www.plasmahouse.com/itemdesc.asp?cartid=10501172B-EVEREST-LRYA80&ic=TH42PX20UP)that has a pixel matrix of 1024w x 768h. Anyway you try to cut it, the HDTV Panasonic is going to have a lot smaller pixel. Look at it this way, given the same screen size, the EDTV has 408,960 total pixels and the HDTV has 786,432 pixels. In the case of pixels, more is better. Click on the above links to see complete details of the two TV I used for comprison. If these are not the TVs you are comparing, then snoop around the site some as they pretty much have every plasma that is available. A word of caution. Sometimes a store will help a customer lean toward a particular purchase based on factors other than what might seem apparent. Right now, manufacturers are trying their best to get rid of their EDTV inventories and some are offering some sweet deals for their dealers to move them. Why? Because the HDTV level 42" plasmas are just now becomming available. It was not too long ago that the only 42" plasma we could get that was at a HD level was a Hatachi that had a resolution of 1024w x 1024h. Now there are several that are getting to the HD level. Samsung has a 42" HDTV, the model PPM-42H3 (http://www.plasmahouse.com/itemdesc.asp?CartId=10501172B-EVEREST-LRYA80&Ic=PPM42H3&Cc=&tpc=) plasma at 1024w x 768h as well. Although the purists say true HD starts at 1280w x 720h, Panasonic claims HD on the basis of the 768 lines. ps. What was the source of the pictures?