# Worth moving from 32" CRT to 50" Plasma?



## digitaria (Aug 7, 2002)

My 32" Sony WEGA is still giving sterling service, after maybe 9 years. I have been resisting the urge to move to a large panel display, because I don't want to give up on TiVo and I'm not sure what kind of picture quality I'd get from TiVo and a plasma. I have Mode 0 working fine and the RGB output tuned with iicsetw.

Is a move to a 50" plasma sensible in these circumstances? Would the picture look OK? I'm thinking about a Panasonic TXP50S10. 

TIA for any opinions.


----------



## mhopley (Mar 5, 2002)

I have just moved from a 32" Wega (still using it in the kids room) to a 42" Panasonic G10 plasma.
I was worried about SD picture quality but I am more than happy with the picture from the tivo (with mode 0). I didn't want to go any larger (8-10' viewing distance but I think the picture would still be ok with a bigger screen.


----------



## katman (Jun 4, 2002)

Im just making the move from a 32" JVC CRT to a Toshiba Regza 42" LCD chosen because the shop let me see a DVD player connected by RGB Scart and it processing is really nice. It has lots of Analogue connectivity and 4 HDMI for when I eventually get some suitable kit.

Wont be putting it on the wall until I finish decorating but I had a "test" of it the other night. Tivo and SKY+ both via S-Video (over KAT5 to the bedroom) were great, RGB should be even better. VGA Input was also really good. Gant wait to get it installed and regain all the space taken by the existing monster TV


----------



## AMc (Mar 22, 2002)

32" CRT to 50" Plasma is quite a leap. When we were picking our new TV I made a cardboard cutout the size of a 50" samsung cabinet, then marked 42", 40" and 37" on it. On the wall it was obvious 50" was too big so we went for a Panasonic 42" Freesat set which is very nice but not connected to Tivo at the moment.


----------



## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

A 50" Plasma uses a lot more power than a 32" CRT (possibly 400W vs say 120W) so I hope that you have also factored that in to your calculations.


----------



## TCM2007 (Dec 25, 2006)

@AMc - when stepping up a big TV can look ridiculously huge, but you rapidly get used to it

@Katman, strongly recommend connecting a DVD player by HDMI as it will cut out an D-A and a AD conversion.

@Pete77 A modern 50-inch plasma should use 200-300W (the LG50PQ6000 uses 217W for instance) a 32-inch CRT 120-200W. Bear in mind that a plasma's power consumption depends on what picture it's showing, so don't use peak output for comparisons.


----------



## katman (Jun 4, 2002)

TCM2007 said:


> @Katman, strongly recommend connecting a DVD player by HDMI as it will cut out an D-A and a AD conversion.


When I get a DVD player that has HDMI then I will connect it via HDMI. The reason I asked the shop to do that was because it was the only RGB source that I knew they would be able to connect and I wanted to see what the analogue processing was like on the TV.

Many flat screens do a god awful job of displaying analogue input, particularly when rendering faces, they look like a "painting by numbers" picture.

I have SKY and Tivo both connected to my existing CRT by RGB and they will continue for the forseeable future. I have no intention of shelling out even more to the Murdock empire for HD!!


----------



## jfelbab (Jan 18, 2002)

From a viewing perspective, if you are sitting 10-12' feet from the screen you could go as large as a 60". If you are 8-10' from the screen a 50" would be fine.

Bigger is usually better as long as long as it is comfortable. If course if you are watching mostly SD then, the equation changes. SD will clearly look worse as you go larger. There is a more detailed "Choosing the Right Size HDTV" chart on the AVS forum but here are some numbers to get started with.

Basically for HDTV viewing:
50"' would be optimal at 8'
55" would be optimal at 9'
60-62" would be optimal at 12'

For SDTV viewing
42" would be optimal at 8'
50" would be optimal at 14'

I just replaced my 42" plasma with a 60" plasma and sit about 12" from the screen. The HD imagery is breathtaking and I'm delighted with my choice.


----------



## gazter (Aug 1, 2001)

digitaria said:


> My 32" Sony WEGA is still giving sterling service, after maybe 9 years. I have been resisting the urge to move to a large panel display, because I don't want to give up on TiVo and I'm not sure what kind of picture quality I'd get from TiVo and a plasma. I have Mode 0 working fine and the RGB output tuned with iicsetw.
> 
> Is a move to a 50" plasma sensible in these circumstances? Would the picture look OK? I'm thinking about a Panasonic TXP50S10.
> 
> TIA for any opinions.


Mode 0 is utterly essential, with that the picture is moderately ok, with tivo plus you can tell all the different storage types, best etc, to use mode 0.

I use tivo on a 60 inch screen, and yes the quality is noticably degraded, but that is the same for sd sky regular pictures. If your TV is good, however, the picture will still be manageable.

Check out the plasma you are going to buy on sd as well as hd, you will be surprised the difference. The LG 60 inch i have also comes in 50 inch model, and is supposed to be just as good.


----------



## AMc (Mar 22, 2002)

My earlier point was that a 50" TV in our room was too big. I'm sure it would have been lovely to watch but as that room isn't the main viewing room (no Tivo) then it would have been like having the monolith from 2001 in the corner most of the time. I have a projector elsewhere for watching films and playing the odd game.

I went through all the viewing distance calculations and though notionally there was 'no point' in getting a 1080p set at this distance unless we went for 50"+ I went with one as the right set came at the right price with Freesat built in.

I still recommend making a cardboard/newspaper TV to work out how it looks in the room and how high up to mount it if you're hanging it on the wall.


----------



## steford (Oct 9, 2002)

I had huge doubts moving from a 32" CRT to a 42" Panny plasma a year or so ago. Got a 720p set for that reason and added mode 0 to Tivo. All good - sometimes I'm amazed at how good it looks across all my SD inputs as well as Tivo (90% of viewing) and on HD (the remaining 10%).

Won't be changing to Sky+HD until the Tivo finally dies.


----------

