Hdtv Help...

[meppi]

I'm gonna be buying my first HD TV in a couple of months time so I don't have a lot of experience with this stuff.

From what I've read online, I have pretty much decided that I'll be getting the Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ800 Plasma TV.

Now my biggest worry is with gaming lag.

Not for the current set of systems, but for retro systems. NES, MegaDrive, NeoGeo, Saturn, Dreamcast, you name it.

I know that they won't look as good on a flat-screen as they do on a CRT, but I've played around with a friends 42" set and I can live with it.

Like I said, my main concern is gaming lag for retro systems.

The last time I did a bit of research I found out that Panasonic only included a "gaming mode" in their US HD-TVs and not in the European models for some very strange reason.

Has this changed by now? Or had the technology progressed so that something like that isn't a concern anymore?

Would switching of the image improvement options be enough to make sure that there's no delay between pressing a button and the action happening on screen?

I know that with a nice Blu-ray player all the movie stuff will be taken care of so the retro games part is the deal breaker here.

[DPsx7]

I just stuck with SD. Most consoles will look all stretched and grainy on those overpriced sets. So if you're still intending to try it I suppose I can't help other than to say don't ditch your older TV in case there is any lag. Not that I'd know why there would be any.

[Hidinger]

I'm gonna be buying my first HD TV in a couple of months time so I don't have a lot of experience with this stuff.

From what I've read online, I have pretty much decided that I'll be getting the Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ800 Plasma TV.

Now my biggest worry is with gaming lag.

Not for the current set of systems, but for retro systems. NES, MegaDrive, NeoGeo, Saturn, Dreamcast, you name it.

I know that they won't look as good on a flat-screen as they do on a CRT, but I've played around with a friends 42" set and I can live with it.

Like I said, my main concern is gaming lag for retro systems.

The last time I did a bit of research I found out that Panasonic only included a "gaming mode" in their US HD-TVs and not in the European models for some very strange reason.

Has this changed by now? Or had the technology progressed so that something like that isn't a concern anymore?

Would switching of the image improvement options be enough to make sure that there's no delay between pressing a button and the action happening on screen?

I know that with a nice Blu-ray player all the movie stuff will be taken care of so the retro games part is the deal breaker here.

Okay....I am looking into getting a new tv as well and have done TONS of research...

I am personaly going with Panasonic VIERA 37" 1080p LCD HDTV

Sadly the wife doesn't want me to get anything bigger due to size requirements of the room. She is probably right that anything bigger would just look akward in the room. Please realize that these are important things (how the room looks to company) once you get married... No matter how much you want the 50inch tv. Anyway...I digress.

I chose LCD over Plasma because I want the TV to last for at least 8 years. Plasma has to be refilled to keep the top notch quality about every 4 years. That is going to be about 1k to refill.

Now as for the European vs American functions can't you just order from an international shipper like Newegg and get the American model? I don't know why it wouldn't work overseas...I mean cable is cable right?

The current Panasonic VIERAs are getting awesome reviews from everywhere...including consumer reports, CNET, and regular people. If you get the size over 40 inches you can get it in 120 hz which will reduce the blur on everything, including gaming, like crazy. As of yet I have not found any TV that will cancel out ALL of the blur from my NES...I just don't think it was designed to handle it.

[meppi]

I hear you about the size issue. Right now I have a 80cm Panasonic widescreen CRT and I've seen a 106cm (42") set at a friends house as well as a 90cm (32"?) one at another friends house.

The 42" one will probably be pushing it when it comes to size vs room structure so I certainly won't go bigger than that. Might even hang the TV on the wall if it ends up looking to big.

This is the one I'm looking at btw http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/televisions/0,39...49300454,00.htm

I've always read that these Plasma's have a life of about 60.000 hours which shouldn't be problem I think.

The weirdest past is that nomatter how hard you look for a definitive answer online about input lag when it comes to playing retro systems on one of these TVs, you always get mixed results and never a conclusive answer.

It really worries me that I might buy one and then discover once I get it home that I can't play my Japanese systems on it due to input lag or the picture scrolling over the screen or something like that.

Especially when such a tv costs quite a bit of money... :-/

[DPsx7]

I know it's not authentic but have you considered emulation? I got a dongle for my PC where I can use a real NES controller and I got my entire NES (and SNES) collection in ROM form so I could pack up my console and save on wear and tear. Works great that way and keeps clutter to a minimum. Then you can dodge the TV problems. Of course there are emu's for all other consoles.

[triverse]

I know it's not authentic but have you considered emulation? I got a dongle for my PC where I can use a real NES controller and I got my entire NES (and SNES) collection in ROM form so I could pack up my console and save on wear and tear. Works great that way and keeps clutter to a minimum. Then you can dodge the TV problems. Of course there are emu's for all other consoles.

Hold on, let me set up the watch tower and point it over towards meppi to see the flash...

[meppi]

Emulation really isn't an option for me.

I crave the authentic experience. Blowing into carts and everything that comes with it.

[Hidinger]

Emulation really isn't an option for me.

I crave the authentic experience. Blowing into carts and everything that comes with it.

along with jamming the other controller into the cartridge port in order to hold the bar down just right.

and apparently back on topic, I am getting the LCD version of the same TV you are getting...so I guess it is about as good as plasmas get right now. I know mine has the game function (but again it is the american version)

[DPsx7]

That's fine, just asking. I appreciate the real thing too but for ease of use emulation does the same thing and I get to use the NES pad. You do know blowing in the carts is what leads to the blinking problem, right? I wish I knew that back then, luckily a replacement part fixed that right up. Good luck anyway.

[meppi]

I am getting the LCD version of the same TV you are getting...so I guess it is about as good as plasmas get right now. I know mine has the game function (but again it is the american version)

I downloaded the Dutch manual for the Tv from the Panasonic site and there's nothing about a game mode that I could find.

There are however several image enhancement options in the various menus which when turned of will probably have the same result.

Well, that's what I hope anyway. It's a bit of a calculated guess at this point.

Thinking of how this fixed the input lag on the Samsung one I calibrated last year.

I've become a bit of a movie freak these last couple of years so my choice went to a plasma display as it has quite a few advantaged compared to current LCD displays when it comes to recreating an authentic cinema experience.

Or at least that's what I read on various sites that specialize in this kind of stuff.

The new LCD are apparently catching up and could get even better than plasma in a couple of years time. Again, from what I read on those sites.

That's fine, just asking. I appreciate the real thing too but for ease of use emulation does the same thing and I get to use the NES pad. You do know blowing in the carts is what leads to the blinking problem, right? I wish I knew that back then, luckily a replacement part fixed that right up. Good luck anyway.

Hehe, yeah I know. Never even did that back in the day as far as I can remember.

I was just using it as an example of what I mean by wanting the real thing, even if that means the negative points as well.

When I buy my set and it ends up still having unacceptable levels of input lag, I will just have to hunt down a XRGB-2 since that would take care of the problem it seems.

and since all my systems are Japanese import, they all support RGB out of the box or have been modified to do so.

Hopefully it doesn't come to that as it doesn't seem to be very easy to locate such a device... :(

Oh and I already ordered the Blu-ray version of John Carpenter's The Thing.

Couldn't pass it up for €20 delivered.

[Gnash]

Just make sure the speed is high enough on the TV and you will be fine. There are some TVs that have slow response which will make your games messed up. Fast TV no problem.

[meppi]

The only thing about that I can find is that some sites say it's 0.001 msec and others say it's 1ms.

Sounds awfully fast to be accurate. :-/

*Edit* Manual states 0.001 msec as well.

Weird that I find it does have a game mode but I can't seem to find anything about it on the European official sites, unlike the American one.

I'm wondering if the European sites who talk about the game mode in this TV are just copy& pasting the features from an American press release. :-/

Anyone know if there's a special button on the remote or something to activate the game mode?

I can't find anything about it in the manual as well. Damn.