View Full Version : Plasma as PC Monitor?
tom0610
06-03-2009, 04:49 PM
Been reading and doing a ton of research, and am seriously looking into getting the Panasonic TC-P42G10 to use as a computer monitor, gaming (PC/console), and movies. Anyone used a plasma as a PC monitor? From what I've read, I don't think burn in will be an issue (especially after breaking it in for 100+ hours), but I want some input. I've looked at comparable LCD's, and the plasma blows them away in terms of color, viewing angles, and motion.
Any thoughts?
Chops
06-03-2009, 05:13 PM
For what it's worth I've had my TX-42PX6U for about 2 and a half years now and never encountered anything close to burn in. Mild ghosting is all I've ever seen and that disappears with use and has never effected picture quality. I can only imagine that it would be even less of a problem with newer models.
albovin
06-03-2009, 05:32 PM
I use my 50" plasma for video and occasionally as a secondary PC monitor.
This is high quality plasma and I am not cocerned about image retention after thorough breaking in.
This screen is not suitable as primary PC monitor due to lower image quality and lack of ergonomics.
mathesar
06-03-2009, 06:18 PM
I have my PC hooked up to a 50" Kuro Plasma as a secondary monitor for Movies and it also gets used heavily for console gaming (Xbox360 / PS3 / Wii) Ive never had any image retention issues with this plasma but in my room setup its just to big for me to use it as the Primary PC monitor.
In my case using HDMI with PC looks noticeably better than VGA and also greatly reduced the input lag I was experiencing during gaming.
Ive heard the G10's are very nice, I owned a Panasonic 42PZ77U plasma before the Kuro and had problems with image retention but it was never permanent, hopefully Panasonic has addressed this with the newer models.
RadXge
06-03-2009, 07:08 PM
IMO, you should be fine as long as you perform the 200 hour "breaking in" period.
Furthermore, some peoples believe that "breaking in" is not necessary with newer Plasma models (they like to compare this with snake oil)...
lawless2142
06-03-2009, 07:17 PM
There is no break-in period with the G10. I have it's cousin, the TC-P42S1; when I first started using it, the phosphors did take a day or two to mellow out and come to their final contrast and brightness levels, but that's it. Anything after that was so imperceptible that it doesn't matter.
Also with the G10, you should have automatic anti-burn-in utilities that turn off the set after no signal for like 20 minutes (when it goes into power save) and a white bar that wipes the screen on demand for image retention.
To be honest though, with the S1, I've had a Windows 7 rig hooked up and playing games for several hours as well as the static desktop and I've NEVER seen image retention.
One word of advice too, turn down your sharpness all the way for that HDMI input you use. PC input does not require any post processing and actually looks perfect without it. Also, use a separate outlet or surge strip for the TV from your system. Even though you'll have a NeoPDP panel like mine, they still use a lot of watts (approx 200+).
uss enterprise
06-03-2009, 08:41 PM
I had a 50 inch panasonic 700u (1080p) a few months ago, worked good, but had aspect ratio and resolution issues. Also, didn't have burn in, but had a huge issue with image retention. (very different issues, but IR will lead to burn-in over time).
Bought a Hitachi P50S602 (also 1080p) a couple months ago.
MUCH better. The panny's black were better, but this has much better color, blacks ALMOST as good, PC over HDMI perfect, no aspect or res issues, looks phenomenal. F.E.A.R. 2 looks great.
No IR or Burn-in issues on this one at all. So far....
tom0610
06-04-2009, 10:08 PM
Thanks for the replies!
Anyone else? :p
FatMom
06-05-2009, 04:13 PM
Get a kuro if you can
Synful Serenity
06-05-2009, 07:52 PM
You can find 50" Kuros for 2000-2500, but they've been out of production for months now, and once stock depletes, that's it. Many believe it may be years before their PQ is equalled by something else, unless another company takes over development from Pioneer. You won't find anything better unless you get an FW900 or XBR960 CRT, or OLED and SED if either becomes available. Prices have bottomed out already...the price is only going to get higher from here as they begin to get rare. Start lookin!
albovin
06-05-2009, 09:16 PM
You can find 50" Kuros for 2000-2500, but they've been out of production for months now, and once stock depletes, that's it. Many believe it may be years before their PQ is equalled by something else, unless another company takes over development from Pioneer. You won't find anything better unless you get an FW900 or XBR960 CRT, or OLED and SED if either becomes available. Prices have bottomed out already...the price is only going to get higher from here as they begin to get rare. Start lookin!
As I've said, my Kuro is a superb screen for video. But as a PC monitor it does not match the image quality of true PC LCD monitors, especially best ones.
rfisher983
06-05-2009, 09:38 PM
As I've said, my Kuro is a superb screen for video. But as a PC monitor it does not match the image quality of true PC LCD monitors, especially best ones.
agree, i have my 60" kuro and i wouldnt use at as a PC monitor. Looks great for OTA, directv and ps3 though =)
tom0610
06-06-2009, 12:40 PM
As I've said, my Kuro is a superb screen for video. But as a PC monitor it does not match the image quality of true PC LCD monitors, especially best ones.
Why wouldn't it? The stats are far superior to that of a "true" PC LCD monitor :confused:
sixstringmonk
06-06-2009, 02:57 PM
Why wouldn't it? The stats are far superior to that of a "true" PC LCD monitor :confused:
One thing I can think of offhand is that plasmas dither colors. This isn't a problem unless you are sitting a couple feet from the set though.
I've been using my Samsung PNA50550 with a home theater PC for about a year now and I love it. The only thing I worry about is burn-in, but I've taken steps to mitigate that from ever happening:
- Use a screen saver
- Auto rotate the background image
- No icons on the desktop (not even the trash bin)
- hide the task bar
I would never use a plasma as a desktop monitor because if you are looking for burn in if you say leave word open all day long in the same spot of the screen. However, plasmas are fine in a home theater PC scenario where there is a lot of variation of what's on the screen throughout the day.
MagicMan84
06-06-2009, 03:20 PM
I just got a TC-P42G10 Plasma.
No, you won't want to use this for a PC monitor unless you stand 20' back and that would defeat the purpose.
My old Dell 19" LCD has much sharper text. The Plasma looks blurry in comparison. (HDMI through GTX260)
I played a few games on the Plasma at 1080p and the experience is much better than any PC monitor, but for viewing text or surfing the net the little LCD is much better.
mathesar
06-06-2009, 03:36 PM
I just got a TC-P42G10 Plasma.
No, you won't want to use this for a PC monitor unless you stand 20' back and that would defeat the purpose.
My old Dell 19" LCD has much sharper text. The Plasma looks blurry in comparison. (HDMI through GTX260)
I played a few games on the Plasma at 1080p and the experience is much better than any PC monitor, but for viewing text or surfing the net the little LCD is much better.
Thats strange, Text is razor sharp on my Kuro plasma.
albovin
06-06-2009, 03:37 PM
Why wouldn't it? The stats are far superior to that of a "true" PC LCD monitor :confused:
Lower color accuracy, lower shadow details, poor and unstable white, shimmering, difficult to calibrate.
MagicMan84
06-06-2009, 03:52 PM
Thats strange, Text is razor sharp on my Kuro plasma.
Can you take a high res pic of your Kuro displaying windows text? Or do you know where I can find information on Plasma's being compared for sharpness?
I'm not sure if I'm just too choosey, if my Plasma is defective, or both... :p
The Plasma is sharp, but overall it looks like there is a soft layer of noise over the picture, and a general softness to anything that is razor sharp on my Dell in comparison.
I just got a TC-P42G10 Plasma.
No, you won't want to use this for a PC monitor unless you stand 20' back and that would defeat the purpose.
My old Dell 19" LCD has much sharper text. The Plasma looks blurry in comparison. (HDMI through GTX260)
I played a few games on the Plasma at 1080p and the experience is much better than any PC monitor, but for viewing text or surfing the net the little LCD is much better.
I would suspect your settings on the plasma are not set correctly for PC input. Does it have a PC mode that defeats the TV processing?
Setting up HDTV's as monitors can be rewarding due to their spectacular size and often superior contrast, but kind of tricky. And some HDTVs, due to undefeatable edge enhancement or other TV stuff that can't be defeated, will not be suitable. (And plasma adds the fear of burn-in as others have mentioned.)
(BTW, is it in THX mode? I don't know what impact that has on PC display, but for TV anyway, that certainly appears to be the mode with accurate color and such. The "G" appears to be the new king at CNET, though only because Kuro has left the field...)
Also, did you turn the overscan off?
I wouldnt recommend it at all, just buy a decent 20-24" screen for your pc and use the plasma with a PS3/HTPC for media for the best setup
mathesar
06-06-2009, 05:43 PM
Can you take a high res pic of your Kuro displaying windows text? Or do you know where I can find information on Plasma's being compared for sharpness?
I'm not sure if I'm just too choosey, if my Plasma is defective, or both... :p
The Plasma is sharp, but overall it looks like there is a soft layer of noise over the picture, and a general softness to anything that is razor sharp on my Dell in comparison.
I can try to take a pic, my TV goes into "PC mode" with PC which defeats any extra picture processing (edge enhancements etc.) so text isn't overly sharp or harsh looking.
You mention noise with your plasma, This is actually a common plasma trait known as PWM noise but its usually only noticeable if you sit real close, I can only see if it i stand right in front of my screen but Ive heard its worse / better depending on plasma model, this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1083055) talks about it a little more in depth.
EDIT: I took this pic shortly after I had just bought the TV (a little over a year ago) and was using VGA at the time, Im currently using HDMI with PC which looks even better, Ill try to take some shots later.
PC via VGA:
http://ded.zenblue.net/Pioneer-5080/PC_VGA2.jpg
sixstringmonk
06-06-2009, 09:03 PM
The text on my plasma is very sharp in "just scan mode". This is 1:1 pixel mapping. It is blurry in 16:9 mode, but duh... that's because it's stretched about 8%
Andrmgic
06-06-2009, 11:59 PM
The text is nice and sharp on my 5020FD Kuro in PC input mode.
My picture wasn't representative of the actual quality.. I blame my Canon point and shoot for that :D
MagicMan84
06-07-2009, 01:17 AM
The text on my plasma is very sharp in "just scan mode". This is 1:1 pixel mapping. It is blurry in 16:9 mode, but duh... that's because it's stretched about 8%
Just fixed it. I should research before I say something is blurry :D
I only had it 2 days thus far. :D
Just fixed it. I should research before I say something is blurry :D
I only had it 2 days thus far. :D
You should close your other thread or link it here.
And not assume that an HDTV will be plug and play compatible with a PC without any fuss. Not yet anyway... :)
Though I think mathesar with his awesome set up mentions the Kuro is. Just another aspect of Kuro greatness, alas...
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