forget about CRTs...

[Kremlar]

I have an old 42" commercial Panasonic plasma that I absolutely love.  It's only 480p, but the picture is just great - not as sharp as the latest LCDs but it just has a certain depth about it that I've always liked.

I've had this plasma for 10+ years - my first flat panel display.  Bought it without speakers but added them after.  It's been solid as a rock for me, most recently installed in my master bedroom.

Decided to get a Fire TV Stick for my master bedroom but the plasma does not have HDMI.  Funny how a $35 purchase can trigger a $500 purchase.    So, I replaced my trusty old plasma with a new Insignia 55".

Anyway, I always though the Panasonic plasma would rock as a display for my old Commodore/Amiga stuff and I was right!  Brought it down to my basement home/office and mounted it to the wall.  Tested with my C64 (composite), Amiga 600 and also my Amiga 4000T (RGB > VGA and also RGB > VGA > BNC) and the display performs great.  There's also an NTSC/PAL switch in the menu options but I haven't tested PAL.  All Amiga modes I tried seem good.

My model has VGA, composite/svideo and BNC which is switchable from RGB to component.  I believe there's a DVI card available as well but I never owned one.

Anyway, I love it and would definitely choose this over an old CRT or new LCD for a low res retro display.  My model is a 42PWD6UY but I'm sure there are others in this series that would perform just as well.

It doesn't do the picture justice, but here are a couple of pics:
http://www.techav.com/misc/retro/plasma1.jpg
http://www.techav.com/misc/retro/plasma2.jpg
http://www.techav.com/misc/retro/plasma3.jpg
http://www.techav.com/misc/retro/plasma4.jpg
http://www.techav.com/misc/retro/plasma5.jpg
http://www.techav.com/misc/retro/plasma6.jpg

The C64 and Amiga Workbench pics show a pattern on the screen but it's not there in person - image is very smooth.

I thought this was worth sharing so cross-posted to a few different forums.

[Jeff]

Awesome, it looks great! I like your A600 too. I didn't know you could fit 256 megs of ram in a 600.

[Kremlar]

Awesome, it looks great! I like your A600 too. I didn't know you could fit 256 megs of ram in a 600.

Thanks!  Sorry, the 256MB screenshot was from my 4000T.  The 600 is playing Lemmings and Battle Squadron.

I bought the 600 from a local guy who bought it for his son and barely used it - it really looks new, boxed and everything.

[vince_6]

It looks aaawesome.
I have a friend that he likes them better than lcd too and I think he is right.
Did you noticed any ghosting on scrolling or delay while you were playing?

[Ral-Clan]

It looks good but the screen seemed stretch horizontally somewhat from true 4:3 on some of the game pics. Does this bother you?  Is your tv set to 4:3 mode?

[Kremlar]

It looks aaawesome.
I have a friend that he likes them better than lcd too and I think he is right.
Did you noticed any ghosting on scrolling or delay while you were playing?

No, I didn't notice anything but will pay attention and watch for it.  I need to get setup with more games to play, right now I still only have a dozen or so disks - some of which don't work.  

It loks good but the screens seem stretch horizontally somewhat from true 4:3 on some of the game pics. Does this bother you? Is yor tv set to 4:3 mode?

Most of the pics are in a stretch mode but I took 1 or 2 of Workbench in 4:3 mode (with gray bars on the side).  Stretch mode didn't bother me during testing but will have to see depending on what I'm doing.

[mechy]

Kremlar,
   good to see you are still alive and well. Looks good on the plasma! can you try out pal mode stuff when you have time?  also what model is the panasonic?

Mech

I have an old 42" commercial Panasonic plasma that I absolutely love.  It's only 480p, but the picture is just great - not as sharp as the latest LCDs but it just has a certain depth about it that I've always liked.

I've had this plasma for 10+ years - my first flat panel display.  Bought it without speakers but added them after.  It's been solid as a rock for me, most recently installed in my master bedroom.

Decided to get a Fire TV Stick for my master bedroom but the plasma does not have HDMI.  Funny how a $35 purchase can trigger a $500 purchase.    So, I replaced my trusty old plasma with a new Insignia 55".

Anyway, I always though the Panasonic plasma would rock as a display for my old Commodore/Amiga stuff and I was right!  Brought it down to my basement home/office and mounted it to the wall.  Tested with my C64 (composite), Amiga 600 and also my Amiga 4000T (RGB > VGA and also RGB > VGA > BNC) and the display performs great.  There's also an NTSC/PAL switch in the menu options but I haven't tested PAL.  All Amiga modes I tried seem good.

My model has VGA, composite/svideo and BNC which is switchable from RGB to component.  I believe there's a DVI card available as well but I never owned one.

Anyway, I love it and would definitely choose this over an old CRT or new LCD for a low res retro display.  My model is a 42PWD6UY but I'm sure there are others in this series that would perform just as well.

It doesn't do the picture justice, but here are a couple of pics:
http://www.techav.com/misc/retro/plasma1.jpg
http://www.techav.com/misc/retro/plasma2.jpg
http://www.techav.com/misc/retro/plasma3.jpg
http://www.techav.com/misc/retro/plasma4.jpg
http://www.techav.com/misc/retro/plasma5.jpg
http://www.techav.com/misc/retro/plasma6.jpg

The C64 and Amiga Workbench pics show a pattern on the screen but it's not there in person - image is very smooth.

I thought this was worth sharing so cross-posted to a few different forums.

[Thorham]

I don't think I could handle the 480p.

[Darrin]

Strangely enough, I've had a similar 42" Panasonic plasma for years too.  Used to be my living room TV, but it ended up being used for my computers as it does PAL and NTSC.  I can't remember what model I have, but mine is a 720p (1280x720).

The standard connections were component, composite, RGB, VGA and S-Video.  I added an extra card to give it HDMI.

Here it is playing Elite:

[lionstorm]

Interesting but from the weight, heat and watt consumed point of view, it is awfull !

[tonyvdb]

And I can see issues with burn in so may not be the best choice in the long run.

[Kremlar]

good to see you are still alive and well. Looks good on the plasma! can you try out pal mode stuff when you have time? also what model is the panasonic?

Hey Mechy!  Yes, still no time to play with and refamiliarize myself with this stuff but I'm getting there.  Hope you are well!

Strangely enough, I've had a similar 42" Panasonic plasma for years too. Used to be my living room TV, but it ended up being used for my computers as it does PAL and NTSC. I can't remember what model I have, but mine is a 720p (1280x720).

Awesome!  How did you like the quality?

Interesting but from the weight, heat and watt consumed point of view, it is awfull !

Weight is irrelevant.  It's hanging on my wall!  Heat?  It does generate warmth but I don't see that as a downside.  Might keep me a bit warmer in the winter.  

It uses about 100W in dynamic mode.  If I use it 2 hours per day for a year (which I won't) it will cost me about $5.11.

[Kremlar]

Strangely enough, I've had a similar 42" Panasonic plasma for years too. Used to be my living room TV, but it ended up being used for my computers as it does PAL and NTSC. I can't remember what model I have, but mine is a 720p (1280x720).

The standard connections were component, composite, RGB, VGA and S-Video. I added an extra card to give it HDMI.

It's a very similar model - yours has the same handles as mine has.  Heavy sucker, good thing they had those handles!

I thought about buying a pedestal stand like yours but the cost was ~$100+ at least on eBay for something compatible with mine.  Maybe $70 if I went with a universal pedestal mount.  I had a cheap wall mount hanging around from Monoprice so decided to use that instead.  It's nice because it saves me some desk space.  The original mount I had in the bedroom would not work because I could not center the TV and also hit 2 studs.

[danbeaver]

Interesting but from the weight, heat and watt consumed point of view, it is awfull !

Really? We are posting on a server that must consume so much energy that it requires an air conditioned room, and the discussion turns to the "Green" aspects of computing?

May the Lord Bless you!

[QuikSanz]

A plasma pixel is a small tube as I understand it. This is why it looks like a CRT and takes almost as much power as one. You also get some of the burn in "features".