My 2-year old Philips 32" bleeds from all four corners, plus clouding all over the screen.

I'd be happy if Astro can deliver a low-compression 16:9 480i signal, nevermind about the HD. Right now they can't even deliver a DVD-quality picture. No use having a 720p/1080i signal if it's compressed like hell.

I know it's 576i, I'm emphasizing on the "low-compression" part.

I'm just saying that it's no point paying a premium for 720p/1080i Astro if it's just going to be heavily-compressed like now.

About the surge protector, I'm using Belkin Gold, bought from Tesco at 219.00. I liked it's RM25,000 equipment warranty, plus free replacement when the surge protector burns out (at least that's what it says on the warranty sheet).

8 sockets, 2 of which are rotatable, plus ports for phone line and TV antenna. Doesn't look like the antenna port will fit the Astro antenna though (although I could be wrong since I'm not a cable expert.).

Supposedly, there is a RM25,000 warranty on connected equipment based on prevailing market value of your stuff (less depreciation). And free replacement of your surge protector if a power surge knocks it out. At least that's what it says on its warranty sheet. All claims have to be made though their Singapore office.

The PV80 upscales everything to 1080p before rescaling to fit the screen (768p + 2.5% overscan). So the best feed to give it IS 1080p to avoid the set having to rescale twice.

If you feed it 720p, it will still be upscaled to 1080p before downscaling to 768. That's just the way Panasonic has designed this TV.

I got that off some technical discussions on the PX80/PV80 on AVS and AVForums.

My own testing, 1080p is more detailed than 720p. In fact a 720p feed from the Panny S54 is softer than just feeding it 480i (TV does all the scaling). But 1080p is better than 480i.

Our *ahem* BDs are just dual-layer rips from actual BDs. I have a few copies of the same movie on both DVD9 and the BD rips, and I find the DVD9 pic cleaner. DVD9s are direct copies from the real deal, while the BD rips are, well, rips. You'll always lose something during rips.

This post has been edited by 99below0: Sep 10 2008, 01:50 PM

The resolution is there, just that the compression blocks are a bit rougher. Original DVD9 are professionally mastered and BD rips are just hack jobs on some young hacker's PC, and dependent on whatever commercial ripping program they are using. Surely cannot beat a multi-million dollar hollywood studio...

Ahem BDs or any other ahem DVDs for that matter, are not burnt, they are pressed on a production line, like the real deal.

Holy crap... that's like back row at the mamak... 50" plasma also too small leh... You need a projector and a 100" screen.

I think the cheapest and most effective method is probably to rearrange your living room and carve out a nice TV corner for viewing, not more than 8-10ft away from the screen. You will have a very immersive effect with a 42" plasma and some decent speakers, almost like having your own cinema.

This post has been edited by 99below0: Sep 11 2008, 02:53 PM

Let me guess... your friend owns a Sony Bravia?

Obviously he's saying that you get what you pay for.

You buy the low-end stuff, you will get low-end components and panels, no matter if it's name is Sony or Philips or Samsung in front. Low-end components = shorter life span / higher failure rate.

I can just see the headlines tomorrow... "Fake TV scam uncovered by LowYat.net members"...

I guess the next question will be... how the heck are we going to clean those fans without voiding the warranty?

Think the general consensus here is Plasma for Astro, if you want a flat-screen TV. Plasma hides Astro's artifacts reasonably well, while LCDs show it in all it's "glory". "Astro enhancement mode" just means lowered contrast, max noise reduction settings. Basically the picture will be much softer than you're used to seeing on your old CRT.

Actually, that's not entirely true. Most Plasmas have an inferior engine compared to some LCDs (notably Philips and Sony). It is very obvious when you are viewing HD content through both.

However, Plasma's superior blacks coupled with the pixel structure design produces somewhat softer picture with deeper color. This 'softness' is what hides the artifacts. It's there, just not so obvious. If you switch up to a Monster Cable, you will see it more obviously, especially if you also upscale to 1080p.

LCDs, on the other hand, are just bleedingly sharp with high contrast, and because you don't have a screen-door effect like plasma, artifact-ridden areas tend to get all mushy into each other. To over-ride this, most LCDs will have a more powerful noise reduction system, so it will look smoother, but you lose detail.

Mainly, it's all in the pixel design of the 2 competing technologies.

Assuming you are buying for watching movies, Picture Quality (PQ) is by far the most important. All the tech terms in the world does not matter if the picture doesn't look good. Don't buy on brand. Use your eyes and audition every set carefully with multiple sources. Get the set with the most pleasing PQ to your eyes. Take your time and go to many shops. It will get fun after a while when you start noticing how different TVs look different.

FullHD is only useful if you are watching Blu-Ray sources, playing PS3 or using as a large monitor. If watching DVDs or Astro, HD-Ready sets frequently look better because you don't have to upscale so much from the base resolution.

If you're not a gamer, skip the LCDs and buy the best Plasma you can afford.

PY800 = FullHD+everything
PV8 = HD-Ready
PV80 = PV8+contrast detection system+card slot+swivel stand

The Panny 37LZ800 is in a price-class of it's own compared to the other 2. It's Full HD with Panny's best IPS-Alpha panel. Obviously, it is by far better than the other 2 budget LCD TVs. Sure you didn't mean the "LX800"?

If you're only going to get a HD Ready LCD, you might as well add a few hundred bucks and get a 42" Panasonic PV8 plasma.

Don't go by room size. Size of the TV depends on your viewing distance. Tell us so we can help. Also, type of TV (LCD/Plasma) depends on what you are viewing most often: is it Astro, DVDs, Blu-Ray, PS3, PC, etc?

The more info you can give us, the better our recommendations will suit your need.