Why EDTV plasmas aren't for losers

I'm not sure how many reader e-mails it takes to get me to write a column on a particular subject, but I think a good half dozen, or a lengthy, free buying-advice consultation with a friend qualifies. The subject in question: plasma on a $2,000 budget.

Yes, it appears that many flat-panel hunters--those of us on a budget, anyway--are zeroing on the species known as the "affordable" large-screen plasma. While the definition of affordable is ever evolving in the new HDTV jungle, the prevailing consensus is that $2,000 is a palatable sum to drop for a wall-mountable display. Alas, two grand won't get you anywhere near a 42-inch LCD TV or even a decent 37-incher such as the Sharp Aquos LC-37G4U. But if you're willing to hunt online, $2,000 can bag you a highly rated 42-inch plasma. There's just one caveat: these models offer EDTV, or Enhanced Definition resolution, not HD resolution.

What does that mean? Well, in case you haven't read it already, Senior Editor David Katzmaier spells it out it very clearly in his excellent EDTV vs. HDTV explainer. To thin-slice it, while EDTV equates only to the resolution of a wide-screen DVD (852x480 pixels), an EDTV can still display an HDTV signal; you just won't see HD in its full-blown high-res glory.

Simple enough, right? Buy a 42-inch EDTV plasma, and you get to see your DVDs "be all that they can be," but your HD gets a little shortchanged. And buy a 42-inch HDTV plasma, and you get full-monty HD. Not so fast, Ace (sound of screeching brakes). It turns out that no current 42-inch plasma can resolve the full resolution of HD; they're either at 1,024x768 pixels or at 1,024x1,024 pixels (technically, 1,280x720 pixels is the entry level for HD). That's why in our reviews of said 42-inch plasmas, such as the Panasonic TH-42PHD7UY, we label them high-resolution, not HDTV. Note that all 50-inch plasmas, on the other hand, do have true HD resolution.

So once you accept our word that burn-in really isn't an issue with the latest plasmas--whatever their resolution--the question becomes: how much better does HDTV look on a high-resolution plasma than on an EDTV plasma? The answer: not much, especially if you sit far enough away from your TV. Apparent resolution has a lot to do with seating distance, and unless you sit quite close to the set--say, seven feet or less--you probably won't be able to tell the difference in sharpness between a 42-inch EDTV and a 42-inch HDTV side by side. It's also worth noting that because black levels, or the TV's ability to display an inky black, may be superior on some EDTVs, their images may look slightly better with darker scenes. And remember, regular or standard definition TV and progressive-scan DVD look essentially the same on both sets.

For many people, the slight compromise in sharpness isn't worth the extra $1,000 or more that it costs to upgrade to the HDTV or high-resolution version of the same set. But the whole EDTV vs. HDTV dilemma creates a larger philosophical question that's more difficult to overcome. If you're spending that kind of money for a TV (we're still talking about $2,000), shouldn't you be getting an HDTV? After all, HDTV is the future, and hopefully you're going to have this set for 10 to 15 years; shouldn't you try to get/pay a little more to help futureproof it?

Yeah, maybe, I told my friend Nick. And if he was willing to wait, prices would certainly come down, and he'd get more for his money next year. But when he said he had to stick closer to $2,000 than $3,000--and he needed a thin-screen TV now--I recommended a Panasonic industrial model, the TH-42PWD7UY, and suggested he add a DVI input ($150). The stand costs another $200, bringing his total to about $2,300 with shipping. What he got was an excellently performing, no-frills plasma, that, sitting 12 feet away from it and watching 24, everybody assumed was an HDTV.

But it wasn't. And he could live with that lie.