Thought I would have a bit of a troll and do a review on a real cheapy Plasma Monitor.

A bit of brief background, spent many years in the TV industry and used to align/calibrate broadcast cameras...I am very particular about picture quality, but damm I know how to tweek the best out of anything.

Dick Smith are currently selling this panel at under 3K, I have been looking around at panels now since the beginning of the year. To date I just have not been able to justify spending 4-5K on a panel....I have a life!!

When I saw this guy for under 3K, I started some serious research, before I purchased it.

I compared it to the various top end models, Panny, Fujitsu, both HD and SD...as well as to other low end models.

First of all anyone who buys a plasma TV cuz its got a inbuilt ANALOGUE tunner its nuts.....no matter what plasma you buy if u poke analogue FTA its gonna look like crap.

That said, the Teac comes with no tuner.....and has a LG panel inside, and it does not have butt ugly speakers at the side. (it has them in the back of it) so the panel itself is VERY nice to look at even when its turned off.

Purchased a TEAC SD set top box, pluged into the component input via **** quality SCART (which I made)....Will fork out for a good quality one later.

1. Sound quality with internal speakers is OK, good for TV but does lack bass, even with bass extensions turned on. Panel has subwoofer out connector which could rectifiy this...however for TV its fine....for movies use home theater anyway

there are NO issues with lip sync, although sometimes particularly ch 10 seems to loose it a bit but this is a function of the transmission (OR stb)....not the panel....the panel is definitly processing the images in real time with no decernable buffering, otherwise using the home theater audio would present a problem!!! DUH!!

2. Composite video in......just don't use it, it looks like total crap, This panel does not do a good job with composite in period....it seems to really upset the panel processing engine, and it looks worse than it should.

3. S-Video looks great. With a 2000:1 Contract ratio (not too shabby for the price) it is hard to pic flaws when a well encoded DVD is played. Unfortunitly this home theater DVD player only has S-Video not component so the only component signal this panel has seen is off FTA digital.

It does appear that the processing engine of the panel looses the plot slightly during high movment on certain colours, it is not MPEG artifacts from the DVD, its more like interferance lines... static aliasing....BUT I will make the point...you REALLY have to be looking to see it. Subjectively the panel is very acceptable, there is no way anyone would pick this flaw with an untrained eye. My kids and wife can't see it even when I point it out to them....(which is good because doing this REALLY pisses my mrs off hehe)

I will make the point that I picked this flaw up in the shop before I bought this unit....ALL the lower end panels in the shop including Samsung, Sony and LG exibited this flaw in the SAME degree. It was NOT apparant on the Fujitsu Panel or the Panny...once again...although it does bother me from a perfectionist point of view...its not worth 2-3K to me to eliminate it!!

I also note when I plug a separate DVD player into the panel that has progressive scan, this seems to all but eliminate this flaw, unfortunitly the home theater DVD player does not have progressive scan

4. Component in via digital SD set top box. I actually already had one, but since this pannel only has ONE S-Video input (which sucks)...and I am using it for the home theater DVD, I needed a SD box with component (panel has 1 composite, 1 S-video, TWO component inputs, RGB via VGA and DVI)...The Teac STB is one of the few SD STB on the market with component out. The panel does accept RGB but only via a VGA connector...so it needs the H-sync and V-sync signals...so adapter won't work.

Picture quality from FTA digital varies dramaticly dependant on what the TV station is transmitting, wether the program is offline encoded or if ...for example for sport it is being real time encoded. real time encoding always look like crap....unless no one is moving of course...lol (again however to the untrained eye most of the time its fine)

Yes U can see errors, however for certain program feeds the picture is virtually perfect save for the same flaw you can see off DVD. Not surprisingly however the worse the source the worse the flaw, as is true for MPEG encoding processing. Generally however (when the TV station is not transmitting crap) the result is excellant, picture is sharp, there is NO noise @ black level...I just wish what was transmitted was more consistant.

5. grey scales are very good, as with detail in dark areas with dark movie scenes., i would be willing to bet that the laws of dimminishing returns apply when your already talking 2000:1 compared to the Panny 4000:1

6. Colour accuracy once tweeked is very good, although the unit is shipped defaul with the picture way over saturated

7. over all brightness, nothing lacking here, at night its actually too bright and needs to be backed off a touch.

8. Zoom/stretch modes, This was actually important to me when I was looking around at panels, but since having it, it has become actually completly redundant. The panel zoom/stretch modes work...that pretty much sums it up. I do not think it does a particularly good job here, however for DVDs I found I like to leave it in the original aspect, and the DVD player has auto aspect correction and zoom modes anyway. Anything worthwhile on digital FTA is txed in 16:9 nowdays....so this is really a non event

Summary, for the price this panel is unbeatable, it comes with a 3 year warranty, by the time this panel's warranty is up I expect for the differance I paid between this panel and ...say a Fujitsu...I will be able to buy a second Plasma....and it WILL be a HD!! (BY THEN @ 3k)

The key message is make sure your source is clean...making comparisons in the shop are extremely difficult since crawling around the back of the panels to see how they are connected might raise some eyebrows....and DON'T use composite video on this panel!!

P.S. With Dick Smith (not that I like them) you can buy it, take it home, and they have a 14 day no questions asked return policy...so take it home and have a play with it and decide for yourself. BUT....I found that one dick smith said they would only give a CREDIT on return....this is not consistant...I checked with the Dick Smith shop I ultimately bought it from and verified this before I purchased it. I would not have bought it otherwise...however their policy pays dividends cuz I am keeping it

My brother-in-law bought one & is very happy with his purchase. The salesperson told him the 3-year warranty was an advertising mistake, but that DSE are honouring it anyways. As you say, give it a wee while & the 50" HD screens will be in the reach of us mere mortals

Is this the same panel in the LG RT-42PX10, or a different one?

EXCELLENT review dude!!! I like it when all the warts and good points are brought to the front to also allow an informed decision by others. Sounds like a great recommendation is now available for SD plasma seekers - at just half the price of the outstanding NEC 42" semi-HD!

No problems....

Although I continue to notice stuff.

Again to do with the fact that all interlaced material is converted to progressive, it seems there is also a bit of a problem when you have very bright diagonal edges on a dark background, the edge can look a bit ragged. It appears as tho the deinterlacing algorithm spits it a bit in this situation. it is more than a pixel wide so its not the panel resolution. Its not a big deal cuz I only just noticed it, and it really depends on the scene and again the source material.

I suspect although I have not confirmed (tho I am pretty sure it wasn't there when I put the other DVD into it that does have progressive) if its fed a Progressive source this would go away....still only notice it cuz I am looking for flaws....would like to bung a HD progessive STB into it via the DVI input to really see what it can really do....again however the SD STB I got was only worth 200 bucks from tricky, off ebay decent HD ones seem to be going for about 4-500 ish when u include postage, and the fact that it IS a SD panel it seems a bit pointless. I think i would rather put up with it and get a PVR when the manufacterers sort out all their bugs (which will most probably be SD anyway but hopefully will have a VGA/progressive output)

really nit picking now...subjectively it looks great

Tho tomorrow when I get a chance I might dig out the other DVD player and try it

BTW I do not think it is the same as the LG 60K hour panel....as that panel is 3000:1 this panel is 2000:1

OK I dug it out.....This DVD player is better than the other one on interlace anyway.....but put it in progressive mode...and wow...what a differance does that make!!!...its all good

That's what i suspected. I was only asking because you say that the s-video-in looks pretty good, whereas on my LG RT-42PX10 any interlaced signal fed into it (on any input) looks terrible. Foxtel and fta analogue are unwatchable. My old non-progressive dvd player also looked crap.

As for the brightness... i know what you mean, it seems to get brighter the sleepier you get

You are of course right, although again it would seem not all interlaced sources are created equal, the original SD set top box I had was a 140 buck Digicrystal off ebay, and it really looked acceptable in the S-Video, the teac using component does not look as good (to be fair I need to get some decent cables for it), I have very little doubt if they were progressive it would look much better & as I said above my better DVD looks better in interlace mode than the home theater does, but its another step better in progressive mode....that said the problems don't bug anyone except for someone that looks for errors...lol

Analogue IS unwatchable, and what I hear about foxtel is that they have no where near enough bitrate for large screen TV viewing

I assume that once u are sending progressive, the media engine does not have to do the deinterlacing any more so it free to do a better job resizing etc. Also since DVDs are generally progressive (although MPEG2 does support interlace), to convert it to interlace and back again your bound to loose detail. This would be true for any panel tho.

I brought the Teac plasma today. I must say after a few hours of using it, it has great picture.

I have checked DVI, Component inputs (there are 2 of them) and 1080i pictures are fantastic. In the store I compared against others around 4K+ and this screen seemed much better and wasn't loosing frames on HD.

Did check the composite input and it's ok (but not great). But on a 42" plasma screen surely no-one would use standard composite input anyway.

I think for under 3 big ones, it's a great buy. It'll be good for the next few years until the HD versions hit a street price around the same.

The speakers are on the back; sound is ok for standard TV viewing. I generally use my home theatre anyway.

There is no tuner inbuilt, so a set-top box is a must.

now I need the wall brackets......

[quote=nsdn,Oct 27 2004, 11:59 AM]

... Dick Smith are currently selling this panel at under 3K ...

[unquote]

Help - which DS, where? For example, I am in Brisbane.

Since your post I have looked in Harvey Norman ("we don't sell TEAC'), Good Guys, RetraVision, Clive Peeters, JB Hi-Fi, Encel, and a DS.

Cannot find a store with the item.

Have previously contacted TEAC branch in Brisbane & also Melbourne in effort to find a supplier/s in Brisbane.

Weird, Melbourne office refused to say anything other than contact the Brisbane office. Brisbane office IVR wanted my dealer code before it pass me to a human. But, I am consumer, not a dealer.

Almost given up the search

robokopp

Try JB HIFI. Time is running out though, as it is a runout model. A HD model will be availible from Teac hopefully for XMAS.

[quote=robokopp,Nov 1 2004, 10:12 PM]
[quote=nsdn,Oct 27 2004, 11:59 AM]

... Dick Smith are currently selling this panel at under 3K ...

[unquote]

Help - which DS, where? For example, I am in Brisbane.

Since your post I have looked in Harvey Norman ("we don't sell TEAC'), Good Guys, RetraVision, Clive Peeters, JB Hi-Fi, Encel, and a DS.

Cannot find a store with the item.

Have previously contacted TEAC branch in Brisbane & also Melbourne in effort to find a supplier/s in Brisbane.

Weird, Melbourne office refused to say anything other than contact the Brisbane office. Brisbane office IVR wanted my dealer code before it pass me to a human. But, I am consumer, not a dealer.

Almost given up the search

robokopp

[/quote]

I think I've seen these in Target as well?

It does not look like they are in Brisbane, in fact it appears they are running out in other places as well.

http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefro...duct/View/G4238

Shows which stores have stock.

I went looking for one of these plasmas today, but no-one had any in stock. DJ's had one on display and said they could order them, but weren't sure if it would be a new model or not.

Anyway the salesman reckons it will still be about 2999 and offered to give me the 10% off when he can source it.

Looking at the Plasma in the store I thought its PQ was pretty good. It looked a little low on contrast, but not too bad (it was next to a Panasonic)

For $2999 with 10% off and two years interest free (which makes it really about $2500) It seems like a good deal, esp with DVI and 2xcomponent inputs.

ChrisM,
After my earlier post I found a helpful person at TEAC (QLD) who told me, to the best of my recall that:-

1. "the 1060 SD panel is phasing out. Some warehouse stock remains and the last shipment is arriving. When sold, is gone forever. Certain retail stores have limited stocks. DJ is a national account for TEAC."

So, if you have an offer of $2999 less 10% then you are on to the best known street price to-date. For an extra 10% off I would buy a lunch for the sales dude!

In Brisbane, I spoke to a RetraVision store and was told they have some warehouse stock (small qty) and some more arriving.

2. the 1065 HD panel was suggested as being "December into stores pre-Xmas, with RRP 5999".

Summary, stay with your DJ "newly-found friend" or try RetraVision if you want the 1060 SD, at or under $3,000 - but NOT for long ...

Good luck,

robokopp (in BrisVegas)

I purchased the teac plasma through Djs and am very happy. I got a DVB800 HD setop box from JB to match as I wanted Dolby Digital and found that SD stb Image isnt as good? (mabye because it isnt progressive?) anyway I tried to use DVI but the plasma DVI input is for PC use so it doesnt work, also tried RGB but picture was not as clear as component. S-video is pretty darn good but not as clear as Component. PS2 is awsome through component. DVD in progressive scan is great. anything interlaced (except 1080i) isnt up to scratch. My main concern is it has 2 component inputs but I have PS2, DVD and HD setop to plug in. anyone got a suggestion ? Also I would love to know what settings you are using to get the best out of the picture!

HiFi Supermarket in Melbourne has this advertised for $2688 ATM.

Dan76n, why doesn the the DVI conenction work?

Danny.

Im not sure, I think the plasma may not support the format from the hd setop box

DJ's told me today that the new shipment wouldn't be availiable until December. They also said the SD had been discontinued and would be replaced by an HD model for $3999.

Wow, now that really is some kind of breakthrough price.

Danny.

No, I believe the HD model will be priced at $5999. MMM, seems like I can see a couple of PLM1060's in my shop when I walk in each morning....

post deleted

Spoke to Teac today and they confirmed the HD plasma would be $5999 and was the model 1065 (1024x1024) on their website. The guy from Teac said he had a 1060 with a Teac HD box connected via DVI and it worked a treat.

The 1060 sounds like the go, so unless someone knows of a better deal I'll go with the DJ's order, (but I'd love to get it sooner than December).

My brother in-law just bought the Teac SD plasma and a Teac 800 HD STB from Target (I know... I know).

I hooked it up with composite, component and DVI.

The best picture I could get was with 576P component. The 1080i component output was shimmering and unwatchable. The DVI output showed as "Not support" on the Plasma unless I selected 576P format - which had awful aliasing.

To top this off Target gave him the remote control for a Teac D500 STB instead of the Plasma's!!

To make it easier for his family to switch b/w foxtel etc from his amp he ended up choosing composite video output - which again looks awful (washed out).

I was really unimpressed by this combination. Can someone with the same setup give me some pointers?

Hey Ian

What is a Semi HD?

Dude

Great review should help people out looking for this model

I was really unimpressed by this combination. Can someone with the same setup give me some pointers?

[/quote]

Hi I set up my Teac plasma Wed. and settled for S-video connection from SD STB.
I have a VCR which is connected to the STB by the SCART connector and as these are the only two out on STB had no alternative.
I am really happy with TV pictures. Studio shots are perfect. Live outside interviews tend to be a little grainy. TV pictures are as good as I could want.
I connected VCR to plasma by 3-RCA connectors and whilst the picture is not as good as FTA it is as good as I have had on my old TV.
My DVD has component out so I connected this to plasma. I played my favourite movie--Dances with wolves, which I hired, and I was blown away with the vision as I only previously had this on video.
I am still thinking about connection to audio system. I have connected amplifier surround sound system to audio out on plasma but haven't decided if I should direct connect components to amplifier or through plasma.---Any thoughts.
There is a low level sound nouse that is annoying coming from back of plasma that seems to be from its speakers. I will have to see what I can do to eliminate this.
Has anyone mounted screen to wall? Did you buy brackets? I can't see why I can't remove feet from stand and screw support to wall, then mount same way as on floor.
Ross

[quote=rosco99,Dec 2 2004, 01:16 PM]
I was really unimpressed by this combination. Can someone with the same setup give me some pointers?

[/quote]

Hi I set up my Teac plasma Wed. and settled for S-video connection from SD STB.
I have a VCR which is connected to the STB by the SCART connector and as these are the only two out on STB had no alternative.
I am really happy with TV pictures. Studio shots are perfect. Live outside interviews tend to be a little grainy. TV pictures are as good as I could want.
I connected VCR to plasma by 3-RCA connectors and whilst the picture is not as good as FTA it is as good as I have had on my old TV.
My DVD has component out so I connected this to plasma. I played my favourite movie--Dances with wolves, which I hired, and I was blown away with the vision as I only previously had this on video.
I am still thinking about connection to audio system. I have connected amplifier surround sound system to audio out on plasma but haven't decided if I should direct connect components to amplifier or through plasma.---Any thoughts.
There is a low level sound nouse that is annoying coming from back of plasma that seems to be from its speakers. I will have to see what I can do to eliminate this.
Has anyone mounted screen to wall? Did you buy brackets? I can't see why I can't remove feet from stand and screw support to wall, then mount same way as on floor.
Ross

[/quote]

I am not sure exactly what you are syaing, but in all honesty I can not see how you would get a acceptable picture using this configuration period.

Any interlaced signal is going to be marginal at best (although most people seem to think DVB looks good)....a VCR unless its a super VHS, or Hi-8 is goingt o look really bad if not unwatchable. Any analogue tuner input is going to be nearly equaly as bad.

The ONLY way to get a good result is with a progressive scan DVD with component signals. (or a HD 756P signal from ch 7 for example)

I am using a SD PVR/DVB reciever using component and it is acceptable....although any untrained eye that sees it says it is a great picture!!

I spent the day at my Brother in-laws place to try and improve his Home Theatre quality. I had great success with the audio; connecting optical digital connectors etc.

However the video on the Teac plasma is still very disappointing.

S-video (from both Foxtel STU and Teac's HD STB) has a ghosting effect - it looks like a convergence problem on a RPTV. I swapped s-video cables to be certain . So Foxtel "Digital" has reverted back to blurry old composite video.

Anyway - I ended up with:

576p from the Teac HD800 direct to Component1
480p from the Voxson DVD Player direct to Component2
576i from the Pace (Foxtel "Digital") to composite AV1 (via Denon Amp)
576i from the LG VCR to composite AV1 (via Denon Amp)

1080i via component was still shimmering badly.
576p DVI still has awful aliasing (1080i and 720p will not work)

He is happy with it all, but I find it really distracting to watch. I would be really depressed If I had of settled for this TV.

I'm so glad I paid the extra for my HD Plasma!

I have the Teac Plasma and dvb800 hd setop box and am vey happy with picture quality through component, s video was crap and so was composite. dvi didnt work but i may not of tried it at 576p.

Well I finally got the Teac home and set up. I'm running it with an LG HDSTB and a progressive Philips Q50 DVD. I've also tried SD via s'video and interlaced component from DVD. Build date on my screen is Nov 2004.

On the whole I agree with nsdn's original review, it's a winner for the money. Best PQ is from the HD box, 1080i via VGA. The Nine loop is pretty much spot on. The screen was pretty accurately set-up out of the box, except I changed the Colour Temp to "mid".
Component is good too and s'video is just acceptable. SD via S'video is OK, but nowhere near the quality of 1080i via VGA. DVI doesn't work with HD, and only occasionally with 576P. It handles the 1080 50i, 720 50P, and 576 50P output via the VGA of the LG no problems. Geometry is excellent, as is image centering (after minor adjustment).

It's got enough inputs and built in speakers, (but I haven't listened to them). All rear panel connectors are gold plated and the unit looks solid and well made. It runs perfectly quiet as it has no cooling fans.

Component progressive DVD is excellent and interlaced component is fine too. I ran DVE and (except for the expected high colour temp and green error most plasmas have) everything was fine, (i.e. blacks, gray scale, etc.). The motion adaptive deinterlacer handled interlaced component pretty well, (it's far better than a Benq 6200)

I noticed some "clown faces" on lower quality video content, but watching "A Few Good Men" last night on 10 HD the PQ was excellent.

The remote is ordinary, but it works OK.

Blacks are OK, it would be nice if they were darker, but 2000:1 is still pretty good at this price.

So, for $2700 including the stand, (and at the moment, a 5 year warranty), it's definitely a keeper.

I work at DickSmith and the 14 day money back policy DOES NOT apply to Plasma tv's.

Anyone buying from a Dick Smith store should confirm this before buying.

Really, darn!

Nope, ain't no Merican either.

Just picked up my Teac Plasma and Topfield 4000 STB today and went about setting it all up (which was pretty simple) but without any success. Now let me say first off that I live in a block of apartments so my problems may be due to the MATV in the apartments - I get FTA fine as I only live around the corner from Artarmon (Sydney).

When I hooked up the Teac and STB all I got was the occassional flash of a very distorted (interference) image and the Teac went back to claiming there was no signal from the input - this was all whilst I was connected via component at 576p (haven't worked out how to changed the output from 576p yet).

I then tried the s video connection and got a fuzzy black & white menu screen from the STB. When I tried to tune in the stations, after a search the STB came up with nothing - no TV channels or radio stations. Gave up at this point and need to read the maunual to work out how to change the output from 576p to one of the others ... can anyone point me in the right direction? A working plasma to see the new year in would be nice!

By the way, checked the STB at a mates place who lives in the outer suburbs of Sydney and it worked on his Sony HR series CRT - found about 35 TV channnels and 10 radio. We did notice some interference (especially on SBS).

:ph34r:

Connect up the STB and connect it via composite and see if this works. If that's OK try component, but make sure the output is set to component via scart or, if you try s'video, ensure output is set to s'video.

Although I'm not familiar with your STB it sounds to me that when you tried s'video you had output set to composite - this would cause the fuzzy black and white menu screen. You'll need to alter the output in the menu as scart uses the same pins for different outputs.

If you still have problems the next thing I'd try is to plug in a DVD player and make sure that all the inputs and the screen works OK.

Finally you can set up the STB using a pair of rabbit ears or similar (if you can get a reasonable analogue signal this way it should be OK for digital).

Hi there.....Actually Artarmon is one of the worst areas in Sydney for TV reception, the reason being is the RF lobe does not extend down that close to the antenna. Your actually too close.

The building at the base of the ch 10/7 mast can't receive a sausage..not even a sniff. In order to monitor (not sure if this is still the way they do it) they actually have a UHF antenna pointed at kings cross translater, since all the translater does is pick up VHF and upconvert and retransmit UHF.

Like ChrisM says try the composite video...then go into the menu and set the correct output signal to come out the compenent out...and u should be good to go. I am betting your STB is set to RGB, which the teac don't like.

Guys, thanks for that it did the trick - it got 35 TV channels and 10 radio on my search. However, I don't get channel 9 at all, but get the others. Any ideas on what I could do to get channel 9? Also the FTA pictures on the Teac is grainy and I get a lot of clown faces - the STB is plugged in via scart to component outputting 576i. Is there anyway I can improve the picture quality of the FTA channels?

PS I see a lot of comments about changing the picture output from 576i to 576p, 480p etc, etc ... is this done via a 'button' on the STB/Plasma or is does it actually have to do with the cables and how you connect?

Cheers
:ph34r:

Unfortunitly with a SD box which the topfield is your stuck with 576i. In fact I think Ch 7 is the only HD channel that is txmitted in 576p, which a SD box will not recieve. The others txmit 1024i I think.

I get clown faces to a varying degree, depending on the souce quality thats been transmitted.

DVD in Progressive mode looks fantastic. SD off my Opentel PVR is only OK.

One thing I have noticed is that if I switch the plasma TV on cold and start watching a DVD straight away I get some minor noise streaking horizontally accross the picture. After about 10 minutes it seems to settle down and go away. Anyone else noticed this?

[quote=nsdn,Jan 3 2005, 07:59 AM]
[QUOTE]
... In fact I think Ch 7 is the only HD channel that is txmitted in 576p, which a SD box will not recieve ...
[/QUOTE]

SBS is also 576P

robokopp

Others may correct me on this, but I think there were issues at one stage with component out of the Topfield, (they may have been fixed?). Perhaps try s'video on (a short cable run) to see if it improves PQ.

ANyone got any review on the new PLMHDM1065 1080x1080 teac plasma. At the asking price, under $5000 at most retailers, and i think i saw it for 4.500 at JB, it seems like a steal. Anyone know what panel they use? Or if there are any reviews about? And is the extended warranty for real?

Cheers,

Ha

Chris,

Thanks I'll try S Video and let you know how it goes - I am just hoping that I get all the FTA channels and I will have to put up with the clown faces!!!!!

:ph34r:

nsdn, I am actually moving to North Sydney on the weekend and hoping that the move will improve PQ and also let me get channel 9!!!

:ph34r:

Back to the TEAC, has anyone noticed the noise from the top left of the unit? I thought it was interference through the speakers but it's still there when I muted it. Is it the screen itself (or whatever "fires" the screen up)?

Can you describe the "noise"? I've heard a slight buzzing, but I have to virtually put my ear to the rear of the screen to hear it.

Yes, I suppose it's a buzzing, something like the white noise you get through speakers when the volume's turned up but there's no signal. My TV room is fairly quiet and when the sound's turned down, I can notice it from my chair. Not highly annoying but I wonder if it's normal, or an indication of something wrong?

Now that I've had the Teac long enough to run up some hours I thought its about time I posted a proper review.

The equipment I used to test the screen was an LG HDSTB and a Philips Q50 DVD player. I tried all the outputs on both devices, and tried both PAL and NTSC output on the Q50 using PAL "Digital Video Essentials" and NTSC "Video Essentials".

Build Quality:
I think the screen is made in Taiwan by Sampo, and it uses an LG Panel, (an LGE PDP42V52330 made in 12/03 to be precise). The general build quality looks OK, and it comes with a sturdy stand. Perhaps an LG owner can tell me what screen it's derived from.

The screen is quiet, apart from a slight buzzing sound as someone previously mentioned. I cannot hear it at all, unless I listen closely behind the screen.

Inputs:
The screen has a good range of inputs, including 2 HD capable component inputs, VGA, (with a VGA loop through) and DVI. Unfortunately the DVI will not handle HD signals, so its only of use as a computer input. EDIT: (this is incorrect - the Teac WILL accept HD via DVI, see posts below).
All the RCAs are easy to access and look to be decent gold plated connectors.

Picture Quality:
Black level is OK and contrast is fine IMO. The spec is 2000:1, but I doubt it is that high once the screen is calibrated. Out of the box the contrast is set high, but using DVE I was able to achieve a decent gray scale. Reducing contrast by half was a good start.

Colours look good and are pretty accurate to my eye.

The screen has a motion adaptive deinterlacer, but it seems to be better suited to NTSC. Using the Q50 set to NTSC out, and showing the NTSC version of "Video Essentials", there was little difference between the progressive and interlaced outputs. Using PAL out and DVE there was a noticeable improvement in PQ through progressive. This improvement is most noticeable with interlaced video originated material, whereas film originated material looked OK. The deinterlacer tends to "stair step" moving edges, unlike the Q50's DCDi which is much smoother.

This difference was even more obvious when viewing the outputs of the LG HDSTB. Progressive component (576P) is significantly better than interlaced component. In fact, S'video seemed to exhibit less stair stepping than interlaced component, (but that might just be because it's a bit softer).

The best connection option is VGA out of the LG, although component isn't far behind. Progressive component out of the Q50 looks excellent. 576P and 1080i look similar, but there may be a slight advantage in matching output to the transmission format. I tend to leave it on 1080i.

Dynamic false contouring is noticeable on this screen but it is generally only distracting on moving video images of interlaced origin, especially low quality or up-converted material. For example it's quite noticeable on "The Bill" when there are fast pans across faces, I also notice it on the amateur Tsunami footage.

With high quality sources false contouring is a minor issue. It's virtually non existent on film originated programs like "CSI", and the only time I saw it on Nine's HD demo (running in Adel this morning) was on a moving CU of the giraffe and in the far right of the screen as the train pulls out of the station. (Note: I haven't tested other plasmas, so I have a limited frame of reference - but it looks OK to me)

Colour temperature is unknown, it's high but OK to my eye. The newer Sampo screens have a "hidden" menu that allows easy setting of colour temp without having to access the service menu, but I haven't found anyone yet who can tell me how to get into it. If I do I'll post.

Finally:
In short the PQ on this screen is pretty good, but I wouldn't recommend it for interlaced PAL sources. Use an HD box and P'scan DVD and you'll be happy. Properly set up with a good source I think you'd be surprised at the PQ.

ChrisM,

I followed your various reports and I appreciate the time & effort you have made. I am considering this unit so the experiences you share are beneficial.

One comment puzzles me and I wonder if it is in error:-

quote
... Unfortunately the DVI will not handle HD signals, so its only of use as a computer input...
end quote

Like yourself, I considered the DVI input as for PC use when I read the specs in the user guide.

However, at two retail stores nearby I have seen in the last week the LG HD STB connected by DVI cable to DVI input of two different brand plasmas, one was a Conia (SD res, but the screen identified the input signal as 1080i on the DVI) and the other was the Teac 1060 PLM.

On each panel the image quality was far better than I felt I had a right to expect from an SD panel.

In the case of the Teac, it was adajacent to a Pioneer HD panel (505, if I remember correctly) driven HDMI to HDMI from a Denon dvd player. Yes, there was a difference, such as one would demand for higher spec equipment.

So, I wonder if I can encourage you to try the Teac & LG HD STB by DVI connection?

For myself, I am on the verge of ordering the Teac 1060 PLM and either a Teac DVB 800 or the LG 4100 HD STB, DVI connected, and will use progressive component connection from my Pioneer 667A dvd player.

This model dvd player in progressive component mode can output a 480P signal which the Teac auto-detected. I tested the dvd player today after I did a DVE setup (in-store) of the Teac 1060 and am pleased with the result produced. (I was there for so long the shoppers were asking me questions - thinking I worked there).

There was satisfaction after the DVE setup session with the Teac. It was producing the best digital TV image (IMHO) among a bank of 16 makes/models on the wall - some HD units!

I would suggest you try DVI connection and see what you think.

Regards,

robokopp

I stand corrected robokopp! The Teac will accept DVI.

I did try DVI previously, and I managed to get a picture on 576P briefly, but could not get a signal again - on any of the output resolutions. So I grudgingly accepted what the manual said.

After reading your post I tried again, and sure enough the pic came up on 1080i. But, when I changed output to 576P or 720P - no signal, and switching back to 1080i didn't help.

So, I've concluded that the Teac will accept 576P, 720P and 1080i - as long as you don't switch on the run. The image on my set is offset to the left, but both the Teac and the LGSTB have means to correct for this.

Well, you learn something every day!

EDIT: After a bit more experimenting I've found that to get DVI to work you need to turn on the STB and let it fire up, (and select the appropriate output res), before switching on the Teac. It seems that if the DVI signal is interrupted once the Plasma has "seen" it it won't recognise the signal again. The PQ via DVI is the best, so its worth the effort! I used a Jaycar DVI-I 2m cable.

This will be my first purchase of a plasma screen & after reading all reports it seems like the teac 1060 is a good entry level for me. My question is what type of stb do i buy?, sd,hd & which brand & why? hope you can guys can help me

Scae, as I've mentioned in previous posts, I recommend an HDSTB via DVI. My LG looks good, but given the reviews of other trusted forum members I'd be confident in suggesting the Teac HD Box.

If you try hard you might be able to get a good deal on the two as a package for cash. The STB seems to be going for about $370 and the plasma about $2700 (10% off) at DJ's etc, (and they also offer interest free at this price). So, you shouldn't have to pay more than $3000 for the two.

Connect the Plasma and STB with a DVI-I cable from Jaycar for $30

Don't forget you'll need a P'scan DVD player - budget about $200 for something like a Pioneer 676.

Teac also have a 5 year warranty until Feb 28.