50" Flat Screens from Pioneer

jon pointed us to an amazing screen. Its 50 inches, its flat, and at $20k you could buy a nice car instead. And 1280x768 doesn't seem like that many pixels for that much real estate. But still... yum. If anyone at pioneer wants to ship me a demo unit I promise to play quake on it and return it in a few years...

Comments

50" flat screens.

[korntera]

These have been around for a while. We bought ours about 2 weeks ago and i knew about them at least 1 month before that. This 50" is expensive. ours was only $14995. Go to http://www.globe-mart.com/audvid/tv/37plus/flat.ht m

Other options to look at

[Coutal]

I've seen a 50-inch screen go for "only" 8.5k$ at pricescan

the exact address for the item is here

couldn't find more information on it on sony's site though. but for almost 1/3 the price, it's probably a better pick even if it isn't flat.


another issue. did anyone ever ponder the sheer mass of these things? i just look at my computer desk now, and i wonder if it could stand the load.

also, quite a few desk models can't hold a 50" monitor in them.

but then again, if you spend 20k$ on a monitor, buying a table shouldn't be that much of an issue.


as for the resolution... it'll probably look real grainy :( so much for the ultimate quake experience.

Re:Other options to look at

[Lxy]

I work for a government agency. We have a department who deals with the public in property tax issues. We needed a bigger monitor, and I just happened to see this exact model on Gateway's site (we get some kind of discount through them). I would prefer 1600x1200 res on it but with the exception of its thickness it's better in all aspects then the specs on the unit mentioned above. I haven't had the oppurtunity to play Quake on it yet, but I WANT TO :-). If you have the money to spend, I recommend this monitor.

Plasmas have limited color depth

[K8Fan]

Every plasma screen I've seen, at NAB, CES, SIGGRAPH and CEDIA, has limited color depth. The earliest ones, like the Phillips, looked like a bad GIF. The most recent ones, like the Sony and Panasonic, look like a decent GIF. Until the plasma cells and drivers are fast enough to display a true 24-bits, they won't be anything more than trade-show curiousities.

On the other hand, the Sony true flat CRT that was reported here many months ago should be able to have 24-bit quality, longer life than plasma, decent black levels and true crt brightness levels. Plasma is a dead end.

Weird Al

[cxreg]

Ive got a flat screen monitor 40" wide
I believe yours says Etch-A-Sketch on the side

Re:Weird Al

[Haven]

I anti-alias with a quick strike of my louisville slugger

Re:George Orwell would be smiling....

[Kintanon]

Wrong book, 1984 had the 2 way TVs where the excersise people bitched you out for not touching your toes.

Fahrenheit 451 had the Wall Screens, in fact Monetgue had 3 walls of one room done and his wife would sit stoned out in the room talking to the TV people...

Kintanon

Is there a point?

[rde]

Given that you can get a projector with comparable resolution, is there any point in spending $20k on one of these puppies? I'd rather spend five grand on a projector and blow the rest on jelly babies.

You've got to admit....

[Anonymous Coward]

You've got to admit it's getting better...getting better all the time.

Now lets cart it up to our shotgun-shack on stilts
and watch _Flipper_ with our ethnically diverse friends.

Too big?

[jonathanclark]

I currently have a setup with 3 21" monitors hooked up to the same computer. One is more than enough for my eye to focus on, trying to look at more space than that I have to turn my head. I think a 50" monitor would be a waste for desktop purposes, especially since the resolution is so low.

It would be nice to put one your ceiling and be able to surf or watch TV while laying in bed. But for that kind of money I think a projector would work just as well.

My monitor's bigger than *your* monitor

[mischief]

I've invested in this new technology - it's a one way, multimedia stream of information, absolutely amazing. I got a huge monitor, it's incredibly simple to setup (just plug it in and you're running) and cheap - 500 UKP only for a 40" monitor! It's called "television", and it's going to be the next big thing!

--

For that kind of money

[aheitner]

You could just buy an Electrohome Marquee series digital projector. My friend has one he got for free. Sure, it's a bit bulky (about 4'x2'x3', 150 lbs) but it will project a 20' image easily. 1600x1200 and super bright.

These are the projectors they use in the lecture halls here at CMU.

Re:1280x1024??

[trb]

It's either 1280x768 (16:9) or 1024x768 (4:3), see the Pioneer web site. As for a 1600x200 21" computer monitor being better or worse, note that there is a big difference between TV monitors and computer monitors. The phosphors are formulated with different goals in mind. You sit 18 inches (.5 meters) away from your computer screen all day. You sit 10 feet (3 meters) away from your TV. If your computer screen was as bright as your TV screen, your eyes would be fried in short order. TV's are 60 Hz (or 50) interlaced. Computer screens are typically 60 Hz or more, non-interlaced - this all affects the amount of flicker. On your computer, you are looking mostly at stationary text and images. In the olden days (before windows), there used to be lots of text scrolling, and long persistence phosphors would leave trails. This would be a problem with lots of motion as in modern games.

Plasma monitors can't be compared head to head with CRTs based simply on resolution, there are lots of other variables.

Re:You mean 125 centimetres, right?

[Trepidity]

No, that's 127 centimetres.

pixel size?

[synaptic]

Information About Dot Pitch
http://www.csf.org.uk/csf/dot-pitch/ dotpit.htm

Monitor Specs
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/ home/pdphd.htm

The page says the pixel (or dot) pitch is:

0.858 x 0.808 mm

So the pixels are what, three times bigger than a normal .28 dp monitor?

It's Plasma!

[Mr. Piccolo]

Wow, I though plasma diplays disappeared years ago.

So, exactly what are the advantages of plasma displays over what the current LCD technology can offer? It seems higher resolution isn't one of them...

Re:1280x1024??

[Zeni]

Its a 16:9 aspect ratio, so the 'normal' computer
monitor reses aren't the same as plasma monitors.

Plama monitors are not meant to be viewed close
up. Rule of Thumb 1.5 X width of screen is the
minimum distance one should be from the screen.

They look like crap when they are resized, or they
don't fill the entire screen when using NTSC, or
when connected to a computer.

Best viewed with a wide-screen Directors cut of
your favorite movie.

I want HDTV

[heroine]

Think about it: 1500x1000 pixels. 25fps. A HD board might cost a few $hundred and a HD cam costs $75,000 but that's real geekware.