"Professional" or "Commerical" Display Monitors

The commercial pannys have slots that you can configure with whatever inputs you want, or at least they did back in the day when I bought a 42" panny EDTV; I think the same applies with the pios. There are consumer plasmas w/o the chinzy speakers--my pio elite came w/o them, and I seem to recall the fujitsu and NEC panels I looked at didn't have them either...

I had the Panasonic TH-42PDW6.Was stolen recently.
Going to replace,again,with the Industrial/Business TH-42PDW8.Just waiting for stock to arrive.
No HDMI(can be added)no high resolution,no tuner,no speakers(can be added) and no desk top stand(can also be added) BUT,brilliant picture for very little money,compared to other brands .....A good buy in my opinion.
For more money ,I would go for the Pioneer Elites.

The DVI/HDMI options are very important as is the HDCP.

Check out the Pioneer plasma CMX models. They are commercial versions that are designed to be on 24/7. They have a much better power supply than the consumer versions. They do not have a tuner. They do not come with speakers. They do have an audio amp if you want to buy the optional speakers. You can also pick the video card that suits your own needs. If you want a card with DVI or HDMI, make sure the video card is HDCP compatible.

Yes. A local transport. The fail ret is very small though, and the savings in money for me was 2000 dollars, but the stuff was more expensive back then.

Cw, when I was looking for a new "tv". I went through the same thought process as you. I didn't want/need speakers or tuner. Long story short: I went with an NEC display, and couldn't be happier with the decision.

Panasonic seems to be top-of-mind for many, but I chose another manu.

Be careful on purchasing a commercial or professional model Panasonic Plasma. If something goes wrong with the unit, you will have to transport the plasma to a local service center of Panasonic's choice. There is NO in-home service like with their consumer models. I found out this fact after I had already purchased a Panasonic commercial plasma TH-42PHD8K.

Industrial pannys are a good way to go. Pioneer doesn't introduce their technology breakthroughs in their commercial displays til later. Panasonic introduces them right off. So you can get a 65 inch 1080P Panny industrial this year whereas there arent any industrial 1080Ps on the horizon at all. Just got back from CES and asked all of these questions.

One retailer for industrial Panasonic plasmas is visualapex.com.

Does anyone know if this type of monitor only device might also be available in small sizes of < 15"?

Cw,

OK, by highly popular, I mean among the "informed". You are correct, these commercial versions are not generally available in you local B&M stores.

For lots on forum information on commercial plasmas, check the display forum at www.AVSforum.com. They are THE videophile geek forum on the net.

Now, about table stands, I'm not talking about something that you sit the TV on. Commercial Plasmas do not have any "feet". They are made to be wall mounted, or you must buy an optional "table top" stand that connects to the TV to give it some legs to stand on.

Another thing is that some commercial plasmas do not actually have built in HDMI connections. You must buy and install a "blade" (add-on card) to get HDMI.

As far as models to research, here are some popular one:

Panasonic TH-37PWD8K (37" EDTV/852X480 resolution)
Panasonic TH-37PHD8K (37" HDTV/1024X720 resolution)
Panasonic TH-42PWD8K (42" EDTV)
Panasonic TH-42PHD8K (42" HDTV)
Panasonic TH-50PWD8K (50" HDTV)
Panasonic TH-65PHD8K (65" HDTV)

There are also commercial models of NEC, Pioneer, Sony and Samsung TVs. They are similar in function to the Panasonics listed above.

Here is how I would find models. Go to http://www.pricescan.com/electronics/03010105.asp?displaytyp=plasma and check the manufacturers that interest you. Each page has a thumbnail photo of the TVs. It is fairly obvious which ones do not include speakers.

They Pannys are probably the most popular commercial plasmas, but they others have their fans too.

Enjoy,

TIC

I went with the Professional model Panasonic 42" EDTV model, and have been extremely pleased with it. Make sure it has the inputs you need, or purchase the add-on boards to satisfy your current and future needs. Each year when the new models come out, the add-on boards are not necessarily compatible with older models. I know that my unit which is only 3 years old cannot take any HDMI boards that were released after after that model year.

Since I get all my programming via a cable box or DVD player, I also appreciated not having to pay for an onboard tuner. The professional models do have some amplification for optional speakers.

Woodburger

Thanks for the tip. But further to my point, only ONE item, comes up on Ebay for the monitor you mention, and it seems to be the mounting bracket.

TIC

I assumed videophiles had tuned into this concept, but for me "hugely popular" has not yet translated into ease of research or purchase.

So if anyone has any other links which might compare models, or lead to reliable dealers, that would be great.

Oh and thanks for reminding me about stands, perhaps the cheesiest of comsumer ploys.

The last time I bought a Sony TV from one of the big box retailers, there were generous enough to throw in a gorgeous particle board, vinyl coated stand which was a $500.00 value ?!

So yes, definitely no stands, no speakers, no amps, no tuners, no low level consumer grade inputs, no "free" cables. Did I miss anything?

Just component and/or HDMI inputs into a great, HDTV ready monitor

Cw,

The "commercial" Panasonic Plasmas are hugely popular among the informed videophile community. These Plasmas come in 37", 42" and 50" models with the 37 and 42 also being available as less expensive EDTV models.

There are lots of manufactures that offer flat panel displays that do not have some typical TV features like speakers, table top stands, tuners, etc. I think Samsung, NEC and Fujitsu (among others) sell commecial versions of their Plasma TVs. I'm less familiar with LCD flat panels as I'm not yet a fan and have not spent much time looking at them.

Personally, I did buy a consumer version of the 42" Panasonic Plasma even though I don't currently use many of the features (speakers, table stand, tuner), but I thought I may move this TV to a beadroom in the future, so I bought a TV (vs a monitor) because I don't want separate speakers, Set top box, and audio system in the bedroom.

Enjoy,

TIC

Panasonic TH-50PHD7UY might do the trick for you.

See http://www.greathometheater.com/plasma.html

Usually the new technology comes out at the top levels (with bells and whistles) and then trickles down. But this industrial model has the goods without the extras.

Be sure the hookups (inputs) satisfy your needs.

Bob Wood