Hello everyone,

I am looking at building a KnoppMyth Box for my home and I am now in the market for a Plasma television. I am looking to spend 1800-2500 for a 42". I was wondering if anyone had comments on their experience and what I should be looking for. Pretty much will be used for television viewing, dvds - and depending on how burn-in is these days - PS2.

I saw something in Electronic House magazine this month that got me interested in a DVD jukebox. I have seen where there is a way to rip DVDs to an .iso file, but is there something in Myth that offers an interface similar to the Kaleidescape Server? (http://www.kaleidescape.com/) I liked how it has a picture of the DVD cover and brief descriptions and categories.

Back on the subject of Plasmas - I plan on mounting the television above a mantle. I have checked for heat issues, which will not be a problem. Does anyone have a website which has a wiring guide about the best way to run the wiring? I know I will need an electrical outlet put in where I would like it mounted, but what needs to be ran other than that - RGB, S-Video, etc. Is there a rule of thumb for the length of the respective cables? My initial plan is to cover no more than 15' (after the up, back, over and down to the area where I plan of the receiver being. I plan on having a cabinent beside the mantle to house the satellite receiver & hopefully my KnoppMyth box.

Sorry to cover a broad topic area & thanks in advance for any advice -

Mike

yea, that was a mouth full..
Anyway, Plasma's. I have a one of the Panasonic 8UK models. The 42" EDTV version. HD is nice, but mostly pointless right now IMO. My EDTV displays HD beautifully at a more reasonable price. It also displays SDTV better than the HD version. I have had the opportunity to work and play with a few different plasma models. I have seen EDTV versions side by side with HD versions of Panny's and Phillips, and Hitachi, and a couple non-name brand units. The Panny's have been awesome. We have a couple installed for digital sinage, and no burn in so far with nearly 6 months of use. The 60,000 hour half life is great too.
These don't have speakers, though I think you can get them.

I use VGA from by mythbox to the display, and component for xbox, and direct cable box output for live HD content. These two cable are ran in the wall and come out behind the mounted display. The rule of thumb is you do not want to exceed 25 feet using good RG6 cable for your composite and RGB. So 15' is safe. Just get yourself some good cables.

As for power, you will need to run power down the wall too, or relocate an existing outlet. Since this above a mantel, you should check your local building codes. With the Panasonic display, you can get it and the mount for about $1,500. Take the money you save in the budget, and hire an electrician who knows the building codes to do your wiring. This is not the area you want to skimp on. For your safety, and the safety of your family, please let a pro do this part.

Oh yea. The other part. You will need to do some homework but this is possible. Then use MythVideo. The IMDB grabber will get you poster/covers for you.

Sounds like a cool install. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply -

Very good point as far as the electrical work goes - a good friend is the guy who has been helping me with my all of electrical work and he is a former building inspector in my county (he moved to a "up-town" big city job).

I have considered the Panasonic - I saw a unit at Circuit City and Best Buy - but it was about 2900 (HD unit). I'll take a look a the EDTV version - is that similar to #TH-42PD50U?

Concerning the sound I have been looking at the 7.1 Onkyo Home Theater System at Circuit City. From the reviews on their site it seems pretty good.

Thanks for the info - I'll start taking a look at MythVideo!

Thanks again!

Mine is the TH42PWD8UK. List is about $1,500, but you can deal around. I got mine for a few hundred less. I have an Onkyo 7.1 system, but I replaced the speakers with NXG built-ins. I really like the Component switching from the receiver. I run the component out from the Onkyo to the plasma. The only draw back of this receiver, and any others at that price range, is that they will not up convert your svideo or composite to the component, or vise-versa.

Well I am going to jack this thread< but only because if the op gets the plasma he is going to need it anyways.. Please post your xorg.conf file. I had one very hard time getting everythingwork right, as the ed 42's do 852x480 which is a non standard res, as I am sure that you know. Anyways, I finally got an xorg.conf to look good with bob2x, but I wouldnt mind trying out your settings if you have it working well.

I have been using this setup for about 6 months now, and it works very well with the display.

Thank you so much for the info provided. I have spent a few minutes reading the reviews for this Plasma and I am really impressed. I like the feature that it does not come with a tuner - I was hoping to find a Phillips HD Receiver one of these days and run it through a Myth machine.

I have debated about the built in speakers, I would like to save money where I could - my wife hasn't said too much about having speakers mounted on the wall. I figure if I can afford it I had better do it to save trouble later. I could not find the website for NXG - do you have a ballpark price for their speakers? Did you use speaker wire or Cat5 for the speakers? Someone told me once that I should plan on using Cat5 for speakers.

Thanks again for all of your info!

Sorry forgot to ask one more question - did you buy a mount for the television? I read on some of the reviews that it takes a few extra washers and nuts for a standard mount.

Yeah, if you are getting a plasma...you can't go wrong with a Panasonic. The EDTVs are a little harsh looking when you get close to them, but I'm sure they look good as long as you sit at least 10 feet back.

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Currently running: R5.5, HD5000 x 2, PVR150, Athlon 64 3000+, Chaintech VNF4, 1GB RAM, 2 x 250GB in LVM, MSI NX6200TC -> AA 9A60 -> HDTV

A quick google search for NXG Speakers should give you some reviews. These are not super hifi audiophile speakers, BUT, they have very good response, and produce very acceptable sound for the price. Again, sound is highly subjective, and in wall's take a bit of care to get great sound, but we are very very happy with ours.
These guys sell them, http://www.hififorless.com/categories.php?categoryid=576&src=10. I bought mine from ebuyer.com for about 1/2 the price I could find anywhere else at the time, but they don't seem to have them anymore. I use the 3-way inwall's for my sides, the pro dual for a center, and the round 2-way ceiling speakers for the surround channels. I put insulation in the walls around the speakers, and created a chamber. This produces very nice sound. I did have to frame out the studs for each speaker. The centering of everything put the dang studs right at each speaker. O well.

As for the TV mount. This is the one I bought: http://www.pcconnection.com/ProductDetail?Sku=5841247 $60 bucks. I did not see the point of spending $200 + on a mount. This one is very simple to use and mount. I did nothing to modify it, or the display. I screwed the mounting bars to the display with the included hardware, and bolted the mounting bracket to the studs. Hung the display. All done. 10 min job, not extra hardware or modifications needed.

By the way, from B&H and a few other places you can get the expansion cards for this display. Including HDMI, DVI, more component inputs, etc.

Can we please stick to discussing MythTV in MythTV and take the hardware discussion to the appropriate area?

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cesman

When the source is open, the possibilities are endless!

I apologize if this is the wrong board for this discussion, when I first posted the article I had looked at the Hardware board and it appeared that it was mostly PC topics with a remote control question here and there - perhaps I didn't go deep enough. Sorry about that. I did get carried away when someone had a similar setup to what I am looking for but also had a good budget idea - got too excited.

If the moderators prefer feel free to go ahead and move this topic since it did go a bit overboard.

I would appreciate a bit more information on how to make something very similar to the Kaleidescape system if anyone has any additional ideas.