Know what you mean.

I am currently thinking about BV 7, I am in love with the design but am put off by cost and the integrated DVD being obsolete in a few months. If B&O could commit to upgrading the DVD drive to what eventually will win the format war, then I would pull the trigger. Probably an unrealistic  wish though.. 

The BeoSystem 3 + BeoVision 4 combo is the best picture on the market at the moment, I've never seen a standard definition signal look so good on a screen anywhere above 32". They do still suffer from motion 'juddering' a bit, but other than that I feel the picture is flawless. Fantastic colour rendering (looks very natural to me) and fantastic depth. B&O also have a technique of 'tweening' colours on plasma displays which nobody else does. If the panel can't display a colour required by the source, it seems as though the BeoSystem 3 flashes between the two nearest colours very rapidly, resulting in a higher number of perceived colours. I've never seen any gradient banding on the BeoVision 4/9, although I have on the LCDs.

As for the 'inadequate connections', do bear in mind that B&O have now launched the HDMI expander, and while this isn't the most elegant solution, I'd imagine it works very well. Haven't seen or used one yet, but it should (hopefully) greatly reduce the number of cables going into the back of the TV itself. People often used to comment that B&O should do a 'BeoCenter 2-type-thing' with the BeoVisions, and have all the connections on a separate box, meaning less cable clutter leading into the back of the TV.

Don't buy a Sony, honestly the picture is far less than impressive. The Pioneer displays are much more impressive, although I saw one of the latest Pioneer panels round at my uncle & aunt's house the other day, and it wasn't all that good! Far over 'bloated' colours (reducing the colour control just made it look washed out, but still somehow 'over compensated'), and very poor detail at mid-colours (although the extremes of hues seemed pretty good).

It's not until you really get to see brand X tellies set up 'in-situ' with a proper image displayed on them (not the kind of manufactured-promo-junk they often seem to display at Curries etc...) that you begin to realise just how stunning the picture is on the B&O sets, they really are just streets ahead of anything else out there.

Alex:

The Pioneer displays are much more impressive, although I saw one of the latest Pioneer panels round at my uncle & aunt's house the other day, and it wasn't all that good! Far over 'bloated' colours (reducing the colour control just made it look washed out, but still somehow 'over compensated'), and very poor detail at mid-colours (although the extremes of hues seemed pretty good).

You have to go into the pro setup functions on the Pioneer to adjust the image. Send me a PM and I'll send you two good setups you can try. 

Thanks for the offer, but no thanks! My aunt & uncle think the picture is pretty good for what they paid. They've seen B&O sets (they love B&O, and are thinking of getting their new house wired up with a complete BeoLink setup), and are mighty impressed, so I think they're not massively bothered about the Pioneer.

Greg:

With SD content only, I'd maybe agree - although a well set-up (professionally calibrated) 8G Pioneer probably still has the edge IMO (obviously, this is subjective). I've seen this and the Sony with my own SD content, as well as blu-ray discs. To be fair, the Sony did look quite impressive, if a little brash, oversharp and lacking depth (being LCD rather than Plasma). But with HD content, both sets were superb. That stuff about how HD is pointless on screens less than 50" is, frankly, rubbish. The difference was very *very* obvious to me, on a 40"/42" display, about 11 feet away. Of course a good 720p set, like the Pioneer or BV4 can (and does) still look much better than a full HD LCD, but that's a very different argument!

The common issues are that 720 screens display sd better and bacuse there is less processing to do actually make  avery good job of HD.

Porfessional installers and the BBC point to the fact that on a 50 in screen or less no one could consistently tell the difference- if you can fair enough!- from 11 feet away !!!

Porfessonal installers seem to take the view that the very best set up can be achieved with a panasonic commercial screen and a lumagen processor or similar- not far removed from the BV4 solution in fact.There are differences with Pioneer and Panasonic glass on a purely colour and greyscale basis. I think it will come down to taste and the job itself. The Pioneer handles bright rooms better, but I also reckon the Panasonic has the deeper contrast image overall which really shines when the lights are turned down and you are sitting down to a good movie.  if the plasma is going to be the movie watching screen as well as general TV use then it has to be a Panasonic (or even better a Fuji) because I think it has the more filmic, CRT like almost, picture.

 Well maybe I'm just "special", but to me the difference between 1080 and 720 on a 40" screen was *so* obvious I'd be *amazed* if anyone *couldn't* see it. Either way, it is not a "fact" that no could consistently tell the difference - no matter what professional installers (who until recently only had 720p screens to sell at sub 50" sizes) or the BBC (who can't yet commit to deliver - other than on a trial basis - 720p, let alone 1080p) will tell you.

Again, I'd emphasise that it doesn't mean 1080 looks *better*, just sharper; in fact to me the best 720 plasmas still give the best picture - thanks to greater depth and contrast, and that 'filmic' quality you describe. Again, I must be "special" because I've spent some time looking at both Panasonic and Pioneer's best offerings, and have had a look at Fujitsu's, and to me the 8th gen Pioneer is the better picture - having the edge over the Panasonic, largely because of it's better contrast - the Panasonic, while pretty good, is still grey at times when it should be black - the same problem as the BV4, IMHO. Whereas, the Pioneer really can do black. Again, YMMV, this is my personal experience and I may well be 'special' :-)