# Forum Home Renovation Television, Computers & Phones  Standard Definition Plasma

## Renno Bob

GDay all, 
I have a standard def. Panasonic 42" Plasma about 4 years old which I have been running a set top box through to achieve High Def channels??????  One HD etc. 
My question is, can I replace the set top box (which is stuffed) with a Blu Ray player, the ones that are going for around $300 to get the channels?

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## joez

No, A blu ray player will only play blu rays, think of it as dvd player.  
Ideally what you'd want is a pvr (personal video recorder) with a built in blu ray drive, but i dont even know if they exsist yet. 
 EDIT: They do http://apcmag.com/panasonic_unveils_...bluray_pvr.htm  
joez

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## GeoffW1

Hi, 
This TV, it is a digital SD TV, is that right? Should be, if it's plasma. Therefore, the best picture you will ever be able to view on that screen is SD. It does not have the scan lines (technical b......t there) to do better. 
If you mean it is an old analogue TV, then the proposition is different. 
So a HD signal coming down the cable to it will be boiled down into SD. You can receive HD apparently, but not view it. 
At this point it is worth pointing out that there are two kinds of HD, 1080 lines and 720. Probably only the commercial channels there are actually broadcasting full 1080 HD signals. The Govt channels broadcast 720.  
Now SD does better than its 576 lines suggests, and many sets are good enough to get close to the 720 line standard, including yours I think. 
What I'm saying in a wordy way is that there is probably not much point getting a HD set top box for a digital SD TV. There are no free-to-air HD signals here in Sydney which are not duplicated in SD. I don't know about Adelaide (anyone?). And you can't view them in HD anyway. 
Now Blu-ray is just HD on a high-capacity DVD. Same problem, you can't see HD on your SD screen. So don't bother spending the money. 
Now if your TV is an old analogue (but can't be if it is plasma) type, this argument is even more valid. Don't bother with more than SD. 
A PVR, which is mostly 2 tuners plus a hard disk drive to record, is cheaper this way. 
(not much) Cheers

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## Renno Bob

Thanks heaps guys, looks like I am forking out for another Set Top box, while I continually push my case to the finance officer for a new Full HD television..........

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## Renno Bob

Further to this, I have had the Panasonic Plasma hanging on the wall since I purchased it some 4 years ago and have misplaced the base (to make it free standing). 
Do you think I would be able to purchase one somewhere so I can move it or if I were to buy another tv are the stands generally interchangeable???

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## Pugs

> Further to this, I have had the Panasonic Plasma hanging on the wall since I purchased it some 4 years ago and have misplaced the base (to make it free standing). 
> Do you think I would be able to purchase one somewhere so I can move it or if I were to buy another tv are the stands generally interchangeable???

  only from the same make/ model maybe troll ebay....

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