Off topic, but the title of the thread reminded me of "Big Emma" the one-time Laserdisc seller and reseller.

Here's a wayback machine capture of the site circa 2003: http://web.archive.org/web/200302011528 ... gemma.com/

Now back to your scheduled thread discussion.

The Pioneer Elite Plasma TV's did a great job with the signal straight to them, S2 or X0 with DNR OFF and even the 97. Turn Off DNR on the unit and let the Plasma do the work. The real issue here is that not many new flat screen handle composite or S-Video very well. That is one place the Pioneer Plamsa's do very good. Many other manufacturers just put composite and S-Video circuits in that are OK but you end up with noisy and smeared pictures. With those flat screens you'll need to convert the signal to atleast component before going into the TV. You will just need to play with combinations to see what you like. I'm using a Pioneer Elite plasma and it looks just fine for me. Still nothing is as good as a CRT for these older formats.

I agree with kurtis! I use a Pioneer kuro my self for LD, and it is handled extremely well, especially with all its built in features for SD and its comb filter. I have tested my players on LED/LCD sets before, and they never manage to do the same as the plasma screens. Getting used last generation KUROs isn't that expensive anymore either; probably cheaper than a very very good AVR.

edit: you will also get a black level with a pioneer kuro plasma, that there are no affordable LED/LCD display that manage to compare with they can also switch between japanese and american IRE, if you lack a D-EXT function on your player!