Panasonic 42pv500 Plasma display quality

[mjfjo]

Plasma has digital tuner so I have ditched the freeview box, but when watching football last night (admittedly sometimes from only 4 feet away) the whole pitch view with the lots of small players left the players looking a bit as if they had glowing edges and indistinct (watching a dvd LP copy today was worse but assume that was because of choosing the 4 hour record mode with loss of quality?)). More close up views were fine, but wondering if any mileage in making sure I have the best aerial/reception possible? Will this affect the picture quality as much as with analogue reception?
Also I am looking to buy a new DVD/HDD recorder and wondering if it is worth getting one with HDMI output or will Component video still give a good. Basically looking to justify the enormous cost of this screen to my other half with some stunning quality pictures! I have noticed Philips are introducing a new machine DVD R7300H with a much better price than the Sony or Panasonics of similar spec, but I cannot find it stocked anywhere yet, anybody know a stockist?

Thanks