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OT: HDTV Users please post your opinions

ICXRa

ICXRa

Diamond Member
The time to purchase a new TV is quickly approaching and we have looked at several 16:9 RPTV's. I would like to hear your opinions. We have looked at most everything and have narrowed it down to a Hitachi 57SWX20B since it seems to be well balanced between analog cable and DVD viewing. The room size is 16 X 22 with little if any outside lighting problems, sunlight is not a problem but a projector is not the route we wish to go. I have read hundreds of posts on most of the major home theater sites and it seems every brand has their own pluses and minuses. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks😀
 
From what I've read, the Hitachi has gotten good reviews. It doesn't do 720p natively, though, which is something that's becoming a nice benefit to have.

And, in a room with no sunlight will also help.

Pick up some copies of the last few issues of Home Theater Magazine (or check their website) for info on seating/speaker placement given those dimensions...may provide some tips for ya.

Oh...and after about 100 hours of use...get it ISF calibrated.
 
Thanks conjur, I will check into Home Theater Magazine. I plan on using a Denon 4802R or 4803, when it's released for the surround sound. The link in your sig is one of the best sites I have been reading😀
 
Ayup..AVSForum is good. Spidey07 up here (another Louisvillian) is pretty good with HDTV stuff and arod (hangs, afaik, in OT, also is a good HT resource up here).

Another site to check is The Spot

Well...off to bed...don't feel like becoming a Lifer tonight!

😀
 
ICXRa, I own a Hitachi 57SWX20B. Got it in early January.

The 1080 picture is a dream. But don't believe what you've been reading about the analog display ... it sucks big time.

The analog display is so bad that I had to keep my analog Sony which I watch 90% of the time.

I just snapped this photo for you to see an analog local channel displayed on both the Hitachi HDTV and the Sony Analog.

I'd not advise against the Hitachi 57SWX20B but I would advise keeping your analog TV nearby for the next several years until the required nationwide change-over to HDTV is mandatory. 😉

http://smokeball.gygabyte.com/HitachiHDTVvsAnalog.jpg

This photo was taken without flash by a 5 Mega Pixel Canon S-50.
 
I just helped my dad buy a Toshiba 50hdx2 HDTV. Very nice picture (still need to tweak a little bit) and it has good stretch modes for when you want to watch analog cable. I'm of the opinion that the bigger the screen gets the worse analog looks though, we looked at a couple 57 inch screens but decided the 50 was enough for his room. You should be able to get a pretty good deal on the Toshibas as the new models just came out.

Having the set accept 720p is important. Natively displaying 720p isn't necessary IMHO. It will cost you a lot more for a RPTV that natively displays 720p than one that does not. Might be better to save the extra cashyou'd spend right now on a DLP or LCD screen and wait for the newer technology to drop in price. Those are pretty new and still quite expensive....

Memnoch
 
Smokeball, when putting a 4:3 picture on a 16:9 TV without stretching the sides (like in your picture) doesn't it put uneven wear on the screen? I remember reading that a while ago.
 
Originally posted by: Sukhoi
Smokeball, when putting a 4:3 picture on a 16:9 TV without stretching the sides (like in your picture) doesn't it put uneven wear on the screen? I remember reading that a while ago.
Click to expand...

On most RPTVs gray or black bars on the sides of images can lead to burn in, just like a fixed graphic, or stock tickers can if left on for a decent amount of time (a couple hours). DLP and LCD RPTV's don't have this problem, but they cost more and have there own individual drawbacks.

Burn in is why stretch modes are important if your going to watch a decent amount of analog or 4:3 programing. You need to have one stretch mode that you can watch without being annoyed at distortion or loss of the image around the screen edge. This is also important if you plan on gaming with your new tv. Some HD-enabled few xbox games are 16x9 but most are regular ratio, just 480p instead of 480i. So you need to stretch many games as well...
 
If your set is properly calibrated (at least for brightness/contrast), then you'll be fine, assuming you won't watch 4:3 24/7 on a 16:9 set (how's that for some numeric 'acronyms' 🙂 ).

I never use the stretch modes and my set is 2 1/2 years old and there is no phosphor wear at all. And, on that note, it's not burn-in. There's nothing to burn in on the screen...it's just a screen. What happens is the CRT's phosphors wear unevenly when not all of the screen is in use or if there are static images left on-screen for hours on end.

As long as you vary your watching from 4:3, DVD, HD, etc., you'll be fine.
 
I never watch my RP-HDTV in 4:3 just for the reason you all mention. 😉

I only put it in that mode for the snapshot to show the difference in displaying analog on the HDTV vs the Analog set. That is also why I mentioned that I watch the old analog Sony 90%+ of the time. 🙂

[Edit] Stretching the native 4:3 to fill the screen really makes the analog picture look even worse on the HDTV. :Q
 
I have a Mitsubishi WD--65100 and I couldn't be happier with it.

I have a lot of friends who wnet Mitsubishi in their big screen HDTVs and all are happy. They are packed with tons of connection options and the pictures are all good analog or digital.
 
Well I have been looking for months now. Started out dead set on a mitsi Platinum series and then cooled off to the gold series until the whole issue with the promise module showed up. I figured I had better take the wife shopping since she watches much more TV than I and she went right for the Samsung DLP sets....of course, it's the most expensive. She also liked the Sony LCD, XBR Model. We quickly ruled out the 65" ,which is the size we intended to get, after seeing how bad the picture gets as the screen gets larger. All in all none of the sets we have looked at had a good picture when viewing analog or digital cable feeds. We have looked at most of the major brands with the exception of Toshiba since my wife refuses to look at them due to the fact the last two my parents bought have had problems. I can't seem to convince her that this is not all that unusual for this product line. I'm gonna have a hella of a time getting her to go for a ISF calibration:disgust:

Conjur, I don't know of any RPTV's that actually display 720P since most of today's sets seem to upconvert the 720P signal to 1080i. The only sets I have seen that do display 720P are the DLP and LCD types but not the larger projection style. Have I overlooked some brands that I should be looking at? Also who did you locate a good ISF calibration professional? I too am from Louisville but have moved to Knoxville, TN and it is my understanding that these technicians schedule appointments and travel to cities to do several clients while there.

Thanks for all the great input everyone!
 
ICXRa,

I was referring to the new crop of DLP sets out there.

And they are pretty large...Mitsubishi has a sweet 65" DLP set I'd love to have 😀

Mitsubishi 65" DLP

Looks like Crazee has one! :Q

<jealous>
 
I'm a big fan of the pioneer elite PRO-620HD.
I just got cable HDTV hooked up, and its kinda weird watching TV with such high quality.
Now if only I could record it using an HTPC...
 
yes... I'll assume you are receving OTA transimssions and using an hd tuner.
I have cable... apparently the only way to decode the qam-256 transmission is the cable box. Its possible to mod the cable box with a firewire output to windows, so I'm gonna see if that works.
 
Originally posted by: conjur
ICXRa,

I was referring to the new crop of DLP sets out there.

And they are pretty large...Mitsubishi has a sweet 65" DLP set I'd love to have 😀

Mitsubishi 65" DLP

Looks like Crazee has one! :Q

<jealous>
Click to expand...

Wow that is nice, to bad I don't have that kinda of cash to drop. The thing that concerns me about those is the bulb life. I'd rather not get into a situation where I am dropping $300 every other year replaceing the bulbs although I have really only read this being a bad problem on the first generation Samsung line.


 
Originally posted by: amcdonald
yes... I'll assume you are receving OTA transimssions and using an hd tuner.
I have cable... apparently the only way to decode the qam-256 transmission is the cable box. Its possible to mod the cable box with a firewire output to windows, so I'm gonna see if that works.
Click to expand...

Yeah...OTA.

Seems I read something the other day about a tuner card that is supposedly going to support QAM?

But, OTA should work for you...Jacksonville does have DTV stations.
 
I contacted dvico (fusion HDcards) and they said they'd have a qam-256 card shipping in july.
Now wether or not it actually works is another thing.
 
Originally posted by: amcdonald
I contacted dvico (fusion HDcards) and they said they'd have a qam-256 card shipping in july.
Now wether or not it actually works is another thing.
Click to expand...

Yeah...that's what it was. But I think their current crop of cards utilizes the PC's CPU for decoding instead of something on-board, if memory serves correctly.
 
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