PLEASE! Stop with the SILVER already!

Plasmas have come a long way but even in the store where the RPHDTV's are not even close to being set up properly, at the correct viewing distance and height (yes there is a sweet spot with RPHDTV I know that Plasma owners ;) ) even the budget RPHDTV's PQ BLOWs AWAY the most expensive plasmas to my eyes ;) They are big and bulky you can't hang them on the wall and you can't just haul them home from the store and plug it in and expect the best picture, but once set up properly WOW :eek:
 
I've noticed that some widescreen sets, mostly Sonys, suffer from distortion BIG TIME when you view a standard width picture that the set attempts to display in wide mode.

Apparently they use an algorithm to mathematically stretch the picture and attempt to correct for vertical distortion in the process. They just haven't got it right as more often than not the people etc look kinda squished. I can't stand it!

As much as I'd like to have a big screen, they quality of the image really seems to be funky for the most part.....between washed out color, grainy texture, magnified blurriness etc they are icky. Gimme a 30 something inch set with rich clear saturated color any day.

Anthony
 
Yes for regular 4:3 material you need to stretch it on a 16:9 screen, it's not good to have the black bars on the side 24/7 for normal tv viewing cuz of burn in.

I too was worried about this "fish eye" (things wider towards the sides) phenomenon when I first got mine and tried it but I was assured by others at HDTV forums that your eyes gets used to it after a couple of weeks and is tricked into not seeing it anymore and damned if they weren't right, I don't notice it anymore.

However it's besides the point an HDTV is NOT for regular TV viewing, like a good stereo will show the flaws in recordings an HDTV picture is so sharp that if the incoming signal is crap like most antenna and cable is, the picture is not so good, my PQ varies by channel. So if you watch regualr TV 75% or more of the time get something else, but if you watch DVD's or can get HDTV broadcasts than you will be in heaven. Unfortunately the more you watch DVD's and HDTV broadcasts the worse regular tv broadcasts look on an HDTV cuz you get used to the better PQ of DVD's and HDTV ;)
 
Originally posted by THOR
Plasmas have come a long way but even in the store where the RPHDTV's are not even close to being set up properly, at the correct viewing distance and height (yes there is a sweet spot with RPHDTV I know that Plasma owners ;) ) even the budget RPHDTV's PQ BLOWs AWAY the most expensive plasmas to my eyes ;) They are big and bulky you can't hang them on the wall and you can't just haul them home from the store and plug it in and expect the best picture, but once set up properly WOW :eek:

I agree... All you need to do is see a scene where there is shadow that progresses from pitch black to a soft gray... The seperation of progression is terrible with plasmas, and there is no such thing as black :( .

I had 12 grand in my pocket when I went looking for a TV, and I feel I came home with the best overall. I didn't feel the Elite HDRPTV unit was twice as nice as my Pioneer, which is why I decided it wasn't worth twice the price ;)

Anthony,

The Pioneer TVs really offer the very best selection of viewable screens for 4:3 viewing, of those I looked at. They offer 5 screen viewing options, one for just about every pallette. I would sugget looking into the SDD533HD5, which is the unit I chose, if you really want widescreen... only the Elite was nicer overall IMO, but the extra cost seemed unjustifiable. I liked the 53 incher better than the 64, but it had alot to do with clarity at the distance I had to play with in my room... Even still, the 53 offered a nicer image overall.
 
Originally posted by THOR
Plasmas have come a long way but even in the store where the RPHDTV's are not even close to being set up properly, at the correct viewing distance and height (yes there is a sweet spot with RPHDTV I know that Plasma owners ;) ) even the budget RPHDTV's PQ BLOWs AWAY the most expensive plasmas to my eyes ;) They are big and bulky you can't hang them on the wall and you can't just haul them home from the store and plug it in and expect the best picture, but once set up properly WOW :eek:
Ihave to disagree here. I have a Hitatchi 51" RPTV, but the 50" Panny plasma blows it away. The absolutelybest picture I've ever seen was an HDTV signal going to that plasma. RPTVs don't come close in three dementionality or realism. That said,some of the plasmas I've seen aren't very impressive.
My next set will be plasma, even if I don't hang it on a wall.
jack
 
Just a bit off topic. Every time I go looking at big screens, the guys at the box stores tell me I will need to get a service agreement. One reason is that it is too expensive to repair the set without one, certain parts are prone to failure he said, and the other is because they come to my house and adjust it every year or whenever needed.
Is this true? If I spend 2-4000 or more bucks on a tv, I want it to last at least 10 years, sheesh, I can get an old used one that will get me half that easy, though it is a smaller screen with no bells and whistles. Also, how crappy can it be if it needs adjusted every year or so. Are they talking just to get optimum picture quality? All I want to do is turn it on and watch. They even have told me I need this if all I buy is a 27 inch CRT. One guy even told me that new tv's aren't built as good as the older ones which is why I needed a service contract, though these are the same guys who try and sell a service contract for a 25 dollar boombox. Once he said that, I really wasn't all that interested in a new tv, until all my older used ones went belly up anyway :rolleyes:
 
Older TVs were built better, but a decent new one should outlive a service contract. In my research I found the Pioneers to be the most reliable, plus I felt they were the best overall value. Unfortunately, the crystal clear Sonys were apparently the worst on guns, and the guns run about $2700 to replace all 3. No thanks.

As far as set-up... well, nothing will beat a pro calibration, but there are quite a few discs available to aid in your setting them up. In a year and a half's time, I have not had to recal mine, but I may run through it just to be on the safe side this winter. When you first hook them up, they are not all that great, but given a month's viewing time, things have settled in enough for the set-up, and your calibration should last a long time.
 
Originally posted by Jack G
Ihave to disagree here. I have a Hitatchi 51" RPTV, but the 50" Panny plasma blows it away. The absolutelybest picture I've ever seen was an HDTV signal going to that plasma. RPTVs don't come close in three dementionality or realism. That said,some of the plasmas I've seen aren't very impressive.
My next set will be plasma, even if I don't hang it on a wall.
jack

I did say to my eyes ;) But I do agree with what Sand said also to me three dementionality or realism is where I feel the RPHDTV blows away the plasmas, I feel like I can reach out and touch the people and scenery, with a DVD or HDTV signal that is ;)

Jack which Hitachi do you have? I also have a 51" Hitachi.
 
Hysterically, er, historically electronics fail on a bell curve.....that means they either die shortly after first use or last for a very long time before going tits up.

More money is made on those service contracts than the item they're protecting. Generally they aren't worth a tinker's damn, BUT in the case of a device with moving parts or when it comes to big screens (plasma or projection) then this is a prudent thing to get.

Funny how we've come full circle to having in house visits by a repairman. Projection sets have a liquid cooling system that is prone to problems with some brands, and the projection tubes are known to burn out. Also, the mirror and lenses need to be cleaned and aligned every so often. All of which is normally covered with one of these extended warranty/service contracts.

READ THE FINE PRINT!!!

Anthony
 
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Originally posted by VinylHanger
Just a bit off topic. Every time I go looking at big screens, the guys at the box stores tell me I will need to get a service agreement. One reason is that it is too expensive to repair the set without one, certain parts are prone to failure he said, and the other is because they come to my house and adjust it every year or whenever needed.
Is this true? If I spend 2-4000 or more bucks on a tv, I want it to last at least 10 years, sheesh, I can get an old used one that will get me half that easy, though it is a smaller screen with no bells and whistles. Also, how crappy can it be if it needs adjusted every year or so. Are they talking just to get optimum picture quality? All I want to do is turn it on and watch. They even have told me I need this if all I buy is a 27 inch CRT. One guy even told me that new tv's aren't built as good as the older ones which is why I needed a service contract, though these are the same guys who try and sell a service contract for a 25 dollar boombox. Once he said that, I really wasn't all that interested in a new tv, until all my older used ones went belly up anyway :rolleyes:

We've discussed these service contracts in a few of my grad classes and it is a huge profit margin for them that is why they push it with everything. Like a $20 yr 3 yr service contract on a $10 clock radio. :rolleyes:

I set up my TV from reading online and using an AVIA disc and couldn't be happier, mine has an auto focus thing for aiming the guns that I have had to use a couple times after a night of blasting tunes the vibrations must have knocked the guns askew ;) I read a lot before I got mine and just like anything made there are brands and models more prone to failure than others and also lemons in every group but I didn't get the feeling I was buying something that would not be working 8 yrs down the road or I wouldn't have bought it ;)
 
My Toshiba has been squishing the regular TV signal going on 8 years now ( I have one of the first 16:9 TVs that were available) and for TV viewing, I could care less. Sure it will be nice when all the channels are broadcasting 16:9 and have moved over to digital, but for now, I can live with it. After the first three years, I hardly noticed anymore!;)

The future (whenever this Tosh finally gives up the ghost) will probably find me watchng regular TV on a 32 4:3, or if those LCDs keep coming down in price...a nice 40something incher 16:9 would be nice.. and for movies a FP setup which would come down in front of the everyday TV.

With prices of FP setups approaching those of good RPTVs and quality getting better every day, the time has come when even a schmuck like me can afford to have the best of both worlds!

WITHOUT ANY SILVER COMPONENTS...or, if they keep insisting,I'll just put everything in a room somewhere where I can't see it and the problem is solved... put neon on the components for all
i care...
 
With prices of FP setups approaching those of good RPTVs and quality getting better every day, the time has come when even a schmuck like me can afford to have the best of both worlds

Quite right, unfortunately, they are not practical for use in my house.
 
Hi Jack..... funny how that's what we have done to this thread:)

What is it about your area that makes FP impractical? The only thing that would really screw it up is a too small room... most other things can be "worked around"
 
I am now investigating FP for my home too. Heck, a nice FP set-up will cost less then my RPTV... and I paid about 1/2 MSRP :yikes:
 
Originally posted by MannyE
Hi Jack..... funny how that's what we have done to this thread:)

What is it about your area that makes FP impractical? The only thing that would really screw it up is a too small room... most other things can be "worked around"

The biggest problem is too much ambient light. Thats a big issue with FP, and isn't as big with other technologies.
I don't really want to build a projector and retractable screen (only feasable way for me) into the ceiling. The TV room is my living room, and its NOT going in my music room. For me, plasma is much more practical-I prefer the picture too.
Jack
 
VinylHanger,

"Every time I go looking at big screens, the guys at the box stores tell me I will need to get a service agreement. One reason is that it is too expensive to repair the set without one, certain parts are prone to failure he said, and the other is because they come to my house and adjust it every year or whenever needed.
Is this true? If I spend 2-4000 or more bucks on a tv, I want it to last at least 10 years,"

Take a look at LOEWE Tv's. They might seem expensive but once you have seen them anything else will battle to impress you.

The PQ is faultless there is no red-bleed, no flicker, blacks are black, no dying plasma pixels, burn-in, ray gun alignment.. NO BS

You will have to look at them to appreciate what i'm saying.

CRT tecnology at it's matured best, with the ability to upconvert any (even RF) signal into true 100Hz digital picture. I gasped for air as I stood with my nose up to the screen trying to isolate individual pixels with a regular RF broadcast.

Regards

Gerrit
 
There is no question that direct view is hands down, the PQ king.

THe reference monitors in edit suites are always direct view (and almost always Sony, by the way) Mind you, these are not consumer monitors I am talking about.

A Sony BVMF24U, for example is a 24 inch 16:9 CRT monitor that retails for almost $36,000!

For home use, Loewe has to be one of the best I have ever seen, best looking, and a great picture. They are also the most expensive, and as with all CRTs, deep! A 27 inch TV is deeper than my Toshiba 56 inch RPTV! Which, by the way, has been going strong since 1995...I just checked!

So no service agreement and almost 10 years without a problem!

One of the most important things to keep in mind when purchasing a new RPTV is that the first thing you need to do is calibrate.

When you use Avia or Video Essentials, the levels are set correctly, which is MUCH lower than where the factory, looking to make sure the display is nice and bright to compete on the sales floor, set it. Lower brightness and contrast setting translate into longer gun life, less chance of burn in, etc.

VE or Avia are important no matter what you use for a display, as is professional calibration. And not a month later....it is the first thing you do right after you take the thing out of the box! I am convinced my old girl is still looking great because of it. It was so long ago...I first did the calibration with my Video Essentials LASER DISC...
 
I have a toshiba 50H82 running as my main set for the last 2 yrs. On average its on probably 8+ hrs a day. I do all of the adjustments myself as it is really simple. Every few months i'll go into the service menu and adjust the convergence, save it to the 'touch focus' and its good to go for a long time. I used AVIA guide to home theater to adjust for the red i was getting in my blacks, and all other settings (overscan, screen position). It works quite well. I clean the guns and mirror once a year, followed by an electronic focus, takes me about an hour to do it all.

As for the service agreement, toshiba covers the first year, so i figured if anything was going to go wrong it would right off the bat.

my 0.002
-j

edit: I picked up my copy of AVIA at amazon.com. ive heard that some blockbusters have them available to rent.
 
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