Yes, Natick has them in warehouse for delivery, not pickup. Make sure they search for 'SON KDFE42A10' (no dash in the model#). You may have gotten a newbie today who tried looking it up on their website...

The CC in N. Attleboro has the 42" on display (Might be the 50"). Also Tweeter has the 42" on display.

Not to rain on anyone's parade, here, but I fiddled with this set extensively at Circuit City today and was terribly unimpressed.

I've had my sights on this set for a long time, now, and it pains me to say but I'm gonna have to pass.

I think it's time to wait for the purported price drop on the Panny plasmas.
Hate to make it 3 in a row, I've been waiting for 2 years for the TV that fit the dimensions of this set and had what I thought would be a great picture. Saw the 50" last night and it was not much better than the sammy next to it I spent several minutes with the picture controls and tried everything. A few sets down the aisle was a JVC HD-ila. It blew me away. If anything it may have been too bright. I really want the E4210 to meet my expectations but Im not sure after my first viewing. I think my local cc and bb may have them this weekend I'll give it one more shot.

Anyone have any opinions on the A10 vs Sammy hlp5674? They are both the same price from a store I visited, the Sammy was floor model and probably has a 1000 hours of use. To me the Sammy picture looked better but was worried about bulb/warranty issues.

Anyone have an opinion on the A10 vs the hlp5674? Thanks

with the pc, how can you adjust it so the display fits the whole tv screen. What should the native resolution on the computer be set to. Also what should you set the tv to full1, full2, or zoom. I am trying to get it to fit the whole screen without any black surrounding it.

Scherer, I recently made a thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=570172) on the issue of 1:1 pixel mapping with the A10's. From what I have heard it sounds as though you would need to change someting in the service menu to get 1:1 pixel mapping with the VGA input.

Has anyone compared the E50A10 to the Mitsubishi WD-52527? When I picked mine up today, they had it sitting right next to the Sony. For about $200 more, it looks like you get an extra component input on the back, an extra HDMI, IEEE 1394 and TV Guide on screen. Not sure how much I'd actually use those features, but it's making me wonder if I shouldn't have gone for it anyway...

Picture seemed okay, but I didn't take too much time to compare. The Sony looked sharper and brighter, but it could be how they were set up. My issue is that the Mitsubishi is about 1 1/2" taller than the Sony so it might be difficult to fit into my entertainment center.

BTW, if anyone is looking for the 50" in South FL, the Deerfield Brandsmart has broken the $2k barrier and they have 11 in stock now that I bought mine.


I've seen the Sony A10 and the Mitsubishi 527 in multiple stores and the Sony has always looked much better. Connectivity is worse, but at least the SDE on the Sony isn't unbearable like the Mits. Between those two TV's, you made a good call.

Does anyone know the difference between KDF-E42A10 and the older KDF-42WE655? I checked Sony's website but some specs I wanted to compare, the newer TV didn't have them listed.

Anyone have any opinions on the A10 vs Sammy hlp5674? They are both the same price from a store I visited, the Sammy was floor model and probably has a 1000 hours of use. To me the Sammy picture looked better but was worried about bulb/warranty issues.

Anyone have an opinion on the A10 vs the hlp5674? Thanks

If you are not susceptible to rainbows, I prefer the picture of the Samsung 5674. Plus you get six extra inches.

i may have an almost solution to the 1:1 mapping of the VGA input.
Hereby dubbed....'The Almost Solution'

Try this setting: it works
no sevice menu tweaking required

A10:
Set the tv to: Zoom

Powerstrip: (yes, go download it)
Display Profiles
Advanced Timing Options
Custom Resolution...
First choose the 16:9 Aspect Ratio
Then choose the 1200x666 (HDTV 720p)
If you reverse the last two instructions the resolution reverts back to another and won't work unless you click the 1200x666 setting again. (Don't know what the hell I'm talking about? Don't worry, ignore this sentence and follow my steps exactly.)
Click Add New Resolution.
DONE!

You may need to adjust the screen position in the powerstrip advanced timing option screen

If it works for you... Say So! So others can join in the fun!

-jag

I own a Sony 60" A20 which is very similiar to the A10 series and I can tell you that with D, PS2, and DVD I have an awesome picture. I first saw the A10 at CC and it looked terrible but so did all the sets on display. They split the signal to too many sets. I then saw the Sony, Samsung and JVC at BB with an incredible HD of mixed content. The A20 looked awesome as did the othe sets. On the JVC-DILA there was boxy pixels on explosions and fast paced scenes. I couldn't see this on the Sony set. I was standing about 2 feet away. The JVC had nice colors and the blacks looked good and the remote lights up. But they have had lots of quality control issues. Anyway, the boxy pixels on an otherwise awesome feed was a deal breaker not to mention, IMHO the sets is not too attractive. The Samsung looked good but I liked the Sony the best. Perhaps that is why more then 30% of the sets being sold are Sony. So you can rain on your own parade by dismissing the Sony. I've seen it with bad to excellent feeds and the set always looks better then most of the sets next too it. I still think that Plasma and the newer, thin LCD's may best it. But in all honesty I didn't compare the Plasma too seriously and the new thin LCD sets are too small and too expensive right now. Too summarize I'm very happy with my new 60" Sony and even my wife commmented on how much better it looks than our older Toshiba CRT. Her eyes liked the Sony better too in the stores. So find a good feed and let your eyes be the judge and remember that you must also adjust each set before coming to any conclusions. The Sony on vivid mode looks horrible but looks great on standard mode.

Hate to make it 3 in a row, I've been waiting for 2 years for the TV that fit the dimensions of this set and had what I thought would be a great picture. Saw the 50" last night and it was not much better than the sammy next to it I spent several minutes with the picture controls and tried everything. A few sets down the aisle was a JVC HD-ila. It blew me away. If anything it may have been too bright. I really want the E4210 to meet my expectations but Im not sure after my first viewing. I think my local cc and bb may have them this weekend I'll give it one more shot.

I wouldn't try to force it. They are all great sets with a great picture. Let your eyes be the judge.

I just wanted to clear a few things up because it seems as if some people are sensing hostility in my last post, which couldn't be further from the truth.

I've waited for this set for a number of months - the price is right, the size is right, the inputs are all there and so is the Sony name, but I can't fool my eyes or myself into liking something that just doesn't click, if you know what i mean?

A few questions for the people who own this set: does the tv's PQ improve much after in-home adjustments? How do upconverted DVDs play on it, and has anyone played Xbox in 480p or above on this set?

I'd love to hear some positive feedback from satisfied owners. Perhaps you'll turn me around.

Thank you.

And once again, I didn't mean to spoil the all-around good-will towards this set.

Okay. Purchased the 50A10 yesterday. Set up the adjustments using much of the advice gleaned here.

The picture? So far...eh.

Now I should qualify this by stating that I don't have HD until this weekend and have been watching mainly SD off of DirecTV. But it's bad. An old rerun of "Friends" on TBS was so bad I had to stand in the kitchen to see it without major blur.

I don't blame the TV at all. Garbage in, garbage out, etc. But what I have been experiencing is a lot of ghosting and blurring (especially toward the top of the screen). I've read countless posts of how bad SD is on an HDTV but thought perhaps it was elitism among HDTV veterans and folks accustomed to such a fine picture. Wow. It's bad. Really bad.

DVD looks good but I'm hesitant to judge it because my player is an eight-year-old Pioneer model, one of the first. An upconverting one should arrive tomorrow.

Comcast will be coming by this weekend to install the HD package. I am curious, though, if anyone else has experienced this type of performance with SD. And, if so, if it changed dramatically once HD was hooked up.

Thanks for all the great advice.

I've seen the Sony A10 and the Mitsubishi 527 in multiple stores and the Sony has always looked much better. Connectivity is worse, but at least the SDE on the Sony isn't unbearable like the Mits. Between those two TV's, you made a good call.

In general, I like the A10's PQ slightly better than the A20's (but prefer the larger size of the 20's). Anyway, I've seen a 60" A20 side by side with a 60" Mits 527. I actually liked both sets, although I agree the 527 seemed to show SDE a little more. They also have a 528 series which supposedly is better with less SDE.

i may have an almost solution to the 1:1 mapping of the VGA input.
Hereby dubbed....'The Almost Solution'

Try this setting: it works
no sevice menu tweaking required
...That is an interesting solution but I am not entirely sure you could actually get 1:1 pixel mapping with it. I would guess that the TV would still be scaling the video to get overscan. Also losing resolution to achieve it would be a somewhat bitter pill to swallow since 1:1 pixel mapping at 720x1280 would be preferable. If you want to test if your solution is getting 1:1 pixel mapping I posted a test pattern here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=570172).

anyone having a problem playing avi's or mpg's through windows media player?

the video plays back washed out in white.
i have no problems with pictures, games or anything else...just video in wmp

TopJack, I'm in the same boat you are.

I bought my 50A10 after weeks of reading this forum and browsing around at local tv stores. I've had it for a couple days now, calibrated it a little, and I must say that my first impression of Directv SD through S-video cable is just pooh. I mean, I know I bought this tv with an eye towards the future, but a lot of what I'm watching now doesn't look very hot.

Let me also say that I watched return of the king in 480p component dvd last night, and it looked pretty good. Not awesome, but good. I'm really curious if an upconverting DVD player really makes a lot of difference. I've also watched some OTA 1080i and 720p broadcasts and they didn't seem to WOW me as much as when I watched stuff like ESPNHD in the stores.

Thankfully I bought from a local store and I have 30 days money back. I'm not going to return it right away, but my plan is to give it a couple weeks, watch some OTA HD football, watch more dvds, play games, and reevaluate it then. Maybe my eyes will adjust some and I"ll like it more. FYI my viewing distance is about 10 feet and I'm using a monster power strip.

If this doesn't work out for me, does anyone have any recommendations for a slightly smaller TV? Maybe I'll get a 42" or if I can't find anything I like I might just default back to a 34" HD crt.

TopJack, I'm in the same boat you are.

I bought my 50A10 after weeks of reading this forum and browsing around at local tv stores. I've had it for a couple days now, calibrated it a little, and I must say that my first impression of Directv SD through S-video cable is just pooh. I mean, I know I bought this tv with an eye towards the future, but a lot of what I'm watching now doesn't look very hot.

Let me also say that I watched return of the king in 480p component dvd last night, and it looked pretty good. Not awesome, but good. I'm really curious if an upconverting DVD player really makes a lot of difference. I've also watched some OTA 1080i and 720p broadcasts and they didn't seem to WOW me as much as when I watched stuff like ESPNHD in the stores.

Thankfully I bought from a local store and I have 30 days money back. I'm not going to return it right away, but my plan is to give it a couple weeks, watch some OTA HD football, watch more dvds, play games, and reevaluate it then. Maybe my eyes will adjust some and I"ll like it more. FYI my viewing distance is about 10 feet and I'm using a monster power stri

If this doesn't work out for me, does anyone have any recommendations for a slightly smaller TV? Maybe I'll get a 42" or if I can't find anything I like I might just default back to a 34" HD crt.

Why aren't you using component?

Directv reciever box is not an HD receiver and only has S-video out. I know this is not as good but I doubt it would solve my problem if the box did have component.

Directv reciever box is not an HD receiver and only has S-video out. I know this is not as good but I doubt it would solve my problem if the box did have component.

Get a non hd receiver that has component connections, Directv has them. S-video is worthless, doesn't even carry a progressive scan 480p signal. No way should you have a $2000 TV using S-video.

The sales person at Sears mentioned that the interior of these units need to be cleaned once a year. Over time, dust build up degrades the quality of the picture. Says you do not realize it unitl it is cleaned and then the difference is very noticable. Any truth to this?
They include a yearly cleaning and callibration in their service agreement.

Also, any experiences on viewing angles in a fairly well lighted room. I was a little concerned viewing it on the Sears floor. Honestly, the EDTV right next to the 50 was more impressive across the board.

Thanks.

I guess it's official. On 790 The Zone (AM Sports/Talk) at 0658 this morning, I heard a commercial from HiFi Buys (Tweeter for our Western compadres). A10 & A20 at suggested MSRP, no money down, no interest, no payments for 18 months. This Saturday & Sunday. :cool:

A10 & A20 at suggested MSRP,

How generous of them. :rolleyes:

The sales person at Sears mentioned that the interior of these units need to be cleaned once a year. Over time, dust build up degrades the quality of the picture. Says you do not realize it unitl it is cleaned and then the difference is very noticable. Any truth to this?
They include a yearly cleaning and callibration in their service agreement.


I remember back when I bought a 53" sony crt tv they gave me a speech like that at BB.. I called one year to get it done and found out that the Cleanings dont apply to tvs over a certain size. And it was not part of the service plan for my size tv.. So just make sure its stated for that size TV..

Chris

How generous of them. :rolleyes:


They have to abide by Sony's MSRP policy and only advertise at MSRP. It's gloves off on the sales floor.

Okay. Purchased the 50A10 yesterday. Set up the adjustments using much of the advice gleaned here.

The picture? So far...eh.

Now I should qualify this by stating that I don't have HD until this weekend and have been watching mainly SD off of DirecTV. But it's bad. An old rerun of "Friends" on TBS was so bad I had to stand in the kitchen to see it without major blur.

I don't blame the TV at all. Garbage in, garbage out, etc. But what I have been experiencing is a lot of ghosting and blurring (especially toward the top of the screen). I've read countless posts of how bad SD is on an HDTV but thought perhaps it was elitism among HDTV veterans and folks accustomed to such a fine picture. Wow. It's bad. Really bad.

DVD looks good but I'm hesitant to judge it because my player is an eight-year-old Pioneer model, one of the first. An upconverting one should arrive tomorrow.

Comcast will be coming by this weekend to install the HD package. I am curious, though, if anyone else has experienced this type of performance with SD. And, if so, if it changed dramatically once HD was hooked up.

Thanks for all the great advice.

SD pretty much sucks on a 50 inch TV...period. That said, quality varies a lot between channels too...some are semi-decent, and some will be terrible. When you get your HD box I promise that your jaw will drop when you see a true HD picture on your TV. Problem is, I can hardly watch the SD channels now..lol.

I saw the big A10 (50") for the first time last night at the local Sears, even though my target is the 42". They were running a coax feed to all their TVs, with a demo loop that I suspect must have been running from a satellite feed or a DVD player, or maybe a PC. It had a mixture of 4:3 and 16:9 content. Does anyone know what they use for source? I remember that Dell uses a PC-generated loop at their kiosks.

Anyways, I figured this was at best SD digital, and could only get better. The A10 picture looked good to me; as good or better than the DLP units. Someone had already taken it out of vivid mode and done reasonable tweaks to it. SDE was not a problem at my 11 to 13 foot distance that I will be sitting at, although I think I could see it still if I tried hard. SSE was a bit annoying when there was a very bright scene; I guess I would get used to that.

The sales dude said Sears does not carry the 42", which is not true, so I did not bother talking any more with him.

So, the 50" A10 looked pretty good to me.

What spoiled the whole junket for me was the Panasonic TH-50PX50U plasma two or three TVs down. The picture was jaw-dropping great, on the same junky coax source. Truely, it was an order of magnitude better picture than anything else there.

I too have been shopping for a set for about 2 years now, waiting for something that fits my space restrictions, that looks good, and is under two thousand dollars. I do not want DLP, due to the possible rainbows, and mechanical complexity. The 42" A10 meets these constraints, but the Panasonic plasma has got me thinking again about that possibility (the commercial units will fit my space constraints, but are just monitors).

I plan on looking at the A10 at the local Tweeter, BB, and CC stores in the next week or so too. Maybe they will have a better feed, although I am thinking now that the A10 may not be capable of that "looking out the window" experience that the Panasonic has. Hopefully, I am wrong.

BTW, they had a 60" A20 there too. It was mounted low, and the brightness drop off at the vertical angle I was standing at when about 6 feet from the set was very acute. The A10 seemed to be much better in this regard. Allowing for this by squatting on the floor, I still thought the A10 picture was a little bit better.

The sales person at Sears mentioned that the interior of these units need to be cleaned once a year. Over time, dust build up degrades the quality of the picture. Says you do not realize it unitl it is cleaned and then the difference is very noticable. Any truth to this?
They include a yearly cleaning and callibration in their service agreement.

Also, any experiences on viewing angles in a fairly well lighted room. I was a little concerned viewing it on the Sears floor. Honestly, the EDTV right next to the 50 was more impressive across the board.

Thanks.

Sears will say ANYTHING to sell extended warranties..it is their # 1 cash cow. As for the picture quality. my local sears has the 50 inch A-10 on display. They don't even have a HD feed going to ANY of the tv's on display! The picture looks bad. They are really a poor excuse for a retail store. The A-10 has a good to very good picture when fed a proper HD signal, and is a great value for the money.

Sears will say ANYTHING to sell extended warranties..it is their # 1 cash cow.
I would think you could just clean it yourself with a can of compressed air. I do this inside my computer about every 2-3 months.

I just wanted to clear a few things up because it seems as if some people are sensing hostility in my last post, which couldn't be further from the truth.

I've waited for this set for a number of months - the price is right, the size is right, the inputs are all there and so is the Sony name, but I can't fool my eyes or myself into liking something that just doesn't click, if you know what i mean?

A few questions for the people who own this set: does the tv's PQ improve much after in-home adjustments? How do upconverted DVDs play on it, and has anyone played Xbox in 480p or above on this set?

I'd love to hear some positive feedback from satisfied owners. Perhaps you'll turn me around.

Thank you.

And once again, I didn't mean to spoil the all-around good-will towards this set.

Played Halo2, it was AMAZING...no lag, full screen, this is the way video games are ment to be played.

I don't want to turn you around...if you don't like it, you don't like it. I won't pull a jedi mind trick...."this is the TV your looking for"...I see rainbows on DLP, so even if I thought it was a better pic, it wouldn't be the TV for me. Let us know how the Plasma works out.

Not sure i understand the dissapointment some of the members are having with this set.
I was very realistic about what I was getting when I purchased it last week.

Here is why I bought it:
Form factor noticeably smaller than 42wE655.
Picture slightly better, blacks better.
MSRP below $2K.

I am not sure what else I could have bought for $18__ that met my criteria like this set did.

Last week I was at tweeter and they had the new Mitsu 50" DLP next to a 50"A10 and the mitsu was so bright that it hurt my eyes. The Silk Screen effect was SOOO intense that if they had a $500 price tag on it I still would have bought the Sony.

It was just awful.

abward,

I could have written your post almost verbatim...when I got to the part where you said someone had adjusted the 50" A10 at Sears I wanted to say "Hey, That was Me!". But I see that you are in NC and I am in GA. Regardless, you and I are on the same track, EXACTLY !

Our CC had the 42" A10 this past weekend, and I had the chance to spend some time with it. The exact same things that you noticed with the 50 are present on the 42...SSE is very evident and the off-axis viewing is terrible...above, below and to the sides. I was able to adjust the picture just using the remote ( no service menu or advanced tweaks) and had it looking pretty good in a terrible environment, but there is still a lot of crushed blacks, and of course the brightest scenes light up the SSE. I LOVE the look of this set and applaud Sony for the form factor, but the limitations of LCD RPTV are still quite evident here. I was comparing it directly to the Panasonic PD50, which was the closest plasma to it, and my observations were just like yours, that the Plasma simply looks more natural, more like looking through a window at the subject. I know that Sony positioned the A10 to compete directly with the low end plasmas and I believe that it will, but for me it's looking more and more like a plasma for the bedroom armoire.

I have a cabinet with a 47" wide and 32" tall space, and that just screams for something like the Panny PX500. However, I am into the sound as well as the picture, and that probably means the commercial panel and some Orbs, or the like. Have you read any professional reviews / evaluations of the TH-42PWD8UK ? (which is the only one of the new 8th gen panels out currently). There are people on the forum that have them already, but noone seems to have a "frame of reference" for comparison, and noone has had one calibrated. My viewing distance for the bedroom is 17', so my thinking has been that we wouldn't get the benefit of the HD panel enough to justify the price delta. Then along comes the announcement about the 6th gen Pioneer, and that 43" panel sounds like it must be "THE ANSWER". I could pull the trigger today if only I knew what to shoot at...love to hear how your journey is going.

Like others, I to was a little disapointed with the off axis viewing. The HD feed looked quite good, but up against the panny HD and ED, the colors and pq were no match. Things are getting pretty competitve in the $2000.-$2500 price range. This is a great set for the money, but if your talking a few hundred dollars over the life of a tv, why are so many people not opting for plasma?

Just by way of FYI:
Columbus, OH, 50a10, Serial# 8018521 Mix5 has been sent back for one stuck and two dead pixels.

Also, I noticed a slight lag when playing a DVD the other day. I had it plugged in via the INPUT 1 s-video. I switched to INPUT 4 component last night and did not see the lag.

Tomboyter and abward,

I think we're all living the same lives but in different dimensions! (LOL)

I've been experiencing the very thing both of you have described. Everywhere I go, I look at new flat-panel LCDs (the new 32" Toshiba at Best Buy is quite nice, Crutchfield has the 37" but it's $2,999.99) the new rear-projection LCDs, (Sony's not bad the Panasonic is crap) and invariably my eyes drift toward the 37" and 42" Panny plasmas.

Incidentally,I was watching Sin City and Collateral - two movies with some deep blacks, which would probably wreck havoc on the A10 or any other LCD-based set for that matter - last night on my Toshiba 27" pureflat and it struck me just how much better the black levels are on direct-view sets and plasmas compared to rear-projection LCD; their black levels, color reproduction and viewing angles are simply not up to snuff, imo.

It's awesome to hear that Halo 2 plays well on the A10, but I just can't see spending nearly 2,000 on a set that I'm ambivalent about. I think LCD technology, on the whole, is simply not there yet. They're too expensive and compared to first-rate plasmas their blacks leave a whole lot to be desired. (I watch a lot of TV at night, in a pitch-black bedroom)

I really, really hope other forum members do not interpret my posts as LCD-bashing. They're not. I'm just kinda thinking out loud, wondering if anyone else is feeling the same way.

I think I'm gonna hold off 'til November to make my purchase - Xbox 360 time. I'm very interested in seeing Sony's new XBR LCD line. Their smaller models have the best blacks I've seen, very nice PQ overall.

The HDTV-buying saga continues .....

ARent plasmas at this price range only 852x480? I really wouldnt want the big of a drop in resolution..

Chris

They have to abide by Sony's MSRP policy and only advertise at MSRP.


Are you sure this is true? Free competition how could Sony be allowed to say what they can sell it for -- I know online there is always this talk to get you to put it in the cart, but I see sales add including Sony's all the time.

In regards to quality of this tv -- yeah those plasma's sucked -- I just compared them to the $13K Qualia and they didn't have anything on that......hmmm it is a $2k tv and should be compared in that region -- All I got to say is when I got it home and did some minor tweeking the OTA HD was awsome -- I have had an HDTV for almost 3 years so it wasn't the newbie effect, It was just a great picture -- some might not like the tv and that is fine and when there are reasons even better. I don't think anyone thought.

Yoda1 - don't think anyone thought it was hostile, there was just no reasoning behind it. tomboyter has some reasons in his review and I am sure most of will look at our tv critically looking at those things and as long as it is within 30 days that feedback is great -- some things you might miss and then it annoys you later (like the Toshiba's rptv having a white cross only really seen when there is a bright bright background - didn't annoy me until hockey-season started...)

I've been following this thread since its inception and finally got a chance to see the 50 A10 at Sears on Sunday. Almost pulled the trigger, but the wife was there to hold me back :rolleyes:

In any event, they only had a dvd player hooked up to the tv, so I didn't get the chance to see how it looked when hooked up to cable. Here is my situation, I live in a area where our cable company is in the dark ages (Have a motorola DVR stb, but sadly no hdtv and no idea when hdtv will ever arrive) and I'm also well over 60 miles from the nearest television ant. DISH and Direct are both out of the question b/c my wife works from home and requires the broadband connection offered by the cable co. DSL is not available in my area . . . you're getting the picture.

So, the majority - if not all - of my viewing will be analog only. I'm starting to get a little iffy on this set - and any hd set for that matter - due to all the reports that SD looks terrible. How bad are we talking? Is there anyway anyone can post a photo of how bad it is? I saw the analog hook up on the 60 A20 at Sears and it was unwatchable - but figured that was due to the fact that the cable was split about 50 times before it ever reached that set.

I will say that I currently have an 8 year-old 32" CRT (Sony) and the cable coming in is pretty good. The lower channels see a significant clean up coming into my DVD Recorder (RDR-GX7) and viewed through s-video into the tv. Will my picture really go from pretty good to unwatchable? I don't see how its possible, but you never know.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Phil

Hello all.

As stated yesterday, I had my KDF-E42A10 delivered last night and after some fiddling/testing late into the night, here's my (by no means professional, but hopefully useful) review. Hope its not too long for you guys.

Setup was a cinch. The store people brought in the TV, took it out of the box, placed it on my wall unit, plugged in the power, the cable, turned it on, and left. I ran the inital setup and had my channels detected.

(I'm not at all a videophile, and so PQ to me was never a big deal. I thought a tv was a tv, and as long as it worked, I was happy. I was using a 6 year old 34 inch curved tube tv before this.)

Basic cable SD channels were okay. It wasn't bad. I mean, it looked as good, if not a bit better than my old TV. The color was a little better, and the image was slightly sharper, so I don't have the complaints of other people viewing SD. (Again, I attribute this to me not really caring about PQ).

I then browsed my channels up to some high definition broadcasts of regular network channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, etc) which were sent in 480i. It was pretty good, and I see that there's a difference with regular broadcasts but to me, again, not a big deal.

Finally I found some channels that were broadcast in 1080i. Specifically NBC, CBS, and PBS. Wow... it looked really really good. And from me, that's saying something. Colors were bright and vivid. Picture quality was great and sharp. I finally saw what the big deal with HDTV was. (I know...a little behind).


I did not have a problem with SDE when viewing the set starting at like 3-6 feet. The higher the HD quality, the closer I could sit without seeing the SDE. My soft is about 8-9 feet away from the TV, so I have no problems at all.
I did not see, and still don't understand what SSE is. Some white shimmering thing? Didn't have any problems.


I connected my DVD player using component (its kinda old) and put in LOTR-Fellowship Extended (read about using the Mines of Moria to test the black issue). It looked real good. The black looked black to me. Again, it could be that I'm not experienced with HDTV's and don't really have anything to compare it to. But from what I recall of my old TV, the black looked the same.
I changed to the chapter where they were in Rivendale and the colors looked great also.

My last test was to connect my PC using the VGA input (Nvidia 6600GT video card, using DVI to VGA adapter).
The desktop and text looked GREAT! I remember trying to connect it to my old tv using composite, and could not read the text at all. Did not have problems with the Sony. Max resolution was either 1024 or 1280 by 768. I then loaded Grand Theft Auto Vice City, and played it for a few minutes. Did not have a problem with lag (my reason for not buying a DLP) and the picture looked very good too. (Though I guess GTA is not the best game to measure lag with. I'll be loading up Unreal 2004 tonight).

That's about it. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

I do have a few questions of my own, if anyone would care to comment.

1) I haven't changed any of the settings on the TV. I'm using it out of the box, and it looks good already. Would it be even better if I did make changes? It seems like everyone tweaks with it when they get it.

2) I know this is not the thread, but I figure I'd ask quickly. Does anyone have RCN in NYC? If possible, I'd like to PM you with questions on HD channels.

Sorry for the long post, and comments are welcome.

- John

I've had the 42" A10 for about a week.

IMO, this is the best LCD set yet, especially considering the price. If you have decided that LCD rear projection is for you, than this is a great option.

I have a 96" front projection system in dedicated room, so this is my living room tv and not my main theater system. I need the TV to fit in our armoire, and only a few 42" displays will fit. The size restriction knocked out anything over 43" wide.

Here's some displays that I own/have owned and my comments.

42" A10 - I now own
42" Samsung SP-R4212 Plasma - I bought last month and returned after 1 week
96" Sanyo Z2 LCD projector (Dalite Highpower - dark room) - I've owned for 2 years

Display sources:
Directv - with a pretty clean signal, I think
Momitsu V880 upconverting DVD player
Xbox, and soon to be Xbox 360
HDTV OTA Tuner, Samsung

Here are some comparisons: (in my untrained opinion, feel free to have your own opinion):

I calibrated all the displays with DVE.

Brightness: all of these are plenty bright after calibration. I have the iris on both the A10 and Z2 set at or near their lowest level. Obviously, the Z2 needs a dark room.

Viewing angle: the SP-R4212 Plasma stays bright at a much wider viewing angle, but that's not really an issue for me.

Vividness/Pop: all of these have plenty wow factor, pop, and constrasty vividness. The plasma was the most vivid, but the A10 and Z2 are close at a straight on viewing angle.

Black level: in order, SP-R4212 Plasma, A10, Z2. The plasma black was almost CRT black, but read on as their are many issues in dark scenes. The A10 is noticeably better than the Z2, but my Z2 is more set up for a vivid picture (highpower screen).

SD quality: The SP-R4212 Plasma handled my Directv SD signal horribly. Both the A10 and Z2 are far better and acceptable to watch. I use svideo. I constantly thought about burn in with the plasma due to station bugs (logos), news and sports tickers, and static graphics (ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, for example). I was changing the zoom settings all the time.

DVD quality: I have an older good quality 480i Panasonic DVD player and the Momitsu V880 upconverting player. On all sets the Momitsu looks noticeably better, and I normally set it to 720p over DVI. 720p over component is almost as clean. The A10 handled the 480i signal better than the Z2 and far better than the plasma. The A10 handled the V880 at 720p (component) a little better than the Z2 and far better than the plasma. The SP-R4212 plasma simply can not display dark scenes very well. There are significant issues with false contouring (color bands, clay faces, etc.).

HD quality: In order: A10, Z2, SP-R4212. I've only hooked up my OTA tuner to the Z2 and it is stunning. I have hooked up the Xbox at 720p to all the displays. The A10 was a little more wow. I use World Series Baseball and Amped 2 to test. I've never noticed any game lag/delay on the LCD displays. The plasma looked good with Xbox, but the LCDs looked sharper and I had the burn in issue stuck in my mind with the plasma. I did not view OTA HD on the plasma because I couldn't live with the DVD quality and clay faces.

Artifacts: The A10 has less SDE than the Z2 (screen size is a big factor here). The A10 has less VB than the Z2. On the Z2, I usually notice the VB in foggy or cloudy scenes. The plasma had many artifacts that I could live with. I'm sure there are better plasmas out there. The SP-R4212 must have very poor internal electronics.

In general, LCD rear projection fits my needs and budget. I want a native 720p display for Xbox 360 and HDTV programming (ESPN/ABC football in particular). I want a PC input. The plasmas that have similar features and resolution to A10 are way out of my budget, and I worry about burn in with Xbox and static images (sports/news tickers, scoreboards, station bugs). Most DLP's didn't fit in my armoire, were more expensive, and they might have issues with game lag. I like the DLPs, but the A10 had a little better bang for the buck.

A note on LCD vs. Plasma. If there was a $2000 720p plasma, then I'd buy it. Overall though, the LCD black level is less of an issue for me than possible burn in and lower resolution. A $2000 plasma will normally have less features than a $2000 DLP or LCD. Please debate displays in the same price range. It really doesn't matter that $3500 SXRD or HD Plasmas might be better than the A10.

Like others, I to was a little disapointed with the off axis viewing. The HD feed looked quite good, but up against the panny HD and ED, the colors and pq were no match. Things are getting pretty competitve in the $2000.-$2500 price range. This is a great set for the money, but if your talking a few hundred dollars over the life of a tv, why are so many people not opting for plasma?

I can only speak for myself:

Price: A good brand 42" HD Plasma will run about $1000 more than the 42" A10. After trying one out, I don't want ED because I don't think that I will be happy with ED once HD sources are more prevalent.

Burn-in: Decide if it's an issue for you or not. I couldn't get it out of my head. Every sports show I watch has static graphics or tickers on the screen. I play Xbox too.

Brand: I like Sony products and have had good reliability with them.

Outoffocus, yeah, you pretty much said what I wanted to.

I debated on what TV to buy for a loooong time.

It started off with the Panasonic EDTV Plasma, for about $20xx. Picture was great, but it was ED (which was not a big deal I guess), and I had to worry about burn in. While I am not an avid game player, I do play it occasionally, and I also watch some sports games (score box might burn in) and so do not want to worry about it.

I then went towards the DLP camp. It was between the Samsung and Panasonic DLPs. Samsung (and apparently all DLP's to a lesser degree) has the game lag problem, and Panasonic did not have a 40" DLP. Plus DLPs seem to have problems with something or another breaking.

I initally didn't want a RP LCD due to SDE, but when I finally saw the A10, I noticed that it wasn't that bad at all. Plus you can't beat a $16xx deal. Now that I have it, I can't say I regret it one bit.

Phil Monty, I'll see what I can do about pictures.

I saw the big A10 (50") for the first time last night at the local Sears, even though my target is the 42". They were running a coax feed to all their TVs, with a demo loop that I suspect must have been running from a satellite feed or a DVD player, or maybe a PC. It had a mixture of 4:3 and 16:9 content. Does anyone know what they use for source? I remember that Dell uses a PC-generated loop at their kiosks.

Anyways, I figured this was at best SD digital, and could only get better. The A10 picture looked good to me; as good or better than the DLP units. Someone had already taken it out of vivid mode and done reasonable tweaks to it. SDE was not a problem at my 11 to 13 foot distance that I will be sitting at, although I think I could see it still if I tried hard. SSE was a bit annoying when there was a very bright scene; I guess I would get used to that.

The sales dude said Sears does not carry the 42", which is not true, so I did not bother talking any more with him.

So, the 50" A10 looked pretty good to me.

What spoiled the whole junket for me was the Panasonic TH-50PX50U plasma two or three TVs down. The picture was jaw-dropping great, on the same junky coax source. Truely, it was an order of magnitude better picture than anything else there.

I too have been shopping for a set for about 2 years now, waiting for something that fits my space restrictions, that looks good, and is under two thousand dollars. I do not want DLP, due to the possible rainbows, and mechanical complexity. The 42" A10 meets these constraints, but the Panasonic plasma has got me thinking again about that possibility (the commercial units will fit my space constraints, but are just monitors).

I plan on looking at the A10 at the local Tweeter, BB, and CC stores in the next week or so too. Maybe they will have a better feed, although I am thinking now that the A10 may not be capable of that "looking out the window" experience that the Panasonic has. Hopefully, I am wrong.

BTW, they had a 60" A20 there too. It was mounted low, and the brightness drop off at the vertical angle I was standing at when about 6 feet from the set was very acute. The A10 seemed to be much better in this regard. Allowing for this by squatting on the floor, I still thought the A10 picture was a little bit better.

I totally agree that in every store I visit that Panny 50 inch plasma gets me drooling, and the other TV's pale in comparison. It is truly like looking through a window. No other TV's I see can compete. CC has that Panny on a really good sale this week...discounted 10% , Plus 300.00 rebate. For people wanting 50 inch models, the Panny is surely tempting if your budget can stand it.

I totally agree that in every store I visit that Panny 50 inch plasma gets me drooling, and the other TV's pale in comparison. It is truly like looking through a window. No other TV's I see can compete. CC has that Panny on a really good sale this week...discounted 10% , Plus 300.00 rebate. For people wanting 50 inch models, the Panny is surely tempting if your budget can stand it.

Are people really compairing this TV to a $4000 + Plasma.....I'm feeling better about my purchase already.. :D

I have been struggling to chose the 42" or 50" new SONY A10 models. We sit about 8' from our present TV. We have seen both models at HHGREGG's and paced off 8' from each set and sat in chairs placed at that distance( both sets are outstanding!). Still was not sure about which to buy.
Next, I got some large cardboard and cut patterns to match each set. Outlined the exact screen size and painted in the viewing area in white and put red lines at both centerlines. Then painted the outside (the actual cabinet) gray. Next I glued 2 thin woods supports to the back, the total height of the supports was the height of the TV stand we intend to buy (20" high) plus the overall height of each TV.
Placed each templete where the new TV would be and switched each one .What a great aid this was. We are going with the 50". Just was concerned in getting too small a set or too large of a one. Below are the dimensions if you want to mock up these aids.

42" Cabinet:39 3/8 W 28 1/2 H top & side edges approx. 1 1/2"
Bottom edge of screen to the base 6 1/4"
Screen size: 36.2" W x 20.4" H

50" Cabinet: 46 5/8 W 36 5/8 H top & side edges approx. 1 1/2"
Bottom edge of screen to the base 10 7/8"
Screen size: 43.1" W x 24.2 "H

Alot of work but it sure helped in deciding. Wanted to avoid returning one set and exchanging for the other.

Don't have the A10, but I did get the 42" WE655 at a clearance price last week, and I can vouchsafe that it's capable of amazing things with a good signal source. I stumbled across a documentary on Discovery HD Theatre filmed in HD that quite literally had my spouse repeatedly saying "My God!" while watching it. These sets pack great bang for the buck, I think. That being said, the wife really isn't happy with the set because of the size -- not of the screen itself but of the overall unit. :mad: This has made me look at alternatives, and the Panny plasma equivalents run from $300 more for an EDTV to $1200 more for a 42" HDTV. The plasma sets ought to have a better picture, they are sure priced higher. No bulbs to replace though. That's probably a good thing.

hdtv4prs , to help you out. I am 7.5 ft away from couch to tv and have the 50in. No viewing problemsd for me at all. Loving every minute of it.

A note on LCD vs. Plasma. If there was a $2000 720p plasma, then I'd buy it. Overall though, the LCD black level is less of an issue for me than possible burn in and lower resolution. A $2000 plasma will normally have less features than a $2000 DLP or LCD. Please debate displays in the same price range. It really doesn't matter that $3500 SXRD or HD Plasmas might be better than the A10.

Honestly, I do not think I could have summed it up any better. :cool:

I've seen a LOT of debate on all three models of HDTV and they really could be broken down as follows:

CRT - Heavy, limited to 34", best SD display, expensive when compared to other sets for larger sizes, lack of VGA input

LCD - Light, expensive, limited to 37", poor SD display, "black crush" problem (?), VGA input

Projection LCD - Light, lower price compared to other sets in same size range, smallest size starts at 42", "black crush" problem (?), Screen Door (? Pixelation?) problem, off-center viewing poor or non-existant, VGA input

Plasma - VERY expensive (IMHO), smallest size starts at 37", poor SD, possible burn-in, gas loss can degrade display, perfect HDTV display (?), average to good SD display, no VGA input on most models

So, looking at this you could break things down like this:

Gamer & PC user - LCD, Projection LCD
SD & HDTV picture quality - CRT, Plasma
Cost - Projection LCD, CRT
Uber Visual Quality - Plasma

Now, granted everone's needs are different but this comes pretty close to just about every thread I've read about this. Plasma users tout picture quality, LCD & Projection tout their price and ability to use for PC monitors and gaming, and CRT folks tout perfect SD quality and low-entry cost.

Personally, my hubby and I decided on this TV due to our budget not allowing for anything more than $2000, our console gaming habits, and the amount of DVD and Divx/Xvid watching we do. Sure, SD TV looks only okay but honestly why would you buy an HDTV if you are worried about that? :confused:

We are planning on picking ours up this Friday either from Video Now in San Mateo or a nearby CC and we're both excited. Hopefully CC will price-match from the Video Now place because otherwise it's going to be a royal PITA to get up there Friday nite.

Now, if we can only find a place that has the Avia and DVE discs locally we'll be set. ^__^ And, yes, I will post a review with pics of how each looks on our Xbox, PC, and SD broadcast. If for nothing else to show off a bit. ;)

Like others, I to was a little disapointed with the off axis viewing. The HD feed looked quite good, but up against the panny HD and ED, the colors and pq were no match. Things are getting pretty competitve in the $2000.-$2500 price range. This is a great set for the money, but if your talking a few hundred dollars over the life of a tv, why are so many people not opting for plasma?

For us it was four reasons:

1. Over $2000 after tax
2. Concerns over burn-in and quality of display for gaming
3. Concerns over display degradation over time
4. Lack of VGA input on sets in the lowest price range

I'm not even sure we'd get one if they were affordable to be honest. I'll never forget what he said when we saw them; "The picture is nice but I'm not sure I'd want something that sounds like it would re-enact a dying star then explode or would leak toxic gas. That, and it looked like A*# playing NFS: Undergound." And that, shall we say, was that. :D

Are people really compairing this TV to a $4000 + Plasma.....I'm feeling better about my purchase already.. :D

We are just commenting that the A-10 is not a state-of-the-art televsion, BUT it is a great value, and has a GOOD picture. Sony had better hope that the Panny plasmas don't drop in price another grand or so though. I think a fair number of buyers will go for the plasma if that happens. Another wild card is how much better will the PQ be on the Sony SXRD, versus the A-10? I am still considering all 3 types until I can see the SXRD in person.

Rumor has it that the Panny plasmas will get a reduction in MSRP later this month. By how much is pure speculaton right now but some believe it could be in the $500-1,000 range for the 50" model. There are some threads about this in the plasma tvs section of this forum.

If the Panny 50 inch plasma is ever on sale at Costco for under $3500, I am grabbing one and never looking back at the Sony's..lol

Been looking at the A10 for about a week and find this forum a great resource.

Tried to access the glossary without any luck....

Is there a good source for info so that I can figure out what SDE and SSE are?

thnx

philherz,

SDE is screen door effect.. You can see the pixel grid on the image.. Looks like a grid.. SSE, is silk screen effect.. Ive never seen it in person so i dont know much about it.. I think i might be better off not knowing what it looks like lol.. the "what you dont know cant hurt you" type thing..

Thanks for the info.

I spent a long time viewing various sources and found:

SD looks pretty mediocre.

HD looks pretty darn good.

DVD was variable...watched the aviator and some scenes were great, others (with poor lighting in the movie) looked fuzzy or "pixelated" (SDE???)

Is that normal?

Also, it was a factory set-up. Would it improve with a custom adjustment?

philherz,

SDE is screen door effect.. You can see the pixel grid on the image.. Looks like a grid.. SSE, is silk screen effect.. Ive never seen it in person so i dont know much about it.. I think i might be better off not knowing what it looks like lol.. the "what you dont know cant hurt you" type thing..

I think SSE is the 'sparkling' look you see in solid light colored areas on the screen..such as when it shows a blue sky, or a white background. It is rather akin to the sparkle you see in snow on a sunny day, or the sparkle you used to see on projection screens for showing home movies, or color slides. I don't find it to be a big deal at all.

Thanks for the info.

I spent a long time viewing various sources and found:

SD looks pretty mediocre.

HD looks pretty darn good.

DVD was variable...watched the aviator and some scenes were great, others (with poor lighting in the movie) looked fuzzy or "pixelated" (SDE???)

Is that normal?

Also, it was a factory set-up. Would it improve with a custom adjustment?

I don't think the Aviator is a very good quality DVD...loved the movie, but the DVD PQ is not the best. Try watching Seabiscuit...that DVD seems to be great quality.

I'm noticing some Silk screen effect on the 42" model. Not sure if it is SSE, but some bright areas on the screen have a shining image. This is while watching SD programming, and i haven't spent much time trying DVDs or other media on this TV. Has anyone noticed this on model? Any settings that can reduce this effect?

BTW : i am using standard picture setting, color set at 33.

Overall, except for this problem, i am satisfied with the TV. Blacks are good and PQ on SD is quite OK. I owned a 35" LCD before and the PQ on that was terrible for SD broadcast. Had to return that one and wait for a month before i bought the a42.

We are just commenting that the A-10 is not a state-of-the-art televsion, BUT it is a great value, and has a GOOD picture. Sony had better hope that the Panny plasmas don't drop in price another grand or so though. I think a fair number of buyers will go for the plasma if that happens. Another wild card is how much better will the PQ be on the Sony SXRD, versus the A-10? I am still considering all 3 types until I can see the SXRD in person.

Maybe I'm looking at the wrong TV but, a price drop of $1000 would still be $1000 more then the 50A10, 1/3 more. Is plasma, with all its problems, (burn in, gas loss, etc) "state-of-the-art? I did like the picture on the Panny, but I don't understand the comparision. :confused:

I'm noticing some Silk screen effect on the 42" model. Not sure if it is SSE, but some bright areas on the screen have a shining image. This is while watching SD programming, and i haven't spent much time trying DVDs or other media on this TV. Has anyone noticed this on model? Any settings that can reduce this effect?

BTW : i am using standard picture setting, color set at 33.

Overall, except for this problem, i am satisfied with the TV. Blacks are good and PQ on SD is quite OK. I owned a 35" LCD before and the PQ on that was terrible for SD broadcast. Had to return that one and wait for a month before i bought the a42.

SSE is going to be on most/all rear projection TV's, and it will be there regardless of source. Don't think about it, and soon you won't even notice it.

Hi. I am new to this forum and new to HD.

I have a confession: I walked into my local CC and, quite out of the blue, bought a 42 A10. It will be delivered tomorrow afternoon. Although I had noticed HD tv's and knew that someday I would upgrade from my 15 year old 27 in, I had not intended to do it on Monday. Maybe I just got euphorically disoriented by all the large screens. :-)

My biggest surprise was that the warranty and cables almost doubled the price!

My question for today is: should I have purchased the CC warranty (4 years at $410) and do cables and such need to cost so much ($229 for Monster Power Strip, $119 and $69 for Monster video cables - I already have nice sound cables from an old stereo, so didn't have to buy them)?

Thanks in advance.

(After reading other posts here, I am also wondering if I should have looked more systematically at other sets/brands/types - but I'll save those questions for another time.)

Maybe I'm looking at the wrong TV but, a price drop of $1000 would still be $1000 more then the 50A10, 1/3 more. Is plasma, with all its problems, (burn in, gas loss, etc) "state-of-the-art? I did like the picture on the Panny, but I don't understand the comparision. :confused:

What is this 'gas loss' talk? The Panny plasma should play well for 60,000 hours according to the maker. That would be 16 hours a DAY for TEN years! The Sony's would probably need TEN new bulbs at $200.00 each in that much use, at a cost of $2000 over the orginal purchase. Burn-in is a legit concern on the plasma though. Knowing the people on this forum though, how many of us can stand to use the same TV for 10 years anyhow? :p

Hi. I am new to this forum and new to HD.

I have a confession: I walked into my local CC and, quite out of the blue, bought a 42 A10. It will be delivered tomorrow afternoon. Although I have noticed HD tv's and knew that someday I would upgrade from my 15 year old 27 in, I had not intended to do it on Monday. Maybe I just got euphorically disoriented by all the large screens. :-)

My biggest surprise was that the warranty and cables almost doubled the price!

My question for today is: should I have purchased the CC warranty (4 years at $410) and do cables and such need to cost so much ($229 for Monster Power Strip, $119 and $$69 for Monster video cables - I already have nice sound cables from an old stereo)?

Thanks in advance.

(After reading other posts here, I am also wondering if I should have looked more systematically at other sets/brands/types - but I'll save those questions for another time.)

You have been ripped off on the cables...take them back and buy some other brand! Monster cables are super overpriced in my (and many others) opinion. Sams Club here has a nice set of FIVE types of cables made by Philips for all of under 30 bucks! And they are gold plated and high quality! I also believe that BB and CC have other brands of cables at far better prices. The salespeople of course love to push the Monsters, since they are a cash cow for the store. As for the warranty, that might be a decent idea, IF it covers bulb replacements for sure. You are likely to need one new bulb in 4 years, unless you use the tv very little. I would guess most of the bulbs last 2000-5000 hours of use, so you can do the math. Plus the warranty protects you from power surges, and other problems that may occur.

Hi. I am new to this forum and new to HD.

I have a confession: I walked into my local CC and, quite out of the blue, bought a 42 A10. It will be delivered tomorrow afternoon. Although I have noticed HD tv's and knew that someday I would upgrade from my 15 year old 27 in, I had not intended to do it on Monday. Maybe I just got euphorically disoriented by all the large screens. :-)

My biggest surprise was that the warranty and cables almost doubled the price!

My question for today is: should I have purchased the CC warranty (4 years at $410) and do cables and such need to cost so much ($229 for Monster Power Strip, $119 and $$69 for Monster video cables - I already have nice sound cables from an old stereo)?

Thanks in advance.

(After reading other posts here, I am also wondering if I should have looked more systematically at other sets/brands/types - but I'll save those questions for another time.)


i would go and return the monster brand cables. pretty much everyone agrees that they are WAY overpriced. you can find much more reasonably priced, and still high-quality, cables on-line. as for the extended warranty....people have mixed feelings about it. i opted to not get the warranty, b/c in the past, every time i've gotten one, i haven't used it....w/ exception to my pc. in that case, the actual repair that needed to be done cost less than the warranty i bought. so, in essence, i still got screwed. anyway, you have to make the decision on your own about the extended warranty, but i think pretty much everyone on this thread will agree to return the monster cables.

To All Who Flamed me for Comparing the A10 to Plasma...the 42" Panasonic EDTV (TH-42PD50) can be purchased for the same price as the A10, and the commercial panel (TH-42PWD8UK), which is considered by most to be the finest ED panel available, can be had for less than CC's sale price for the A10. It is an ED panel, not HD, but at my viewing distance, and with an HD feed, the picture has qualities that are very different from RPLCD...specifically the 42"A10. To my tired old eyes, the plasma screen looks more "natural", for want a a more descriptive term, and to say that it just doesn't look "Hi-Def" is arguable. There is more visual infromation in the darker areas of the screen, for example. There is NO DOUBT in my mind, or anyone else's either for that matter, that SDE is more visible, by far, on the ED panel than on the A10. Bigger pixels will be more visible closer to the screen. However, again at my viewing distance of 17' the SDE becomes a non-issue.

SSE is inherent in every RPLCD that I have seen to date. I would describe it as a "glow", very much like you would see if you were shining a slide projector at a screen, with no slide in the tray...bright sparklies. On the A10 it almost made me think that light was being reflected back into the box from the back side of the screen. How much this detracts from the viewing experience I don't really know...just that I don't see it with the slghtly CHEAPER plasma right next to it.

At the end of this month, as stated above, everyone is expecting that Panasonic will lower its MSRP significantly. If that happens as anticipated, then the 42" HD plasma, the PX50 will be available for almost if not exactly the same price as the 42" A10. Probably the 42" ED model will have a price advantage to the A10. Alan Buck you are Dead On with your analysis...plasma panels are stated to last 20 years at 8 hours per day. There is no such thing as gas leak on a plasma that is in normal operating condition...if it's leaking, it's BROKEN. Burn-in has been addressed in many ways, and is considered about the same as a CRT. Image retention is a temporary condition that is reversed in normal use. No bulbs to replace and no cooling fan to make noise.

I apologize for even mentioning the comparison with plasma, as this is the thread for evaluating the A10's. No intent on my part to hijack the thread or to criticise anyone's purchasing decision. I guess that I had such high hopes for the A10 series that they were unreasonable...my problem has always been that I want the Qualia 006 for one fifth the price. Anyway, several of you have shown me that you are in the same canoe with me, and I'm glad to have "some miserable company" !?!

For those of you expierencing SSE the first thing you need to do is take the tv off of VIVID MODE. When it is on that i can see SSE on almost everything. Use custom mode and turn down the settings and it will significantly reduce SSE. This is what I use

Iris: 2
Pic: 85
Brightness: 45
Color: 45
Hue: R7
Color Temp: Neutral
Sharpness: 35
Advanced Iris: Low
Black correct: Low
Gamma: Low
Clear White: off
Vivid color: off
Noise reduction: Low

That tones it down but still leaves you with some pop. At least thats what I think. The vivid mode is just horribly bad

What is this 'gas loss' talk? The Panny plasma should play well for 60,000 hours according to the maker. That would be 16 hours a DAY for TEN years! The Sony's would probably need TEN new bulbs at $200.00 each in that much use, at a cost of $2000 over the orginal purchase. Burn-in is a legit concern on the plasma though. Knowing the people on this forum though, how many of us can stand to use the same TV for 10 years anyhow? :p

16 hours a day...ha..I watch alot of TV... :D Can't fault the math though, at the average of 7000 hours per bulb on LCD RPTV, you would be taking about 9 new bulbs...lets hope the price goes down on the bulbs. Glad I got the bulbs in my extended warranty now. :eek: Since I owned my last TV for 15 years, it might be a problem. But now that I have the HDTV bug/big screen..don't think this new A10 will last as long. :D

Is it true that Plasma will be half as bright at 30,000 hours?...Might as well start the research for my next TV. ;)

No, that's actually what the 60,000 hour figure represents - it's the time to half-brightness. Older models were far lower, which might be the source of confusion since you will see numbers that are half that and lower depending on the generation and manufacturer in question.


Just as an interesting bit of info - the 60,000 hour half-life is said to match that of LCD figures. I'm presuming the factoid I read was referring to TFT LCD and not RP.

I think others may have mentioned them, but www.monoprice.com offers quality cables at very good prices - even when you toss in shipping. And they ship quickly. I've been using USPS shipping with them to keep my overall costs down and I have still been getting stuff within a few days.

I've placed two separate orders to buy component cables, a VGA cable, coax and toslink optical cables from them and all of these cables have been quality items.

Check them out, I think you'll end up putting them at the top of your e-tailer list when looking for the type of items they carry.


Mitch

P.S. I have no affiliation with monoprice other than as a satisfied customer.

I am sitting in front of my brand new 50" A10 television. I don't know what televisions people in this forum have been viewing prior to viewing an A10, but they must be garbage. The picture is far from good. Pixelated beyond belief. The scaler is a joke when you have it adjusted to wide zoom. I watched a DVD on it and was EMBARRASSED I spent $2100.00 on this!!! I have already arranged its removal from my home and my 42 in Panasonic HD plasma will be moved back to this location. I am using RAM cables, HDMI from a Denon 1920 DVD, no junk here, and I am not impressed what so ever. I annoyed my wife to no end to out and find a piece of furniture to put this thing on and now I am eating it, even she thinks its a middle of the road picture.

In case anyone is questioning, It's ok to have buyers remorse...

Let me just clarify my gripes with my 50A10 that I posted earlier.

I'm extremely picky when it comes to picture quality, and thats part of the reason why I spent so long looking at HDTVs. Honestly, if they made crts bigger than 34" wide then I would have gotten one for sure, but I decided that I wanted a bigger tv than that. I hoped that the 50A10 would be good enough picture quality wise to appease me, and I would also get a bigger, lighter, thinner tv. Could I have my cake and eat it too?

The answer is that I'm not sure yet. Most of the content that I will be watching will be in SD for a long time to come. SD channels vary from decent to poor so far. I was watching 1080i conan o'brien last night over antenna and it was pretty awesome. Then I turned on my ps2 to play god of war and it was back to crapsville. If the 50A10 doesn't work out I will probably get a 34" widescreen hd crt.

So like I said, this is just me being picky. To give perspective, I once spent an hour trying to decide if I wanted to buy a baseball cap.

it's no suprise that a 50" will make SD look like crap with the budget scalers placed inside. buyer beware!

I may just go buy another 36 Sony CRT. I dont see much programming in 16:9 anyway. Just not what I thought this was going to be, total let down.

Believe 1/3 of what you read
Believe 1/2 of what you hear
And Believe 100% of what you feel


I read that these TV's were great
I heard from people that they were happy
I feel this LCD projection type television is not for me

With any LCD or big screen I cannot watch SD satellite unless it's with component out/in. If you're not using component, you are selling yourself and your display short.

I am sitting in front of my brand new 50" A10 television. .... The picture is far from good. Pixelated beyond belief...

Do you attribute this poor picture quality to LCD technology in RP sets, or you feel it is just this particular set?

I may just go buy another 36 Sony CRT. I dont see much programming in 16:9 anyway. Just not what I thought this was going to be, total let down.

Believe 1/3 of what you read
Believe 1/2 of what you hear
And Believe 100% of what you feel


I read that these TV's were great
I heard from people that they were happy
I feel this LCD projection type television is not for me

Heh. So you bought the E50A10 without going into a store to look at the set?

I saw it at the store Was told the HD cable feed needed some "adjustment". Tried a DVD, looked good. Gave it shot. You have to sh!t or get off the pot.

I just dont think that any rear porjection television that I am willing to spend the cash on has a picture that rivals my 36" sony GW CRT. I dont like the viewing angles, and the pixelation, and the color intensity - not impressive to me. My opinion, like the many here.

My mental limit on a TV is $3500.

Will some of you that actually have in home experience with the A10 post your recommendations (and warnings) based upon your actual experience. I am particularly interested in hearing about the quality of the A10 picture from the somewhat acclaimed budget upscaling players like the Panny s97, Oppo and Bravo D2. Thanks, Burton

Heh. So you bought the E50A10 without going into a store to look at the set?I was playing with a E50A10 at Fry's Electronics at lunch today. The HD feed in the whole store is so BAD you would't benefit from seeing it if your trying to judge picture quality. It was nice to poke around in the menus and see the size of the set but that's all the visit was good for.

PugDog I'm not being a smart aleck but if you want a better picture than a 36" set go to a 13" set. A larger set will increase the defects in pq. If you have cable (Cablevision) then you will be dissapointed in any large RPTV. I have D and the HD feeds are good to great and SD is lousy to almost great. HD was developed to increase detail but also to match the feed being sent to larger sets. It use to be that a 27" set was the biggest set you could buy and the feed was great for that. Once you get about 36" you start to see defects in PQ. I'm very happy with my 60" A20 it is a great set. With a good feed it looks incredible. These new sets have plenty of resolution so now we need more bandwidth and less compression to get the pq you want.

I may just go buy another 36 Sony CRT. I dont see much programming in 16:9 anyway. Just not what I thought this was going to be, total let down.

Believe 1/3 of what you read
Believe 1/2 of what you hear
And Believe 100% of what you feel


I read that these TV's were great
I heard from people that they were happy
I feel this LCD projection type television is not for me

Don't take this wrong, but if that's how you feel about this technology, then why are you even in this forum/thread? Go hit up the plasma forum or whatever forum interests your technological sweet tooth, but don't waste it here in a technology you're only going to bash for whatever reason.

Edit to add: aha..reading in reverse I see now that you actually bought one of thes sight unseen and now have buyers remorse over it. Answers a lot right there. Good luck with your next purchase.

Bigger pixels will be more visible closer to the screen. However, again at my viewing distance of 17' the SDE becomes a non-issue.

!?!

Wow! You're watching a 42" TV from 17'? How can you even see it from so far away!

help please: I am trying to play battlefield 2 connected from my computer to tv but nothing is showing up. Am I doing something wrong here. What resolution should the computer be set on because the game is not loading. What resolution should the computer be on anyway when I want to use the tv as the display?

1024 x 768
1280 x 720

need help. trying to get this game to work. what am I doing wrong

help please: I am trying to play battlefield 2 connected from my computer to tv but nothing is showing up. Am I doing something wrong here. What resolution should the computer be set on because the game is not loading. What resolution should the computer be on anyway when I want to use the tv as the display?

1024 x 768
1280 x 720

need help. trying to get this game to work. what am I doing wrong

DVI input should be 1280X720, VGA input should be 1280X768 I believe.

Maybe I'm looking at the wrong TV but, a price drop of $1000 would still be $1000 more then the 50A10, 1/3 more. Is plasma, with all its problems, (burn in, gas loss, etc) "state-of-the-art? I did like the picture on the Panny, but I don't understand the comparision. :confused:

Burn-in is a non issue if you follow easy instructions for the first 100 hrs. Gas loss is something i don't even know where you got that from. Plasmas today have the longest life span of all the technologies. I have been itching to buy the 42A10 but the Panny HD plasmas are having a major price drop on Aug.28th. I love the A10, but the Panny plasmas have THE best picture period. The Panny 42PX50U is in CC for $28-- now, and with the price drop it will be around the 50A10 price (or less). One thing that bothers me on lcd projection tv's is bulb life and blue panel degradation. The Sony could actually cost more to maintain than the plasma. I was concerned about the power cost of plasma compared to projection but have been told it's minimal. So here i am debating on a Panny plasma or a Sony RP LCD. Oh the humanity of it all.

PugDog1,

Isn't it funny how one guy's awesome TV is another guy's worst-ever TV.

Perhaps it's this: If you started from a high-def 34" CRT, I doubt anything other than another one of those will satisfy you. Black levels and resolution (in part because, well, it's only 34") will be unequalled by all but the most expensive big-screen sets of any type - I think most agree about that. It's just that those beautiful 34 inchers. They're just . . . . so . . . . . tiny . . . . . . .

So here i am debating on a Panny plasma or a Sony RP LCD. Oh the humanity of it all.

This is true, life could be a heck of a lot worse eh? :D

Many have notes of pixelation in their posts. Im no video expert but I have a unique take. I had purchased a Toshiba DLP over the holidays last winter it had the HD2+ chip. I was very disappointed at the time. I upgraded my DirectTV to a HD receiver but didn't have the antenna for DTV's HD programming. My DVD is a progressive scan. After the upgrade SD was very disappointing OTA HD is great when it's true HD and very good when it's not. Even my DirectTV SD channels suffered when I upgraded my receiver. I watched some DVD's with weird pixelation in the center of some scenes. I returned the set.
I have and have had for a few years an HD ready RCA 32" CRT. I didn't have HD of any kind until I upgraded my DirectTV antenna. Pixelation I noticed with my DLP on certian programs or commercials on DTV's HD channels was still there on the CRT. Even with the 32" screen it was noticable. OTA HD is better than any of the DirectTV HD channels. OTA SD (antenna input on my D-TV receiver) and my regular DirecTV channels were still worse than before my upgrade. It is my opinion that much of what is perceived as being the PQ of the TV is the quality of the programming and or the decoding device. I even rewatched some of the DVD's and the imperfections I saw that helped me decide to take back the DLP were still there. All of the complaints I've heard of pixelation during fast moving scenes are also noticeable on my CRT tube TV. Sharpness, black levels SDE and some other anomalies are surely the fault of a rear projection TV. Just be aware that not all negative aspects of your viewing are the fault of the TV.
I think just like everyone else I may be wanting something closer to perfect than is possible at this point in time. Like I said my HD CRT tube is no where near perfect and it's supposed to be better than rear projection. I still want my football this year on a large screen and so far my best bet is still the 42a10.
I know this is a long post but I hope it may help some of you with your decisions.

My mental limit on a TV is $3500.
For the perfection that you want in an HDTV you had better expand your "mental limit" by a substantial amount.

I am sitting in front of my brand new 50" A10 television. I don't know what televisions people in this forum have been viewing prior to viewing an A10, but they must be garbage. The picture is far from good. Pixelated beyond belief. The scaler is a joke when you have it adjusted to wide zoom. I watched a DVD on it and was EMBARRASSED I spent $2100.00 on this!!! I have already arranged its removal from my home and my 42 in Panasonic HD plasma will be moved back to this location. I am using RAM cables, HDMI from a Denon 1920 DVD, no junk here, and I am not impressed what so ever. I annoyed my wife to no end to out and find a piece of furniture to put this thing on and now I am eating it, even she thinks its a middle of the road picture.

In case anyone is questioning, It's ok to have buyers remorse...

What source were you viewing at "wide zoom"? I'm assuming it was SD cable since your upconverting DVD player should be locked in at 720p and "full".

How does your SD look on other TVs? I ask because by SD Directv looks better on the A10 than it did on the X1, Z2, and Samsung Plasma that I have owned previously. We all have different SD signals and feeds and I wouldn't say any of these previous displays are garbage. The X1 and Z2 were previously the AVS darlings that the Panny plasmas are today.

No, that's actually what the 60,000 hour figure represents - it's the time to half-brightness. Older models were far lower, which might be the source of confusion since you will see numbers that are half that and lower depending on the generation and manufacturer in question.


Just as an interesting bit of info - the 60,000 hour half-life is said to match that of LCD figures. I'm presuming the factoid I read was referring to TFT LCD and not RP.

WOW, thats alot of TV to watch to get to only half... :eek: Plasma is looking better, just get rid of the burn in...don't want to see the fox news banner on my scifi banner... :p

can someone please help me with the pc question with playing games. it is not working with battlefield 2.

Many have notes of pixelation in their posts. Im no video expert but I have a unique take. I had purchased a Toshiba DLP over the holidays last winter it had the HD2+ chip. I was very disappointed at the time. I upgraded my DirectTV to a HD receiver but didn't have the antenna for DTV's HD programming. My DVD is a progressive scan. After the upgrade SD was very disappointing OTA HD is great when it's true HD and very good when it's not. Even my DirectTV SD channels suffered when I upgraded my receiver. I watched some DVD's with weird pixelation in the center of some scenes. I returned the set.
I have and have had for a few years an HD ready RCA 32" CRT. I didn't have HD of any kind until I upgraded my DirectTV antenna. Pixelation I noticed with my DLP on certian programs or commercials on DTV's HD channels was still there on the CRT. Even with the 32" screen it was noticable. OTA HD is better than any of the DirectTV HD channels. OTA SD (antenna input on my D-TV receiver) and my regular DirecTV channels were still worse than before my upgrade. It is my opinion that much of what is perceived as being the PQ of the TV is the quality of the programming and or the decoding device. I even rewatched some of the DVD's and the imperfections I saw that helped me decide to take back the DLP were still there. All of the complaints I've heard of pixelation during fast moving scenes are also noticeable on my CRT tube TV. Sharpness, black levels SDE and some other anomalies are surely the fault of a rear projection TV. Just be aware that not all negative aspects of your viewing are the fault of the TV.
I think just like everyone else I may be wanting something closer to perfect than is possible at this point in time. Like I said my HD CRT tube is no where near perfect and it's supposed to be better than rear projection. I still want my football this year on a large screen and so far my best bet is still the 42a10.
I know this is a long post but I hope it may help some of you with your decisions.

I agree with what you said here. True HD broadcasts look great on my 50A10, but my main disappointment is the SD quality. I didn't know that it would be so bad when viewing this sucker in the store since they all run off of pre-recorded 1080i feeds (at least thats what the manager told me).

Most of what I want to watch comes in SD anyways. You may be able to get an HD satellite package and OTA HD but how much of that are you actually going to watch? Unless you're just a sports nut then you're only going to watch ESPNHD maybe once a week when your favorite team is playing. You may watch DiscoveryHD for a few minutes of wow factor, but then flip to SD comedy central. You're only going to watch a major network in HD when your favorite primetime TV show is on. 90% of your current-gen console games are limited to 480i/p. If you don't have an upconverting dvd player then your dvd is limited to 480p. A lot of tv content won't be HD for a long time.

My bottom line: if SD was better I would have no problem with this tv.

Will some of you that actually have in home experience with the A10 post your recommendations (and warnings) based upon your actual experience. I am particularly interested in hearing about the quality of the A10 picture from the somewhat acclaimed budget upscaling players like the Panny s97, Oppo and Bravo D2. Thanks, Burton


I bought and hooked up a Samsun HD941 via component cables and enabled upconverting through the remote hack, and I couldn't be happier.

I went and took a 2nd look at this set today at Circuit City.

They had Shawshank playing, looked better than what I saw upon first visit- exhibited a warmth in color that I hadn't seen previously.

I tweaked the video settings more too, (Wega Gate rocks) - the set does have some pretty visible silk screen effect, however.

A few hours later, I went to Best Buy (I have a credit card with them) and bought the set, the matching stand, with free delivery and the 4-year service plan for just over $2500.

I need to get this set in my house and see how it performs. It's gonna be a HD/DVD-watching, X-Box playing marathon ... gonna give this TV one hell of a workout (need an upconversion player ... probably pick up the Panny).

Hell, if I don't warm up to it, I can just return it. That's how I see it. I've been waiting for this set for too long, I need to take it for a test-drive.

I'm a little worried about how much I spent (still in school, working part-time but make good enough money to manage the payments over 18 months.) I just hope I get to the point where I'm very satisfied with this set; $2500 is a lot of money to spend to be disappointed. The 42A10 and me have a date on the 2nd of September. Can't wait to dig in.

Additionally, do you guys think I made the right choice with the service plan?

Is it worth it? The BB salesman told me that Sony's lamps cost $500 each and that they're backordered.

Can anyone else verify this information.

I read that the lamp rund 200-250.00. You should be good for a few years with the stock lamp anyway. I didn't take the warranty but it's a gamble.

What is this 'gas loss' talk? The Panny plasma should play well for 60,000 hours according to the maker

Just to be clear as far as I know it is 60,000 hours before it is totally toast. BUT the fading and degradation of the picture could happen much much sooner.

Just look at CRT's, after a few years the picture noticeably fades.

Either the salesman was very misinformed or a liar:
See here! (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=XL2400&Dept=tvvideo&CategoryName=tv_TVDepartmentAccessories_Lamps)

Additionally, do you guys think I made the right choice with the service plan?

Is it worth it? The BB salesman told me that Sony's lamps cost $500 each and that they're backordered.

Can anyone else verify this information.

(need an upconversion player ... probably pick up the Panny).


I just picked the set up this evening and have been playing around with it since. So far, I really like the set.

Why do you say you need an upconverting DVD player? I thought that passing the player a 480i signal, it would do the upconversion. Is this true? I have to play with my DVD player. It's not progressive. Am I degrading the quality by not having progressive or upconverting?

Rob

I don't know why everyone thought this TV was going to be the Holy Grail of Microdisplays or tv's in general. It's MSRP is $2500. It's a midrange model. Comparing this TV to a 50" plasma just doesn't seem fair...at least to me. I knew what I was getting into when I bought this model. My dad has owned the GWIII for 2 years now, and it has been a great tv...but it is not without it's faults. The A10 falls into this category. It's a great tv, but it has some faults. For many of you SD is just not going to look good. I'll agree to some extent. Some channels look bad (FSN ohio), and others look similar to my 32" Toshiba CRT (ESPN). A lot depends on the actual feed. I'm hooked up straight to my cable outlet, no box...just analog, and an antenna for HD. After some tweeking, I think this TV outshines my dad's. Is it the best Microdisplay out there? Heck no, but it's darn good for the price I paid. I compared this set to others in the price range...all midrange Sammy's, Toshiba's, Mits, JVC, Panny RPLCD, and I thought the A10 was the best of the bunch...in this price range. HD and DVD's are great on this set after a little tweaking. By the way, I do see the shimmering, but I see it on almost all Microdisplays.

So, enjoy your tv...I do. It's not the greatest out there, but for my needs it's just about perfect...and it didn't break my wallet. sorry for the long post. Just my .02...

Wow! You're watching a 42" TV from 17'? How can you even see it from so far away!

Binoculars!

I have been reading these threads on a daily basis for about 2 months and have drifted from considering the Samsung HLR 50 to the 50A10 to waiting for the SXRD as I make trips to BrandsMart, CC, and BestBuy in Atlanta.

At the same time, I have noted the # of HD broadcasts is not overwhelming. In addition, since DirectTV is not close to offering local HDTV channels (even in a top 10 market) I am faced with paying Comcast for local HDTV while paying DirectTV for NFL Sunday Ticket HDTV.

My reluctant conclusion is that this technology is at least a year away in terms of affordable 1080P and a critical mass of HDTV broadcasts for the viewing public. Buying a HDTV now with the limited selection and high price is like buying a color TV in 1962 to watch Bonanza and The Wonderful World Of Disney on Sunday night and the Rose Bowl Parade on New Years Day. I am particularly concerned about lousy SD quality on a $2000 HDTV 50" set.

The expertise on this board has been very impressive. Too bad the manufacturers and broadcasters are not as good.

I have been reading these threads on a daily basis for about 2 months and have drifted from considering the Samsung HLR 50 to the 50A10 to waiting for the SXRD as I make trips to BrandsMart, CC, and BestBuy in Atlanta.

At the same time, I have noted the # of HD broadcasts is not overwhelming. In addition, since DirectTV is not close to offering local HDTV channels (even in a top 10 market) I am faced with paying Comcast for local HDTV while paying DirectTV for NFL Sunday Ticket HDTV.

My reluctant conclusion is that this technology is at least a year away in terms of affordable 1080P and a critical mass of HDTV broadcasts for the viewing public. Buying a HDTV now with the limited selection and high price is like buying a color TV in 1962 to watch Bonanza and The Wonderful World Of Disney on Sunday night and the Rose Bowl Parade on New Years Day. I am particularly concerned about lousy SD quality on a $2000 HDTV 50" set.

The expertise on this board has been very impressive. Too bad the manufacturers and broadcasters are not as good.


I consider myself one of the lucky ones. As of now, i have 16 hi-def channels on my Comcast cable. I have the premium package so i get all channels. 99% of my stations come in perfect digitally. I even have VOD HDTV channels. I'll be getting my HDTV in a couple of weeks so i will definately be taking advantage of HD technology now, with more HDTV programming on the way. My worst analog station is ABC, but i will be able to watch it in HD so i am anticipating that when i'm not watching a HD station the digital signal will still be at almost HD quality.

I went and took a 2nd look at this set today at Circuit City.

They had Shawshank playing, looked better than what I saw upon first visit- exhibited a warmth in color that I hadn't seen previously.

I tweaked the video settings more too, (Wega Gate rocks) - the set does have some pretty visible silk screen effect, however.

A few hours later, I went to Best Buy (I have a credit card with them) and bought the set, the matching stand, with free delivery and the 4-year service plan for just over $2500.

I need to get this set in my house and see how it performs. It's gonna be a HD/DVD-watching, X-Box playing marathon ... gonna give this TV one hell of a workout (need an upconversion player ... probably pick up the Panny).

Hell, if I don't warm up to it, I can just return it. That's how I see it. I've been waiting for this set for too long, I need to take it for a test-drive.

I'm a little worried about how much I spent (still in school, working part-time but make good enough money to manage the payments over 18 months.) I just hope I get to the point where I'm very satisfied with this set; $2500 is a lot of money to spend to be disappointed. The 42A10 and me have a date on the 2nd of September. Can't wait to dig in.

Could you post the SKU# for the e42a10 from Best Buy? Should be the 7-digit item number (I think). It's not on their website, and EVERY store I've spoken with, as well as the corporate # I called, all say that the TV is not in the system. I'm sure they're all just morons, or are being told that they must sell the 655 series before they put out the new model, but they can't possibly turn me down if I have the SKU.

Thanks.

The only SKU # I can find on my receipt is: 729899 and the last digit, which I can't make out is either a 6 an 8 or an S. LOL. Sorry, it didn't print too clearly.


Wait, I found a different SKU. It's --- 7298998

42A10 stand --

7277305

DrJohn - I failed to mention this earlier, but buying this tv from Best Buy tonight was quite the ordeal.

First, they had none on display, but I figured I'd chance it and ask the sales rep if they had any in the computer. He ran a search, found one in stock, which was earmarked for display. I asked about the matching stand, they had one, also earmarked for display.

I tried buying each from them, they refused, but told me that they'd have the stands in by the 20th and the TV delivered to me (for free, because of the hassle) by the 2nd of September. I agreed. They also said that they'd keep me posted if the sets come in any earlier, which they believe they will (probably blowing smoke up my arse, but you never know.)

Anyway, I hope those SKU #'s work out for ya. I need to spend some time with this set and get it out of my system, fast. I'm already experiencing some serious buyer's remorse (I've never made a purchase this big before).

Just to be clear as far as I know it is 60,000 hours before it is totally toast. BUT the fading and degradation of the picture could happen much much sooner.

Just look at CRT's, after a few years the picture noticeably fades.

It is NOT toast at 60,000 hours, that is the half life of the display. It would have one-half its original brightness at that point, but plasmas are quite bright, so it would still be usable. That is a LOT of viewing time anyhow. Most people would replace the thing long before that point was even reached, due to failure for other reasons, or desire to upgrade to the latest greatest thing. I doubt ANY type of TV is very likely to get that many hours of use before being scrapped. Remember that would equal 16 hours daily for ten full years!

The only SKU # I can find on my receipt is: 729899 and the last digit, which I can't make out is either a 6 an 8 or an S. LOL. Sorry, it didn't print too clearly.


Wait, I found a different SKU. It's --- 7298998

42A10 stand --

7277305



Thanks for the SKU numbers Master Yoda. ;)

I'm hoping that it will work in my favor having some info on this set, and how to locate the info in their system when all the BB sales associates "play" dumb. Maybe I can even get them to give me a good deal because of the trouble.

[QUOTE=Phil Monty]I've been following this thread since its inception and finally got a chance to see the 50 A10 at Sears on Sunday. Almost pulled the trigger, but the wife was there to hold me back :rolleyes:

In any event, they only had a dvd player hooked up to the tv, so I didn't get the chance to see how it looked when hooked up to cable. Here is my situation, I live in a area where our cable company is in the dark ages (Have a motorola DVR stb, but sadly no hdtv and no idea when hdtv will ever arrive) and I'm also well over 60 miles from the nearest television ant. DISH and Direct are both out of the question b/c my wife works from home and requires the broadband connection offered by the cable co. DSL is not available in my area . . . you're getting the picture.

So, the majority - if not all - of my viewing will be analog only. I'm starting to get a little iffy on this set - and any hd set for that matter - due to all the reports that SD looks terrible. How bad are we talking? Is there anyway anyone can post a photo of how bad it is? I saw the analog hook up on the 60 A20 at Sears and it was unwatchable - but figured that was due to the fact that the cable was split about 50 times before it ever reached that set.

I will say that I currently have an 8 year-old 32" CRT (Sony) and the cable coming in is pretty good. The lower channels see a significant clean up coming into my DVD Recorder (RDR-GX7) and viewed through s-video into the tv. Will my picture really go from pretty good to unwatchable? I don't see how its possible, but you never know.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Quote:

I had a 36 inch Sony Wega CRT and the PQ on regular cable was good to excellent. On my 42 inch GWIII lcd projection, the same channels look fair to poor (always watchable, but you sure notice that they suck). I think DVD's actually looked better on the old Sony 36 inch too. The GWIII looks wonderful on true HD programs though, and I see similar performance on the A-10. I would suggest you study plasmas carefully also, as they seem to have a more CRT type of picture quality. I am still on the fence myself. I want to upgrade to a 50 inch display, and am waiting for the Sony SXRD to come out before making a decision. It will be either the Panny plasma, the A-10, or the SXRD. I am enjoying reading all the posts on here, and hope mine are helpful to the undecided also.

If you read my day 1 review (last week) you would see that I wasn't blown away by the TV at that time. A week later I find that I like the TV considerably more - though it's not perfect. Or, maybe I should say it's not perfect for all types of viewing I do. But, a few things have occurred over the last week that has caused me to like th TV more than I did last week.

Most importantly, I ran Video Essentials and it definitely improved the PQ. I found following the recommendation to turn sharpness all the way down to 0 (i.e. Min) was one of the best things I did.

I've watched a few DVDs using my "old fashioned" Toshiba 480i DVD player and have been thoroughly pleased with the PQ - once I changed the DVD player settings from 4:3 to 16:9 :o. The Incredibles looked great, as did Star Wars Episode VI and A Very Long Engagement. I was a bit disappointed by the PQ of Million Dollar Baby, but I have a feeling that's a transfer issue moreso than the TV.
I hope to run more DVDs through as time permits. (Darned adulthood keeps getting in the way of my childhood. :))

OTA HD is really wonderful to watch. I find myself watching Leno eventhough I really don't like him. (Fortunately, Letterman will be in HD next month.) I do see some pixelation (defined in this context as blocky bits showing up) during some scenes. For example, waves crashing on a beach seem to cause this blocky effect. It's noticeable, but then it's followed by some beautiful scene that makes me forget the blocks I just saw.

SD over analog cable (I only have basic cable) continues to be disappointing. But, I think I'm getting used to the less-than-perfect PQ which really isn't much worse overall than the PQ on the 32" CRT I am replacing. For example, I find animation looks better on the 50A10 but some filmed SD is definitely softer. But, then again the picture on my 32" was often soft.

SSE/SDE is visible at times, but I don't notice as much as I did originally. The brain is good at filtering things. I also hear the fan more than I would like. My TV is on a stand and not enclosed in any sort of entertainment center plus I have pretty acute hearing. I can obsess about background sounds like the fan. So, hopefully, I'll learn to filter out the fan noise a bit.

So, to summarize, the TV is not perfect but as others have said, it's a moderately priced HDTV, afterall and not a high end HDTV. If you can wait a year or so, then waiting probably makes sense. Technology will only get better and/or cheaper and I do agree with the 1962 color TV analogy. But, if you can afford it, I think this TV will be future proof enough to last several years (new bulbs not withstanding).


Mitch

Taking delivery of a 42a10 tomorrow...got it for $14xx with my employee discount.
Having second thoughts after reading the Panasonic plasma comparisons, which I can get for about $300 more.
I guess the A10 is better for me because I'm going to be using it with an HTPC and Xbox.

So, I went to bestbuy today, talked to their A/V manager who seemed pretty nice, honest, and knowledgeable. I also looked around at the 34" HD crt tubes. My conclusion from this is that no tv really displays SD that great and it is very true when people say that junk in = junk out. I like the HD on my 50A10 and I've played with settings to reduce the SSE. I think after the initial shock of SD vs HD quality wore off I came to realize that its just a TV and I was expecting too much. I believe I will be happy with this set.

Also, for those of you who are going to buy an upconverting dvd player, be very wary of what you're buying. The bestbuy manager demoed an LG upconverting dvd player for me that was selling for 130 and the quality difference was hardly noticeable. If you're going to get one then make sure its good.

Is plasma, with all its problems, (burn in, gas loss, etc) "state-of-the-art? I did like the picture on the Panny, but I don't understand the comparision. :confused:

Folks, this gas loss is an urban myth started in the big chain stores. Some salesman told one of my customers that you had to have them serviced every few years by having more gas put in. I asked if they used presta or schrader valves..:).

One uncalculated cost of plasma is the electricity used. And an increased cooling bill in the summer. These sets really put out some heat. The picture on a good plasma is awesome, but they do have a hidden cost!! Lew

Is it worthwhile investigating and researching separate video scaler components like those offered by DVDO? In order to try to resolve the SD PQ problems that are being cited by so many people for the 50A10. My PQ for SD is mediocre at best as well. I knew going in on this TV that it wouldn't be great. I am currently getting Comcast digital video through their comcast provided Motorola Dual-Tuner DVR HD Set-Top DCT6412. Then sending it via HDMI to the TV.

I might be willing to drop some more cash to make it better. But, if there are simply no possible avenues for solutions I would like to know now. I haven't really started researching possibilities, but I do see comments from individuals that say you would likely get into immediate problems of overscaling or overprocesssing the signal. But if there is some glimmer of hope and cost was not a major factor (say maybe up to $1500), I might invest some more time into pursuing options.

Am I just stuck for now until the content gets better or is there some hope worth investigating?

Leadercrat

Is it worthwhile investigating and researching separate video scaler components like those offered by DVDO? In order to try to resolve the SD PQ problems that are being cited by so many people for the 50A10. My PQ for SD is mediocre at best as well. I knew going in on this TV that it wouldn't be great. I am currently getting Comcast digital video through their comcast provided Motorola Dual-Tuner DVR HD Set-Top DCT6412. Then sending it via HDMI to the TV.

I might be willing to drop some more cash to make it better. But, if there are simply no possible avenues for solutions I would like to know now. I haven't really started researching possibilities, but I do see comments from individuals that say you would likely get into immediate problems of overscaling or overprocesssing the signal. But if there is some glimmer of hope and cost was not a major factor (say maybe up to $1500), I might invest some more time into pursuing options.

Am I just stuck for now until the content gets better or is there some hope worth investigating?

Leadercrat

Crap sprayed with perfume is still crap ^.^ My SD gripes are going away with time and more viewing. My backup for when SD is worse on some channels is to just sit slightly further away from the TV. Sit on the far end of the couch for example. Just something we have to live with. Enjoy the HD, learn to enjoy the SD.

Additionally, do you guys think I made the right choice with the service plan?

Is it worth it? The BB salesman told me that Sony's lamps cost $500 each and that they're backordered.

Can anyone else verify this information.

I can verify that the salesman is an a-hole. The Sony bulbs cost $199.

I have been watching a toshiba 42h81 hdtv for 3 years now. I love the set and the hd picture is great!! I just want something bigger. My viewing consists of 70% hd, 25% dvd, 5% sd. It's not is a family room, it's a dedicated room for sports and movies. Since these are my viewing habits, how do you think the 50a10 will compare to my Toshiba? I want bigger but dont want to sacrifice quality.

If you read my day 1 review (last week) you would see that I wasn't blown away by the TV at that time. A week later I find that I like the TV considerably more - though it's not perfect. Or, maybe I should say it's not perfect for all types of viewing I do. But, a few things have occurred over the last week that has caused me to like th TV more than I did last week.

Most importantly, I ran Video Essentials and it definitely improved the PQ. I found following the recommendation to turn sharpness all the way down to 0 (i.e. Min) was one of the best things I did.

I've watched a few DVDs using my "old fashioned" Toshiba 480i DVD player and have been thoroughly pleased with the PQ - once I changed the DVD player settings from 4:3 to 16:9 :o. The Incredibles looked great, as did Star Wars Episode VI and A Very Long Engagement. I was a bit disappointed by the PQ of Million Dollar Baby, but I have a feeling that's a transfer issue moreso than the TV.
I hope to run more DVDs through as time permits. (Darned adulthood keeps getting in the way of my childhood. :))

OTA HD is really wonderful to watch. I find myself watching Leno eventhough I really don't like him. (Fortunately, Letterman will be in HD next month.) I do see some pixelation (defined in this context as blocky bits showing up) during some scenes. For example, waves crashing on a beach seem to cause this blocky effect. It's noticeable, but then it's followed by some beautiful scene that makes me forget the blocks I just saw.

SD over analog cable (I only have basic cable) continues to be disappointing. But, I think I'm getting used to the less-than-perfect PQ which really isn't much worse overall than the PQ on the 32" CRT I am replacing. For example, I find animation looks better on the 50A10 but some filmed SD is definitely softer. But, then again the picture on my 32" was often soft.

SSE/SDE is visible at times, but I don't notice as much as I did originally. The brain is good at filtering things. I also hear the fan more than I would like. My TV is on a stand and not enclosed in any sort of entertainment center plus I have pretty acute hearing. I can obsess about background sounds like the fan. So, hopefully, I'll learn to filter out the fan noise a bit.

So, to summarize, the TV is not perfect but as others have said, it's a moderately priced HDTV, afterall and not a high end HDTV. If you can wait a year or so, then waiting probably makes sense. Technology will only get better and/or cheaper and I do agree with the 1962 color TV analogy. But, if you can afford it, I think this TV will be future proof enough to last several years (new bulbs not withstanding).


Mitch

I agree that 'the TV is not perfect', BUT read all the posts AVS about various tv's and you will find that is true of ALL tv's, no matter what the price. We have not reached TV perfection yet (although I keep looking) :) We should also remember that that 1962 color TV retailed for around 600 dollars...that would equate to about $3600 in today's money. The 'imperfect' A-10 would surely blow that TV away..lol. I can't agree that there is not enough HD to watch today, and it is like 1962! That is ridiculous. In 1962 most cities had FOUR channels, or so to watch! And only a small number of prime time shows were in color. Today, we have at least a dozen HD channels to watch, and 85% of primetime shows are in HD now. Plus many sporting events are in HD. You also have HD on the primary pay channels like HBO and Showime. It is your money, but there is certainly enough HD content available to make it worthwhile for me.

I have been watching a toshiba 42h81 hdtv for 3 years now. I love the set and the hd picture is great!! I just want something bigger. My viewing consists of 70% hd, 25% dvd, 5% sd. It's not is a family room, it's a dedicated room for sports and movies. Since these are my viewing habits, how do you think the 50a10 will compare to my Toshiba? I want bigger but dont want to sacrifice quality.

What is your budget? The new SXBR's are coming out in a month and for around $4k you can have a 50" SXBR. They're supposed to be the cats meow. I just couldn't see spending that much on a TV myself right now or I probably would have waited. As it is, I have the 50" A10 and love it.

Yes, SD are a bit disappointing, but with all the new birds that DirecTV is sending up, I can wait. Until then I get plenty of OTA HD content.

Here's an interesting thing to try for those having SD issues...tune into The Hallmark channel to watch their reruns of MASH...they've digitally remastered them and they look great on SD. Like others have said, garbage in, garbage out on these sets.

Burn-in is a non issue if you follow easy instructions for the first 100 hrs. Gas loss is something i don't even know where you got that from. Plasmas today have the longest life span of all the technologies. I have been itching to buy the 42A10 but the Panny HD plasmas are having a major price drop on Aug.28th. I love the A10, but the Panny plasmas have THE best picture period. The Panny 42PX50U is in CC for $28-- now, and with the price drop it will be around the 50A10 price (or less). One thing that bothers me on lcd projection tv's is bulb life and blue panel degradation. The Sony could actually cost more to maintain than the plasma. I was concerned about the power cost of plasma compared to projection but have been told it's minimal. So here i am debating on a Panny plasma or a Sony RP LCD. Oh the humanity of it all.

Many people have talked about gas loss and the TV dimming after a time, but someone memtioned that the figure they post 60,000 hours is the time to half bright.. Thanks for the info, the 28th is within my return window.. :D

The original Panny mentioned was the 50 not the 42, but I'm sure they will drop in price too.

FYI about availability of the 42 A10's. When I purchased one from the local CC (Berwin, near Philly), the salesguy said that there were 180 of them in the warehouse and suggested a delivery date later in the week (which happens to be today!). Maybe just the 50's are constrained.

pardon the really dumb question.

with all this talk of HD tuner boxes, I wondered if maybe I'd missed something **really** basic ... er, don't the A10's have built-in HD tuners ?

I still love the fact that Sony doesn't make their own bulbs for their sets.

I still love the fact that Sony doesn't make their own bulbs for their sets.

I don't understand that. They also probably do not make their own screws or plastic either.

pardon the really dumb question.

with all this talk of HD tuner boxes, I wondered if maybe I'd missed something **really** basic ... er, don't the A10's have built-in HD tuners ?

Yes, an HD tuner is built in.

pardon the really dumb question.

with all this talk of HD tuner boxes, I wondered if maybe I'd missed something **really** basic ... er, don't the A10's have built-in HD tuners ?

Yes, they do.

Quick question about upconverting dvd players:

- after reading this forum for a number of months, it is my impression that, if a set's native rez is 1280 x 720 and you own a 480i/480p dvd player, then it's a better bet to output interlaced and have the set do the upconversion itself, because it'd be upconverting every signal to its native rez anyway.

I think I got this down, but i could be wrong.

So, if you buy an upconverter, set it to 720p

- if you don't own an upconverter, set it to 480i and have the set do the upconversion itself? Is this right?

Thanks.

Quick question about upconverting dvd players:

- after reading this forum for a number of months, it is my impression that, if a set's native rez is 1280 x 720 and you own a 480i/480p dvd player, then it's a better bet to output interlaced and have the set do the upconversion itself, because it'd be upconverting every signal to its native rez anyway.

I think I got this down, but i could be wrong.

So, if you buy an upconverter, set it to 720p

- if you don't own an upconverter, set it to 480i and have the set do the upconversion itself? Is this right?

Thanks.Would love to hear the answer to this question as well.

As for my question, I am looking to buy the new Sony 400 DVD changer, and it says it output 720p/1080i. I was wondering if anyone was running an A10 with this, and how they have it connected. Right now I have monster component cables, and was wondering if I should spend the money and get a HDMI cable to hook up the 400 DVD changer to a 42" A10.

I'm just a little worried that people seem to be keep blaming these A10's for the poor picture quality. My SD quality is not good either, here. I don't have an A10 yet, but I do have a 64" Pioneer RTPV upstairs. If you look at the SD quality on my 32" Sony closely enough, it looks horrible and grainy. But.....we sit far enough back so its really not an issue. Well, now switch that TV to a 42" or 50" like a lot of you are doing, keep that same sitting distance, and yes, of course you're going to notice the SD quality (or lack thereof) because of the bigger set. I just wanted to voice my vote for the group that thinks the TV really has nothing to do with poor SD quality. You just didn't know what you were missing until you got a big set.

Like I said earlier in this thread, try going straight from the wall jack with coax, or if you want to go from the box to the TV, try composite, s-video and coax. Those should make your SD picture look better than the higher bandwidth cables.

I think, since I've also read that Sony's LCDs have an analog phase when using HDMI, that I'm gonna try the LG DVD player that upconverts through component. The guy at Circuit City told me they have this player in stock and that it's a good deal.

Quick question about upconverting dvd players:

- after reading this forum for a number of months, it is my impression that, if a set's native rez is 1280 x 720 and you own a 480i/480p dvd player, then it's a better bet to output interlaced and have the set do the upconversion itself, because it'd be upconverting every signal to its native rez anyway.

I think I got this down, but i could be wrong.

So, if you buy an upconverter, set it to 720p

- if you don't own an upconverter, set it to 480i and have the set do the upconversion itself? Is this right?

Thanks.

Yes, feed the set 720p if you can, but you don't have to.

Long story short, an upconverting DVD player will show a better picture but if you have a good 480i/p DVD player now then the picture should still be great. If you have an older $50 DVD player, then get a new one. If you have an older $150 DVD player, it should be fine.

The 480i/480p question depends on your DVD player. If you have the option, normally send 480p. If the DVD player has a better deinterlacer than the TV, then send 480p. If the TV has a better deinterlacer than the DVD, than send 480i. You'll need to test them both out.

I am using a 480i DVD player through component cable, because I have an older Panasonic that still looks really good to me. I think the TV is doing a good job of displaying this DVD content.

I have tried my Momitsu V880 upconverting over component at 720p and it did look a little better, overall a little sharper and better/more vivid picture. I would expect a slight increase in picture quality with a DVI - HDMI cable, but I don't have one.

I'm happy with the 480i DVD picture and I'm keeping the V880 hooked up to my Z2 projector for now. I will get a new upconverting DVD player later.

Look - these Sony RPTVs have the absolute -best- SD performance of any competing brand. Scour the forums, it's pretty accepted. I've never had an issue, but all of my SD is being scaled by the HD STB (which outputs everything as 1080i or 720p) and my GWII scales it again to 768p. I honestly don't have a complaint, but I watch it as 4:3 - maybe stretching it makes it look worse? You'll see a channel here and there that looks attrocious, but that's the signal. Go watch your old CRT if it looks so bad.

Speaking of CRTs - they have a half-life of 25,000 hours, so with the newer plasma panels there really isn't anything to worry about. The Sharp LCD panels in their TVs are also quoted to have a 60,000 hr half-life and these are generally thought to be immortal. Shows how perceptions can be wrong.

I can look and see how my DVDO iScan Ultra does with my SD cable, but I've never had occasion to even try it.


The new Denon 1920 upscaling player pairs very nicely with the A10. I recently helped a friend set his up and it looks incredible at 720p. I couldn't see macroblocking when paired with the A10.

I've had the 42A10 for a week now, and love the TV. I agree the SD isn't the best, but you can't turn SD into near HD. Its still 480i.

And the 42A10 is an entry level HDTV. I don't see how so many people expect it to be comparable to a 5K plasma.

My 50A10 arrived Tuesday. After reading the posts on this thread I was really worried about SD. The feeds in the local stores for SD were fairly poor on all sets, if you could even get a salesman to show it to you.

I have Cox Cable in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I connected the cable directly to the 50A10, bypassing my Motorola 6412 DVR. I have no doubt some of you are getting horrible SD PQ, but my experience has been great. I had to keep telling my family that we are watching SD and not HD or even digital. It is far better than I expected. I didn't have to pack-up and leave because of angry family members.

This morning we were watching Fox News. The picture was very good. Last night I watched the life of Richard Rodgers, the Broadway Musical composer, something I wouldn't normally watch, on an SD feed from the local PBS channel, just because the picture was so good.

On the otherhand, the local CBS feed for HD is worse than the SD feed.

I am pretty picky about PQ quality, I had one of the original Sony 25" XBR monitors. My current TV, a 27" Panasonic (and not a cheap one) had only a slightly less PQ quality than the XBR CRT.

Another thing that surprised me was the wide zoom. I thought I would never be able to watch a stretched picture, that it would be too distracting and noticeable. However, it turns out it is not very noticeable at all, and it makes the visual experience better.

I connected my laptop using 1280X720 and surfed the internet. The text was sharp and I could read small print right up close to the screen. It made my laptop screen look dingy yellow.

I connected a 480i Panasonic DVD (RV80) via component and watched Winged Migration and the picture was excellent and lifelike. I haven't watched any dark movies, yet.

I connected a JVC 7800U SVHS (maybe a 7200U) via S-video and it will be usable. Dark scenes show noise. Turning off the SVHS machines picture enhancements and setting the picture on soft on the SVHS helped. Then I adjusted the input on the 50A10 (DRC) and that helped. I hadn't adjusted any of the inputs yet, because I want to take my time and know what I am doing.

So far the only HD I have watched was through the Motorola 6412. I watched the PBS HD feed of Smart Travels through Switzerland, and the picture was breathtaking. Cox Cable is coming to my house Sunday to see why I am not getting all the HD channels I am supposed to get. I was on the phone at least an hour last night with them, and my box is not accepting an update.

I do see some SSE sometimes on bright whites from 10 feet away. It is similar to seeing the projection screen viewing 35mm slides but to a much lesser degree.

The picture is like they say, "rock solid". I do not see any jiggly edges or monoblocking like I saw on other brand sets in the stores. Which makes me wonder if it is even useful to compare sets in a store with their lousy feeds. I chose the Sony based on what I saw in the stores, but maybe the other sets just had a worse feed.

I just wanted to add my experience after reading even more SD threads-- that the 50A10 is capable of good SD reception. If you are getting a bad SD feed 1) connect directly to the set, or 2) call your cable company and ask why you are getting a bad feed. Tell them you know someone who gets a great SD picture on this model and it is not just bad because it is a large TV. Note that the picture when watching SD on the cable box is noticeably poorer, even on my 27" set.

Also these are definately SD analog channels that I am getting a good picture on because my 27" Panasonic TV receives them and it in no-way has any digital reception circuitry.-

The MAIN reason you are getting a great SD picture is because the new Moto 6412 is a SIGNIFICANT improvement in the handling of SD in particular, as compared to the previous Moto 6208 which was, at the time, "state of the art". There are, according to the Insight Chief Engr, new electronic circuits in the 6412 accounting for the great improvement. I'm getting my 50 inch A10 later this afternoon and the cable guy (I hope its not Jim Carey) is coming out tomorrow to install the new 6412. I was using the 6208 with my Sammy DLP.

I think, since I've also read that Sony's LCDs have an analog phase when using HDMI, that I'm gonna try the LG DVD player that upconverts through component. The guy at Circuit City told me they have this player in stock and that it's a good deal.

Better look more into that DVD player. I have the old one which is fine but apparently the new one DOES NOT upconvert copy protected DVD. That means ANY DVD you buy in a store will not get unconverted.

Even the ROM update on my old player kills up-converted through Component.

Perhaps a stupid question, but I'm gonna ask anyway:

Are the dimensions of this set accurate on the sony site?

The tv is actually measured as wider than its matching stand?

TV (42A10)

- Dimensions (WxHxD)
• 39 3/8"×28 1/2"×14 1/8" (999×722×357mm)• Dimensions (WxHxD)

Stand

- • Dimensions (WxHxD)
• 35 5/8" x 28 1/8" x 18 1/8" (901 x 711 x 460 mm)


are these specs right?

The MAIN reason you are getting a great SD picture is because the new Moto 6412 is a SIGNIFICANT improvement in the handling of SD in particular, as compared to the previous Moto 6208 which was, at the time, "state of the art".

Actually, no. I am not using the Motorola 6412 to receive SD analog. A cable RF feed out of the wall goes directly to the 50A10. My Motorola 6412 (forums refer to it as a 6412 Phase II box) has poorer analog SD then any of my other tuners such as that in my Panasonic 27" or the JVC SVHS. Supposedly there is a new "Phase III" box with a better SD analog tuner because of the complaints. This is not true of the digital tuners. I hope they swap my Phase II box out (lots of luck).

I am willing to bet you will get a better SD picture if you split the RF feed between the Motorola 6412 and the 50A10, or in your case, a Sammy DLP. You have enough inputs for this. You will still get analog SD through the Motorola and you can compare them. I really enjoy the Motorola DVR, even though I have to work around the marginal analog SD of the DVR.

Hopefully you will get the latest Phase III box with its improved tuner, and an HDMI output instead of DVI output. I got this off of an AVS forum, and it may or may not be true.

I also plan to put an old long-range UHF antenna I saved in my attic and attach it to the ANT input on the 50A10 to see what that does for the local channels.

Maybe everyone already knows this, but I stumbled upon it by accident:
When using the antenna input (i.e. UHF/VHF) if you go to Wega Gate->Settings and select I think the last option, there's a "diagnostics' option you can select. Selecting this will show you the signal strength for the OTA channel you are watching.

Now, has anyone figured out if there's a way to see bulb usage information (e.g. amount of time the bulb has been on)?


Mitch

I searched the thread trying to figure out which type of DVD player to get for the 42" A10 but couldn't make heads of tails of it. Right now I am torn between two 400 DVD changers, one with and one without an HDMI output. The HDMI one has "720p/1080i Upscaling Video Output - HDMI™4 Connection" while the other has only 480p from what I could find on the internet. Should I get the older model and use component cables, get the new one with component cables, or the new one with an HDMI cable?

Been reading this thread....Now I'm really confused!

Everyone comments how SD sucks with the A10.

I presently have Adelphia digital cable (Channels 0-99 analog, 100-800 digital, 900+ HD)

Will the digital channels have all the same "SD problems" as channels 0-99???

thnx

Been reading this thread....Now I'm really confused!

Everyone comments how SD sucks with the A10.

I presently have Adelphia digital cable (Channels 0-99 analog, 100-800 digital, 900+ HD)

Will the digital channels have all the same "SD problems" as channels 0-99???

thnx

i don't think the SD sucks at all. in fact, it is significantly better than my 55" toshiba cinema series set which i bought in 1995. if you are going to sit too close to the screen you might be unhappy - it's as simple as that.

I have the 42A10 and my SD picture is certainly not crap.
They are all very watchable.
Currently have Comcast HD which is being upgraded to digital HD on the 22nd.
Either you guys have poor signal strength, which would also result in a poor picture on a 27"CRT, or you are really picky.

--Correction--

I really didn't mean to say that the A10 did a bad job with SD, just that SD in general made a lot of the sets look like they were doing a bad job when, in fact, it was the poor SD signal more than anything.

I'm seriously considering the 42" A10 and wasn't impressed with how it handled SDs in the store.

I was simply wondering how my cable signals might look. (I assume HD will look great and SD will look sub-par......is digital the same as SD or in-between SD & HD????)

Sorry

So, I just took delivery on my A50 from Sears this morning. I am a newbie to this high def projection, so I am sure I will have lots of questions. The first is this. I notice at least a couple of places on the screen that has bad pixals/dots. They actually look bigger than one pixal but maybe not. I am hoping this is not normal. I was going to call Sears and have this one sent back. Will my next one have the same problem or is this expected?

Also, what is the best settings for this TV. Everything seems a little bright and sharp out of the box?

I have the Motorola 6412 Gen III and I am happy with SD content. Some analog channels are better then other, but all are watachable except for 1 or 2. Digital SD channels are generally good to very good; it really depends on the amount of compression on a particular channel. I have done numerous UMR suggested tweaks for my GWII, which still does better than the 50A10 on SD content. I have a 6412 Gen III on both sets.

The problem is that I have all but quit watching my GWII because it's in the basement. That will change when my wife goes back to work from summer vacation. My family is next to our bedroom, so I watch down stairs to give her some peace and quite.

I returned a Samsung HL-R47667W and couldn't be happier with SD and HD content.

Andy

Everybody is talking about "upscaling" on dvd players. I have a Toshiba progresive scan player, Is that ok? Also, everybody is calling these sets 'entry level" what would a crt projection that goes for half the price be considered?

I have a analogue cable and an ancient Directv receiver hooked up via s-video on my 42" 655 set. SD quality varies widely, but there is plenty of it that is very good quality. Certainly enough to point the finger of blame for the stuff that isn't at the feed rather than the TV. And for me at least, my initial impression of SD content on the set was somewhat influenced by seeing how good the set could look with digital material. It does look pretty bad compared to a HD signal or 420p from a DVD player, but taken on its own merits, most of the SD content is pretty good. A lot of it suffers from being shown on a large screen, and the higher resolution of the sets highlights flaws, but it's quite watchable.

Is it worthwhile investigating and researching separate video scaler components like those offered by DVDO? In order to try to resolve the SD PQ problems that are being cited by so many people for the 50A10. My PQ for SD is mediocre at best as well. I knew going in on this TV that it wouldn't be great. I am currently getting Comcast digital video through their comcast provided Motorola Dual-Tuner DVR HD Set-Top DCT6412. Then sending it via HDMI to the TV.

I might be willing to drop some more cash to make it better. But, if there are simply no possible avenues for solutions I would like to know now. I haven't really started researching possibilities, but I do see comments from individuals that say you would likely get into immediate problems of overscaling or overprocesssing the signal. But if there is some glimmer of hope and cost was not a major factor (say maybe up to $1500), I might invest some more time into pursuing options.

Am I just stuck for now until the content gets better or is there some hope worth investigating?

Leadercrat
I have a 34" sony and the SD was terrible on it. Some stuff that I put in to make SD better really help. I bought a motorola cable booster and installed it where the cable entered the house - just before the 4 way splitter ( also replaced the old Splitter with a good 2GH splitter). This really did help. Also as someone said earlier was to take the sharpness to 0 or a few nothes above zero. The sharpness not only adds too much detail on the faces but also brings all the analog/ SD - snow, lines, ext. to the forefront. Use Pro and never use Vivid . Hope this helps :D

Somebody at Gaming Age claimed that these sets use 18bit color and dither, instead of true 24-bit color, to keep response time high. Any truth to this?

Another thing that surprised me was the wide zoom. I thought I would never be able to watch a stretched picture, that it would be too distracting and noticeable. However, it turns out it is not very noticeable at all, and it makes the visual experience better.-

I use the wide zoom all the time on the SD channels. Especially on my 34" sony because the side bars would make it look smaller. Wide zoom keeps everything normal in the middle and only stretches the outer side edges to make it full. I really like it. ;) I can't wait till I get my 50A10. :confused:

I just want to buzz in here real quick and tell you guys I got my 42A10 today. So far I've tested some DVDs and HD and it looks really good. It's a lot better than I expected. Black levels are VERY acceptable and the overall contrast is really good. SD looks just as good as it did on my Sony KV-30HS420. In my case I run a splitter off the main line and have one cable going to my Motorola 6412 DVR box, and the other going straight to the RF input on the TV. Analog channels look MUCH better this way.

I'll check back in later after I get this thing calibrated with DVE. This is one nice looking TV.

The 42A10 is on the floor at CC in Mishawaka Indiana..... The price is under $18__ . Yep you read that right. I have a BB and Sears and ABC warehouse nearby but no one else has them in stock to price match. I want mine before the start of Football. I have HD directTV and can't wait for HD NFL.....

One more quick question. My viewing distance will be 8-10 feet. Will I be OK with the 42A10?

This thread is alot more upbeat now. :D I wonder if the other people knocking the A10's came in to disrupt my dream of owning a 50A10 because they bought an inferior product :confused:

I've had the 42" A10 for about a week now, and I absolutely love it. I have an H10 feeding it the satellite signal via HDMI, and the SD quality ranges from decent to excellent. Some channels just look like garbage, but since they looked poor on my "old" 32" XBR too, I can't fault the new TV.

DVD's look fantastic, but again, they're completely source dependant. LoTR's and the original Star Wars films look absolutely stunning... while some lower quality discs can be a bit hard to watch. One thing I did notice is that the TV's zoom feature appears to be very good, as I have a few 4:3 letterbox DVD's I thought I would have to retire. As it turns out, most of them looked very good. I was very impressed. The player is a Pioneer 320 recorder, connected via component cables. I would love to get a high-quality upconverting player so I can see if it makes any difference, but I own a pretty good number of out of region movies, so I require that "special feature", which makes my options limited. I thought seriously about importing one of the European Pioneer Elite models (which come in silver to match the rest of my gear), but it would suck to drop that kind of dime on something only to not see any real difference in the picture quality.

The few HD broadcasts look incredible... there's nothing more I can say. Even with my satellite providers poor HD quality (I'm pretty sure you can figure out who I'm referring to), the picture is still awesome. I am seriously considering hitting up the local cable provider for a good deal so I can get some "real" HD channels.

Not a big fan of the dynamic iris, although with certain content it is somewhat useful. I just turned it off after getting my settings where I wanted them to be.

The red push is strong, and I would love to get the set calibrated by a professional. Any recommendations on a tech in the Northern Virginia area?

The digital out seems worthless, which was very disappointing. I had hoped that it would act as a pass through, so I could just feed the HDMI cable to the set, then the digital out to my A/V receiver. The TV will play sound via HDMI through its own speakers, but all attempts to get it to pass the signal to my receiver have failed. It's not a really big deal, but a bit annoying nonetheless.

I'll post some pics of it running various content in a little bit, so you can have a look for yourself.

Kai

Price at PC Richards is still $1888 for the E50A10! Go get em.

One more quick question. My viewing distance will be 8-10 feet. Will I be OK with the 42A10?

My viewing distance is 9ft. I have a 42 inch crt rear projection and am upgrading to the 50a10

Price at PC Richards is still $1888 for the E50A10! Go get em.

For the 50?? Wow! Sure it wasn't the 42??

Not sure why the bashers showed up--but I do know one thing--these sets are selling extremely fast. One thing is clear--Sony has placed this set at precisely the correct price point to bring a lot of people into the HD arena.

I cannot say my set is ideal--the red push is annoying--but I am pleased. The size
is really what sold me on the set. Hope everyone really does not get too touchy about the performance of this set and just enjoys the picture.

Brad

I try to be a realist:
- SDE can be noticed if looking for it, or stand too close. I could see it at about 12 feet, if I tried hard.
- SSE is noticible; you need to decide if it bothers you.
- The TV had a very good picture.
- The Panasonic 50" plasma looked so much better it ticked me off.

I hope my comments were not considered "bash"ing. My reaction to the 50" A10 I saw was it was as good or better than the DLPs and other rear projection TVs near it, keeping in mind the junky coax feed at Sears. I have seen only one A10 so far at one store, and plan on seeing more TVs at different stores.

I just got this home from Sears and hooked it up with the cable going straight into the TV...............LOUSY picture looks extremelly grainy like "modern art". I am ordering ANOTHER set. I even tried the DVD think at least that will have the usual great picture and the same thing..........bad and extremely grainy picture. Even Sony said in that case it must be the TV. HELP...........if there's anyone that would like to help I'd sure appreciate it. I can give you my phone number if you PM me. I saw the same tv at Sears and Best Buy and the picture was excellent. The box, BTW, was smashed in slightly on the side near the rear of the TV. I'm soooooooooooooo frustrated!!! HELP This should work find out of the box! This is the ONLY TV I ever got where it appears not to be good OTB.

Do you have a small antenna you can use? Do you have any local networks that transmit in High Def?

Price at PC Richards is still $1888 for the E50A10! Go get em.

I went in there the other day and the price was $1988, I'll try another store.

Bought the set from Best Buy, should arrive on the 2nd of Sept., possibly earlier.

Stopped by Sears tonight with my mother to look at stoves. While she looked at stoves, I drifted towards the TVs. I figured I'd tinker around with the 50A10 they have on display there.

I don't think the feed was very good, not SD, not digital, something in betwen digital and HD ... display said 480p ... not sure what channel it was, but some kind of Tom Petty concert was playing. This was good 'cause I could finally see how this set handled some difficult shadows and blacks. My impression: not particularly great ... nt as good as the 50" Samsung DLP next to it.

I tried turning DRC mode off, but the TV wouldn't let me (turning DRC off at Circuit City the day before seemed to help a lot, sharpened up the pic, gave it some 'pop'). Speaking of pop, Sears also had the Sony A20 on the floor, playing Shark Tale; is it me, or does that A20 have a much more vibrant and colorful pic. It's as if this new A10 series (from what I've seen in stores) has a very soft picture ... as if the lamp isn't strong enough or something .. very dim-looking. Has Sony cut some corners with this new set .. decreasing light output on the bulbs or something?

I don't know . I just wanna get this TV in my room, evaluate it, and get this whole business over with. I wanna be happy after spending over $2,000 ... if not, I'll be returning it .... and continue shopping and researching .. maybe I'll never buy a TV (LOL!) .. Oy, this HDTV-buying stuff is a tricky business. As they say, analysis is paralysis.

I went in there the other day and the price was $1988, I'll try another store.

The ad in Sunday's Star Ledger had it listed for $1888. Here it is. I bought it at another local store 2 weeks ago with a price guarantee. I brought this ad in this week and they pricematched for me and credited me $242 off my bill. Grand total $2052 with delivery and tax. :) :) :) :) :)

Oh my god :eek:

After viewing this ---> http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/pressroom/cont2.asp?Filter=12&cont_id=822


I think I'm gonna cancel my order and wait for the alleged price drop.

Guys, respectfully, this thread will get DELETED if you guys keep talking about prices below MSRP....if you want to talk about pricing, do it privately in private messages. Seriously, this thread has a fair amount of useful info and the moderators/admins will delete it if you continue the pricing talk....I don't want to see it deleted, do you?

Fair warning....it's not my rules....I just don't want to see this thread deleted.

The ad in Sunday's Star Ledger had it listed for $1888. Here it is. I bought it at another local store 2 weeks ago with a price guarantee. I brought this ad in this week and they pricematched for me and credited me $242 off my bill. Grand total $2052 with delivery and tax. :) :) :) :) :)

First of all i just twisted my neck, second, i think it's probably the WE655 series. No way in hell can the 50A10 be $18--, that would mean the 42" would have to be around $14--

It's as if this new A10 series (from what I've seen in stores) has a very soft picture ... as if the lamp isn't strong enough or something .. very dim-looking. Has Sony cut some corners with this new set .. decreasing light output on the bulbs or something?

Yes, Yoda1, SONY has intentionally decreased the light output to produce a dim-looking set. They have, in fact, used left-over christmas tree bulbs from Wal-Mart in a cost cutting measure. Truly, the picture is much softer than competitors sets to hide the dimness. Everyone knows the Japanese produce inferior products.

Run immediately to the phone and cancel your "order." Buy a Panasonic plasma set-- and since they don't burn-in anymore, buy a floor model and save some money.

I couldn't resist and why would you place a link to a Panasonic site? Obviously you just want to get fools like me to jump to the bait.

Sorry a good forum seems to be degenerating. I guess they all do.

Guys, respectfully, this thread will get DELETED if you guys keep talking about prices below MSRP....if you want to talk about pricing, do it privately in private messages. Seriously, this thread has a fair amount of useful info and the moderators/admins will delete it if you continue the pricing talk....I don't want to see it deleted, do you?

Fair warning....it's not my rules....I just don't want to see this thread deleted.


here here! i downloaded the thread, before it administrators kill it! :eek:

Leadercrat

"I have given myself anything I’ve ever wanted. There hasn't been any pleasure or object that I have refused to give myself. At the end of my life, I looked over everything that I had done and all that I had acquired. I looked at what I had worked so hard to get. And nothing, no nothing, had any meaning or real value. It was all like chasing the wind."

I am an employee at Best Buy and just picked up the e42a10 from the warehouse. A lot of the associates told me to buy the Samsung DLP instead but I felt that the picture was to dark. Anyway since I just got it I wanted to know why my component cables don't work in the the component jacks. Right now i have it only hooked up to a cheap cyberhome dvd player but it has component outputs, and the screen rotates across. Do I need to buy a upconvert dvd player to use the component cables or should I try a different dvd player? I am considering buying one but in the meantime I wanted to know if there is a problem with my tv or is it my cyberhome dvd player? Thank you for any insight that anyone can share.

Wow, Dale100, are we a bit testy today?

Internet forums are all the same, instead of the franchise wars (on movie forums), it's the tv-brand wars on here.

Me? I don't have allegiances to any one company or any one product, but this set, and the effusive praise for it on this forum, has me scratching my head. Are the people who like what they've seen really viewing the same set that I am?

I mean, the silk screen effect on this thing is very visible, much more so than the previous model. Colors are more washed out, black levels seems dimmer and more gray. Sure it has some nice features and inputs and all the rest of it. But it all comes down to PQ, and I just don't think this thing cuts it.

I am an employee at Best Buy and just picked up the e42a10 from the warehouse. A lot of the associates told me to buy the Samsung DLP instead but I felt that the picture was to dark. Anyway since I just got it I wanted to know why my component cables don't work in the the component jacks. Right now i have it only hooked up to a cheap cyberhome dvd player but it has component outputs, and the screen rotates across. Do I need to buy a upconvert dvd player to use the component cables or should I try a different dvd player? I am considering buying one but in the meantime I wanted to know if there is a problem with my tv or is it my cyberhome dvd player? Thank you for any insight that anyone can share.

Well, I have a 480i (i.e. non upconverting) DVD player connected to Video 5 (I'm pretty sure) with component cables and it works fine.
Try some different video inputs on the TV and see if that helps.

What do you mean by "the screen rotates across?" If you mean the DVD player's screen is visible on the TV, then it sure sounds like the TV is receiving from the DVD player. If that's the case, but the movie isn't showing, then it sure sounds like a DVD player problem to me.


Mitch

Yoda1, I just haven't seen any of the things you talk about and I looked at a lot of sets. I am looking at an 50A10 right now and it has a beautiful picture and it is on an SD analog channel, so it is hard for me to take you seriously, but you may have seen what you say. If you really have ordered one you should cancel it.

I agree that plasma sets have a PQ edge. I have seen plasma sets that looked like cartoons and expensive ones that look fantastic. In fact, seeing the plasma sets first got me interested in HD. I do, however, have a 90 year-old Mother living with me, who watches Fox News all day long. I really don't want the stress of worrying about burn-in. Like they say, I don't want to see a Fox news logo on the Sci-fi Channel. If plasma technology gets so I am sure burn-in is a thing of the past, I may buy one.

You should guess right now that the set is currently on-- Fox News.

First of all i just twisted my neck, second, i think it's probably the WE655 series. No way in hell can the 50A10 be $18--, that would mean the 42" would have to be around $14--

You're right, no way in hell that picture and model number is correct even though it says NEW Sony Grand Wega AND lists the model number KDFE50A10 AND shows a perfect picture of the new model TV. Regardless I got it for that price so I'm a happy boy.

Sorry no more price talk.

I actually really did order the tv. In fact, I went back to Best Buy today to cancel my service plan because the salesman there outright lied to me about the cost of a replacement lamp.

Dale100: There isn't any possibility that you could post some screenshots of HD or DVD, could you? I mean, I know you probably don't wanna deal with me right now, but I'd love to just get some idea of the great picture you're talking about.

Could anyone else, for that matter, post some screenshots? I'd love to see how Halo 2 looks on this thing, for instance.

Thx!

I have a 32in hd sony tv and it has a great picture, but my biggest grip is the 29in window in highdef...so small it looks about as good as a 480P dvd. So so I started looking at the 42a10 for my next set. After reading so many mixed reviews here I'm very confused now. I went to circuitcity today and saw it for the first time and loved the look of the cabinet.However, I cant tell about the pq they had a DVD movie playing on like 5 sets including this one, so I wasn't sure if it was a bad feed. I also looked at the older 42in model and it looked great but hate the cabinet style.Which is better?
42in owners are you guys happy with your sets?

holy crap - watched HD football for the first time tonight!! NE vs. NO. unfortunately the cable box is down but i was able to get it via coax. the picture is freaking crazy! i thought i had grass growing out of my tv it was so clear. the first thing that i noticed was the dirt flying off the grass during tackles - detail is incredible. fast movements do make my eyes a little shifty - i'm not sure if its me not used to a big tv (previous tv was 27" walmart phillips tv) or whether i'm picking up on the problem viewing fast motion on lcd. Can't wait to see the Bills tearing it up now

This thread is alot more upbeat now. :D I wonder if the other people knocking the A10's came in to disrupt my dream of owning a 50A10 because they bought an inferior product :confused:

My 42 A10 arrived today, and let me tell you, I was getting pretty nervous after readng all the comments the last week or so. I fully expected a busted up TV (due to shipping mishaps and) or dead pixels, or something bad. All my worries have been put to rest, my SD pic's are much better than I expected. I can't wait to get the CableCard installed, if the SD channels look this good, I can't wait to see what the HD channels look like. I'm in SoCal and have Charter Cable, it must be a decent feed.

Okay I have a question. Ive had the 42 a10 for a few days now and i just got done watching return of the king on my xbox via component. When it got to the end of the movie i hit the stop button on the controler and got up and turned my xbox off. As soon as I did that my tv made this click sound like it turned off yet it didnt turn off completely. The power button was blinking on and off and it made some beebing noises. At this point i switched back to my cable input and it came trough fine as if nothing had happened. I tried to recreate the scenario but it didnt happened this time. It has been working fine ever since. Any idea what could have happened? It wasnt a power surge or anything like that because nothing else in my apartment did anything funny. Should this be a cause for concern? What would you all do?

Dale100: There isn't any possibility that you could post some screenshots of HD or DVD, could you?

Funny you should ask, I was just thinking that someone should post some jpegs showing analog SD, and show good feeds versus poor feed examples. HD or DVD would be easy, they look so good. It sounds like a project and I can't do it tonight, but I may try to post HD and DVD examples tomorrow night. The SD analog pictures may take longer (to find proper good and bad examples.) Also my set has not been adjusted yet, that is another project.

There is a question about what you actually get viewing a compressed jpeg, but it seems to me to be helpful. I know someone posted good jpeg photos in this thread earlier.

I have a really dumb question, I have been trying to figure out this screen door effect stuff, I have a 17" gateway lcd screen with my PC, is it also effected by screen door effect? I know its a dumb question but I want to know what to look for when I go for a second look at the 42incher. I know that my 17'screen has a glazey look at some angles, is that what SDE is?

42" A10

Two attachments.

These pics are pretty bad because I took them with a 7.2 megapixel camera and resized the to 15%. I've only spent about 5 minutes calibrating the set, but I want to show that the TV is more than capable of showing standard 480i sources. If your SD is unwatchable, then it's your signal and another HDTV will not likely improve the SD significantly.

1 SD - Pardon the Interruption
Standard Directv signal
Directivo
Svideo cable
This picture is also stretched to wide zoom. It looks cleaner not stretched.
The text on the bottom is only blurry because it was moving (or my hand was) when the photo was taken.

1 DVD:
480I Panny DVD player through component.
I just wanted to grab a shot with some black level in it. The black level does not match a CRT, but it's not like there are only shades of grey or something. It looks good to me.

Xbox and my V880 DVD player look much better than these sources. I haven't hooked up HDTV to this yet.

I'll post some more this weekend.

That price posted earlier on the 50" is insane...anyone else able to verify?

The 42 A10 was delivered late this afternoon. Like someone else said, the mixed reviews in this thread started me to doubt my initial enthusiasm. Without much fussing, I connected it to a non-HD cable box via a RCA video cable - and was blown away. The picture was beautiful. I only adjusted it from vivid to regular and kept switching between normal (with the black edges) and wide zoom. Stars played Rocky Horror Picture Show and, well, wow. To put my experience in context, though, I have been watching a 15+ year old 27 inch RCA for about 12 of those years and this is my first NIGHT living with the wonders of large screen television. Still, the picture looks pretty darn good to me. I will be trading for a HD cable box tomorrow, so maybe I'll have more to report then. Thanks for the fun and informative forum.

I've had the 42" A10 for about a week now, and I absolutely love it. I have an H10 feeding it the satellite signal via HDMI, and the SD quality ranges from decent to excellent. Some channels just look like garbage, but since they looked poor on my "old" 32" XBR too, I can't fault the new TV.

DVD's look fantastic, but again, they're completely source dependant. LoTR's and the original Star Wars films look absolutely stunning... while some lower quality discs can be a bit hard to watch. One thing I did notice is that the TV's zoom feature appears to be very good, as I have a few 4:3 letterbox DVD's I thought I would have to retire. As it turns out, most of them looked very good. I was very impressed. The player is a Pioneer 320 recorder, connected via component cables. I would love to get a high-quality upconverting player so I can see if it makes any difference, but I own a pretty good number of out of region movies, so I require that "special feature", which makes my options limited. I thought seriously about importing one of the European Pioneer Elite models (which come in silver to match the rest of my gear), but it would suck to drop that kind of dime on something only to not see any real difference in the picture quality

The few HD broadcasts look incredible... there's nothing more I can say. Even with my satellite providers poor HD quality (I'm pretty sure you can figure out who I'm referring to), the picture is still awesome. I am seriously considering hitting up the local cable provider for a good deal so I can get some "real" HD channels.

Not a big fan of the dynamic iris, although with certain content it is somewhat useful. I just turned it off after getting my settings where I wanted them to be.

The red push is strong, and I would love to get the set calibrated by a professional. Any recommendations on a tech in the Northern Virginia area?

The digital out seems worthless, which was very disappointing. I had hoped that it would act as a pass through, so I could just feed the HDMI cable to the set, then the digital out to my A/V receiver. The TV will play sound via HDMI through its own speakers, but all attempts to get it to pass the signal to my receiver have failed. It's not a really big deal, but a bit annoying nonetheless.

I'll post some pics of it running various content in a little bit, so you can have a look for yourself.

Kai

Why not just use an optical cable from the TV to the A/V receiver?

I started a separate thread two days ago about sticker removal but I think I better post here too.

Folks be careful when removing those two stickers from the front bezel. The smaller one came off fine but when I took the big 3 LCD one off it pulled paint off the bezel!!!!

I was able to fix w/magic marker (nobody will ever no; except me unfortunately) but be careful!!!!

I did call sony and told them to check with manufacturing to let them know. I suppose I could return the set but all else is perfect so I'd rather not.

BE ADVISED.........

I am an employee at Best Buy and just picked up the e42a10 from the warehouse. A lot of the associates told me to buy the Samsung DLP instead but I felt that the picture was to dark. Anyway since I just got it I wanted to know why my component cables don't work in the the component jacks. Right now i have it only hooked up to a cheap cyberhome dvd player but it has component outputs, and the screen rotates across. Do I need to buy a upconvert dvd player to use the component cables or should I try a different dvd player? I am considering buying one but in the meantime I wanted to know if there is a problem with my tv or is it my cyberhome dvd player? Thank you for any insight that anyone can share.

As I recall when I set up my Cyberhome (I just use it for region free), it comes programmed to output via composite. You need to hook it up that way (just run the extra cable into a spare input) to see the menu so that you can change it over to component. It should work fine after that. Not the smartest design, but it's a one time fix.

for all of you who live in the NYC area, saw in the paper this morning on the way to work that PC Richards is having a 4 day sale in which you pay what the employees pay on everything in the store. Use this opportunity and go get the Sonys. Been a great purchase so far. Watched the Matrix last night on TNT-HD(never a big fan with tnt-hd picture quality for some reason) but this looked great. You could see all the details, and even the little 10min animatrix video was awesome.

The Sears ad, in the paper this morning, has a great price on the 50a10. Also, have 0% interest until Aug '06 if you use your Sears card.

The Sears ad, in the paper this morning, has a great price on the 50a10. Also, have 0% interest until Aug '06 if you use your Sears card.

What's your location?

I'm jealous of all these discounted prices everyone seems to be getting! The only one I've seen in a store so far was at MSRP. It was at Sears, and the salesman was actually pretty helpful. I thought SD looked pretty decent, and HD was very impressive. They were using a satellite feed.

Thank you for the photos, outoffocus. This is what I really needed to see. Of course all the plasma talk got me to consider the panasonic - so, I'm torn b/w the Sony 50A10 and Panny Plasma. The only real reason for considering an ED is the fact that I won't have HD at any point in the foreseeable future. :sigh:

Thanks to everyone. Keep the reviews coming

Phil

I think, since I've also read that Sony's LCDs have an analog phase when using HDMI,

Can anyone confirmed this? I thought it was on the 2004's, but not on the 2005's

I bought my KDF-E50A10 on August 12, from Sears, and the sales person said if I would bring my receipt and credit card back to them on August 20 they would refund $250.00 of the price. It has to do with a "price reduction" or "price matching". Thought if anyone bought this set in the last few weeks from Sears, you might want to look into this.

The blacks on that Oceans Twelve DVD Menu look pretty damn good in that screencap.

I've decided what I'm gonna do. I was gonna just bring my receipt back to Best Buy and get a full refund on my order, and wait 'til November to buy a new set, but after reading about the good reviews on this thread, I'm gonna give the TV a chance.

I gotta say, though - this waiting stuff really sucks, and my vaccilating nature on stuff like this is probably getting on peoples' nerves. LOL. Sorry, guys.

Just recently purchased the 42A10 and am trying to obtain a good combination of the settings. Could ayone that has this or the 50" please post their settings that they were satisfied with. I am new to all of this and need some help.

Thanks!!

I bought my KDF-E50A10 on August 12, from Sears, and the sales person said if I would bring my receipt and credit card back to them on August 20 they would refund $250.00 of the price. It has to do with a "price reduction" or "price matching". Thought if anyone bought this set in the last few weeks from Sears, you might want to look into this.If I remember correctly, Best Buy gives you 30 days from the day of your purchase to bring in proof of a lower price than what you paid and they will refund you the difference.

Yeah, BB, CC and Sears all do that. As does Boscovs, I believe.

Yoda1 and Mark Oliver,

Here is a FAQ on the Zenith 318 DVD player, which is the same as the LG upconverting player you have discussed.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=400480

I have this player and use it with a GWIV. All you have to do is flash to an earlier firmware and it will upconvert any DVD through component. Works great, picture is fantastic.

Just recently purchased the 42A10 and am trying to obtain a good combination of the settings. Could ayone that has this or the 50" please post their settings that they were satisfied with. I am new to all of this and need some help.

Thanks!!

Many DVD's like Finding Nemo and Star Wars have the THX optimizer in the set up menu which you can use to at least get the brightness set correctly. There is a THX pattern where you drop the brightness until the THX shadow blends in with the background.

It seems like with this TV you really need to decide on an iris level before anything thing else. I dropped my iris down to 1 to decrease the overall black level and then set the contrast and brightness from there. My contrast and brightness are around 45 - 48 I think. If the set appears too dim after calibration, then raise the iris up a notch and recalibrate the brightness again until you are happy with the picture.

There are a ton of settings in the Advanced menu that you can experiment with, but this basic process will get you going until you buy a calibration disk like DVE. I have DVE.

Just recently purchased the 42A10 and am trying to obtain a good combination of the settings. Could ayone that has this or the 50" please post their settings that they were satisfied with. I am new to all of this and need some help.

Thanks!!

post #'s 1383 and 1586. and, someone did start a settings discussion, if you can find it.

I hope to buy a 42A10 soon and plan on using a cable HD box for 95% of my viewing; Sony combo DVD/VCR viewing for the balance.

Now I'm getting a little confused about "upconverting players," cables, etc. (Guess I was hoping it would be as simple as hooking up a VCR....) :rolleyes:

Is there a FAQ or a good place to get a beginner's explanation of all this.

I posted earlier but got no responses so I will post it again......

. Ive had the 42 a10 for a few days now and i just got done watching return of the king on my xbox via component. When it got to the end of the movie i hit the stop button on the controler and got up and turned my xbox off. As soon as I did that my tv made this click sound like it turned off yet it didnt turn off completely. The power light was blinking on and off and it made some beebing noises. At this point i switched back to my cable input and it came through fine as if nothing had happened. I tried to recreate the scenario but it didnt happen again. It has been working fine ever since. Any idea what could have happened? It wasnt a power surge or anything like that because nothing else in my apartment did anything funny. Should this be a cause for concern? What would you all do?

Anyone able to get any other stores to match the PC Richards price? I am highly doubtful that taking that picture into Sears, Best Buy, Circuit City will help. But I think I will eventually try. :)

Also, anyone in FL or GA, if you go to a Brandsmart (I understand they also have a very low price for this set) could you please scan a receipt or take a pic of the price tag and PM me? They won't quote prices over the phone.

Thanks!
Aaron

Anyone spot one in canada yet?

Circuit City now has the 50in on their website. No 42in yet, but will probably be up by the end of the weekend. They want to make money off of the 50in first I guess.

FYI, almost two weeks from tomorrow since I first got this tv and am loving every minute of it.

Why not just use an optical cable from the TV to the A/V receiver?

That's what I did, and it doesn't work. It's not sending anything to the receiver.

Kai

That's what I did, and it doesn't work. It's not sending anything to the receiver.

KaiThe optical connenction will only send audio when you have a digital signal. You still need RCA cables to the receiver for analog channels.

The optical connenction will only send audio when you have a digital signal. You still need RCA cables to the receiver for analog channels.

I was under the impression that all the audio being put through by my satellite provider was digital.

Would a 5.1 signal from the receiver be considered digital, because that didn't work either. :confused:

Kai

Stopped by HHGregg and Circuit City yesterday to look at the 50A10. In HHGregg I was met at the entrance by a greeter who asked what item I was looking for and quickly turned me over to a TV salesman. He immediately knew the model, showed it and was quite familiar with the set and competitive models. The PQ on HD was better than I expected based on some criticisms posted here, and the SD PQ would be satisfactory for me. Price quoted was modestly below MSRP. Warranty for 5 years from date of PURCHASE quoted at 400 covering all parts and in home labor. On the other hand at CC I waited in the TV section for
about 10 minutes with no salesman in sight. I finally tracked one down and he advised that the A10s were not in stock but could be ordered. Scratch CC.
This was my first contact with HHGregg and needless to say I was favorably impressed. I would be interested to learn of others experiences in dealing with HHGregg especially with
after sale and warranty service compared to CC. Ready to buy the 50A10, should I buy from HHGregg?

I was under the impression that all the audio being put through by my satellite provider was digital.

Would a 5.1 signal from the receiver be considered digital, because that didn't work either. :confused:

Kai

In the manual, it says on page 29 that the digital audio output jack is available when the TV receives a digtial TV channel. I interpret this to mean that the TV's tuner has to be the one receiving the channel. So, if you have a separate receiver (aka set top box) that then feeds the TV, the TV will not output on the digital audio jack.

In my experience, when watching OTA digital stations the optical output is active. When watching analog cable that is directly connected to the TV, the optical output is not active.
I have no experience with set top boxes or CableCARDs.


Mitch

I posted earlier but got no responses so I will post it again......

. Ive had the 42 a10 for a few days now and i just got done watching return of the king on my xbox via component. When it got to the end of the movie i hit the stop button on the controler and got up and turned my xbox off. As soon as I did that my tv made this click sound like it turned off yet it didnt turn off completely. The power light was blinking on and off and it made some beebing noises. At this point i switched back to my cable input and it came through fine as if nothing had happened. I tried to recreate the scenario but it didnt happen again. It has been working fine ever since. Any idea what could have happened? It wasnt a power surge or anything like that because nothing else in my apartment did anything funny. Should this be a cause for concern? What would you all do?

I would file it away in my brain and just see if it happens again and even then unless I was able to reproduce it readily, I probably wouldn't worry about it. At least during the first 11 months (before the manufacturer's warranty expired).


Mitch

I was under the impression that all the audio being put through by my satellite provider was digital.

Would a 5.1 signal from the receiver be considered digital, because that didn't work either. :confused:

KaiMr. Nutz, :D
On page 29 of the 50A10 Manual (http://www.sonystyle.com/intershoproot/eCS/Store/en/documents/specifications/kdfe50a10_manual.pdf) Simply states: "The DIGITAL AUDIO (OPTICAL) OUT jack is available when the TV receives a digital TV channel." and "You can use the TV's DIGITAL AUDIO (OPTICAL) OUT jack to connect a digital audio device that is PCM/Dolby Digital compatible, such as an audio amplifier"


EDIT: yea what Mitch said :D

ncg8r2, go back to CC and tell them to look it up in their internal system. It will be there under SON KDFE50A10. They probably have them at your regional warehouse and can ship to you right away. You just need to speak to the right sales person.

Yoda1

Well if you get it from BB I guess you have the 30 days. I worry that you sounded so down earlier that you may fixate on the negatives of rear projection.

As far the dim bulb look, maybe the iris was stuck or defective on the set you saw.

During the first couple of hours I saw the iris darken the scene and lighten it on The Young and the Restless. After that I haven't seen it operating. Maybe it had to operate awhile to break-in and lubricate or something. I forgot about it and now realize I haven't seen it operate lately.

Comparing a 55A20 to a Samsung, the Samsung looked really good. The colors were good and no lcd pixils close-up. I just thought the Sony was more vivid and three dimensional. Now I realize the Sonys are probably on VIVID so they are brighter in the stores. If I don't see lots of rainbows, and I don't, I could probably buy a Samsung and be happy, or even a Panasonic rear projection, or maybe a JVC. I don't know if there is that great of a difference in the home environment. I think you would have to demo models for awhile together in your home to really decide. Soon they will come out with the 1080p's and new SRXD's. I have read posts to say you are hard pressed to see the difference between 720p and 1080p, others are raving. If you are really worried why not wait? What could happen? Maybe the cost will go up $200, a small price for peace of mind. I have to worry about seeing an SXRD. Of course they cost a lot more.

I think there is a bigger difference between types of TV, i.e., plasma, rear projection, LCD, or CRT, and you have to choose your poison, as I read on another thread. I made an assumption that the electronics for color and image manipulation would be slightly better in a Sony, but I don't know if that is true or not.

I can say that on the 50A10, HD looks spectacular, DVD looks great, my SD analog is fine and MUCH better than expected, and SVHS is usable but not good on some scenes. I assume I would probably have the same opinion if I had a Samsung delivered instead. At times, a rear projection TV will demonstrate the weaknesses of rear projection.

I can't chance a plasma because I will have a static image way more than 15% of the time.

Question: Is a cable box necessary to use with the A10 for regular (non premium) channels? If not, what are the pro's/con's of using or bypassing the box?

Thanks

Impressions, part II

I spent the morning looking at the 42" A10 at Tweeter, BB, and CC. Fortunately, all three are within a mile of each other.

Tweeter first. The TV looked a lot better at Tweeter (than at Sears). The input was component, and the dimmer lighting emulates my family room better. They were showing Discovery HD off DirecTV. SDE and SSE were not bothersome at all.
I checked out a few plasmas too, but neither they or any other TV in the store looked better. I did not ask about a lower price, but Tweeter has it on sale for 2 Benjamins off. They said $300 for a 3 year warrany w/o bulb, and $600 for a 4 year with bulb.

BB next. It was set up on the edge of the TV section, so more lighting. The input was a coax satellite feed. The picture still looked good. A bit more SDE and SSE was noticable. The TV was MSRP. They said $399 for a 4 year warranty with bulb.
I did try to bargain the price down. They will match Tweeter's sale, but will not come lower.

I also looked at other plasmas, RP, and LCD sets. The new Sony 32" LCDs were the best looking LCDs to me. The plasmas looked no better than anything else, and there was one 50+ inch Toshiba RP that was the best looking RP set.

CC last. The lighting was way too bright there. The input was a component (I think). The picture looked like the Sears set I saw earlier this week; good but not great. The plasmas looked no better. The TV was one sale for 2 Benjamins off. They said $419 for a 4 year warranty with bulb. I mentioned that CC warranty was $399, and he lowered his warranty to that. I did not try to bargain the TV price down.

In all 3 stores, I noticed that the vertical angle of good, bright picture is narrower that I thought, and the horizontal angle is fine. This should not be a problem at my home, since the TV will be pretty much eye-level.

So, I have decided that I will puchase a 42" A10. Wife gave a green light too. Now, I need to try to get Tweeter or CC down a bit in the price, or wait until I can someday get 15% off.

In the manual, it says on page 29 that the digital audio output jack is available when the TV receives a digtial TV channel. I interpret this to mean that the TV's tuner has to be the one receiving the channel. So, if you have a separate receiver (aka set top box) that then feeds the TV, the TV will not output on the digital audio jack.

In my experience, when watching OTA digital stations the optical output is active. When watching analog cable that is directly connected to the TV, the optical output is not active.
I have no experience with set top boxes or CableCARDs.


Mitch

Ah, I see. I did read that passage of the manual, and found it to be very vague, and since I can't get OTA dgital broadcasts, I would never have known that. Thanks for the info.

Kai

Question: Is a cable box necessary to use with the A10 for regular (non premium) channels? If not, what are the pro's/con's of using or bypassing the box?

Thanks

Con of bypassing the box: If you plan on recording anything (SVHS, DVHS, DVD-R), you'll be limited to composite video. I believe that's the only type of video out these models have.

You can't access program guides.

Pro: You... don't need the box. :D Some buyers have reported better picture quality when using the "Cable Card" solution, but that may be wishful thinking. At least it'll save you some money on cables.

Kai

You may have a bad optical cable, receiver, or :eek: optical port on the TV. My optical port works fine from my TV to my AV receiver.

That's what I did, and it doesn't work. It's not sending anything to the receiver.

Kai

I recently purchased the 42" A10 and wanted to know what would be a good DVD player to match with this TV to utilize most of its features?

I presently have a Panasonic rp82 which is great but I am not sure it is what I need.

Thanks, Brad

Anybody in the DFW area notice the Fry's ad in today's paper? They have a picture of the a10, described as a 42" Sony with the lowest price I've seen so far. The ad does not state the model number. I wonder if they're really selling the a10 for that price or if it's the older model (655?).

PM me if you know.

Thanks!

I just called Fry's and they confirmed over the phone the price you were mentioning. 4 benjamins off ? ? ? holy cow.

i'm leaving work NOW. =)

A few pages back, I posted a problem with my new 50A10 regarding horizontal off-black/dark grey bars "flickering" on/off my screen, randomly appearing here and there, up and down the display. When viewing content, it is as if a candle is flickering somewhere in every scene, illuminating/flickering on walls and any solid-color surface. Didn't get a reply from anyone, so I'm guessing it's a problem specific to my situation. It happens when displaying DVD as well as mostly HD (any resolution) content, though it is much less noticeable on SD.

Given the phenomenon occurs on two different sources, it may be the set (Sony's sending someone out tomorrow to check it out). But I've been wondering - could it be a power supply issue? I admit I only have a mid-level "Monster" power strip/management/center/whatever-monster-calls-it thing that I hook up the TV and other components to. (I know - waste of money, Monster . . . . I was young and stupid. We all make mistakes - that's how we learn, eh? Now I'm old and stupid, so I know better.)

Any AV experts out there who might enlighten me as to the possibity that the issue is power supply, and, if so, what does one get to smooth/fix it?

Voluminous thanks, in advance, for any assistance . . . .

I was at H.H. Gregg this morning and they had on this sunrise thing on discovery HD. This made it much much easier to compare models as the images were static and really showed the differences between them. I really encourage anyone in the east and midwest to watch discovery HD's west coast sunrise to compare tvs at the store. Since you're watching sunrises you can really see how well a tv does with bright and dark areas at the same time, as well as with minute details seen in rock and vegetation.

The 42A10 looked good, but playing with the settings I couldn't get the clarity of the previous model. I would say lowering the iris causes significant loss in dark detail. It does lower the black level, but you loose detail. The previous model seemed more defined and more "in focus". Their signal quality wasn't too great though, and it was obvious on all their tv's, but still I don't like this iris.

"Circuit City now has the 50in on their website"

indeed they do.... and on sale at their site for 10% off msrp. people wanting to buy this set at sears should at least print the cc web site ad before going over in case they have it selling at msrp.

Given the phenomenon occurs on two different sources, it may be the set (Sony's sending someone out tomorrow to check it out). But I've been wondering - could it be a power supply issue? I admit I only have a mid-level "Monster" power strip/management/center/whatever-monster-calls-it thing that I hook up the TV and other components to. (I know - waste of money, Monster . . . . I was young and stupid. We all make mistakes - that's how we learn, eh? Now I'm old and stupid, so I know better.)


FFRED,

I dont see how it could be a powersupply problem. Most people that buy these sets plug them right into the wall or into a $10 Walmart powerstrip. So I'm sure Sony takes this into account when they design these TVs. Its starting to seem like the clean power hysteria towards audio components is now drifting into TV discussions.

You can get a cheap voltage tester from Radioshack to make sure the voltage is steady at the outlet. They are like $6 for the analog one.

Good luck hope you get it figured out.

I am interested in the Sony 42a10, I currently have a Samsung SIRTS-360 Directv hd receiver. The receiver has inputs that will allow DVD(component) and VCR(composite) to run thru the receiver. I can ouput through a dvi connection at 480i/p, 720p, or 1081i. Would this work better than a connection DVD & VCR to the inputs in the back of the TV??
Thanks

ncg8r2, go back to CC and tell them to look it up in their internal system. It will be there under SON KDFE50A10. They probably have them at your regional warehouse and can ship to you right away. You just need to speak to the right sales person.


Thanks Scherer

I was mainly wanting to find anyone who had experience buying from HHGregg
and whether they are good to do business with. Also do they live up to their warranty claims. Gregg is new to our area and I have not had any experience with them. Unfortunately I have not had pleasant experience with Circuit City.

Anyone had experience with HHGregg?

Richard

does anyone know any place in nj that has the stand for the 50 inch in stock . .
cc has been jerking me around about everyday its coming in and i paid for it 2 weeks ago .. and its never coming .. thanks

I am interested in the Sony 42a10, I currently have a Samsung SIRTS-360 Directv hd receiver. The receiver has inputs that will allow DVD(component) and VCR(composite) to run thru the receiver. I can ouput through a dvi connection at 480i/p, 720p, or 1081i. Would this work better than a connection DVD & VCR to the inputs in the back of the TV??
Thanks

I've always prefered to run my Video directly to the TV. Its not as convienent but I guess I'm just more comfortable with that. Plus I would rather have my DVD player deinterlace to 480P and then let the TV scale it to 720p. You could just try it both ways and see what works best for you picture and convienence wise.

Rather than a post about where to buy or why not to buy or how much I bought the TV for, etc., I wanted to ask a couple questions of fellow A10 owners (I have the 50A10).

Do you hear the fan? If not what's your TV/Stand setup like? I hear it during silences in dialogue and that sort of thing. I'm wondering if I could baffle it in any way to cut down on the noise.

Did you happen to catch Nature on PBS Digital (last night around here). It was an episode about animals that travel and navigate across the Earth. If so, what did the picture look like when they showed all those Monarch Butterflies flitting off the tree (in Mexico) as they start to make their way to the North. For me, it was a mess of blocky oranges and blacks. So, I'm wondering if that's just a reality of the TV (of perhaps 1080i to 720p conversion), or my signal.

Has anyone done a solid A-B comparison of a 480i DVD player and a 480p DVD player with their set?


Mitch

FFRED,

I dont see how it could be a powersupply problem. Most people that buy these sets plug them right into the wall or into a $10 Walmart powerstrip. So I'm sure Sony takes this into account when they design these TVs. Its starting to seem like the clean power hysteria towards audio components is now drifting into TV discussions.

You can get a cheap voltage tester from Radioshack to make sure the voltage is steady at the outlet. They are like $6 for the analog one.

Good luck hope you get it figured out.

Thanks for the suggestion. For $6, I'll definitely do that. Didn't mean to contribute to the clean power hysteria, but my thinking isn't that I have less-than-pristine power; more like for whatever reason I have really crappy power (so I'm actually contributing more to the really-crappy-power hysteria). Just a theory, of course.

Again, thanks for your suggestion; I hadn't thought of that.

I am approaching the end of my first week with my 50A10 and couldn't be happier. A few random thoughts.... I have made a few more adjustments following suggestions posted earlier in this thread and am getting a terrific picture. If you are not happy with your picture and don't have your own calibration disc, try the detailed settings posted by a couple of people about a week ago. Yes, SD is SD, but my wife has pronounced the SD on the A10 to be better than it was on the 27" Trinitron tube. And the HD is spectacular! I admit that I have less than perfect vision, but I am not having any SDE or SSE issues from a reasonable viewing distance. I have not noticed any motion pixelation either. I can remember how bad the motion pixelation was on the first Sony LCD projection I viewed several years ago, but it does not seem to be an issue in this one. I have watched some baseball and other speed content specifically looking for it, but it just is not an issue in this set. I am finding that anytime I settle on programming from a local broadcast station, I switch from cable to the antenna to check the OTA signal. It is not unusual to find something only in SD on (TW -- Houston) cable, while OTA has both SD and HD signals. It is not unusual to find a 4:3 HD picture on cable, while OTA has it in 16:9. Last night, I stumbled onto a PBS Soundstage presentation of an America performance that was visually stunning. I can't wait for them to broadcast a band I actually care about.... OK, time to leave the office and go watch TV!

What sort of cable would I need to hook up my laptop to one of these models? Is it a DVI cable?

They do not take dvi.

They have a VGA port (15 pin), and a HDMI port (which you can get a dvi-hdmi converter for).

I'm using the VGA port and its great!
(Acutally, I have a DVI-VGA converter that came with the video card on my desktop, as my video card does not have vga, just two dvi's.)

Do you hear the fan? If not what's your TV/Stand setup like? I hear it during silences in dialogue and that sort of thing. I'm wondering if I could baffle it in any way to cut down on the noise.

Did you happen to catch Nature on PBS Digital (last night around here). It was an episode about animals that travel and navigate across the Earth. If so, what did the picture look like when they showed all those Monarch Butterflies flitting off the tree (in Mexico) as they start to make their way to the North. For me, it was a mess of blocky oranges and blacks. So, I'm wondering if that's just a reality of the TV (of perhaps 1080i to 720p conversion), or my signal.

I can only hear the fan if I happen to be near the back of the set. But even then it is really quiet. I have a cheap $80 stand from BB that matches the color of my 42A10.

The blockiness is most likely from the downconversion. I see this occasionally.

Anybody in the DFW area notice the Fry's ad in today's paper? They have a picture of the a10, described as a 42" Sony with the lowest price I've seen so far. The ad does not state the model number. I wonder if they're really selling the a10 for that price or if it's the older model (655?).

PM me if you know.

Thanks!

They did the same thing on the A20 last week (and I price matched to BB). That should be the A10.

I purchased the 50" A10 today from CC and will be setting it up tomorrow. I will be primarily using it for Xbox about 80%. Do I need to worry about burn-in? I've done the searches but have found some conflicting reports. Thanks!

No, there is no burn in for LCD TV's. There are some posts that say a temporary after-image is possible on an LCD but that it will go away with some normal viewing or a quick view of NTSC noise.
I purchased the 50" A10 today from CC and will be setting it up tomorrow. I will be primarily using it for Xbox about 80%. Do I need to worry about burn-in? I've done the searches but have found some conflicting reports. Thanks!

Anyone spot one in canada yet?

I have only seen the 55A20.
BTW,
I hear that the Canadian 50A10 models will be 2nd generation models with HD quality SD picture quality!






;)

...
Did you happen to catch Nature on PBS Digital (last night around here). It was an episode about animals that travel and navigate across the Earth. If so, what did the picture look like when they showed all those Monarch Butterflies flitting off the tree (in Mexico) as they start to make their way to the North. For me, it was a mess of blocky oranges and blacks. So, I'm wondering if that's just a reality of the TV (of perhaps 1080i to 720p conversion), or my signal.
Mitch
The blockiness that you saw is a result of the station's MPEG-2 compression not doing a good job with the large amount of changing detail in the image. The more bit starved the situation the more likely this is to occur. The quality of the station's (or Network's in Fox's case) compression hardware matters also. The best situation would be state of the art compression from pristine data to 720p into a single subcarrier with the full ATSC data rate- then you would almost never see this problem. The worst is when the data is subject to several compressions (Network, Station, MSO) in succession down to too low a rate because the bits are being stolen for other uses.

:eek:
I was away for 5 days, come back and this thread had 500 new posts and I think some guys were paid to post from their employer known as the "Plasma Manufacturers Association of Greater North America".
Later,
great reading as always.
:p

Anyone spot one in canada yet?

I'm in London Ont. and have hit most of the stores here---nothing!!! Everyone I've talked to says Sept, but it always feels like a quickie uneducated guess.

Mark, check out the digitalhomecanada website, it's a great website similar to this one but is focused on Canada(prices/sightings etc.).

Thanks to all in this thread who have been leaving feedback, I hadn't even cosidered RPLCD until i happened to wander into this thread. After reading all one million posts I went to Futureshop and checked out the we620's which should be comparable and was blown away! This is the closest I've seen a microdisplay come to CRT quality. The picture is sharp and vivid, yet seems to have a soft, natural feel to it at the same time. I actually said 'wow' in the store.

And here I thought LCD's were ugly little computer monitors with horrible SDE!

The best part is the A10 is supposed to be an improvement! The only things I'm worried about are stuck pixels and what the price will be in Canada.

thanks again
JASON

I just called Fry's and they confirmed over the phone the price you were mentioning. 4 benjamins off ? ? ? holy cow.

i'm leaving work NOW. =)


That would be the same price I got my A10 from Sears for, + free delivery.

Some questions (and several subquestions directly or indirectly concerning the A10)...

1. Since I've seen several posts about DVD upconversion concerning which is better to output -- 480i or 480p -- isn't as important to make sure you have your DVD player set to output anamorphic? Or is it assumed that it's already set correctly as anyone without setting it would notice gray bars or empty space on the sides? Is it possible someone just used the zoom function to make it fit the screen?

Maybe I'm just confused as I don't have an HDTV, yet. Or, maybe I should just assume if they're on these forums they're smarter than that. :)

Thinking out loud, I would think it would be possible for someone to switch from a 10 year old CRT (no "anamorphic squish" mode) with a 5 year old DVD player (that was never set to output anamorphic, just 4x3) to a brand new HDTV and complain of poor DVD quality. Never even realizing that with anamorphic they might get seemingly double the resolution.

2. Does progressive output automatically go anamorphic?

3. Wouldn't it be nice if Orlando had a large discount electronics store like PC Richards, Fry's or the like? I mean, Best Buy and Circuit City are nice, but seeing people getting this TV for $400/500 less than retail is discouraging. Heck, an Ikea wouldn't hurt either. :)

I want an A10 for $400 below cost, too. Sheesh!

Thanks in advance. Please be kind.

i'm getting headaches watching the 50a10...is this common? there is a small blur (as i posted earlier, a replacement unit is on order) could this be causing the headaches? or could i be reacting to high brightness?

Can't decide between the 42"a10 or this plasma I came across Hisense TA42P-HDRA on tigerdirect that happens to be a samsung they share the same panel. The plasma is high rez long life plasma(50'000hours)3.3" slim and has dvi inputs/pc inputs but no cablecard slot, while the sony is fully loaded with features.Both about the same price :confused: :confused: :confused:

i'm getting headaches watching the 50a10...is this common? there is a small blur (as i posted earlier, a replacement unit is on order) could this be causing the headaches? or could i be reacting to high brightness?


Sounds like the secret is out. The new Sony's are actually DLPs!

Sounds like the secret is out. The new Sony's are actually DLPs!


whats going on? does this happen on lcds 2? or just the factory settings getting to me (on standard)