Ok - I've had my 50E2000 for alittle over 3 weeks now.
A couple of observations.
- SHOP AROUND! I originally was interested in a A10 and wanted to purchase one. Looked at a number of stores including the usuals (BB, CC, Costco, etc). I then went to a local appliance shop. The Store Mgr. said finding an A10 would be difficult but he had one in another store....then....he offered me this deal. He said the E2000 was new and just available. After a bit of further talking, I got the E2000 with stand, with a 5yr warrantly (that includes bulbs), with free delivery out the door for $2,050! This was MUCH better than any of the others.
- Now that I've had a bit of time to play with a few settings and watch a few hours on it, I'm amazed at the PQ. This set rivals my neighbors 42" Samsung Plasma. We think it even looks better in some situations. We both have cable.
My SD cable channels look great...even better than my 43" Toshiba rear projection. I'm getting my local HD channels OTA through an antenna I placed in my attic. They look great. One feature that I think is great on this set is that the TV automatically adjust the picture size to the broadcast. My neighbors Plasma does not do this, and they have it always set to fill the screen.....seems like alot of clarity is lost. He's very disappointed that his set doesn't do this.
- There appears to be a slight red push but if you use the Neutral setting and it is minimized. I think the red push is a trademark of Sony as I have a Sony 707 digicam that also has a thing for red! Not sure if its the same as the A10 but I don't think its too bad.
- As to SDE...come on....if you are at least 10-12 feet away, its virtually non-existant.
- I also went out and bought a Monster HTS-1000. Again, SHOP AROUND. This is for sale at most stores for $149. I got a brand new in sealed package off of EBAY for less than 1/2. I did notice a slight improvement in PQ with this protector.
- Now, the fun part (or frustrating part for some). Playing with the settings. I know that settings are very subjective and based on personal preference. I find myself trying new settings all the time. I don't think there are really any 'best' settings as it really depends on what you are watching, how the program is taped/broadcast, and the brightness of the room. But.......below are what I found seems to look about the best for most.
Custom
Auto Iris 2
Picture = 78
Brightness = 48
Color = 62 *
Hue = default (sometimes G1)
Color Temp = Neutral (although for some sporting events, I like COOL)
Sharpness = 32
Advanced Settings
Black Corrector = Low (off makes the blacks look washed out, Med 'could' be ok in some instances but you seem to lose fine details)
Gamma = Low
Clear White = Off (sometime Low, I'm a bit uncertain as to what this really does)
Color Corrector = Off *
* I've played a bit with the Color Corrector. When its set to Low, I change my Color setting to 43....picture looks pretty much the same as when its off and Color is 62 so I now leave it off.
- Can someone educate my a bit as to all the talk about calibration disks....are they really worth it or should we just go with 'what looks good'? Since I always like to play with the set, I'll most likely try this route just to see what all the hoopla is about (and if it really makes a huge difference in how I have my settings today!)
- I have no real complaints with this set. Glad I got it over the Mitsu I was comparing it to! I guess my only complaint is maybe I should have held out for the 55 inch!!!! lol.
Alan
