Emerson 37"

Just bought one of the Emersons today. 8-22-2006.
So far so good, I guess.[EDIT]

Took back a Polaroid FLM 323B that I really liked but the Audio outputs were variable with the sets speaker audio instead of being fixed, and it was way too low.

Just didn't work with the outboard audio amp.

I will give the Emerson a few days to decide whether or not to keep it.
Will let you know.


66lima

Not to mention that you got Sanyo and ilo which are also rather nice Wal-Mart brands. The picture on the Sanyos were AWESOME. Of course, I dunno if they have 37" models as much as 32" or 26" tho. That's the only problem, even tho Sanyo rocks, they don't seem to have the size ranges that Polaroid or Emerson seem to have.

I noticed the same Emerson 37" at Wal-Mart also. This store had it on display along with other brands (ilo, sanyo). I was impressed by the picture quality compared to the other brands. All sets were connected to the same mutilswitch using component cables and all being the same image( Over the Hedge) from one DVD player. The Emerson had the BEST picture of all the sets in the group. I can not comment on the sound quality however. The Emerson had very little pixelization , had better contrast, brightness, color saturation compared to the other brands. The picture had depth and did not look flat. I would say the respond time of the set is probably 8ms. In my opinion, ( as far as picture quality goes) of the 32-37 sets sold at Wal-Mart for under $1000, the Emerson37 would be the better choice

I picked up a Emerson 37" (model #EWL3706 for reference) for [EDIT] on Friday (the 20th) and could not be happier...

The set just fit on top of our entertainment center in the family room (ok, the front of the pedestal hangs over a little, and I secured the back at the outside edges with industrial velcro, but that is for safety with a 2.5 year old and a 4 year old in the house)...

I went into the local cable center on saturday and traded the extra digital reciever for a SciAtl 8300HD DVR, and originally had it hooked up via component video, along with a XBox in media center mode with component as well and the picture quality is outstanding...

I did have to tweak some of the settings a bit as my unit seemed to be a bit dark contrast wise with far too much color in 'Dynamic' mode. I resolved that with two different settings replacing the 'Movie' and 'News' with higher contrast, higher brightness and lowered color...

One of the biggest improvements was going with HDMI output from the DVR into the LCD, as well as switching to 1080i output as Discovery HD is simply outstanding as a source and really showed that any 'resolution' and picture issues are solely the problem with the source and nothing to do with the LCDs capabilities...

I would venture that if they had this set showing Discovery HD in store over a HDMI connection in 1080i with an adjusted picture they would sell out quickly... Blows away the 37" Vizio they had and the 37" Magnavox was on par with it,[EDIT]

The onboard sound is quite good, for stereo, and the set does do Dolby-Digital from over the air and outputs it via thier digital output... Useless for me with cable, but a nice feature none-the-less...

About the only 'gripe' I would have is the way they switch inputs, as I would love it if they gave you the ability to 'turn-off' inputs so that you didn't have to cycle through everything to switch between HDMI and one of the component inputs... Heck I woiuld even take a 'direct to source' type selector (like if you hit '1' on the remote it would be component, hit '2' and it would be HDMI, etc), but for the price paid, and with that as the only complaint, I guess I can live with it... Plus I may splurge and buy one of the HDMI upconversion receivers and just let it do the switching...

I am so happy with this LCD I decided to go out and buy a home theatre setup to go along with it for the family and happened across the SLS Audio Q-Line Gold from Best Buy for $299... Talk about one hell of a deal, as it not only has some of the best sounding speakers out there (kevlar woofers with ribbon tweeters) and a full 200watt powered subwoofer, it also comes with a progressive scan DVD player and a home theatre 'real' receiver with upconversion to component video, component video switching, 4 digital inputs (2 optical and 2 coaxial), 110 watts per channel output, DTS, Neo6, Pro-logic IIx, Dolby Digital, etc... It is actually a rebadged Sherwood RD-8601 receiver and VD-4500 DVD player... The SLS setup was originally listed at $799, so for $299 it is a steal...

Very little info available online, but I did find the user manual on Emerson's website.

EWL3706 manual

None on display at the local Wally-World.

Can someone upload a picture of the EWL3706 in action?

I am thinking of buying this particular tv for a Christmas gift? Would you consider this a good product? Is this considered HDTV? this would be our first venture into the big screen arena on a limited budget and would appreciate any input regarding this product

Saw this set at Wally World [EDIT].. After I diddled with the remote the set blew everything in the store away... doubt it will make it thru the day just sittin there... I already have a Sony... Will call a friend to see if he's interested.... turned up the sound and it was not bad... checked out the manual in the previous thread... looks like you can only program off air or cable channels with the internal tuner, not both... this is OK if you will use a cable box and supplement with off air channels... don't know what repair incidence is on the set... I think this set is made by Funai Corporation... They also manufacture Sylvania TVs and Kodak digital cameras.... In fact I think this set could be almost the same as the Sylvania 6637LCT... could be a nice starter set for somebody...

Can you tell me, does this have a QAM tuner? Able to pick up some HD channels through regular "out of the wall" cable?

thanks!

It has a QAM tuner and OTA digital... you can scan one or the other but not both.... if you have a digital cable box you can use the tuner for OTA or you can just go with unscrambled cable... if you get the HD cable box you will get more channels...

So I would be able to pick up any unscrambled HD channels that may be coming through my standard cable (no cable box), along with my standard cable channels?

I know someone that has a Toshiba with a qam tuner and they pick up all the network HD channels, ABC, NBC, etc.

It seems that some HDTV's that have a qam tuner built in don't list it in the specs. I wonder why?

I purchased one of these too, it does have a QAM tuner if you use the CATV 1 Hour to scan instead of the CATV. I have no idea why it does this and it is not advertised as being so.

In my case the QAM channels are worse that the ATSC signal, over compressed and blocky, why comcast can get away with this I do not know.

This appears to be the same TV as sylvaniaconsumerelectronics has on their other branded website.

The LCD seems great with digital sources i.e. ATSC or HDMI. All the other inputs are not processed as well.

The color is cranked way too high, and there are not many adjustments, if anyone figures out how to get into the service menu, that would be great. It appears that the Sylvania 6632LCT and 6637LCT and EWL3706 have exactly the same manuals and software. So I would gather that entering the service menu on any of these would be the same.

This is a no frills TV with OK, built in sound and not many options to tweak for the inputs. For the price of $897 I think it is a steal for this size of TV. If you get it in a place like NH with no sales tax, even better. Once I figured out it has QAM, that sweetened the deal a little more.

Do I still want my 40" samsung LCD? Yes, but I can wait a bit for that now and upgrade later.

That is correct but the channel numbers might not be what you expect... channel 10 HD might be 102.3 or something like that. it all depends on where the cable company puts them... of course their cable box sorts this out... if you had a tv with favorite channels and channel labels this would not be an issue. The cable box is worth it especially if you get it with a DVR built in. They usually charge for this feature but it's worth it. You would then only use the TV tuner to get any OTA HD stations not carried on the cable or when the cable system is down. If you're not near the towers you would need some good rabbit ears or an outside antennae... Remember, you usually get some extra channels with HD cable such as Discovery HD, TBS and maybe InHD1 & 2... maybe even a HD movie channel. Not trying to sell you cable but it sure is a lot less complicated. You could even hook up the box using HDMI cables which would assure that you get the maximum picture quality out of this TV... To pick up on the previous post... scanning cable channels takes quite a bit of time even on expensive Sonys...

We watched a movie tonight and my wife commented on the lack of glare from lights in the room.
No QAM digital from my cable company.
I do wish it had 2 separate inputs for antennae, though.
I could have cable on one and OTA HD on the other.
With only one antenna connector, I have to choose.

I haven't tried HMDI yet, only component with DVD and ReplayTV.

Internal tuner looks great with PBS HD shows.
Might have to try HDMI output from external HD tuner currently hooked up to one of the Replays. (using HD tuner for better signal on CSI than cable)

So far, I haven't been disappointed with picture quality.

I plan to wall mount tomorrow using hanging closet racks. (much more sturdy than any of the ready-made wall mounts and MUCH cheaper) For added security, I will leave a tad of it showing at the bottom and shoot a couple screws. more flush, stronger, just not as flexible as the high-dollar ones

I can't decide if I should get this or the 32inch westinghouse [EDIT] at best buy... anyone here tried or owned both? Which do you think would be better? (putting the size difference aside)

If you could live with 32 inches the Sharp LC-32D40U is a much better TV for a few bucks more... it all depends on how technical and picky you are... it has had great reviews and I have a friend who loves his... he is a television broadcast engineer... read a review...

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2008003,00.asp

Yes, this TV is made by Funai. The repair rate on Funai-made LCD TVs is looking good so far.

still can't decide between this television and the 32inch westinghouse. The wal mart I visit has a crappy quality star wars DVD playing with no remotes available to adjust anything. In our store the video is boxed in on the emerson, meaning there is black around all sides of the screen and the picture is in the middle... it's not properly utilizing the entire screen to the edge inotherwords. There wasn't a way to fix this using the menu on the set. What causes this and is it fixable?

Your WalMart must be run by high school kids... that is a big problem with those stores... unless they are lucky to have a department manager with a little tech savy they fail miserably when it comes to showing any quality pictures on their screens. They probably have the screen settings in the wrong mode.

That's why it's best to find a local appliance store that caters to the best television experience that knows how to set them right. The big box stores hardly want to take the time to make the televisions' settings look their best, or to find the right HD feed to them. I, for one, would like to see what a JVC, Sony, Sharp, or Samsung would REALLY look like as tho it was in your home, as opposed to seeing what it looks like on a store shelf on default settings, and having that clowny feed to them.

Stockwiz

If you can, buy (temporarily) both sets. Put them side by side play the same movie on both and choose the one that looks the best. The one that sucks return it.
I do agree that Wal Mart is not the best place to purchase an HD TV espacilay if the TV is going to be your main viewing set. However, If you are looking for an HD (32" - 37") LCD set that less than $1000 say for your bedroom, the Emerson 37" is a exteremly good choice. Of course you could always go to C-City and buy the (similar brand) Sylvania 37" for $400 more.....

I'm getting HD channels w/ the Emerson through regular "out of the wall" cable, but most HD channels don't have sound. Does anyone know why this might be?
Ryan

I just bought the westinghouse today... it's sitting in the box unopened until all the bf deals come out... then I'll go from there. For what it's worth, the ones at best buy had a HD feed going in them and looked great. I haven't read the best things about funai, but there's nothing to lose with wal-mart's warranty... so I'll wait and see if it's $799 on black friday.

The extended warranty through Walmart is $59 for 2 years with I believe in home service.

Hi, Just bought the emerson 37" tv. The remote has a button to change the tv screen mode from standard to wide screen and full screen and cinema mode.
The TV is awsome and i would recomend it for the price and pic quality...though you might want to tweek the pic color settings alittle like i did. Default color setting are set on dynamic mode...and seems alittle too dark...anyways..the tv has around four diffrent catagories of color set-up and each catagorie can be tweeked to user prefrences. Anyways.....if you can get your wal-mart to pull out the remote and change the tv to widescreen it will look WAY better in the store if your looking to buying one of these Tv's.....as for me...im going to go buy another Emerson 37" LCD tommorow for my parents christmas present....im really impresed with the emerson tv for the price.

I'm still seriously considering this set. Looking for some more feedback on those who already jumped on it. I can see getting a television from wal-mart, but best buy will probably be too swamped for me to try.

I'm also looking at this set, I've been looking at this forum for a couple weeks now trying to learn as much as I can, since im new to LCD's, well new to anything HT related really. I got around 1600 bucks to jump into the HT arena, (that includes everything...t.v,speakers,etc...:P) I was wanting to stay under 800 for the screen and spend the rest on the speakers and receiver... anyways enough rambling.

I checked out the Emerson the other day at wally world and compared it with the other lcd's they had next to it and I must say imo it had the better PQ then any of em anywhere near this price range. Im gonna try to wait till black friday to see if it comes down anymore, then it really will be a steal.

Can any of you guys that picked one up upload some pics of it in action?



Val

The only negatives so far that I can find. Like most LCDs, dark scenes do not render well, cant say if it is more so on this one than the others. Also the color gradients dont seem to be as dynamic. I could just be my progressive DVD player component outputs, but in the DVD The Omen:666 when they are in the cemetary checking out the graves, the faces went from a dark pinkish to just shades of grey, it looked like their ears and noses were bright, like when you imagine those parts are cold on a winter day.

Hard to describe, but it seems like something was lost here, could have been the TV, DVD or the player.

Wil

Have you tried over the air HD yet?

I picked up my Emerson last night. I also purchased an in/outdoor active antenna until Dtv comes out and installs a HD receiver box. The antenna has a gain of 32db. I could have purchased a higher gain (35db) but I did not think that a gain of 3db was worth the price difference of $10. I live only 35 miles from Baltimore so I thought my reception would be great, but not really. The Tv does appear to have a stronger D tuner than an A tuner, although the D tuner seem to be a bit sensitive to signal strength. If the signal coming in is less that 85 the picture is choppy and the TV begins to scan ( or search) for a stronger signal. The analog stations comes in but a bit snowy( which I expected). I am not able to pick up any stations out of the Baltimore area. Probably has more to do with the cheap antenna than anything else.

Of the three major networks(ABC,CBS,NBC) CBS is by far the best. CBS is the only network that broadcast in 1080i, the others broadcast in 720p. The video from ABC and NBC were very pixely lots of macro blocking and sound/video would cut in/out. Again, I'm sure this has more to do with cheap in/outdoor antenna than with the TV itself.

Overall picture/color quality is not as good as what I had expected, but again this is probably due to the poor signal I am receiving. I am very hopeful that when I get my Dtv HD receiver these issues will be resolved.

I have not connected my DVD player to the set. But I expect the picture to the same possibly better that what I saw at W-Mart.