Official Polaroid TLX-04240B (42" 1080p LCD) Owner's Thread

For what its worth, I have had this set for about a month now.
I know it allows 1080p feeds via both HDMI and component.
Also, it has a QAM tuner built in for those wishing to use it for digital cable feeds that are unscrambled.

I calibrated the set and am very happy with the picture so far.

I know many people will turn up their noses toward this set because it is a budget model from a non name brand CE. However, in my mind at least it is a little gem of a set.

I looked at this today and it seemed like a pretty good deal IF, and this is really important for me, the remote control allows you to turn off and on the captioning directly ...that is, not having to go through a menu to do so. can you tell me if the remote control has a CC (closed captioning) button?

There are about 15 of these remaining at our local conglomerate otherwise known as Wally-World and even though the sale price was good from 5a - 11a according to their BF ad, the store managers said the price will be good through the end of Saturday.

Should I pull the trigger here? It appears to be a good deal when compared against other 42" 1080p LCD sets, and I don't need a high end set - this would be going in our master bedroom for mostly late-night viewing. Therefore nothing with a high-contrast is needed, etc. and I don't want plasma due to the high burn in risk with us using mostly 4:3 mode with TiVo.

1080p-less in Dallas,
skittlebrau

I bought this set today, and does anyone know what version of HDMI it has? 1.3?

I bought this LCD today too. So far it seems pretty good. I had to tweak with the color settings, still not too sure I'm in love with the color. The picture seems nice and clear using the local HD broadcasting.

I put a standard DVD in from my DVD player (non-HD) and it wasn't impressive.

Has anybody had a chance to compare this TV to another one side-by-side in HD mode?

Has anyone figured out how to program the remote to control other devices such as DVD players? The instruction manual says to enter a "five-digit code" for my device, but all the manufacturers' codes in the tables are four digits, and they do not seem to work with the remote. The phone support people at Polaroid told me just to add a zero before each code, but this did not work for me either. Looks like I might just have to go though the more time-consuming "code search" process for each of my devices...

To the person asking about closed captions, yes, the remote has a "CAPTION" button that directly turns captions on and off, without going through a menu. However, you might need to press the button as many as 10 times to scroll through all the different caption settings (CC1-4, TEXT1-4, and Service1).

Take a look at the polaroid website (sorry I'm not allowed to post the link to the helpful remote_ug.pdf file since I'm new). Basically all the codes are missing a leading number. 0 for cable and satellite, 2 for DVDs and VCRs

Good luck

Thank you. I found the PDF help file, and using a leading 2 instead of a 0 for my DVD player solved the problem. Funny that the telephone technical support people at Polaroid weren't able to tell me that!

Also, how are the blacks? Dark, grey etc? Anybody hooked it up to an upscaling 1080p dvd player?

I own this, as well. So far, I prefer my Magnavox. The picture isn't as clear.

How does one tune with the QAM tuner?

The blacks are okay, but I've seen better.

Seriously thinking of returning it.

so has anybody actually watched anything in high def on it? HD DVD or BluRay? This will be the first High Def TV i've owned. Can you get 1080p for 800 anywhere else?

I have and like this. Am watching a movie right now on it. Looks better during the night time. I have no idea how to use any of the features (HD, etc). Anybody want to help me out with some simple tips? Thanks!

I wasn't impressed at all with the picture my Oppo received.

I'm having a serious case of Buyer's Remorse.

The price was cheap for a good tv - so it can't be clear as real life. Have you tried the HD options?

I'm not sure what HD options you are referring to.

I just bought this set today as well. How can you pass it up for $798? As long as it's not your main home theater set you'll be good to go and happy with it. This is for my bedroom. I have a 42" Sammy plasma I was going to use but I don't want to fall asleep and burn in a DVD menu.

Plasma's are a huge pain in the ass and definitely not worth the trouble. I'd take the ease of use and risk free operation on this cheapo Wally-World bought Polaroid LCD over my expensive Samsung Plasma ANY DAY.

No more burn in worries. Bring on the Madden '08. Set looks great, picture is acceptable. No qualms or gripes from my corner.

Enjoy your new TV guys

Does anyone else's seem to tilt forward from the top slightly when mounted on the included stand? Is this dangerous?

electron5, it shouldn't tilt like that. Mine is flush against the stand.

Hey! I found something positive to say about it! There ya go...

Well not tilting forward relative to the stand-it's flush with the stand but the whole unit itself seems to tilt forward the slightest bit but you can notice it when looking at the profile

Mine does that as well. I don't seem to mind. I thought it was my stand at first!

When I finish calibrating the LCD I'll post the results. I also connected with a DVI to HDMI from the PC and scaled SD DVD to 1080p. It looked OK. Next will be to use a VGA connection at 1080p and see what the results are like. I do not like the overscan when using DVI. VGA will allow screen size adjustments within the menu.

Not bad for a 1080p set for the price. I would like to see 1 to 1 pixel mapping on this set.

MAK

I jumped on the bandwagon this morning also. I wish our WM had a lot in stock. They had 19 and they were gone in the first minute of the sale ( they gave out tickets to who was there 1st ). 1 wasnt claimed right away, so I had to wait until 11am and be the 1st to ask for it.

Anyways, I have a Vizio 42 720p, but this was $100 less and a 1080P, so I jumped on it. I'll be doing some side-by-side comparisons over the next day or 2 and see which one I am going to keep ( got the Vizio from Sams Club, so it can be returned if it loses out ).

Also, I am looking for better SD picture as well as HD. The Vizio falls down on a few SD channels ( gets blocky ). I am hoping the video chip in this unit handles the SD better than the Vizio does

Anyone play BluRay or HDVD through HDMI or Component? Sounds like possible good panel, subpar DSP? Mine (2) still in boxes.

Farfle E5 FC: Van heavy, Whas' up?

gm8....many thanks for the info about the CC button on the remote. behavior like that on the remote...makes you wonder if the engineer ever bothered trying to actually use it. sheesh. should be able to turn it on or off with the CC button and if you want any of the other options go through the menu to get there. 99.9% of the time, you never use those options.

Sorry, guys. I just am not happy, so I brought the box up from the garage to return it tomorrow.

I plan on purchasing a 42 in Magnavox instead. It'll be about $300 more, but I know I'll be happy with the brand.

I know people aren't as interested in hearing about SD quality, but until we have 100% HD channels on everything we watch, the SD quality is important to me ( 95% of my TV viewing is in SD ). So, here's my take on it compared to the Vizio. I'm receiving my video signal through Dish Network Sat ( 1080i ). I have the Vizio hooked up with an HDMI cable and the Polaroid hooked up using the componet ( YGB ) cables. I have to admit, the Polaroid has a better color picture. I paused the progam I was watching and messed with the Vizio, trying to get the colors to match between the 2. Vizio seems washed out some, and on other things, the Vizio isnt displaying the true color ( in my eyes ). And to think, I was pretty happy with the Vizio, until now. The Vizio colors all seem to have a tan tint to it. No matter what I try to change in the settings, I just can not get it to match what I think is the better color on the Polaroid. I was able to correct some of the blockyness of the Vizio. I found a setting that was "on", when I turned it off, some of the blockyness went away. But over all, the Polaroid does handle the blockyness a tad better than the Vizio.

Enough for me, its getting late. Tomarrow I'll hook up my Sony DVD upconverting 1080i player and compare a couple of DVD movies. I'm expecting to see the same in picture quality, with the Polaroid having the better color. I dont own an upconverting to 1080p DVD player, might be time to buy one. I not wasting my money on a HD player until I see which format wins the war ( I lost when I bet on Beta back in the day ).

Had to wait in 9 degree weather at WM this morn...brr, but I got one. I connected it to my satellite box (Dish Network, box is ViP222) with new HDMI cable. Tried multiple HD channels and they all looked soft. Compared images to my Sony KDL-40XBR3 and Sony had much sharper images, so not Sat. After going into & exiting TV's menu, noticed "480P SD" would pop up on TV's on-screen menu. Although images were soft, I'm pretty sure they're HD. Also noticed on some HD channels the image would skip; haven't really noticed this on my Sony.

SD channels look awful, but they don't look so great on my Sony either; honestly I think I'm just spoiled by HD. To me, SD looks awful on LCDs in general.

Haven't tried HDDVD or DVDs yet, but don't expect much from DVD since my DVD player is old & doesn't up-convert.

Manual doesn't say TV is HDMI 1.3 but I would hope so. I'll prob try component cables to see if images look better (although you'd think HDMI would look best) or if image doesn't skip.

Could there be a problem with the HDMI connection? Should I worry about the "480P SD" message? What could cause the image skip on some channels?

Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated; I'll report back what I find.

Thx.