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Here's my HT, just need a display... FP or RPTV??

884 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Jim Clark, Jan 22, 2008

Earnhardt_8

Discussion Starter · Jan 20, 2008

Like alot of people here I was all set for the 70xbr5, until sony decided to throw a big fat wrench into our plans. So im now seeking advice from the people viewing this board as to what they would do in my situation. I attached some pix of my HT below so you can get the idea of the lighting situation. I know ultimately it is my decision, but this is my first HT so I know NOTHING other than reading this board about FP and RPTVs.

Im now considering the 73" Mitsubishi 73833, Samsung HL-T7288W, and the Sony Front Projection Black Pearl VW60. I watch about 40% sports, 20% video games, 20% movies, 10% HD news, 10% Other HD shows (Discovery Channel, Sitcoms, Lost). Im concerned about the lighting with a front projector as I don't want to watch football with friends/family in complete darkness.

The area in the front where I would put the TV or screen is 91" wide. I have an Onkyo 905 running everything, 7.1 Polk Lsi speakers, and an SVS PB12 Plus/2 Subwoofer. There are no windows in the room as you can see. The front row of 3 recessed cans are on a separate dimmer switch, the 2 rows of recessed cans in the back are on another dimmer, and the sconces are on a third dimmer. It gets fairly dark where the screen/TV will be if I turn the front three cans off and dim the other lights.

Thanks for any input, ideally I would like this setup before the Superbowl or the Daytona 500 at the latest.

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imjay

· #2 · Jan 20, 2008

Nice room. We don't have the space to dedicate a large room to "Theater" so our Home Theater room also is family room and game room.

So far as front PJ or a tv looks like you can afford both and we recommend both. We haven't seen a tv yet that can compete with a projector for Home Theater and we haven't seen a projector that can compete with a big tv when lights are up and friends are over and you want a big screen HD experience with some people watching, some yakking and others playing foosball or darts or just standing around.

We bought both - glad we did. Flat screen makes day-to-day HD tv viewing easier and even great for casual movie watching when we both want reading lights on and laptops on our laps BUT our tv - our opinion - is just another television and you can only get the true WOW! Home Theater experience with a front projector and BIG screen with room dark and surround sound cranking and the sub rocking the walls.

Anyhow that's what we decided to buy - Both!!

GoodLuck

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Floydster

· #3 · Jan 21, 2008

I'm in exactly the boat you are in. Sony can kiss my *. I'm looking at the T7288W and the 73833 also. The specs read the same. How to decide? The only thing I noticed was the Samsung says HDMI 3, not HDMI 3.1. In software, 3 would be read as 3.0. Can anyone bring us up to speed as to which set might have an edge over the other according to forum members?

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Earnhardt_8

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 21, 2008

I think at this point im leaning more toward the vw60 and maybe a high gain screen from Carada or Da-lite to compensate for the lights being on. I don't know, these are all new words to me. Guess that is what the research I am doing is for... I talked to a guy from Magnolia yesterday and he said if I didnt like the vw60 to just return it. I said "you guys have a restocking fee of 15%, and I sure as heck don't want to pay that." He went on to say he wouldn't charge me if I decided to return it. I guess he is pretty confident I will like it enough to not return it, but ill still get it in writing.

Just reading through the posts on this board it seems like sony has lost ALOT of potential buyers, considering we are only a fraction of consumers that were waiting for the new 60" and 70" xbr5.

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Jim Clark

· #5 · Jan 21, 2008

For a dedicated room like that, definitely FP. Then you can go as large as you want. I have a dedicated theater room that the prior owner built, I don't use it. I don't want to go to the friggin basement to watch TV.....

My family room is not FP friendly. I have a 60" Sony RP, biggest the wife would allow.

For your room, definitely FP, bigger the better.

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Earnhardt_8

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jan 22, 2008

Actually just got back from Best Buy and looked at the Mitsubishi 73". I was not impressed... Not sure if it wasn't calibrated or what, but there was a Mitsubishi LCD 40" or so right above it. The black was BLACK on the LCD but like a charcoal color on the 73". I tried to stand back about the same distance that my couches would be and noticed alot of jagged edges with motion scenes. Not real sure what that means... Just overall not really impressed.

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Jim Clark

· #7 · Jan 22, 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by Earnhardt_8 /forum/post/12889697

Actually just got back from Best Buy and looked at the Mitsubishi 73". I was not impressed... Not sure if it wasn't calibrated or what, but there was a Mitsubishi LCD 40" or so right above it. The black was BLACK on the LCD but like a charcoal color on the 73". I tried to stand back about the same distance that my couches would be and noticed alot of jagged edges with motion scenes. Not real sure what that means... Just overall not really impressed.

It is almost guaranteed that Mits set was not anywhere near properly calibrated. The Mits is DLP, it could be that you are one of the people bothered by the rainbow effect. When I was looking, I viewed lots of different sets at high-end stores that tend to have the sets better calibrated. I liked LCD better than DLP. I also saw jagged edges on the DLP sets. AND, I had them put SD signals up and the DLP looked awful, LCD handled SD a lot better.

For a dedicated room like that, front projection is the way to go. Here's a good source for info on front projectors: http://www.projectorcentral.com/

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