[RxMan1]

I have done tons of research about buyng a new tv. I finally decided that the best option for me based on cost, available sapce, etc is a rear-projection LCD. Due to space limitaions (even with a custom made cabinet), I can't go wider than 55" in actual width.


Long story..short...I went to CC to look at this TV and possibly even buy it. I get there and they are showing golf in HD through a DTV satellite. This looks OK to me. I actually thought it was regular satellite and then was shown that it was indeed HD. So, I asked to see a DVD played on it. The rep got 007 widescreen and connected it with component cables. This movie actually looked worse than the satellite broadcast. Really grainy with dots, etc...


I was expecting some amazing experience and I just didn't have it. I'm not sure if they had the settings right. Basically 2 young guys going through all the various setups with the remote trying to get it to look better. They agreed that it looked horrible. I am going to try to find another place to look at one.


Someone please tell me that you actually had an honest 'wow' factor with this set. They had a Panasonic pt50lc13 next to it that looked about the same.


THANKS!


Confused.

 

[socd]

I've had my about a week, and when watching HD from an OTA signal I sometimes get a WOW. But most of the time no. I mostly see a sparkle effect coming from the screen I can't get past. I am very knit picking through. Ive had people over and they love it. If I hadn't bought the TV from UEC Web I would take it back. Am trying to find someone to buy.


The adjusts given on this forum do make the picture better then you will see in the store. But if you aren't the empressed the few tweaks won't make it that better if you are like me. Pickey that is.

 

[RxMan1]

I don't think I am really that picky. What I saw looked like a tv show recorded on vhs tape. A regular rear projection setup nearby looked 10x better. I thought a rear projection LCD would blow the standard ones away..or at least look the same.


Anyways, I'm hoping to get to see it setup up elsewhere. I have a feeling that the guys at the store have tweaked it until it is totally screwed up.


What would you buy instead of it? I'm not going plasma and the panny 50lc13 looked very similiar.


Hopefully, I'll see a good setup later today and will post back.

 

[socd]

I liked the Hitachi 51s500 or 51s700 rear projection. The 700 has a built in HD tuner and fire wire connection but the picture producing stuff is the same.


I would like to see these at home before I told someone to buy because you can't, in my opinon, tell what it's going to look like at the store.


I have gone to all the stores in my town, even the top end speciality shops and they just can't give me a good demo to what I would have at home. I want to see SD, HD, cable, VHS, DVD, and directv.


But by looking in CC side by side with the 50v500 the overall look is better on the CRT based tv, but fine detail was better on the LCD.


At home the colors are really vivid, and at times its like looking out the window. But most of the time it's like there is something between the picture on tv and the viewer.

 

[Ahardt]

There are about a million factors that go into whether or not a tv looks good in the store; TV settings, DVD player- type, whether it was set up correctly, quality of DVD transfer, the sat/cable feed, how many sets they had it split to- IOW, store sets of any brand can look great or totally crappy on any given day at any given store.

 

[jebel]

I personally really like my PT50LC13, and you are correct RxMan when you say that the two sets look very similar. Same size, same RP LCD technology, both good manufacturers, came out within a couple months of each other, etc...They are alike in many ways.


CC and BB are not good places to judge sets, as any knucklehead can mess with any settings, and the floor guys don't always know enough stuff to fix it. Do you have a Magnolia in your area? Those guys know their stuff...

 

[RxMan1]

Thanks guys. I got the sales rep at Sears to give me $500 off. I bit and added the 3-year service plan. Should have my new TV the day AFTER the SuperBowl.


BTW, it looked very, very good playing Nemo at Sears.


I just couldn't wait any longer realizing that there is not a 'perfect' TV.

 

[dutchparker]

IMO, the biggest decision I made was deciding on the techology-- LCD RP. Once I made that step, I felt the PQ among the manufacturers was pretty much the same. Then I defaulted to usability and tweakability. I feel the Hit is much better in this regard.


Some of the drawbacks of this technology (very minor, IMO) are slight screen door effect on light scenes in HD only. My viewing distance is about 8'.


And the blacks are not super black. That is not to say that it 'crushes' blacks-- you can adjust your settings so that the 5 IRE black is different from the 10 IRE black. It is just that the 5 IRE black is not as black as some of the other technologies.


Well worth the tradeoff for me.


Dutch