Quote Originally Posted by cjasov
Thanks Woodman. Got a couple things to ponder...

So if all HDTV sets are capable of being good, why would I consider anything thing but the base models of any given manufacturer? Mitsu for example has the Gold Series, Diamond Series, etc. why not just get the entry level series.
The only reasons to consider an upper level set from a given mfgs. line rather than their "entry-level" model would be:

a: if you had plenty of money available to spend and wanted to get the very best performance possible (even if that was only 1% percent better than the cheaper model),or

b: there were features on the higher-priced model that the cheaper one didn't have.

I have to disagree on the statement that "ANY set that you might consider will be far better than anything you've had before." I have a neighbor who has a rear projection HDTV and the picture is horrible. If I end up with what he has I'll be really bummed. He uses Dish Network, but doesn't have the HDTV receiver. Don't some sets do a better job of taking a non-HDTV signal and upgrading the quality?
I'm sorry but you're disagreement with my statement is most likely being misled by what your neighbor's pix look like. While it is true that some sets are fussy about the type of interconnect that's in use for certain types of video signals (SDTV vs. HDTV), I'd bet my bottom dollar that your neighbor's set is either defective somehow, or that it's in dire need of what's called "calibration". Some sets get out of the factory in very poorly setup and adjusted condition. What brand is the neighbor's set anyway? Another possibility is that his satellite receiver is defective. Without seeing just how horrible his pix actually are, it's difficult if not impossible to speculate on the matter. But my statement still stands ... a properly adjusted HDTV is capable of looking far "better" than anything consumers have ever had before. Of course the quality of the signal source is involved as well. Any set can only produce pictures commensurate with the quality of the signal source - that's a given.

Hope this answers your ponder(s)