Two DLP Questions....

[MCF]

1. I am considering getting a 50" to 55" DLP. A talked to a friend last night that said the DLP he got was great except for when viewing non HD signals (satellite, regular cable,etc.). He said it was so bad when watching sports that it was hard to make out the basketball, football, baseball, etc. when watching a regular broadcast that he took the tv back. Said it looked great with HD sources, but couldn't tolerate non-HD quality. Is this a real problem AND does it also apply to rear projection LCD's? I don't want a projection DLP/LCD if I can't watch regular cable broadcasts (non HD) and have a descent picture..

2. After doing some quick research, it looks like only the 50" Hitachi rear projection LCD tv's will fit my available space (65" wide x 24.5" deep x 33" tall). If the above issue is not a problem for rear project LCD's, anyone have any experience (good/bad) with Hitachi LCD projection TV's - like the 50VX915 50" CineForm™ Director's Series™ LCD Projection HDTV?

[edtyct]

1. Who knows what your friend's threshold of video pain is, or how adept he was at setting up his TV? Fixed-pixel displays by nature cannot make 480i signals look as good as your old 20" NTSC TV could. But most reasonably appointed LCDs and DLPs have scaling and deinterlacing that is good enough to justify continued watching. Sticklers with funds always have the option of inserting a good video processor in the chain to make the PQ to be even better. Turning down the sharpness, contrast, and brightness can also make a world of difference, as can other proprietary settings on a TV (some of which should be shut off rather than turned on). The only nondigital programming that I'm ever forced to watch on a microdisplay is the odd basketball and baseball game. I adore HD, but I can easily tolerate these SD games with the knowledge that my teams will soon be returning home in glorious high definition.

2. I don't know the sets, but Hitachi has definitely come up in the world, and they've worked at it.

Ed

[poneal]

regular cable is bearable meaning it's not horrible. And believe it or not in my area a few of the local channels transmit in HD. I do not have a progressive scan DVD player just a regular DVD player and used component outs to the LCD and the picture is truely amazing so I can imagine what a progressive scan will be like. Hitachi LCDs are great TVs. There used to be a fellow here named Woodman who sold TVs for a living for like 50 years and was very knowledgeable. He recommended the Hitachi to me and I haven't regretted it. DLP was a little out of my price range. Shoot LCDs are still expensive too. Anyway, that's my two cents. I haven't seen woodman around lately so maybe he got ran off or didn't like the way the forums changed. Don't know. Regards, Paul

[MCF]

regular cable is bearable meaning it's not horrible. And believe it or not in my area a few of the local channels transmit in HD. I do not have a progressive scan DVD player just a regular DVD player and used component outs to the LCD and the picture is truely amazing so I can imagine what a progressive scan will be like. Hitachi LCDs are great TVs. There used to be a fellow here named Woodman who sold TVs for a living for like 50 years and was very knowledgeable. He recommended the Hitachi to me and I haven't regretted it. DLP was a little out of my price range. Shoot LCDs are still expensive too. Anyway, that's my two cents. I haven't seen woodman around lately so maybe he got ran off or didn't like the way the forums changed. Don't know. Regards, Paul

Thanks....so you are happy with the Hitachi. How is it in a well lit room? What model did you get?

[edtyct]

LCDs are inherently bright. They stand up to a well-lit room better than just about anything else.

[evil__betty]

I work at a smaller AV store, and we sell LOTS of Hitachi. We sell more of them than the huge big box stores do down the street. The reason being is that we experience their break down rate to be much lower than other TV's that we sell, their features (4:3 expanded mode is especially good when watching anything that is broadcast in 4:3 - waaaaay better than the crappy zoom mode on the Sony's), and the fact that the customers that buy them go home extreamly happy with their purchase. Happy customers = happy salesmen because that means that I don't have a purchase being returned because the customer thinks that the TV is crappy. Have a look at the 50VS810 if you don't mind parting with a few extra $$ from the 50v500. I think that the extra little bit will get you into a really slick TV. Either way, you won't be dissapointed.

Regarding SD television - you will be dissapointed of the quality once you have a taste of what HD looks like (NFL is doing something right with this one). Granted probably 80% of what you are going to be watching won't be HD. Have a look at the sets in the store and ask if the salesman will show you what a SD signal looks like and get him to show you the 4:3 expanded mode and compare against any other set that only has a zoom mode.
Happy Hunting!

[IsmaVA]

LCDs are inherently bright. They stand up to a well-lit room better than just about anything else.

Wait, LCDs, being transmissive devices, are dimmer than just about anything else.

Light generating sets (like Plasma or CRT's) are the brightest, followed by reflective devices (like DLP and LCoS) and then LCD.

For obvious reasons, rear projection sets are dimmer than direct view sets using the same technology.