Alien Redrum

I'm buying my first Big Screen TV and I've narrowed it down to 2. Well, it was actually one, but then this damn sony went on sale and now I'm all up in the air.

I figured I'd ask the experts....

My choices are...

Sony 51 in. HDTV Monitor/Projection TV, Hi-Scan™ 1080i Display Mfr. model #KP-51WS510 which I can get for about 1300 after a price match, gift certificate and such.



Mitsubishi 48" Widescreen HD-Ready Rear-Projection TV with DVI Interface - Gray
Mitsubishi 48" Widescreen HD-Ready Rear-Projection TV with DVI Interface Model: WS-48313

Both seem to get good write-ups but I'm looking for some opinions outside of the salesmen.

Thanks for any info! I'm looking to buy it this week.

chipmac

First of all let me say up front that I'm biased for Mits and against Sony. I own a Mits and believe they make one of the best HD RPTVs out of all of the major brands. Their only true fault is that they don't accept a 720p signal from Xbox. Sony on the other hand has an image that to me looks too digital and not at all film like even after making adjustments. I don't like their feature set as it doesn't work for my needs. Now if you choose to go with Sony be aware that this model had/has issues with the CRTs failing and causing a flicker effect.

Alien Redrum

I have heard about the flickering problem, but I thought it was the 500 series and was fixed with the 510. It's still a problem? If it is, that certainly would be a deal breaker.

Also, when you say it won't accept a 720p signal from XBox, what does that mean? Does that mean I wouldn't be able to play the XBox on it?

Thanks!

Spiderbite

Naturally you can play the game but I believe that it downconverts the 720p to 480p.

chipmac

Mits HDTV come in two flavors. One has a built in HD tuner and one doesn't.

The ones with a built in HD tuner will accept OTA 720p broadcasts and convert them to 1080i for display but these signals are still compressed and need to be decoded by the built in tuner for the conversion to take place. In the case of Xbox games that support 720p output the signal has already been decoded and the TV will not accept it and the TV won't know what to do with it. In cases like this you the best you can display is 480p from the Xbox since neither the Xbox or the TV will convert to 1080i for you.

The ones without a HD tuner will not accept any 720p signal at all. For all 720p TV shows the STB you buy and connect must be set to output only a 480p or a 1080i signal that the TV will accept.

Xbox games that support 1080i will work with either of these types of models from Mits. Personally there are so few Xbox games that support 720p that I wouldn't make it a deal breaker. The next generation of game consoles should all support 1080i which the Mits can handle so would think think about the future and not the few releases on a soon to be obsolete console.

Alien Redrum

chipmac...

I think I get it. Basically, the XBox will work, but I won't be getting the best picture possible?

Would it be the same picture as my current TV (Sony Wega), worse or better?

Alien Redrum

No one else has an opinion?

mphtrilogy

I have the 46" Sony 510, its real nice on Digital stuff, HDTV, and DVDS, so-so on the analog stuff. No flicker problem.

Either way you will get a great TV

chipmac

Sorry I've been busy the last few days. Anyway yes Xbox will work on the mits and you will get the best picture possible from it as long as the game supports 480p or 1080i and the dash board is set to output at those resolutions. If the game is supporting 720p output you'll need play it at 480p which should be no slouch either. When you think about it and count how many 720p games there are and then count how many you would really buy I don't think it's that big of a deal.

As to it being the same as you Sony WEGA that would depend on if the Sony was able to display 720p.

drmoze

I'm biased towards Mitsubishi too. My folks got a 46" Mitsu bigscreen back inthe mid-80's(!) and it still works (real wood cabinet and all). Admittedly, the picture isn't as sharp as newer models, but it hasn't been tuned in a while.

My first bigscreen, a 1991 50" Mitsu, worked great until it gave up the ghost last year. (13 years, incl. one year in storage.) My current 65" WS is trouble-free.

I've always been most impressed by the Mitsu pq, in addition to reliability. Keep in mind that most in-store displays are NOT set up well at all. Another plus is that Mitsus are very popular with many AV fanatics at hometheaterspot, and are tweakable as hell. With a membership there, you can access the service menu and really adjust things beyond color/contrast/convergence. Not sure about the availability of this info for SOny and other beands.

For an rptv, you really want to be able to adjust the linearity. Most tvs have multipoint convergence options through the remote, but you are converging red and blue to a green grid that may be curved/bowed in areas, esp. near the edges. The Mitsu service menu lets you adjust the green grid to make it perfectly straight from edge to edge. You can also adjust the overscan. These tweaks, in addition to the Avia/VE adjustments, will give you an incredibly sharp picture (HD is awesome) with no fuzziness or distortion in the corners.

I'd go with the Mitsu, based on my personal experiences and bias. Sony is the way to go for tube tv's, Mitsu for rptv's, IMO.