bdshort

Bought a 42" Sony 3LCD RPTV today for $1999 + $60 tax from a local dealer. Don't have it at home yet, picking it up tomorrow, but can't wait to watch something with it. Looked really good in the store though. Will I need to get a new DVD player with progressive scan (I have a 6 year old Panny A120U) to take full advantage of the set, or will the set convert pretty well?

Brian

stevevt

The set might convert better than some players, but chances are the interlaced picture coming from that aaaaaancient Panasonic isn't as good as most modern players. Maybe just try it out and compare it to a newer player you can borrow from a friend?

bdshort

Should I get a cheapo progressive player (the store has a Sony for less than $90), or get one of the players that scales to 720p and has an HDMI connection?

stevevt

You can get a decent Sony/Toshiba/Panasonic/Phillips for around $50. Not that $90 is crazy, but I doubt that's the best price you'll find.

If the TV has more than 1 HDMI connection, I'd consider it. Not that I've used one of these upconverting players, but I've read that they make a subtle but potentially noticable difference.

If your TV has only 1 HDMI connection and no built-in tuner, you might need that connection for cable or a HD tuner of some kind. I guess they have upconverting players that can send the HD signal on the component output, so there's that option too.

This all depends on whether you'd be able to notice a difference and whether the difference is meaningful for you. Any stores that would let you take a demo model home to try out?

bdshort

No stores here with the upcoverting players. I picked up a cheap Sony progressive player. I have the set now, and it looks fantastic.

Sdallnct

How is SD TV on that set and what source to you have (Dish Network, Cable, OTA)?

I looked at the Sony LCD last year for our family room and like it, but decided to build a HT room instead, so still using a 32" "traditional" TV in the living room. Might replace it at Christmas or maybe early next year. But with the TV in the living room we watch mainly regular TV with only about 25% of the DVD watching. I would also likely get HD in there, but still not all that many channels and shows in HD.

So how does SD look on it????

shelland

Make sure crank down that contrast!!!

Spiky

Only a maybe on the contrast, Scott. It isn't dangerous on an LCD and, in perfect irony, it probably isn't set that high, either.

Congrats, Brian! Are you going for HD signal somehow?

Deftones

How is this set? My gf's father saw it and wants to put it in his bedroom. He was looking at a 32" Sharp Aquos LCD, but for some reason this one caught his eye recently.

Rypro 525

is contrast a problem on hd projection tv's? \

Also on my tv (a 57'sony hd) i have noticed very slight cropping on the top and bottom in wide mode for a dvd (and regular hd as well). I asume for regular tv, its so there arent any little white spots on the top of the screen, but for dvd's? For a test i put in the Chasing amy dvd. On a regular 4x3 tv, right at the begining, the "New York" placement is about 2 inches down on the top of the screen, but on the hd, its litterally on the top.

DVD Polizei

Not to get too OT, but I watched the discovery channel in HD, and OMFG it was amazing.

Spiky

Rypro,
Too high contrast in any CRT-based TV is part of the cause of burn-in problems. And for RPTV CRTs, they set the contrast ridiculously high at the factory so they look decent in the giant, bright stores in which they are sold. They should be turned down immediately when you buy them. It's more accurate to have them turned down, anyway.

Overscan cropping is very common. But it may not be only your TV. It could be in the DVD player. That's one reason the Secrets reviews include the number of pixels cropped by the player. With a test disc, you can see exactly how much is cropped. Also, the TV may have different crops for different inputs.

If you go into your TV's service menu, it is likely that you could change the TV's overscan. But going into the service menu is dangerous and it is likely that many signals would look horrible if you go all the way to zero overscan. Mine happens to be easily adjustable, and only DVDs and HDTV looks good with zero overscan, and not all of those. Regular TV looks horrible, like seeing the edge of a film. I've found the best setting is 98%, or at least that's what my TV calls it. Since the usual default setting is probably around 94%, setting it a bit higher (meaning less overscan) might be beneficial. But don't mess around with a service menu unless you know what you are doing, you can permanently damage the TV, esp CRT RPTVs. My DLP service menu happens to be hardly any different than the user menu in how it works, so it is easy to use and I just stay away from the settings I don't understand. Most are not like that, they are cryptic and not user-friendly. I think with the digital technologies (LCD, DLP) they are starting to make them a little more usable.

Mexican Menace

Best Buy is selling the 42A10 for $1599 this week.

Just in case, you know, you wanted that $400 back or something.

bdshort

$1599 sure would be nice, but I really doubt I could get any store to price match a price at a shop that doesnt exist for hundreds of miles around here.

TV is excellent. For those asking, SD looks surprisingly good. I just have crappy digital cable right now, because I'm not the one paying for it, but intend to move to DirecTV at some point. DVDs look amazing, but you will definitely notice any flaws in the transfer on this set.

About the contrast, I used Video Essentials to set it, and it ended up being right around the Custom setting default, which is all the way up at 90 (out of 100), and it looks good to me. I'm sure I could play with the picture more, but I'm glad to hear that high contrast isn't an issue with LCDs.

Brian

DVD Polizei

For some reason 90/100 seems too high, even for a HDTV. But then again, I don't own a HDTV (yet) so I may be wrong.

Spiky

That does sound too high. But it depends on the way the TV works. On my old 27" analog tube TV, the contrast setting has virtually no effect. It isn't numbered, but there are dozens of "ticks" in the bar and when setting up with an appropriate ramp image, there appears almost no change throughout the whole thing.

DVD Polizei

Hmmm. A friend of mine has a Protron 37". Don't get me started on the manufacturer, but the contrast setting he has is around 55/100. Not that all contrast levels are the same, but this is interesting. Maybe the Sony has a much higher tolerance for contrast levels--which is good. I would even assume this might have a higher luminance rating (cd/m)?

Spiky

Don't know about luminance compared to contrast settings, haven't studied it. I'm sure there is a relationship, though.

But I do know that some TVs can have some of these user settings altered. That is, the range in the user menu can be changed in the service menu. At least for CRT RPTVs, which have gobs of abilities in the service menu.

How does that cheapy 37" look?

DVD Polizei

It's not too bad, really. I wouldn't buy a Protron to save my life, because the company is just a bunch of idiots--I've read their manuals and their placement of jacks are kinda retarded. They did a little better with their latest 37" LCD, but still, I had to help a friend hook the stupid thing up because they were so vague in their manual about using a separate audio cable for a DVI hookup. They mentioned it NOWHERE in the manual, except for a small piece of "ADDENDUM" white paper, which of course, is way too easily overlooked.

But anyway, the picture is pretty good. It was around $1900, and I'd rather buy a DLP set.

Michael T Hudson

I talked to a custom installer in Austin that can get me the 50 inch version of the Sony for 2199 set up in my house tonight. Oh whatever should I do. Circuit City and Best Buy have it for 2375.

DaveNinja

I bought it for 2375 at CC. i signed up for their credit card to get it interest free for 2 or 3 years.