Need some quick clarification on Hitachi "Stretch Modes" and Tosh "Resolution" (1 Viewer)

[MichaelFusick]

Like I said, It comes out this month
No exact date-

 

[Rich Chiavaroli]

Ack.. dredded back button.

 

[DerekF]

Info on the 46" KP-46WT500 can be found here: Sony Canada
I think I'll start a new thread on this, to get feedback based upon the unit's specs...(search indicates no-one has ever mentioned the model number...)

 

[Aaron Cohen]

I think I might be going with the 65 inch Sony television..... How is this one? I am looking at the one without the new speakers on it, I believe the 500 series. It is 2999.99, what price should I ask for it?

Also, what is the difference between this television and the 3500 dollar 65 inch Sony television besides the memory stick function and the black border around the picture?

 

[MichaelFusick]

Anti glare screen and the ability to manual converge the set via the user menu.

These are good features

 

[Aaron Cohen]

Okay, I see what you are talking about. What price should I try to get them down to for the 3500 dollar sony?

 

[Aaron Cohen]

Is the anti-glare screen different from the built-in screen shield? Circuit City.com says they both have a built-in screen shield.... Is the 500 series last year's model? I'm assuming it is an older model.... I will have 3000 credit towards a purchase and was planning on getting the 65 inch sony 500 series but I could always finance the remaining 500 bucks and pay that off in a few months.....

What should I do?

 

[Rich Chiavaroli]

The 500/600/700 are all new models. They all have the "protective" screen. The upper models have an anti-glare coating on the protective screen.

As far as what to do.. that's really what you need to decide. It's all about what's best for you.

 

[Aaron Cohen]

Also, does the 65 inch 3500 dollar Hitachi set have gray or black bars on it? I know this has probably been discussed before but why do some tv's have grey bars instead of black? I haven't watched a movie before with grey bars on so I don't know whether I would mind them or not........

Anyone have a preference between gray or black bars and between these two sets?

 

[Rich Chiavaroli]

Try using the search feature for some of these questions. There's tons of info on gray bars here. The bars are gray so the 4:3 picture isn't as likely to burn in. It will still burn in if you leave it in 4:3 mode though.. just not as fast as black bars.

The hitachi has gray bars. Search for 65swx20b and you'll find out more info on the set.

My personal prefrence is the Hitachi SWX line.

 

[Trevor H]

Which is the top of the line Hitachi the SWX or TWX ?
and what is better/different about the top model.
The only difference I can find on the Hitachi website is the SWX has a "New Anti-Reflective High Contrast Shield" and the TWX has a "New Deep Black Anti-Reflective Shield" but that doesn't tell me which Shield is better, anyone know?

 

[Aaron Cohen]

I've heard the Hitachi televisions have really bad stretch modes though...., I would want to watch a lot of 4:3 programming unstretched if the stretch modes were really bad! Also, does this mean that when watching movies of 2.35:1 aspect ratio that the bars will burn in if I watch them a lot? I suppose that would only be if they were left on constantly...

 

[DaveF]

I would want to watch a lot of 4:3 programming unstretched if the stretch modes were really bad

Wouldn't you do that anyway? OAR rah rah rah!

 

[Aaron Cohen]

Hehe, of course I'd want to do that anyway, my only concern being the burn in but I know I shouldn't be THAT concerned about it as long as I switch things up!

 

[MichaelFusick]

Try using the search feature for some of these questions. There's tons of info on gray bars here. The bars are gray so the 4:3 picture isn't as likely to burn in. It will still burn in if you leave it in 4:3 mode though.. just not as fast as black bars.

Actually,

The SWX has both grey or black bars depending on the user preference.

The grey is defualt, but can be made to be black in the user menu under advanced video settings header.

It's your choice what to use. Grey doesn't really burn in, black looks better.

 

[Aaron Cohen]

But I suppose the point is moot though if mattes are used to cover up the bars anyway....., they will cover up gray bars just as nicely as black bars with none of the color behind the mattes showing through I'm assuming?

I've decided to skip the 65 inch and I am now considering the Hitachi SWX 57 inch and the 600 series Sony 57 inch....

 

[Doug Schiller]

Thought I would chime in with my 2 cents.

I just bought a new Hitachi 51SWX last week.

To complement it, I also bought what I read to be the best progressive scan player under $300, the Panny RP82.

I'm hooking it up in the second component input, using monster component cables.

I have the transfer mode to Mode 1 (the one that uses the progressive chip).

I just received it Wednesday and I'm getting mixed results compared to my Sony 860 301 Jukebox interlaced player.

Last night I rented Sum of All Fears and the beginning titles had some of the worst edge enhancement I have seen since the original Die Hard release.
I played the same scene with my Sony via S-Video and the problem wasn't that pronounced. I was ready to chalk it up to a bad transfer.

I also get the annoying posterize effect on faces lit in dark rooms (candle light with Ben Affleck and girlfriend and George Clooney in the casino on Ocean's 11). It looks like the # of colors in the face drop to 255 from 16 million. Very noticable and distracting.

Very upsetting seeing these flaws on a brand new digital TV and DVD player. I was ready to swap the Panny for another one until I read this thread.

I have heard talk about adjusting the EE level on the player, is this an actual setting or do they call it something else?

BTW, Hi-Def material looks flawless. Not a single compression artifact or posterizing. Maybe trying to reproduce that quality has spoiled me.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Doug

 

[MichaelFusick]

Panny DVD players have more EE than others...

They cause more halo's and "ghosting"-(people love to call it that.)

I tried JVC, Panny and Sony myself. Panny took last place by far. Sony was first.

In movie mode, with 3:2 pulldown activated and picture setting correct... I doubt the panny would show any signs of improvment over the interlaced sony.

VirtualHD does a really good job, somtimes better with 480i than 480P.

480i results are good enough that if there even is an improvement in 480P it's not worth the cost of another player.

I would return the Panny, and use the sony for now, until a better player comes along.

Go buy yourself some cables and some DVD with the money, you'll like that more. Buy AVIA too. That's what I would do.

 

[Levesque]

Doug. I was in the same boat as you not a long time ago. Was using a decent JVC SA70BK with my new Tosh 65HDX82. I was really disappointed after seeing HD-broadcast on the same TV. The out of focus feel with background image. I was tweaking like hell... Was almost regretting buying this big TV. I was a strong believer that "a DVD-player is a DVD-player..."
But then I switch to a Denon DVD-3800. Haaaa! Finally! Sharp picture, clean and pure. No grain. No extreme edge enhencement, no ghosting. Superbit titles is the nearest thing to HD you can see (by far I know, but sub par with my JVC). I'm now a firm believer that a good DVD-player can make a difference. And it's like watching a different TV!
So instead of buying new DVD's and cables, you should consider a new DVD-player, and then ALL your present collection will look better. And like me, you will start looking at all your favorite DVD's again, and felling like seeing a new upgrade version of those!
And your wife will finally understand WHY you bought the HITACHI when she will see the new PQ (my wife did see a difference, and even add a positive remark on the matter! Wow)

 

[MichaelFusick]

DVD players matter. Cables do too. Most DVD players look good though... On a Hitachi many people find that their current and existing player provides a satisfactory picture quality. 480i and 480P both look great to me...