which RPTV to buy? (1 Viewer)

I'm looking to buy a 52-56" RPTV for our living/theatre room. I have this down to three units:


* JVC HD-56FN97
* Samsung HL-S5687W
* Mits WD-52631

The room is a un-used 3rd bedroom that is our primary TV/Movie/Game room its small about 12x15.

My desire is great HD quality of TV and Gaming (along with HD-DVD) plus good SD TV shows from cable thanks to an S3 Tivo.

I liked the JVC it seemed the "best" but really hard to compare as they all were not at the same store. My "fear" is that people don't seem to like the JVC brand for quality issues. And I'm thinking the LCoS technology is "better"

The Samsung and Mits look pretty close - I like the larger size of the Samung and like it best from pure looks (even while turned off) BUT DLP units seem like a risk between Rainbow and SSE issues???


So I'm seeing what my "on-line-family" of AV nuts think


off topic but do these units draw more power then a LCD flat pannel or Plasma set in the 50" size?

Thanks in advance,
John

Since you seem to prefer LCoS, but aren't sure about the JVC, have you considered the Sony SXRD sets?

I did - but I don't think the slight enhancement it offered was worth the extra price. Trying to keep it in the sub 2100 range "delivered"

I have a Samsung HL-S6187W and I must say that the HD on it is FANTASTIC. As I posted in another thread, I have been advised that calibrating it would make it even better, but even without calibration, that TV is amazing. One word of caution though, if you have directv, the HDMI is not compatible with every directv HD receiver. Directv says the are working on a software fix for that, but they have been saying that for months now, so who knows.

Brian, how's the SD stuff look on you new Samsung?

When I had my regular Directv TiVO hooked up to it it looked very good, not as good as my 4 year old 36' sony wega flat tube monstrosity, but very good considering the screen size. However, once I installed the new HD receiver from Directv, the SD stuff dropped off a little. Different channels had varying clarity, so I guess it depends on the feed, but I know that people with the same HD receiver as me, have the same problem with different TV's. I have heard that a lot of the SD color and clarity depend on the receiver, but I don't know that for a fact. Anyway, the SD is can be very good depending on the reciver and the source. I hope that helped.

Brian

Go with the JVC, by all means. LCOS means no dlp rainbows or dithering, and the JVC 1080p models all have excellent de-interlacing of 1080i signals.

There were teething problems with the first generation JVC LCOS sets, and an unusually high number of premature bulb failures on early production 2nd gen sets (a problem shared by Toshiba dlps that year). The set you're considering is 3d gen and no significant trouble spots have shown up on it.

Sammys have a very attractive cabinet design and horrible video noise with anything less than a perfect input signal, and require an ISF calibration to get anything close to an accurate picture. The Mits sets below the 732 series have mediocre contrast ratios leading to less detail in dark scenes.

*** Update ***

Our new JVC was delivered today

But it appears to have a clump of dead "pixels" which I assumed LCoS didn't have that problem???

Also black levels seem very poor and heavy amounts of artifacts during action types of scenes? Compared to our older Panasonic LCD RPTV which is about 3 years old (720p max)both HD and SD seem to be better on the Panasonic set????

Thinking about sending it back anyway due to the dead pixel issue and maybe switching to DLP (Mits???)

John:

I really like my Mits that I bought a couple of years ago. I saw their new line while at CEDIA and liked what I saw. With their new 6 color wheel, 1080p and higher contrast this is the model I would upgrade to. As far as SD TV goes one of the reason I went with the Mits in the first place is that the SD picture looked better than any other set.

I would definitely return the JVC with those kinds of problems and look at replacing it with the Mits.

Parker

I've had the HLS6187W since Friday, and I am just blown away by the picture in HD, the ability to act as a computer monitor, and its overall sharpness and color reproduction. Jumping from a Pioneer SD533HD (a CRT RPTV, and a damn fine one at that), I find the lack of convergence issues and the almost flawless geometery help PQ greatly, and the colors just jump off the screen. HD that looked great on the SD533HD looks spectacular now.

On a screen size like this, SD is always going to look bad. You will need to accept the fact that SD analog feeds are by nature crappy, and while turning down contrast and brightness can smooth some of the noise, it's pretty much an eyesore at best. I watch 90/10 HD over SD -- the Tivo is mostly for my wife's Oprah eps and stuff.

As far as the rainbow effect is concerned, both my wife and I see it, but my friend didn't. It's infrequent enough that it don't forsee it to be an issue, but YMMV (as will your sensitivity).

I guess from reading all the complaints and nitpicking about the set in various forums I was expecting the worst and was instead very pleasantly surprised. My friend has never been impressed with any of my previous CRT RPTV's (he bought a 36" 16:9 direct view instead), but this set blew him away. As he left, he asked his wife if they could get a new TV. She was so impressed she agreed.