2003 Mitsubishi Lineup (1 Viewer)

[Karl K]

I'm getting ready to purchase my first HDTV. After reviewing many of the discussions on Home Theater Forum, I've decided on Mitsubishi.

I have an opportunity to purchase a WS-55859 for $2800 or wait for the new WS-55511. From the discount I usually receive I think I can get a 55511 for about $3500 (MSRP - 7%).

My dilemma is:

+ Are the new features of the 55511 worth the difference in price?
+ Are the new features of the 55511 worth the wait?
+ How long would I wait (I haven't seen any release dates)?

From the Mits website the new features seem to be (comparing web site specs):

+ NetCommand® 2.0 (easier to set up and use, and can control twice the number of AV system components)
+ DTV-LINK compliance
+ MicroFine™ Plus CRTs
+ Wideband video processing circuitry
+ DefinEdge™ Image Enhancement
+ Advanced Multi-Image Display provides the ability to combine selected inputs as PIP (Picture-In-Picture), POP (Picture-Out-of-Picture) or Split Screen (equal size side-by-side) images.
+ New, fully illuminated multibrand remote control

What are your opinions? Are these features worth the money and the wait? Are there new features that I missed, or does the 859 have some of these features, but not mentioned on the web site?

Thanks in advance for your input on my first post to this discussion.

Karl K

 

[David Judah]

Welcome to the Forum, Karl. The kind of decision you are facing is a common one and there is really no right or wrong answer.

While the 859 is a very nice set, I would go with the newer model. My experience is that manufacturers will tweak a few things here and there when they release new products, so you are covering all of the bases by having the latest edition. This isn't always the case, but it seems to be so with Mitsubishi in the last three years or so.

I guess alot of it would depend on how soon you want to get a new set. At any rate, the Mits' are great TVs and with a little tweaking you will have a great picture for DVDs and HD.

Good luck,

DJ

 

[Jim FC]

Karl,
Good choice going with Mitsu. They make a fine TV that tend to be extremely reliable. I'd agree with David, when he recommends waiting for the 55511. You should see these come into the stores sometime near the end of the month or first week of Sept. There are certainly going to be improvements over last year's line of TVs, but the biggest and best reason to wait is that the 2003 Mitsus have a very cool "Color Balance" feature (which Mitsu does not mention in their literature or website) that allows you to adjust the level of each color (red, blue, cyan, magenta, and yellow, I believe) independently, rather than simply adjusting the level of red vs. green in the picture.

This is vital because Mitsubishi is notorious for a "red push" in their TVs, meaning the level of red is higher than it should be in a truly accurate picture. Mitsu does this because it looks better to most people who don't know any better, but videonerds like us prefer a neutral picture, and once you get used to it you will too. On old Mitsus, one could try adjusting the tint to tone down the red, but this put too much green into the picture, which looks worse than too much red. The other option was to hire somebody to come to your home, at a sizeable expense, to eliminate the red push, which even for a good tech is apparently tricky on the Mitsus. With this new feature, one can turn the red down a bit without it altering the other colors. Unless you get an absolutely screamin' deal on a closeout 55859, I'd wait for the 55511.

 

[scott cerv]

Is this color balance on all the new series or just the 511 and up?? I'm looking at getting either the 511 or the 311. To get HD it is probably cheaper to get the 311 and a box vs. the 511. I currently use directv with no HD and plan on getting HD over the air and then elminate local channels from my bill. That way I get CBC and Hockey Night in Canada.
SC

 

[Jim FC]

The only Mitsus I am 100% certain that they have the Color Balance feature are the new Silver series, which are Mitsu's 50" and 60" 4:3 sets. I'm certain about these because I've already played around with it on a 50111. Until we actually see other models with it on there, it's just speculation, but I'd be surprised if Mitsu put a feature on their entry level set that they didn't include in the rest of the lineup.

 

[Gil D]

Anyone know if the DTV-Link feature on the 55511 is a DVI input?

 

[ArnaudP]

Looking at the specs from Mits website, only the silver,gold and goldPlus series have the color balance feature. I wonder why the more expensive series with integrated HD decoder don't have this feature.

 

[Kirk Gunn]

Gil - New Mits do not have DVI input.

Gold and GoldPlus have 2 Components and 3 SVideo

Platinum/PlatPlus/Diamonds have 5 S-Video, 2 Component, 1 ATSC/Digital Cable (RF), 3 Firewire, 1 VGA

 

[Gil D]

Is it possible for analog component video (at 480p and 1080i) to be digitized and output over the firewire to a D-VHS recorder? Or is this possible only via the built-in OTA ATSC tuner?

I have Dish 6000 HD receiver and it would be nice to record the HD sat signals. Any idea if the new upcoming Dish 921 or JVC 9000 HD/PVR units will be able to interface to the Mits 55859.

What will Mits do to in order to provide the ability to interface DVI only capable equipment to these sets?

 

[Kirk Gunn]

Mits literature (that's all I have is their 2003 catalog) states:
"The IEEE394 Interface transfers both audio/video as a bitstream and can be recorded using the new D-VHS VCRs."
Mits is "betting the farm" on Firewire, while others have accepted DVI. Interesting battle...
Check this out for more Mits info:
http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/manuals.html