36"Direct View vs. Smaller RPTV? (1 Viewer)

[Joseph W]

I am looking for a TV for 9' x 12' room. Need help deciding between HDTV 36" like the Sony XBR versus a smaller RPTV like the 40" Toshiba or 46" Mits which are comparably priced. Is the direct-view picture that much better to make up for its smaller size? Either one better for setting up a HT system? Would watch cable and DVDs. Which would you choose?

 

[Sean Conklin]

For a 9x12 room I might lean toward the 36" direct view.
I have a small 11.5x11.5 HT room and my 32" seems real big and the picture quality of the direct view in my small room seems extraordinary! Looks spectacular with the mattes I made for 2.35 and 1.85!
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Sean
"I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates who said.......I drank what?"
[Edited last by Sean Conklin on November 13, 2001 at 11:14 PM]

 

[BruceN]

I have a 13 x 13 room and I have had both the Toshiba 40" and the Sony 36" XBR in it (presently the XBR-450). Both sets were great but in my humble opinion I like the direct view better for DVD and analog cable. I also have less concerns with playing video games on the Sony. For DVD, the picture was fantastic on both sets but I seem to remark on the outstanding picture more often with the Sony.

 

[ChrisMatson]

I had to make the same decision--36" direct view, or a similarly priced 40-50" projection. I went to a couple stores and decided to go with the 36XBR450. For me, it came down to picture quality, features, and my planned use for the TV. I am very happy with my decision. I occasionally use my Playstation 2, and the XBR is my only TV--I don't have to worry about burn-in. The widescreen mode makes DVDs and some games look about 30% better--I can't wait until I upgrade to an OTA HDTV STB. The picture-next-to-picture feature is very cool, and sometimes useful for sports or to keep track of a news story. I think the 36" size is just right for my configuration in a fairly small one bedroom apartment.

 

[Don Beverly]

Small room, watch out for too much set, that said, direct view is superior with cable and analog, the smaller the better visually speaking.
For dvd with a progressive scan player and HDTV, projections wow! factor with the larger screen is better.
Your viewing habits must be considered with you choice, one isn't better than the other persay, just fits your needs better.
I have both a 27" for dbs tivo taping in 480i on an analog set and a 55" for hdtv and dvd watching, tough combo to beat but you need a bigger room for that.
The better the quality of your source, the bigger the screen will work.

 

[Joseph W]

Sounds as though the direct view is preferred in small room situations. Anyone care to give a counter-point in favor of the small RPTV? How about the 38" RCA direct view, any experience with that or other 16:9 direct views?

 

[Jeff Leeds]

I personally like the RPTV option better. While many people mistakenly think you get a "better picture" with a sealed tube, given a few months watching a RPTV, I changed my mind in a big way. I would seriously look at the tosh and mits sets, might look at the Hitachi as well. getting into a 46" for movies will be dramatically better than a Sony WEGA. My brother has a 36" XBR and we have a 60" Hitachi SDX (going on 3 years old now). We watched a movie at his house, and on the way home my mentioned how much less she enjoyed the movie on his set. "Did feel at all like film on that TV" was her comment, and believe me she is essentially a Joanne six pack when it comes to this stuff.
I think overall once you're used to it, RPTV is the way to go. And for games, there is no problem whatsoever as long as you don't leave the setup menu on for 3 hours. I've used Playstation 1 and 2 for years now and have not had one problem. I just turn off the set when I'm not doing anything with it and leave the playstation turned on.
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Jeff Leeds
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