Any competition out there for the WEGA? I want choices (1 Viewer)

[Troy_K]

I'm interested in getting a 36" tube, and I really like the WEGA. However, price is high. I've noticed some other makers comming out with flat screens as well. Do any of these come close the the WEGA's quality and features.

I don't need PIP or decent speakers in my set. I will use it for DVDs and cable TV.

I might consider RPTV, but I haven't been too impressed with them lately. I sit about 8ft from the TV and I think I'll get the best picture with a tube from this distance. Most RPTVs I've seen have horrible pictures when watching cable TV. The larger the TV, the worse it is to bear. Has this gotten better lately?

Thanks,

Troy

 

[Elbert Lee]

RPTV technology has made huge improvements over the last 6-7 years. Many of the inherent problems with ambient light washing out the picture on RPTVs have been largely reduced and with the advent of DVDs, RPTVs really provides the cinematic experience that direct view sets cannot.

Since the age of Digital Ready TV, all sets are plagued with "soft" looking pictures due to the internal line doubling all of these HD Ready sets have. The "softness" in the picture is magnified on large sets, namely the RPTVs. Good news is that, at an 8ft viewing distance, there won't be any visible scan lines on any of the HD Ready sets (RPTV and Direct View), but the larger you go, the more apperant these flaws are..Personally, I can live with it.

I have found that, among most of the RPTVs, the Pioneer looked the "sharpest" on analog TV broadcasts out of the box. However, most sets, with proper calibration, can look pretty good. The Pioneer Elite 520 is probably out of your budget, so I would consider one of the smaller Sonys, Toshiba, or Mitsibishi. I used to prefer Toshiba before their current lineup of sets upconvert all incoming 480p (progressive scan dvd) images to 540p.

If most of your viewing is TV and you are more comfortable with direct view sets, I would consider one of the new upcoming Sony Wegas, which will retail $100 cheaper than the current Wegas and have a completely new, different, and cool looking cabinet. You should also start seeing sharp discounts on the outgoing Wegas (May is their last month of being "current")

Otherwise, the Panasonic TAU, Toshiba 34" HD direct view set are good choices.

Elbert