Buying an RPTV, but somewhat disillusioned (1 Viewer)

[John S]

"It's going to be quite a transition from a 27" to a 47" but I think I'll live thru it. "

lol Those are good issues to be faced with!!!

 

[Craig]

You can take tweaking as far as you want with an RPTV. However you can get an excellent picture on your own using Avia or one of the other calibration disks. I was in the same boat as you over 4 years ago. At that time prices were a lot higher than today, so it was a little scary to plunk down the cash. I'm glad I did though, I've watched hundreds of DVDs on my widescreen Toshiba.

I'd start out with the basics as far as adjusments, and see how you like the picture. The only problem I had was convergence drifting for the first couple of months. It only took a couple of minutes to touch it up once or twice a week.

It's not really a hassle and once you start watching DVDs on your widescreen you'll be glad you took the plunge.

 

[ChuckSolo]

Ok, I pulled the trigger on a 42" RCA RPTV HD widescreen (I got a great price on it) and am having it delivered on Monday night. The current Panasonic DVD player I have in the living room is NOT progressive scan although it has component outputs, the TV has got progressive scan built in. Does the DVD player have to have progressive scan or will the TV take care of converting the interlaced signal to a progressive scan signal? Thanks for all the input.

 

[ChrisYK]

My understanding is that the TV de-interlacer will take care of things... now how good the TV de-interlacer is compared to the de-interlacer in different pro-scan DVD players is another question.

 

[scot_salmon]

One quick note about Panasonic RPTV's. I've started receiving quite a few inquiries about these sets as they've started to penetrate the market (due primarily to their low prices).

Of the ones that I've seen, they have absolutely dreadful grayscales out of the box (OOTB). That being said, they can look really fantastic after a good calibration. The last one I calibrated had some color temperature readings in the 200,000K range and some that wouldn't even register on my color analyzer (as opposed to the target of D6500). Plus it was waaaay out of convergence and the geometry was in need of some major help as well. The blue gun was pretty substantially out of focus.

But, after I was done, the set looked great. And this was a 47" sub-$1000 RPTV.

I agree that much can be done with AVIA and DVE if your set is close OOTB, but many are in need of professional help. So, keep this in mind as you formulate your budget and shop.

Best regards,

Scot

 

[ChuckSolo]

Great, thanks for the info. I can't wait till I get home tonight and get it delivered so I can have some PLAYTIME!!

 

[ChuckSolo]

Well, I got my new 43" RCA HD RPTV delivered last night and I have some observations after all these years with a direct view TV. First of all, I was amazed at the differences in different TV shows on the same channel/network and how they appeared on on the TV. I have plain old cable now, but am getting digital cable installed this weekend so I can take advantage of the HD capabilities of the TV. Most TV shows have pretty poor picture presentations that were not very evident on a 36" TV but show up on a large screen. I hope digital Cox cable is a bit better. DVDs however, were a different story. I popped in a widescreen disc of the 1991 version of "Night of the Living Dead" and all I can say is........... WOW!!! With the TV using its builtin progressive scan, the picture was simply amazing! Unfortunately, since it was getting rather late, I only had time to watch the one disc. Tonight I am going to view two or three discs to see how they measure up. I am dying to see what my Superbit version of "Bram Stoker's Dracula" looks like. Does anyone know if the Daytona 500 is gonna be broadcast in HD?

 

[Bob Maged]

Yes, on NBC.

 

[SvenS]

I hope you are not expecting a big increase in picture quality going from Analog to Digital cable because in most cases you get an even worse picture on Digital. And also I hope you do not think Digital cable is High Def because all it is is standard definition (480i like you've been watching with Analog cable) but it is digitized and compressed to allow more channels to be sent down the pipe to you. Your cable company may offer some or all of your local broadcast channels in HD (if they are doing HD at this time)and a few other movie channels, ESPN-HD etc.. but 99% of the channels on Digital cable are just analog 480i channels digitized.

 

[ChuckSolo]

Yes, I do realise that there is NOT going to be that much of an improvement with the digital cable. Mainly I want it for HD broadcasts, ala, the Daytona 500. My TV viewing habits are roughly 75% DVDs and 25% TV. In a nutshell, I want to see the HD broadcasts of the channels Cox offers in my area. I know that ESPN, Discovery and a few other channels are broadcast in HD so that should be enough.

 

[Rich H]

"CAN GIVE A BETTER PICTURE! I have yet to see a plasma TV look as good as any decent RP/CRT based/HDTV! I have seen all the new expensive plasmas at CES and they still are lacking compared to CRT based HDTV's. "

Having demoed pretty most of the top CRT RPTVs and top plasmas (and having gone from CRT to a Panasonic plasma) I'd Disagree

But that's what makes this hobby so fun!

Chucksolo,

Pretty awesome going from a tube set to something like a Home Theater experience huh? I enjoy watching DVDs on my brother's RPTV too. It's so much more like watching a film than simply watching TV.

Enjoy!

 

[ChuckSolo]

My only regret is that I waited so long to take the plunge.:frowning:

 

[Rich H]

Chuck,

Yeah. Some of my friends ask me if I feel bad having bought a plasma over a year and a half ago when plasma was more expensive. I don't regret all the time I've had being mesmerized by my favorite films on this thing at all!
You only live once (I think....)

Rich.

 

[ChuckSolo]

Funny thing, this new set has made me want to go through my 400+ DVDs again. I even joined Columbia House again to get my 5 discs for 49 cents each. I will gladly buy 2 more at the regular price just to enjoy them on my new set! I had seen the 1991 version of "Night of the Living Dead" numerous times, but watching it last night on the new TV was like watching it for the first time again.

 

[Rich H]

Chuck,

Sounds like you are a fellow horror fan! I had to have a display that did black levels deep enough to do my horror/sci-fi films justice (luckily the Panasonic does that, unlike many other digital displays). I think a CRT RPTV was the right choice for you.

 

[ChuckSolo]

Yep, been a horror/sci-fi fan since I was a kid. I remember going to the local cinema for the Saturday matinee that usually had cheesy horror films like "Them" and "It Came from Outer Space" and absolutely loving them. Much to my wife's chagrin, I still love 'em. I would say a good one third of my DVD/VHS collection is horror/sci-fi. Yeah, the more I watch the new set the more I fall in love with it. I watched "The Core" last night with my nephew and the picture just blew both of us away!

 

[Tim Jin]

Chuck,

The Panny 47 is a great set and it preforms quite well. HD Channels are awesome.

Are you going to buy the extended warranty through CC?

Depending on the cost and the coverage, maybe its not a bad idea to look into their extended warranty plan.

If you get the extended warranty from Panasonic, it's about $350 for 2 years and $250 for one year.

It's something to consider because if you are unlucky like myself, Panasonic ate the cost of the TV within the first year because of service calls and repairs.

Also, the extended warranty paid for itself because my board needed to be ship back for repairs and it took over 2 weeks.

I generally don't get extended warranties because if it doesn't break in the first year, don't bother, but after having the set serviced over 5 times, the extended warranty was a no brainer. I only extended the set for one more year. After that, I be looking for an upgrade within 5 years, hopefully longer.

I would consider getting the warranty from CC. I heard that they make things right, if you have problems.

Knock on plastic

Enjoy your new set.

 

[ChuckSolo]

Actually guys, I went with an RCA model in the end. I had my eye on a Panasonic, but to tell you the truth, when I went to compare pictures, the RCA won hands down. No, I did not get the extended warranty through CC. I probably will buy and extended warranty soon though, I'm waiting for my next paycheck to do so. Yeah, I hear ya, I also don't usually buy extended warranties as they are usually overpriced since they are a major money maker for the retailer. On a major purchase like this, I will though. I never buy the extended warranties on small stuff like DVD players though.

 

[John S]

ChuckSolo,

Give the widescreen edition of "The Exorcist" a try sometime too..


It got me several times on my new 60" even though I have seen it a ton of times. 1st time it had got me in the last many many viewings.

 

[Alan Wong]

Congrats on your purchase, Chuck! Wondering if you're still wanting from your display? Everything I've heard about Captain Video locally for calibrations is positive.

Glad to hear you're happy. A RPTV is definitely a different experience than a smaller direct view.