Good god, which TV? (1 Viewer)

[Kevin Beck]

Hey guys,..

I have been reading myself silly in the archives, about which wide screen HDTV would best fit my needs. It looks as if there is no clear cut winner. Seems to be a head to head between the Pioneer, and a Mitsubishi, that can be tweeked, unless I dropped the bucks on one of the new Sony's. Ive seen mostly the Pioneer, and the Mitsubishi's. I don't watch much TV at all, mostly movies. I'm pretty much a work aholic, but when I do set down, I like movies, not sitcoms or some of the other mess on network TV. So for the most part the set will be used for movies. Are there any new units that have been released as of late that are not well known yet?, and is this still a case of,..unless you are a total perfectionist,..most any of the better known sets will do just fine?

Thanks for any info,...>>>--->

 

[Jack Briggs]

If you're asking if there's a clearcut winner between Pioneer or Mitsubishi, the short answer would be no. That's because models from either brand can be tweaked to produce excellent, accurate pictures. But the Pioneer Elite Pro series does possess a near cultlike following--and for good reason. You might want to ask HTF admin Robert Crawford about what it's like living with his Pro 710. His was calibrated by Gregg Loewen, and if I recall correctly, Gregg said the unit had the most accurate (or one of the most accurate) grayscale performance out of the box he had seen.

 

[Brad_V]

I don't know if it was here or on another forum that some Elite owners and calibrators were saying what a pain in the ass calibrating the Elites are, and that they even require special tools and a special order of doing things. Didn't sound like just anyone can calibrate an Elite, no matter how good they might be with other sets. So, something to watch for.

And yes, Kevin, I'd say many of the other brands would look just fine. It depends on how much of a home-theater quality freak you are, but basically any decently-calibrated (even out of the box) set nowadays will make most people say, "Hey, that's a good picture." To me, most Pioneers are overpriced, but they aren't for someone who wants that little extra bit of potential picture quality.

The Sharps are dirt-cheap compared to many others, but the picture is usually rated second only to the Pioneers. It looks like Sharp may have finally figured out the 4H vertical-line problem, but I'll wait for a few more reports before giving them credit yet. The Panasonics are relatively cheap, too, but tuned-up they look as good as anything else.