JVC i'ART RP HTDV's? Any good? (1 Viewer)

[Chris PC]

Someone else has commented:

"Typically, theater mode provides a 6500K color temperature, turns Velocity Scan Modulation off, and reduces the brightness and contrast levels from the factory defaults to a more reasonable level that looks really good in a darkened room."

Typically, meaning for most sets, or for this JVC set?

How many modes does it allow you to customize? 3 or 4?

 

[Michael Eiche]

Typically meaning for most sets - it wasn't my comment and the manual doesn't give details about the Theater mode. The only other 2 modes are Standard and Dynamic.

 

[Darrin_R]

I have seen 2 of these at 2 different BB.

The first one was really pushing red (bursting red) but had good detail. It was sitting next to a Tosh which had a much better picture.

The second one looked completely different. There wasnt any red push and again great detail. This set was also sitting next to the Tosh. This time it looked better than the Tosh (close call). The colors werent as saturated as the Tosh but they were very life like. Flesh tones looked like, well flesh.

It seems like a decent TV for the money and next month they release a 56" for a few hundred more.

 

[Andrew_Ballew]

Since this set "upconverts" all signals to 1080i, it seems to me that it would make a progressive scan DVD player useless. Everything that goes in would come out interlaced. That is probably why the picture looks a bit softer when fed a progressive signal- the picture is being digitally processed twice- once in the player and once in the TV.

A little bit off the subject- lets talk about this 1080i thing. While I am generally wowed by the quality of the HD signals I have seen, I am seriously upset that the most widely accepted format is an interlaced signal. While watching a hockey game on HDnet in my local hi-fi store, I was very distracted by interlacing artifacts, aliasing, jaggies, etc. They were not as bad as standard interlaced programing, by no means, but are DEFINATELY there, taking away from this HDTV as a "window" experience thing. I have not had the privilege of seeing a 720p broadcast in its native format, but I can only assume that 720p will be the superior of the two formats. Native progressive frames, and actually MORE vertical resolution in each field. 720 lines verus 540 per field.

Cheers

Andrew B.

 

[Phil L]

Okay, I've got some general questions not directly relating to this set.

1. This set up converts everything to 1080i so is there a point of using a progressive scan DVD player with it?

2. What is the result of using a progressive scan dvd player with 3/2 pulldown with a TV that also has 3/2 pulldown?

3. I'm somewhat concerned about the effects of up conversion, does it add artifacts? Very noticeable artifacts?

 

[elMalloc]

I hate upconversion.
We should wait for a lot omre reviews to come in before you say yay or nay to this set.
Often times when someone pays $2500 they're going to try and make the set look better than it really is...
-ELmO:star:

 

[Michael_V]

All right, I just picked up this thing today and have spent a couple of hours with it. To start with, you should know that I tweak my sets: gray scale, electrical and mechanical focus, full convergence, geometry, duvetyne, herman-TLV maneuver, you name it. So I am not new to HDTVs or their set-up. The set I am replacing is a three year old TW40X81.

First off, let's clear up some mysteries regarding upconversion on this set. The manual clearly states: "The AV-48WP30 can display 480p, 480i, 1080i, and 720p signal formats using the component inputs. It cannot display 1080p signal" (p15). Elsewhere it says "the digital in menu can only be displayed when a 480p picture signal is input" (p27). These statements suggest to me that more is being displayed than 1080i. Moreover, there is a noticeable difference in picture quality between progressive-on and progressive-off from my RP-91, although which is better would be difficult to say. Progressive-off produces a sharper image with rare shimmering artifacts. Progressive-on is softer but more solid.

Now on to first impressions: the set looks sharp to me, and well built. Sturdier looking than my Toshiba, and the top could easily accomodate my twenty-five pound Paradigm CC-350 center. I like the elegant lines and even the silver color. Particle board and fabric on other sets does not necessarily scream "high-end" to me, not like the beautiful piano black finish on the Pioneer Elites, anyway, so I call this a draw.

Then, after a prolonged warm-up (for the set, not for me), I put AVIA in the RP-91 and start calibrating. First thing I notice is the geometry is off: nearly an inch to the left, with a right greater than left tilt to the whole picture. How to correct this is not immediately obvious from reading the manual, although I am sure it could be done from the service menu. Nine point convergence was close and is a snap to perform (compared to the 64 point torture test on the Toshiba).

I move on to black and white levels, which are (surprisingly) nearly perfect out of the box, with the picture set to 50% rather than the standard 100% torch mode on most sets. Kudos to JVC on this one.

Then the trouble begins. I go to the flashing color bars, put the blue film over my eye, and gasp. Not even close. I pull the tint way back and increase the color a bit and the flashing blue boxes finally disappear. I put the blue film down, look at the screen, and then gasp again. The colors are garish and extremely unnatural. I flip to the color decoder and find the red is off the scale. I put color and tint back to zero (where the picture is at least watchable) and see where my guns are: blue is down to -25%, green is around -10%, and red is still being pushed to +25%. Not good.

I put in a few movies: Fifth Element, Toy Story 2, Gladiator. I can't stop seeing it now: everything is too red. I try everything: cinema mode, color temp HIGH (better saturation but bursting red) and LOW (pallid colors but somehow still too much red). My daughters come in and sit down to watch Toy Story while I work. These kids have been raised on calibrated sets, they know good color, and they ask me, "why is everything so red?" I stop tweaking and go for the receipt. The set goes back tomorrow.

Now to beat any objections to the punch: the guns are fine, all three fire evenly, the set is just designed this way. The picture is not unwatchable and would probably be very pleasing to most people not accustomed to a well calibrated set. But those who are considering this television should realize the colorimetry is not accurate and no amount of tweaking will correct that. If you know color and like fidelity, this is not the television for you. It may produce a striking picture, but you will never get anything like a true reproduction of the director's intent from it's screen.

 

[Ted Ross]

Very informative post Michael_V!

 

[Brent Joye]

I saw this set at BB today. I liked the appearance of the silver, and more importantly my wife did. I thought the picture was good, but not noticeably better than the Tosh it sat next to. I'm not accustomed to calibrated pictures and probably wouldn't like them (gasp). My friend used to make his accurate, and I thought the baseball field grass was just so dull looking. Oh well, I'd love more input. I might wait for the 56 in July. Do we think the DVI/HDCP will offer any protection against becoming obsolete with the ever changing HDTV format?

 

[Matt Stone]

I'm trying to decided to go with this set or go bigger and get a Tosh 57H82 when it comes out. Hmm...decisions.