Loewe TVs: Am I The Only One....? (1 Viewer)

[Rich H]

...who thinks the much lauded Loewe TVs don't look that hot?

Every store that sells Loewe promotes them as the best CRT. I read many people on the web who think they are fabulous. The Perfect Vision asks: "Loewe Aconda - World's Best HDTV?"

In my own search for Home Theater equipment I've seen countless Loewe TVs (most often the Aconda - we actually have one at work - watched the Olympics in HD on it every day, and my friend owns one as well). I've demoed a few of them with my own DVDs too. While the Loewes can display a sharp picture, with nice detail and dimensionality, overall I've been very underwhelmed by that brand.

Why? The Loewe picture seems to have a peculiar character.
I find the image from these TVs has a sort of coarse, muddy quality. Images that can look ravishing in their smoothness and color on say, a Panasonic or Sony, look lackluster, dull, drained of color on the Loewes. There is a subtle overlay of muddy grain, which makes the picture look a little...well, "yucky."

I came to the conclusion that much of this coarse quality must come from the set's digital processing.
I can see it "struggling" in the outlines of images, and there just seems to be a sort of dither-like video noise that coarsens the image. I find it ugly.

But everybody loves these Loewe sets. Am I the only one who notices they have a strange picture?

(Maybe I'm just becoming too spoiled, as I've been watching too many of the newer plasma screens recently).

Rich.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Do you know if the individual units were set up properly? I've seen Loewe units reasonably well calibrated, and could easily see myself falling in love with something so ravishing as the Aconda.

 

[Rich H]

Hi Jack,

I know that three of them, all Acondas, where calibrated properly (one at my work, one at my friend's house, one at an excellent AV store).

That dull, muddy quality was there to varying degrees across the board. Strange.

I understand how people can be impressed by them - they do some elements of the picture amazingly well. I'm just curious, however, if anyone notices the qualities I've described in the Loewe picture.

Rich H.

 

[Eujin]

Back in the day when I was interested in direct-view sets, the Loewe was definitely the best thing I saw--properly calibrated of course. I can't imagine what these elements are that you describe. I haven't seen the 38" Aconda, but the smaller one was definitely an amazing set and I didn't see anything that could touch it (this was a little over a year ago and I saw everything there was to see at the time).

 

[Oren]

When it comes to line structure, I've come to the conclusion that at 7+ feet away, all 36" or smaller TVs look pretty much the same, including HDTVs. (Note: I recognize that flat is noticeably better and that color variations across the screen are noticeable at that distance.)

I like how HDTV-ready TVs have a smoother image, but I only notice it up close.

 

[Michael Lomker]

I was seriously looking at the 30" Loewe but I ended up with a Panasonic 34" for 20% less money. I guess if you can afford the $5500 for the larger Aconda then it is definately a gorgeous picture.

I have the ISF guy coming on Friday so we'll see what the Panny can do.

 

[Arthur S]

If you have seen the 38 inch RCA tube, you have seen the Aconda. Exact same picture tube. The RCA is thought to have reliability problems, which may be true. When I have seen the RCA with a good signal, it is quite compelling. I would expect nothing less from the Aconda.

Artie

 

[AllenD]

I saw one at Abbott's in Las Vegas playing non-progressive DVD. In one word the picture was...breathtaking. The salesperson said the DVD player was average, can't remember the model, and the Loewe set's 3:2 processing was creating the picture quality. The image was deep, 3D like, detailed, w/the purest blacks I've ever seen. Flesh tones looked realistic and saturation was as rich as can be. I wish my RPTV could produce the same image quality but the Loewe (wish we just called it Loova) was out of my price range. I haven't seen a plasma set that would rival the PQ of the Loewe. Most plasmas I've seen can't seem to get rid of polarization all together. Maybe I haven't seen the right plasma set. Who knows?

 

[Michael Lomker]

Arthur, there is a lot more to a television than the tube. Every piece of the electronics inside a Loewe is of higher quality than the RCA. I've seen one with the cover off and it looks like a work of art by comparison.

The RCA's that I've seen (the ones that work) have looked lousy compared to the 34" sets. I have yet to see a consumer set that beats the 38" Aconda.

They're too expensive for me but if cost wasn't a factor...

 

[Jack Briggs]

I'm pretty much in the same boat as Michael.

Really, these direct-view honeys are marvelous to behold--not only for their pictures but also for their sculpted styling. The company must sure have won some industrial-design awards.

 

[Blake Hoffmann]

In terms of picture accuracy, loewe is a little on the "creative" side
I dont know what the hell is wrong with good guys, but I thought would have figured that they would need to calibrate their directviews just like their rptvs. I mean they really dont take it seriously.
Anyways, I believe the best directviews out there are Princetons. Now their Arcadia series has it's 29" and 32" models in flat screen, AND just now they announced their new 36"(34" viewable) 16:9 arcadia. Really georgeous looking. And yes, Princeton's do 720p, and pretty much whoop the hell out of a wega (No offense) The only thing that you have to worry about with the Arcadia models (over their hdtv models like the af3.0) is that they are a monitor with a crappy linedoubler connected to them. This means that the only good input is through the VGA. You can go with a video scaler, and can use a component-vga converter for your 480p+ material.
I'm using an htpc on mine for it all, and this is really the creme of the direct view crop. Just needs a little elbow grease.
I got my 32" from amazon (lost 1 in stock) for like 1200, now it's price at a grand, though out of stock. You will have to do some diggin to get your hands on one of these, not to mention some elbowgrease in getting what you want out of them, but they are indeed the best tubes.
http://www.princetongraphics.com is their homepage
Cyphatic

 

[Rich H]

Interesting.

Just saw the Aconda in a high-end set-up again. It was playing the Gladiator DVD. Pretty good as far as CRTs go, but my friend who was with me noted all those defects I did. The same one's I've described: the picture had a grainy structure, and the colors looked "sour."
Yuck.

If this set is so good, why can't even the best retailers in my city get it to look any better?

I just don't get it.

Rich.

(The Panasonic plasmas with the gladiator DVD just blew the Loewe out of the water on every count...clarity, color richness, dimensionality, smoothness of image et. The only parameter in which the Loewe may have excelled was the black levels, which were very good on the Pannys, but great on the Loewe. But the Loewe as "World's Best HDTV?" Puuhlleezze...)