Toshiba 34HF81and SD3750 arrived last weekend. First impressions. (1 Viewer)

[John Corbett]

WOW I LOVE this set-up.
Now that I've got that off my chest I'll try to be a little more objective. The TV and DVD player are upgrades from a very nice Samsung Tantus 27" flat screen SDTV and the Panasonic DVD-RV80 so in one step I've made the leap to a High Def ready TV and progressive scan DVD player. IMHO this is a great combo.
I didn't get much time to play with the set until this weekend so initially I just reduced the Contrast and Brightness and took a little off the Red based on posts in various forums. Over the last two days I have had the time to get my Avia disc out and mess around. What I have ended up with are these settings:
Contrast: 50
Brightness: 50
Color (or Colour as we say up here in the Great White North): 42
Tint: -12
Sharpness: 25
Flesh: Off
Temperature: Medium
This has resulted in a superb picture with great detail. I've been playing various bits from some of my favourite DVDs and have been consistantly blown away. I'm going to have to go back and watch my entire collection again.
Though I tend to watch very little cable, so far I have found TW1 more than acceptable for this. Occasionally, if there is a quick pan, things look a little strange but I can live with this. My 16 year old son, who watches a fair amount of cable, has no problem with it either. Also, using TW2 to fill the screen for Widescreen broadcasts works very well. It was great to see Enterprise this way.
So far I have only one complaint about the set; the slowness of channel changes. This makes surfing have a much more deliberate pace. I think that I can live with this.
Here is a list of equipment in my modest but very enjoyable, apartment scaled Home Theater:
TV: Toshiba 34HF81
DVD: Toshiba SD3750
VCR: JVC HR-S4800U
Receiver: NAD T751
Center: Polk CS245i
Mains: Polk RT25i
Surrounds: Polk R10

 

[Stevie O]

John,
Glad to hear you're happy with your new toys!
As a fellow Great White Norther (or Green at the moment here in the Nations Capital), and a newbie, where did you get your AVIA disc?
Regards
Steve

 

[Dave Simpson]

Say John, do you suppose it might be possible for a fellow Toronto member to get a look at your new set in your real-world conditions? This might give me a better idea about the set compared to what I see in the show-rooms. No problem if you're not interested, mate...

DS.

 

[Sharon_v]

:frowning: Well, let me tell you my first impressions with this model. We have already had the TV replaced once (within one week). Problem - colour showing as pink on red, orange, flesh toned areas in one portion of the screen. Originally, the problem was attributed to our speakers (which are in fact magnetically shielded), then something in our wall! The second TV has been moved to the other side of the room with no improvement. See the pink shading on the left 1/3 in one spot and all along the right side of the screen. No problems with any other colour. Think this is a weakness with this model being able to deal with reds. Other than the pink spots, which have become very annoying, the picture is very good.

 

[John Corbett]

Steve,

I ordered my Avia disc online from HMV. I just checked and they have it listed. It is a bit pricey at $81.99 CDN but well worth it.

Dave,

Email me and perhaps we can set something up over Christmas.

 

[David West]

You might want to check out Sam's while they're still operating. I bought my copy of Avia there for about CDN$70, plus I think they now have a blanket discount of 10%-15% off all stock right now.

 

[JasonRH]

Steve,

I got my copy of Avia at HMV for $65.

Just go in and see if they can order you a copy ( if not in stock) and ask if they can discount the high price. The store manager offered a discount to me without my even asking, since he found the disc WAY too pricey.

Good luck.

 

[Stevie O]

Jason, Dave, John,
Thanks for the info - maybe I can convince Santa to bring me one (Good thing about HT is that there is always something you need!:
Best wishes for the holidays
Steve