What I have realized... (1 Viewer)

[Chris_MJ]

Before buying my Toshiba 50H82 I was very worried about the quality of the pic I would be getting. I researched all types of TV's and finally settled on the 50H82. What I have realized is that to most of us who are untrained most RPTV's made by good companies once calibrated (pioneer, Toshiba, Sony, Panasonic, Mits, etc) are all going to look very similar. The main difference is in the quality of the DVD you are watching. Put on The Fifth Element on any of these TV's and the pic quality will astound you. I was worried when I first watched some movies because the image was soft and grainy, then I threw on Fifth and Remember The Titans and From Hell and the pic was AWESOME! And I doubt there would be much variation to the naked eye if I had a Panny or a Mits or whatever. Sometimes in this hobby I think we read and worry too much.

 

[SteveA]

You're right. When you have a big 16:9 set, you really notice the difference in quality from one DVD to the next. With a smaller set, you don't notice it as much.

 

[Jan Strnad]

Sometimes in this hobby I think we read and worry too much.

Amen, brother.

Jan

 

[Doug_B]

Doesn't there tend to be more variation in quality with respect to the display of cable and other low quality feeds, i.e., exercising the line doubler, etc?

 

[Matt Stone]

A second amen from me.

 

[Brad_V]

Same thing with the pricier DVD players and things. "Oh, I don't want a Daewoo or Apex because it's cheap so the picture must be bad." 95% of people couldn't tell the difference between that and a $300 player anyway.

I had a cheapie Rowa from Sears for a bit. Looked quite good. The only cheap player I've seen with what I would label a lousy picture is an Orion my friend bought for really cheap. It was just plain bad. Someone actually gave me the same model awhile back, but it was DOA out of the box.

 

[BobJ]

Same thing with the pricier DVD players and things. "Oh, I don't want a Daewoo or Apex because it's cheap so the picture must be bad." 95% of people couldn't tell the difference between that and a $300 player anyway.

Depends on what kind of set you are watching it on. Most players look the same on a 9 incher.

 

[BruceSpielbauer]

Chris:

I basically agree with everything you have said, but I also would maintain that, with a larger picture, there are serious noticable differences between the image qualities that one can obtain. I believe that this can even be true AFTER a calibration (and, we should keep in mind that not all calibrations are anywhere near being equal, either).

My understanding is that there are some sets where it is practically impossible to perform such tasks as adjusting the color decoding (in order to eliminate the red push). On others, it is so difficult to do, that only certain calibrationists even know how. On still others, it is as easy as making a numeric adjustment in a service menu, or turning a knob, or three ...

Similarly, adjusting SVM (or turning SVM off) is sometimes a piece of cake, and sometimes not.

And, calibrationists even discuss how one brand tends to be more stable, and "hold the settings" better than another. Thus, the calibrationist may leave you with a near-perfect image. Yet, on some brands the image supposedly drifts dramatically in as little as a month, so you are back to square one. Or, at least I have read where calibrationists claim this.

And, of course, there are sets which I believe have design flaws which the brand refuses to acknowledge, or cannot seem to correct. I was considering a popular brand until I heard it had problems with "ghosting." I went shopping, and I believe I could see it. And, the company never offered a solution. Further, I never read where a calibrationist was able to correct this problem. Another brand has numerous complaints of flickering. The company aparently offered a solution, but the reports I read from owners claimed that the "fix" did not work, and many were not exactly happy over this. In both cases, I was considering a relatively large RPTV (65"), and these flaws would be noticable.

So, I do believe that band and model can matter.

That said, I do believe that your post (in general) speaks great truths, that we should all remember. Perhaps we should say that ALMOST ALL of these sets are capable of some great images, given a good signal or source or feed, and some calibration. And, that the user is much more likely to suffer from poor pictures due to "garbage" quality being fed in, than they are to notice the fact that a little edge enhancement exists. Or, that the set has 12% red push. Or, any similar problems. The quality of that cable signal, or satellite signal, or even that DVD can vary so much that the differences are noticable even to the untrained eye, the complete novice, and the person with no artistic sense of detail, or aesthetic sense of "beauty" in an image.

So, we need to keep this in perspective. I have seen even DVD transfers that were so poor that they were practically unwatchable, regardless of the "near-perfect" quality of the picture on the set. The difference between a "Fifth Element" DVD and a "Great Escape" DVD is much greater than the difference between a finely calibrated Pioneer Elite and an uncalibrated Daewoo RPTV television.

-Bruce in Chi-Town