Questions about RP-CRT's

[Takeereasy]

I have a friend who is getting a rear projection CRT tomorrow. He asked for my opinion and I said get a rear projection DLP. The problem is he can't find one for less than $2200 plus tax, (and that's a 42" Rp LCD) He is keeping this expenditure to under $2000 CAD taxes in. He's got it Narrowed down to the following Brands and models. Toshiba 51H84C or 57H84C, Sony KP51WS520, Panasonic PT-53X54, and Hitachi 51F510 51". The cheapest is the 51" Toshiba. These are the options folks, no other suggestions are available to be looked at. He took me with him when he started browsing and he got a salesman that actually sounded like he knew what he was talking about. The salesman said that Toshiba and Hitachi were considered the better brands for RPTV's, followed closely by Sony, and lastly from this group the Panasonic. Something to do with the guns. I told him I take my guns to the beach (meaning my arms, even threw in a flex to demonstrate) not even a chuckle. Is he right about the Toshiba and Hitachi? I have to say I liked the Hitachi picture the best. We checked the settings to see how they were all calibrated and all were set to 50% on every setting.

The Toshiba 51" is $1399 plus tax, the 57" is $1799 + tax. The rest of teh tv's are all in between those two numbers.

Now to muddle things a bit more I also was wondering: How hard are these guys to set up out of the box? How much do I have to worry about burn in on these units? Is there anything I need to know or be wary of? I read the reviews for them all at audio review. For every one of these units the reviews are either "this is the greatest thing since sliced bread" or "this thing broke 12 times the first week", so they were no help. Anyone with good advice please feel free to give it.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Well, without getting specific on TVs I haven't seen, CRT rear projection is still a benchmark technolgoy for contrast ratio and overall image qualtiy.

Yes, DLP is slim and bright - as is LCD, but if you don't have to much ambient light to deal with or have a decent set, then CRT is the way to go... If you have room for it.

I recommend CRT over DLP & LCD any day of the week if the conditions are right for it. Great value for the money - seriously - under $2K for almost a 60 inch diagonal!

Sorry, not more information for you - I'm a Mitsubishi CRT fan, they always stick out in my mind as looking very good.

 

[Takeereasy]

Mitusubishi is strictly a dealer brand here, if you can find them at all, but I hear only good things about them. The main problem I told him he'd have is light. It is going into a well lit and bright room. There is a long sliding glass door and a wide window. Thanks for the help though BMX. This is a topic I know nothing about but because I am into some stereo stuff people assume I know electronics, no matter how hard I try and convince them otherwise. I am attracted to shiny electronics though.

 

[cam]

If your buddy has 2 grand, I would seriously consider the toshiba 51hx84 not the 51h84. The hx has a higher wide band video amplifier which I was told is very important when watching a high def program. In my area the 51hx84 can be had for no more then $1900 CAN taxes included.

A buddy of mine has a 51hx84 and his sister living upstairs has the 46h84. They both have regular cable and we have tweaked each tv for optimum viewing and there is no comparison, the 51hx84 blows the smaller 46h84 out of the water. I highly recommend the hx, not the h models.

 

[agarwalro]

Hitachi 51F510

I have had the Hitachi 51F510 for 6 months now. Did some calibration using DVE disc to bring the colors, brightness and contrast to correct levels. I use it for TV (standard cable), movies (upscaling DVD player) and XBox. It is swwweeeeet.

 

[Spiffyfast]

I have a mitsubishi rear projection tv in a very well lit room. 2 huge windows directly across from the tv. Just have him get some thicker curtains and it should take care of any glare issues. And hands down if he has the option of getting a Mitsubishi I say go for it, I've had mine for over a year and all the research I did pointed towards the mitsu's.

 

[Takeereasy]

Thanks guys, I'm going with him to make his final decision today (in theory) and I hope he listens. It seems like it should be between the Toshiba and Hitachi then, we'll see what he thinks though. I guess some of the decision is his after all . Thanks for the heads up on the X series Cam, I've looked and a local shop has some 51"s in and it's right next to the big shops.

 

[Duffinator]

The Mitsubishi's are the best. I have a Toshiba and it has a very nice picture and looks terrific with an HD signal. But the Mitsubishi's have a better convergence control which is the weak point of CRT based RPTV's. From what I've heard Sony customer service is not the best if needed. Hitachi also makes nice sets but I thought they were, if not already, going to stop making CRT RPTV's. If that's true I'd stick with the Mitsubishi or Toshiba. Once you get the set you will want to use a DVE or Avia disc to calibrate and check the convergence. Then let it "break-in" for about a month. What I mean by that is the lens's heat up and contract and they will settle in over a period of time. Then break out a DVE or Avia disc again and set your colors, contrast, sharpness, etc. The DVE disc made a HUGE difference on my set. Another thing to consider is glare in a bright room. I would not buy any RPTV that does not have an anit-glare screen. Mine doesn't have one and it's tough to watch during the day in my South facing room. As an example go look at a Samsung DLP and then an RCA. The Samsung has an excellent anti-glare coating on it and the RCA has none. If you can see yourself in it like a mirror that's not good. Like others have said, a CRT RPTV has an excellent picture quality that rivals most every other technology out there. They are just huge which doesn't always fit in peoples spaces well.

 

[aarond]

find out what size the guns are.
the Mitsubishi's use 5", 7" & 9"
some brands use 3" & 4"
make sure for a 50"+ screen that it has at least 5" guns for this well lit room
aaron

 

[Takeereasy]

Thanks Duff and aarond. I really wish Mitsubishi was an option after reading all of the good things on this and other threads. I'll look into the gun sizes, that's some good info to have. Same goes for the warning about Hitachi bailing. When I went on their website there are no comparable models to what we were looking at so Hitachi's out. Mitsubishi seems to only sell these TV's in the US, not in Canada unfortunatly.

I do have one thing going though. The father's day sale starts today so we'll see if that drops prices further. Thanks again guys, I appreciate the help.

 

[djoxygen]

Hitachi recommendation

I have a Hitachi 43UWX10B that is almost 4 years old. My only regret about it is no DVI input (back then, they were almost impossible to find at a reasonable price point). I did go a few rounds with DVE and Avia, and actually ended up cracking the case to get at the focus and level knobs for each of the guns and the overscan (H/V size) pots, and dove into the service menus to do a manual convergence marathon. After the non-invasive adjustments it was sweet. Now it looks better than any other TV I've seen. Eventually I'll go DLP (or similar) front projection for the true cinema experience (not much of a TV watcher aside from Lost and Battlestar Galactica), but for the last (and next) few years, this baby is perfect.

 

[Takeereasy]

Just thought I'd post back, my friend went with the 51" Toshiba. It didn't have the x in the model number, only the c version, but it was $1400 Canadian and by me dragging him from shop to shop he managed to get a saleman to waive the delivery fee and the financing fee, thereby saving at least $150. He also got to watch me confuse a couple of salesguys by asking about the size of the guns in the various TVs. The last saleman we had could answer every question, was willing to hook up the tv to a couple of different sources and was even able to answer a concern my friend had regarding some 60 cycle hum he saw in a similar Toshiba TV. I've got to admit, the picture looked really good even on a bright salesfloor. I made sure we were allowed to examine the settings on the TV to ensure nothing was out of line, ie brightness or contrast maxed out. My friend asked me my opinion and I told him the truth. I said if you wont drop $2k + tax for a RPDLP or similar then you won't do better than this for the price. Plus this thing is so big you'll have your very own private affront to God in your living room. That sold him right away. Thanks again for the help guys.

 

[Spiffyfast]

Sounds like your friend is going to be very happy. If ya have the room ya can't go wrong with a RPTV the image is amazing.

 

[Takeereasy]

Ok, I've gotta say I'm pretty impressed. My buddy had me over to help him set up this beast yesterday. It has tons of connectivity including HDMI and 2 component inputs. Picture with DVD player on component set to progressive is awesome. Picture Quality of cable run with composite is crap, with s-video is OK, no component available on his box. All in all a heck of a deal. I've got to say that this TV has given me a new respect for RP-CRT's in general. Still a little dark from some viewing angles, but the picture doesn't wash out very much in the sunlight. I don't think you could do better than these units for the price, at least not yet.

 

[Spiffyfast]

Ok, I've gotta say I'm pretty impressed. My buddy had me over to help him set up this beast yesterday. It has tons of connectivity including HDMI and 2 component inputs. Picture with DVD player on component set to progressive is awesome. Picture Quality of cable run with composite is crap, with s-video is OK, no component available on his box. All in all a heck of a deal. I've got to say that this TV has given me a new respect for RP-CRT's in general. Still a little dark from some viewing angles, but the picture doesn't wash out very much in the sunlight. I don't think you could do better than these units for the price, at least not yet.

Sounds like you need to convince your friend to get a reciever with component upconversion so he can really see that tv shine

 

[Takeereasy]

Sounds like you need to convince your friend to get a reciever with component upconversion so he can really see that tv shine

LOL, I wish. He's happy right now and his neighbors moan enough over the crappy set up he has. I barely managed to talk him into using some cables for the component connection. The cable service we both subscribe to offers no hi def and no DD, so his connections that way are limited. My TV doesn't have component, and I'm happy with S-Video, but when I get my next house I'm going sat. or HD cable for sure.

Edit: My only complaint is that S-video really brings out a screen door effect (now I see what that means first hand) but it is still much sharper than composite. If I go big screen I'd be a little luckier because my receiver does component upconversion, but I'd still be dying to try out HD.

 

[slickvguy]

(If this is against forum rules, I apologize...)

Takeereasy, where did you get that Toshiba for $1,400 CAD, free delivery, no interest??? If it's against forum rules, please PM me. Thanks.

I've seen that Toshiba. And while the Sony and the Hitachi both seem to have a better picture - at least int he dealer showrooms - I think the Tosh is good enough, and would prefer to save the $300-$400 difference.

 

[Takeereasy]

He got it at Leons. Futureshop and Bestbuy both had it in their flyers and the salesguy started offering all kinds of incentives to buy with them. Sorry not to get back to you till now but I was camping for the Canada Day weekend. Feel like a new man.

 

[Topher]

HDMI huh? I didn't think the H models came with that. Pretty impressive for the price.