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In Reply to: If you're our shopping for LCD, DLP, Plasma... posted by default on May 5, 2005 at 20:54:46:
I agree that the Sony KDF-42WE655 delivers a great picture; it's the best I've seen in back projection TV sets. The viewing angle is nice and wide for a back projection set. Unfortunately, the picture quality rapidly breaks down (pixelation) when playing scenes with rapid action such as sports. I'm not sure if the problem is related to the small LCD screen elements not being able to refresh fast enough or if this is a digital compression artifact. I had to disqualify this set from consideration for this reason. Otherwise, this is the best TV of choice to me given viewing distances in the living room. Too bad there is no easy way to resolve the question of root cause of the pixelation without buying the set.Now the shopping list is narrowed down to either the Sharp 37" LCD flat panel, the Sony 36" 4:3 WS955 CRT or the Sony 34" 16:9 960XBR CRT.
Follow Ups:
B/c when I was shopping for TV's and looked at multiple SONY RPLCD sets in various stores, NONE of the stores had anywhere near satisfactory setup as far as source. In most stores, with fast sports scenes, I did see the "pixellation" and breakups.This is not because of the known slower refresh rate of LCD. It's crappy source problem. Often the multi-spliced DVD/standard def cable feed or the crappy analogue antenna up on the roof of stores.
Ever since I actually brought the Sony RPLCD home, I have NEVER, even ONCE, witnessed a single pixellation or breakup with fast moving sports scenes. I do have good source feeds like Channel Master rooftop HD antenna, DISH 811 HD receiver (but even the crappy DISH SD feed never pixellate with fast scens), and 1080i upsampling DVD player.
Now that is good news to my ears.I saw the pixelation at the HHGregg Superstore on the north side of Indianapolis. This store certainly does have a ton of TVs running off the same feed.
I'm still regularly visiting multiple stores to look for performance patterns in HDTVs. I'll go back to keeping an eye on the 42" Sony. The new 42" Sony RPLCD with the dynamic iris function is supposed to debut this summer. I'm curious to see if that set performs even better. Something to always keep in mind as long as my current TV doesn't croak too soon.
While it's true that CRT sets offer some of the best picture quality also consider the fact that it's easier to get subjectively better quality from a smaller screen (like the typical 34" CRT screen). I have a 34" Sony XBR 16:9 CRT set and it's outstanding but it's bulky and weighs over 200 pounds!If you need anything larger than about 34", you have no choice but to consider something other than a CRT. The 37" LCD direct view screens are only marginally larger than a 34" CRT but considerably more expensive and not worth the cost for such a small incremental gain in screen size.
If you need anything larger than 34" the next step up should be 42" or larger, IMHO.
I have a 'budget' 42" EDTV plasma screen that I actually enjoy a lot more than my 'high-end' 34" HDTV Sony CRT. Sometimes bigger is better, overall. Just some thoughts to consider. Good luck.
Thanks for the "good luck" wish.The weight of the 34" Sony is a concern. Trying to move my 27" Sony (100 - 110 lbs) is not easy given how the weight is so unevenly distributed. Jump up to a 200 lb version and things are downright scary. Fortunately, I do have the TV stand to handle even the 36" Sony (~ 235 lbs).
I have looked at the ED plasmas and the Panasonic 42" is very nice. The HD Pannies are also very nice but they didn't seem to be a huge jump in performance over the EDs, especially given the price jump. I think my preference of LCD over plasma is due to the difference in the crispness of the image; the Sharp LCDs always win that one it seems.
As long as the current 27" Sony holds up (it is ill), I'll be able to wait for more price drops.
I put 14 2" ball casters under the SONY stand.
Now I just roll it around.
Gee! Why didn't the stand builder think of this?
BTW it's not SONY who builds their stands.
I have a 34KVXBR910
All LCD TV's have that display problem. Their still working
on making them faster. The pixle's aren't fast enough and
with fast moving pictures they look out of focus a lot.
Yuck I could not live with that.
They say the new $10,000.00 LCD screens are better.
DLP. Rainbow's and they also look like they lose focus with
fast moving screens.Nothing beats a CRT for picture quality.
Yes, I agree that CRTs, especially the Sony top-of-the-lines, are still the best picture available.Regarding LCDs, I can only say that the Sharp Aquos Flat Panels (32" and larger) did not suffer the fast speed pixelation/loss of focus effect that the Sony 42" back-projection model had. I did not look at the smaller Sharp Aquos LCDs so cannot render an opinion on their picture quality.
The decision will ultimately come down to total dollars. It is very obvious from reading the AVS Forum and this website that HDTVs are not plug'n'play like analog sets. Component matching, clean signal, and calibration are all required to really get the performance out of these TV sets. The question boils down to "How much will it cost to buy the components that are a good match?" I haven't finished the research on that question yet.
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