Video Asylum

Posted by Alex F. (A) on October 22, 2012 at 12:48:59

In Reply to: RE: Mitsubishi DLP HDTV posted by IEaudiodude on September 29, 2012 at 20:52:02

Our new Mitsubishi WD-82742's picture wasn't nearly as good as our seven-year-old Hitachi 65S500 RPTV. After my initial calibration, the Mitsubishi had excellent resolution and color, and very good black levels. (Testing was conducted using my reference Blu-ray movies and DirecTV HD.) The Mitsubishi's picture was extremely noisy, apparently caused by high luminance noise levels. The picture had a grainy look that made it unwatchable. Close-ups of faces and lighter backgrounds, such as skies, were distractingly riddled with grain.

I purchased this TV from a Mitsubishi authorized dealer via mailorder since there were no brick and mortar stores within hundreds of miles from my home. Thus not having seen one of these units in person before, I carefully described the disappointing picture to my dealer over the telephone. I hoped the TV was defective. He said no, the 73", 82", and 92" models on his sales floor all have the same grainy picture. He was not surprised that our CRT-based set has a much clearer picture.

After six days of using the Mitsubishi, it was a pleasure to watch the Hitachi once again. The Hitachi (at its native 1080i) is almost like looking through a crystal-clear window whereas the Mitsubishi (at 1080p) is equivalent to a dirty window. What a letdown.

We did like the bigger picture, though, of the 82" Mitsubishi. So we moved up our theater seats closer to the 65" Hitachi to provide a similar picture perspective. We now have a "bigger" picture along with one that is clear and far more enjoyable.

I hope Mitsubishi can significantly improve future models. I also would like the fan noise to be much quieter (we could hear it on quiet movie passages even about 17 feet away, well behind the seating area).

The dealer received back the Mitsubishi on Friday (October 19).