Video Asylum

Posted by Harmonia (A) on November 20, 2002 at 09:50:37

In Reply to: What should I buy? posted by Karen on November 17, 2002 at 08:09:53:

...has been at websites: avsforum.com, hometheaterforum.com, hometheaterspot.com and hometheaterhifi.com. The FAQ at these forums can be very useful.

Magazines can be confusing. Sound & Vision is pretty much a waste IMO. Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, Widescreen Review, Home Theater and The Perfect Vision are much better. I don't trust most consumer review sites, the people aren't videophiles (much less audiophiles!) and don't know much about picture/sound *quality* - they tend to review based on features, most of which I'm either not intersted in (PIP) or tout others (SVM, automatic brightness, digital sound processing) which are actually detrimental to picture and sound quality.

Keep in mind that your local electronics emporiums (Best Buy, Circuit City) generally have their gear poorly or improperly set up, which can make comparison difficult. Standard definition (SD) feeds can also look pretty poor on HD big screens. HD looks good on most every HD set. Be cautious. Ask to see any display hooked up to a progressive DVD player and take along your favorite *live action* DVDs. Animated digital to digital DVD transfers such as Shrek and Monsters Inc. look good on any display and won't tell you what the TV is really capable of.

If you have a local video high end dealer, that might be another place to check out.

If you plan on getting a rear projection display, save enough to have it calibrated by an ISF calibrator - makes a huge difference in RP picture quality.

As to the Toshibas, some people love them, they're very tweakable, and most of their RPs do a 540p upconvert that some folks REALLY don't like for DVDs. Pioneers seem to have the best internal line doublers and therefore tend to do a little better with SD. Mits and Hitachi seem to be good bang for buck. Most RPs have "red push", juist like their CRT direct view cousins.

Frankly, if you have room, think about a 50" - it has way more impact for DVD movies and doesn't take up much more space than a 43".

Good luck!