Mitsubishi 73909 WS HDTV Evaluation, a Winner!
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| Posted on March 17, 1999 at 10:37:38 | ||
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The TV is magnificent. I kept the Toshiba 35†tube, which I have always enjoyed, nearby to make comparisons. I resisted large screen Rear Projection TV’s because I did not find them bright enough, and the scan lines were too visible. I thought line doubling would help, but even then I never saw a rear projection picture that did anything but make me glad I had a tube. My only upgrade possibility thus far was to consider the 40†tube, but this would not be much increase in size for the price. Anyway the TV is monolithic in size, 65†tall, 65†wide, and 29 inches deep. It has a high gloss finish and is very attractive. It has a “diamondgard†protective cover over the face of the TV. It weights 460 pounds, but rolls around pretty well on the built in castors. The remote control has a backlight to illuminate the main functions. I enjoyed the ease of adjusting the convergence. I used the Video Essentials DVD to make final adjustments on the picture. I started out using the “low†temperature (the factory default is high). Low is the NTSB standard, gives warmer, more orange red colors. High temperature is bluer, sort of harsher, a bit faded looking. Middle is just like it says. So starting at Low Temperature, I used the Essentials video. As always, the picture is darker and softer after using this disc. But I had a REAL PROBLEM with the color. I used the blue strip to adjust the tint and color, and to get the color close on the test bars, I had to turn the color intensity WAY UP, and the tint to red. When looking at regular video it was obviously oversaturated. When I looked again at the test bars with the blue strip, after readjusting the color to “look goodâ€, the test bars indicated that I was way off adjustment. So I was on my own for the color adjustment. A question: Does any one prefer the High settings on color? Why is it there? Is it safer for the TV or something? Also has anyone else had problems using the color adjustment test on the Essentials DVD? I had no problems with my tube TV. Anyway I started looking at Satellite TV broadcasts. There was the same detail as the 35†Toshiba tube, and just slightly less bright. But the picture was twice as big. So I was pleased. No obvious scan lines, although there was a “staircase†effect with light colored objects at 45 degrees. This was not as bad as regular rear projection TV. They have a choice of 4 formats. Normal NTSB 4:3, Which had the gray bars on the sides of the picture, a W I D E NTSB which just stretched the picture out to fill the screen, distorting everything. Does any one ever watch this bloated picture? I would try and eliminate it from the selection list it looks so bad. Then there is the NTSB ZOOM, where the picture is enlarged to fill the screen, but the top and bottom is cut off. This was OK, but you did not increase the resolution, you had the same detail as before, just bigger. I did not mind this too much, although since there was no increased detail, I found that for regular TV I just used the standard setting, with the gray bars on the side. Then I popped in Broken Arrow DVD. Kaboom! I used the NTSB Zoom, which I think is the windscreen setting, and there was a slight bar on the top and bottom. But the picture was magnificent. It was like I had hoped it would look. I did notice that in some scenes the skin tones were too orange and oversaturated, but in the next seen the flesh tones were normal. This happens when I use the Essentials DVD to adjust the picture, I get overly sensitive to changes and notice everything. I go nuts after using the Essentials DVD when one satellite station has color shifted one way, and then the next station is different. I just have to ignore it. I still have to try hooking up the component video connectors from the DVD player. I moved the 35 incher into the bedroom. Even with just a RF hookup, it looks so good I don’t know if it is worth the trouble to run Composite or S video connectors under the house. The internal speakers are OK at the low volumes. The big screen set up dominates the living room. It looks like a orbiting satellite, huge center with wings on each side (the 6 foot tall martin Logan requests look great next to it) and another “solar panel†on the top (the Martin Logan Logos). Somehow the larger picture makes the impact of the sound greater; we all enjoyed watching DVD’s on this set up. My friend George came over to see its. All he said was “Wow, I got to got one.†My girlfriend is happy that the Martin Logan's match the appearance of the TV so well, and it looks like one giant unit (the speakers are almost touching the sides of the TV. I know, I know, but there is really no where else to go with the speakers in this house.) The living wasn’t small before, but now it looks tiny. Giant TV, Giant speakers, giant 4 foot by 8 foot sound deadening panels, Giant bass absorbing tubes, a rack 8 feet tall filled with equipment. A stack of subwoofers in the back. I need to get a giant couch to match. Or a bigger house with taller ceilings. In summary, I think this Mitsubishi TV is the best that I can do, period. A projection set up may be the only other consideration, but you need really dark rooms and this house is too bright. No scan lines means that after I stop overanalyzing the picture I will enjoy it even more. Its appearance is stunning. If I want to, I could get a HDTV decoder (I will wait until they made a satellite receiver with both Dolby 5.1 AND HDTV decoding). I do not know what else Mitsubishi could do except option out the NTSB W I D E from the format rotation (you scroll between the formats each time, only one direction).
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