RPTV Choices

[oneoldude]

I need to replace an old 4:3 RPTV that died on me.

Can someone suggest some sites that can give the relative benefits and drawbacks of the major crt RPTVs available now? How about suggestions?

I am looking to buy into a stopgap for a few years while the non-crt technologies shake out, improve and lower in price.

I really need suggestions for sets that are easy to DIY align and tweak from the service menu and that can take a great variety of inputs.

Screen size should be around 64" or a bit smaller.

Thanks for the help

[aud19]

Well if you want the best PQ for the money, CRT RPTV's are still the best and cost the least. They require a Little more maintence to align the guns a couple times a year but other than a larger foot print and a minimal risk of "burn-in" have few other weaknesses.

DLP RPTV's, offer generally pretty good black levels (though nothing beats CRT), good resolution and fairly bright light output with a smaller footprint compared CRT's. Their weaknesses include possible rainbows from their single chip design and arguably less colour fidelity due to the use of the single chip/colour wheel as well as they have "expensive bulbs" that need to be replaced usually every couple years or so.

LCD RPTV's use 3 chips for no rainbows and generally better colour reproduction though tend to have poorer black levels and can have fast motion smear due to their slower refresh rates. They're usually higher res than equivelant DLP's but that's changing as both are moving towards 1080p resolution. They also have replaceable bulbs (as all current fixed pixel RPTV's do).

Another option are LCOS or Sony's SXRD (Sony's name for LCOS). They cost more than similar DLP's/LCD's but have 3 chip designs that offer the colour fidelity of the LCD's with better black levels like DLP. They're arguably the closest thing to CRT PQ with a fixed pixel display available today. Their main drawback is cost. They also have replaceable bulbs which tend to be more expensive than their DLP/LCD counterparts.

[oneoldude]

Jason,

Thanks for the reply.

I am pretty set on a CRT RPTV due to their PQ and price. I am fortunate to have built a cubby into which I can slide the unit and not have it consume space in my viewing room.

I am interested in the benefits and advantages of different makers of CRT RPTV sets. I am sure some brands should be avoided and others considered on the basis of fundamental PQ, ease of tweaking, ease of getting into the service menu, lifespan, consumer relations, ability to scale different formats, etc. That is the sort of info I am after.

I have friends with sets that do not have good PQ when changing from digital to analog source material (I don't know why) and I have read that some sets have limited input facilities and yet other sets cannot handle a variety of input formats very well. So what I am asking is what brands and models should I be looking at for top quality CRT RPTV performance? Salesmen at local dealers are no help at all. All they want to do is sell you a DLP, any DLP at all.

I figure that if I start by looking at the best CRT RPTVs, I will end up with a really good system. But I need to know where to start.

All help is appreciated.

PM me if you like.

[aud19]

Mitsubishi and Hitachi make arguably some of the best CRT RPTV's out there. Mitsubishi's 73" set even has their 9" CRT's :P :drool: A step down from their IMO is Toshiba and then Panasonic. Sony makes nice sets too but IMO, you pay more for their name than you get. If it was my money it would be Hitachi or Mitsubishi

As for your friends PQ, are their sets proberly calibrated? I've found that any of the RPTV's I've seen look like crap out of the box ESPECIALLY on SD material. Once you turn off the sharpness, CURSED VSM :evil:, dial in the contrast/brightness and colour etc even SD looks decent Though it is still SD, you can't ask too much from it

[Kevin P]

If I were in the market for a CRT, I would go with Mitsubishi as well. I used to have a 46" Mits until it got reduced to a molten blob of plastic in a house fire. Like Jason said, they are among the best CRT sets out there, and several companies are, or have already, discontinued making CRT sets entirely.

One thing to consider is the newer CRTs upconvert SD material to 1080i via an internal scaler. Some models do a better job of this than others. Therefore, it's a good idea to demo the sets you're interested in with both SD (480i and 480p) as well as HD material. Try to do it in a store where they'll let you use the remote, so you can turn the contrast and sharpness down at the very least.

In addition to Mits and Hitachi, Toshiba sets are very nice too, and are often less expensive.

[oneoldude]

aud19 -

As you know I am looking at the Mits Daimond 65 that has 9" tubes. Hitachi does not have such a thing do they?

Also, I have seen quite a few ads for Mits Diamond 65's but they have different numbers. WS 65813, WS65815 etc. I checked the Mits web site and cannot find all of the varitations that seem to be available for sale. What are the differences between these sets?

In other words which version should I be looking for or are they all the same? I think they must be different with different numbers, no?

Also, is there a place on the net where I can d/l a manual for the set so that I can look at possibilities for tweaking at the service menu level? Any sites to look at for tweaks of the Diamond 65" 9 inch tube series? Especially to get rid of red push?

[aud19]

As far as I know Mitsubishi is the only company still making a 9" CRT's. They do appear to only be available in this year's 73" WS-73517 though. The different models you posted are probably 2004 (813) and 2005 (815) models I'm guessing. If that's the case and you can still get the 65" WS65815 with 9" guns you may want to jump on it. As it's a last year model, you may be able to get a good price too

Here's a link to last years 65" (WS65815)

http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/televisions/details.asp?id=93

and it's product specs:

http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/common/getfile.asp?uuid={EE7CE607-ABE9-48DC-9DF4-772F7F26D47C}

And this years products:

http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/televisions/types.asp?id=6

and specs:

http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/common/getfile.asp?uuid={942C8F0D-B0C8-421E-9265-624339161E61}

Here's a link to last years 65" manual as well (it's under "Support"/"Owners Guide" on the Mits site )

http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/common/getfile.asp?uuid={A7AD6509-AE3C-4E93-BF6F-3C7F2AE01C30}

[Shane Martin]

The different models you posted are probably 2004 (813) and 2005 (815) models I'm guessing.

Aud,
You are correct.
2003 models are X11, 04's are x13 and the 05's were x15.

Any sites to look at for tweaks of the Diamond 65" 9 inch tube series? Especially to get rid of red push?

Red Push is fixable via the perfect color menu as of 04 models. You don't service menu access to fix that.

If you have more questions feel free to ask or PM me. I do own a 04 Mits 55413. Taking the plastic protector off the set is one of the biggest tweaks you can do. I have no begun to explore the service menu because using HD, the picture is just so dang good.

[aud19]

Does yours have the 9" guns too Shane? :P

[Shane Martin]

No mine is the 7" variety. 9"ers were the 65 and 73" sets. I couldn't justify the 65 in my space. Being all I watch is HD now, I regret it some but for non HD material, I sit too close to a 65" set.

[aud19]

I just wish we could get ANY Mits TV's here in Canada :cry:

[oneoldude]

aud19 - thanks for the heads up.

Shane - thanks for the offer. I will PM when I need help.

BTW, is SD terrible on these big sets?

And how close is "too close" for 65" and SD or HD? I wil be about 12 feet away which is within guidelines from various sources.

[Shane Martin]

12 foot should be ok for a 65" set especially if you want mostly HD and DVD.

As far as SD goes, its a mixed bag. For digital cable channels > 100, most sets are fine. Mine does a great job. For channels <100, I had issues with channels via my cable box. By bypassing the box I found them to improve to a decent picture. This doesn't help when I want to record a < 100 channel but I make due.

Trust me when you get HD, you'll just mostly watch HD. Even DVD looks poor by comparison and you will likely watch less of that too. It spoils you.

I'm investigating an ISF calibration right now. If the local guys will do certain things like duvetyne then I'll go that route if they are reasonble. If not then I'll have to setup a tour with Gregg Loewen(Lion AV) or something along those lines.

Right now after basic calibration and removal of the screen, I'm pretty happy.

[aud19]

Should be fine Quit worry about it and go buy one now! :P :lol:

[oneoldude]

aud19 - I am in the process of deciding who to order from. I can buy one on line for less than $2,400 with free shipping. :dothewave:

That seems like a real good deal to me especially since no retailer near me has them available. :roll:

Shane - I record nothing. So that is no problem for me. :T

I have analog cable but will switch to digital (probably with the card) and let the set do its stuff. From what I gather I am better off in PQ without a STB. Right? :E

Also I have all the networks transmitting in HD within 40 miles from me and I have an antenna tower that goes up about 60 ft. That should get me into OnAir stuff fairly well. Also it will be interesting to see how DivX stuff looks. 8O

And I am a tweaker. I have no fear of getting into the guts of the system and tweaking. It really helped my old 4:3 system a lot. I have the Avia disk and am ready to start with the non service menu stuff. Then more later. He, he, he. :stupidpc:

The problem now is that this is the end of the line for CRT RPTV's. So there will be very little on the net about how to best tweak this, the last of the Mohicans. :cry:

[aud19]

That's not really a problem as they've been around the longest there's already a wealth of info how how to squeeze every last ounce of performance out of CRT's

Also, if you can get OTA HD, just stick with your basic cable and use both of those Unless of course you want specialty or movie channels. As for STB's, especially if you get an HD-STB, the quality should be the same

[oneoldude]

Aud19 - You have been very helpful to me and I thank you for it. :T

But I do have another question. :roll:

You said, there is a "wealth" of information out there on CRT's. Can you point me to some info that deals with the WS-65815? ;x(

[aud19]

Have you tried a google search on it? Honestly though, your best bet (and what I would do) is have it calibrated by an ISF guy Also, what I meant is that CRT's have been around so long that one, they're pretty much perfected and two, if you want any info on CRT's because they've been around so long they've been writen about, tested, tweaked, documented etc ad nauseum.

[oneoldude]

Yes, I googed it to death. But all I found was info for older sets. Some of the stuff is transferable to new sets but for service code tweaking you really need to know what applies to the new set. If you make a mistake in the service menu it is possible to end up with an unsuable set. I would like to avoid that.

[Shane Martin]

I have analog cable but will switch to digital (probably with the card) and let the set do its stuff. From what I gather I am better off in PQ without a STB. Right?

Not really. The guide that is provided with the cable card sucks. I much prefer a STB. Cable cards are not ready for primetime.

[aud19]

Yes, I googed it to death. But all I found was info for older sets. Some of the stuff is transferable to new sets but for service code tweaking you really need to know what applies to the new set. If you make a mistake in the service menu it is possible to end up with an unsuable set. I would like to avoid that.

Well as Shane mentioned earlier, the Mitsubishi's have a HUGE amount of user control and as such there's really no need to get in to a "service menu" Have you had a look at the manual I posted the link to yet?