I'm looking into buying a 36" or bigger FLAT HDTV ready 16:9 directView TV ... which one is currently the best?

Please see this thread....

Direct View HDTV Comparison
[Link: remotecentral.com]

NO MATTER WHAT SIZE SCREEN YOU GET, DON'T GET 9 X 16 FORMAT. STICK WITH 3 X 4. HD IS TOO FAR AWAY AND YOU'LL HAVE TO LIVE WITH A PLAY DOUGH PICTURE FOR THE NEXT 5 YRS.
SONY OR HITACHI BOTH HAVE HYPER SCAN WHICH GIVES THE BEST PICTURE SO FAR.

WHEN YOU WATCH HD THE SCREEN IS CROPPED.
IT'S EASIER TO LIVE WITH THAT THAN A LOUSY PICTURE FOR REGULAR FORMAT.

I've got a Mitsubishi WS-65807 (65 inch, 16X9, play dough screen) and love it. I'm willing to sacrifice for the next few years as HDTV becomes the standard. DVD's (play dough format) is incredible!!. Not to mention the 16X9 just has a better appearance in my theatre. I think a majority (not all) of the networks will have a HD signal sooner than we think.

Anyway, I like the Mitsubishi 16X9. If you decide 4X3, do Sony.

Vince

I have a Mitsubishi WS-55907. I highly recommend it.

I have the WS-55905 and would recommend it also, I also have come to love the widescreen format especially since the message post was for best HDTV which is 16x9 format. I do wonder though if Chris was looking for LCD or Plasma since he says'flat' it that case I don't have that much money to even form an opinion, sorry

I have a Sony XBR 3x4. Great TV, Great Picture. Wish I had a 16x9 (play dough format) though. Would NOT recommend a 3x4 format if buying a new TV.

You guys should check out the SHARPVISION, PIONEER ELEITE, and ZENITH (yes Zenith) These 3 are all your higher end models sizes at 51" and up all support Progressive scan and have lots of bells and other stuff.

Mits and sony are not bad units. Just parts sometimes can be kinda hard to come by.

I agree with Vince - I have a Mitsubishi 65857 play dough TV and so far, I have been really impressed with it. It also makes a huge difference what you do with it - if you watch a lot of DVDs, then a 16x9 TV is great, as many or most DVDs now are coming out in the widescreen format, and you would be shocked at what you can miss with thayt in a 4x3 TV. As far as pictures, some of the satellite stations are less than perfect, but that is the case even on a 4x3. I planned on keeping this set( considering the cost) for at least 10 years, and i cannot predict futures, but I bet within 10 years or the life of my 16x9, we will see many more HDTV offerings.WHY set myself up to have to buy another TV??

Larry, the Mits Diamond series is as high end as the Elite and probably higher than Zenith (are they still in buisness??) and Sharp. You CAN NOT buy a Diamond series at Best Buy or any store like that only the higher end stores.

Might as well put my 2 cents in! I have sold stereo/televison equipment on and off for 20 years. I recently purchased the 4x3 format instead of the 16x9 for these reasons: Price: I bought the new Panasonic CT-36HX41 HDTV even though I feel the Sony 36XBR450 is a slightly better unit, but I got a deal (1600.00) that I could not even come close to with the Sony. Technological advance: Technology advances or moving faster than ever in history. By the time the majority of programs are in 16x9 format (3 to 5 years)the price of 16x9 or plasma televisions will have dropped dramatically. So I reasoned, buy the 4x3 now for less than $2,000.00, get 4 or 5 years out of it, sell it, and then buy the format (direct,rear projection, plasma or something even better) for way less than the price people are paying for units now that can only receive 10 to 20% of the broadcasting in 16 x 9. If you look at the past 5 years, its easy to reason, that televisions manufactured 5 years from now will have technological advantages over the systems today, at a much lower cost. So why spend $4000.00 or more for something that is only 20% usuable today and by the time it is of a majority rule, the price of new and improved televisions will be way cheaper than what you paid. Remember that the picture quality of a television starts to fall off when it is around 5 years old. So when you finally get to watch your 16 x 9 on a regular basis for what it was intended for, the unit will already be loosing its picture quality. Hey look at the price of vcr's and dvd's compared to 5 years ago.

Good, common-sense advice there, Rickdawg.

Try the Loewe tv's if you want a good tv. They even have "letterbox detect" for widescreen, an awesome doubler circuit, discrete codes and 3:2 pulldown for film.Check it out at www.loewetv.com.

I'm another who swears by the 9X16 65" "play dough". If you ask me, anything else is not worth turning on!

I just purchased a Proscan 65000 and I'm really impressed with the picture quality. I live atleast 25 miles from the nearest antena in Houston and I'm receiving all five of the local HDTV channels (abc, cbs, nbc, pbs and fox). It also has a built-in directv tuner which I have not yet activated. Another perk is that I will be receiving a progressive scan dvd player from RCA to make my dvd's look even better. I think this promotion ends on July 8.