Who has been feeding MATT all this wrong information. Yes Mitsubishi has a high end TV that is a diamond series. My local low-to-mid fi stereo store discounts them for $1500.00 off of retail. Even the Good Guys stereo store which is a large retailer of MID-FI equipment sells mitsubishi as well as circut city, pacific stereo and others. Last time a checked all Mitsubishi's were HDTV READY. The four mentioned above can all be bought with the digital tuner built in. I guess for you MATT you would not know high end if you walked into it and it smacked you in the face. High end to me is NOT a large retailer selling a great TV at discounted prices so the average joe can afford it. I have a Pioneer Elete in my bedroom and when I compare tv to tv hands down and a fact the Pioneer is a far better TV for one reason the picture tubes are 8" dia. and are imported and made only for the pioneer elete TV's Mitsubish Diamond series use's a 7" tube which are also the same RGB picture tubes found in thier Silver and gold series. My opinion to you is put down the stero, TV mags. you read. Because the people who write about TV's and Stereo's are just Reporters for a business. Spend some time and demo all the TV's all the people on this fourm have talked about and form your own opinion. And then go buy the TV that suits you best.

Woa Calm Down Larry,

I will gladly put MY Diamond, up against an Elite. I actually liked the Elite more when I was out shopping, I couldn't justify the Price difference for the picture difference. In fact the Elite is about the only RPTV I have seen that equals or betters the picture quality and cabinet quality of the diamond. Go to HomeTheaterSpot in the Mitsubishi section and tell everyone there that their Sets suck and you will get the same response that the Diamond is not some Best Buy piece of Crap. There are also alot of people out there that don't want a built in tuner.
I didn't mean to upset you larry but I 'also' spent quite a deal of money on my system, and I don't feel like my equipment is just 'nice'. I still stand by my 'opinion' that Sharp and Zenith are not the 'Best' HDTV that it would be the Pioneer Elite or the Mitsubishi Diamond.

I have thw WS 73907 the biggest set they offer............it is awesome.......just make sure to use high quality cable with whatever you buy.

I have had the Mitsubishi WS65807 for about 2 months. Couldn't be happier with it. I purchased it locally and did have to have them replace it when a high voltage block went out. Very happy I did not buy it over the net, as it was replaced with a new set no questions asked. I had it hooked up to cable until about two weeks ago. The picture was just OK on most channels. I recently got the Mitsubishi HD satellite unit with a dish. It was very easy to install myself and I now have a great picture through DirecTV. The down side to a 16:9 set is that DirecTV only carries one HD channel (HBO) plus one pay per view HD channel. It would be nice if DirecTV carrier the digital signals of the local network stations, but they don't. I am going to try a roof top antenna for the local digital feed, but don't have my hopes up as I live in a very hilly area. The picture on most of the sat channels is very good on almost all of the sat channels (in between cable and a DVD). The better picture quality does allow you to choose the expanded mode for viewing 4:3 images where you lose a little of the top and bottom of the picture (This picture was very poor on cable). The expanded (stretching) modes are not too bad, but you will notice the stretching. DVD's look incredible. I have a Pioneer 5 disk DVD player with progressive scan. I have heard Pioneer's progressive scan is only a line doubler and does not utilize the 3:2 pull down. All I know is that it is hard to tell a difference between the HD picture from the satellite and the progressive scan picture from the Pioneer DVD. I believe most people will never notice the difference. The same can be said for the picture quality of the TV's. I looked at all three Mitsubishi wide screen models (Platinum, Platinum Plus and Diamond), the Sony wide screen and the Pioneer Elite side by side and could not tell much of a difference between the Mitsubishi's and the Pioneer. The Sony did not seem to be as good. I would image if you had the "test patterns" on the screen you could probably notice a greater difference, but I never plan on watching test patterns on my TV. If your room size will allow it, I would go with the widescreen. I am planning to get a 36" 4:3 TV for another room. I don't believe I would get a 16:9 set that was under 50". I hope this helps in your decision process. Also, the MX-500 remote will bring the whole system together and is the best money I have spent on my entire system. I believe my system is the best for the amount of money spent, less than $4,000 for the TV, HD Tuner and DVD.

Kris,
Glad to of heard you had a postive experience with Direct TV and your Mits. TV. Check out www.terk.com they have a antenna called the HDTV60 for receiving local HD broadcasts. Works pretty good. Looks cool also.

The Mits and Pioneers are the best, if you can afford an Elite get one if you can't get the Diamond Series. These manufactures are way above the rest. From what I've read the dv-37 and higher models of the elite progressive scan are the only ones that do the true progressive scan (3:2) pulldown. If you spend anything less than $700 for and progressive scan dvd player right now, chances are you are not getting a true progressive scan. In the future the prices will come down. I'm with everyone else I enjoy the 16:9 playdoh image. You can barely notice it. Rather than taking the 16:9 image on a 4:3 and making it playdoh.

Larry.... you "tossed off" a comment at the end of one of your posts up there about magazine reviewers being "reporters for the business": "My opinion to you is put down the stero, TV mags. you read. Because the people who write about TV's and Stereo's are just Reporters for a business."

While it is true that all magazines really very heavily on industry advertising, it would be much more accurate to say that certainly, some reporting is swayed by how impressed the author might be with the wine-and-dine routine poured on by the manufacturer. But generally speaking, the reviews are honest and straightforward and truly represent the experience of the author.

I like to keep in mind that there is actually very little "crappy" equipment, and almost none of the lower-end stuff out there is actually reviewed anyway. You get to a certain price point and you are going to get equipment that is perfectly acceptable, or better, across the board. After that, it is often just a question of personal taste, and a comparison to "reference equipment" or the author's own equipment. It is all subjective, and that is why we should all take everything we read with that in mind. Like a movie review.

I think the one area that continues to promote the notion that industry magazines are just advertising fodder is the "new gear" sections that most mags. The copy tends to be written by the manufacturers, and 90% of the time (if I may be so bold as to select a statistic out of thin air), what you see in these sections is purely press releases and advertising copy. I would like to see a little more effort spent on copy editing some of this stuff, although I do note that there are several magazines that do this, going so far as to insert phrases such as " ... the manufacturer says...". But there is no way the magazines can audition all this equipment, especially before it is actually street-available. Often, a few months down the road, you will see an actual review or article on the an item listed in these sections, once they have a chance to get their hands on it.

There are other magazines that refuse to cover gear that they haven't tested. This is commendable from one perspective; on the other hand, I like to see what's coming, too.

In the long run, a person would have to be a fool to just read a review and run out and buy something... unless they feel that one particular item has exactly what they want. I read 'em from time to time to get an idea of what's available, but I rarely buy something without doing a lot more research. One notable exception was my purchase of an RCAMX100 36? HD-ready TV: I had never seen it, only read about it, and I ordered it as fast as I could. I got lucky: it is an incredible set. Then just yesterday I read that it does NOT have a component input that will accept 480P from a DVD player. Oh, well... ... Mike

A few things from this thread need correcting here:

1. Pioneer Elite's do not use 8" CRT's - they use 7" - same size as Mitsubishi's (except for the 73" model).

2. All three of Mitsubishi series HD ready widescreen TV's do not use the same 7" lenses. The systems are different in the level of quality they produce. The Diamond series lenses are superior to the Platinum-Plus...the technology used is a more advanced implimentation. The same is true comparing the Plus model to the plain Platinum.

3. The Zenith HD TV's may or may not be the best. The 64" model may very well be the best HDTV out there today though. It uses 9" CRT's, and can more fully resolve HD signals than any Pioneer Elite model. And the street price isn't much different than the Elite 64". The DVD images I've seen on this system using a cheap interlaced player were the most film-like quality image I've ever seen on any rear projection TV.

4. Yes, Zenith is still in business. And they have recently introduced the world's largest HDTV Plasma display - 60"! Zenith has restructed itself and is concentating on being a primary leader in digital technologies.

I'm not a re-seller or employee for any of these products, but I thought it appropriate to share some knowledge and correct some small mis-informative statements made.

Chris
A lot of good common sense here. Read between the lines, sort out what you need and go looking. This may be long, but I hope will help.
A couple of additional points to consider.
Just saw the new 40" Sony "direct-view" 4:3 set, looks pretty good, but didn't have time to really check it out. Never thought I would see another large tube set after Mitsubishi dropped out. This definitely is worth your time to check out. The Sony 36 XBR is quite good, but almost every one I've seen needs some minor convergence touch up out of the box, an easy adjustment under warranty.
Another thing that never seems to get mentioned about "direct-view" tube sets is that they have a limited amount of resolution. Because the picture goes through a metal plate (shadow mask) that has "holes" (rectangular)in it, and resoulution depends on how fine a dot(pixel, if it helps you to understand) can be displayed, you run into a limitation. The smaller the dot, the smaller the hole in the shadow mask, but as the dots get smaller to accomodate a finer, higher resolution, hardly any light will get through to be seen on the phosphorus coating, which is what you see as picture. This is one of their limitations. And of course, as the beam gets to the sides, it's not striking the mask at a "straight shot", but kind of angled, which means the holes need to be a little bigger, or you just loose a little resolution. I've read that the Sony, and probably others, too, can really only get the 1080i resolution in the middle 50% of the screen, and it falls off somewhat on the sides. This isn't really bad, as that's usually where the action or "main viewing" is anyway. I have used the test DVD on the Sony 34" and 36", Panasonic 16:9 and RCA Proscan on customers sets, just to see what they'll do. I'm always curious as to how they stack up. I would be the first to say that they do well, and for 95% of the public, these will do fine. I agree with Rickdawg49, a direct view is a good alternative for the cost-concious, in either 4:3 or 16:9, considering the limited amount of real HD content. And if you have a space/price limitation, then this is a good buy.
Then there's the Plasma sets, but there's a large difference in quality, and not to mention price. And if your one of the fussy 10% that has seen the difference, can live with it, and can afford it, go for it. The only ones I can recommend are the $20K and up, and I still think the rear projection sets are better buy.
If you can afford the projection sets, and your room can handle the size, they're REALLY great in HD, and regular definition is at least equal, if not usually better, because of line doublers, etc, than a direct view. Why the projection sets really shine, pun intended, is they're really 3 black and white picture tubes, each having a different colored lense in front, thus giving them their respective color output, much like direct view sets. The big difference is there's no shadow mask that the electron beam has to go through. This means that they can focus the beam as tight as possible, on a much finer phosphorus coating, resulting in more "pixels" of resolution. Therefore, the CRT's(picture tube), can achieve a far higher resolution. They're also much brighter, which is needed, because projection sets loose a lot in the mirrors and final display screen.
What to pick? Check your area for what's broadcast in true HD, see if the program content warrants the higher investment for what YOU like to watch. If it's lots of movies, that's another consideration (what type of "movie environment" you prefer). When you've narrowed it down, watch the same set at several stores to eliminate differences in signal quality of one stores antenna versus another. And ask for the remote, play with the color, brightness, etc. Most stores have them set "hot", so play around with it to see what it will do. Try to watch at the news hour, where the signal quality of the program is live and at it's best.
And finally, be sure and check around you're area for capability of LOCAL HD reception. I install antenna systems, among other toys, and sometimes have to be the bearer of sad news when a customer has just spent big money only to find out he's in bad area. Most installers will do a site survey, for a small fee, where they will bring out several types of antennas and try them at your house to see what you'll get. Ask the high end stores who they use for their jobs and get some recommendations.
And to dispell some myths about antennas, the biggest and most expensive doesn't always do the best job. There are MANY factors in HD reception, (too far or too CLOSE a distance, terrain, trees, power lines, buildings, type of transmitting signal polarity and footprint.....) What works at any given point may not work 4-6" to the right or left (the wavelength at most UHF frequencies) Sometimes we'll spend an hour at a sight just wandering around the roof to find the sweet spot. In Seattle, 2 sites a few miles apart make alignment fairly easy. For those locations where they're in totally opposite directions, use two antennas and an A/B switch. Some sites may require two antennas in the same direction, again seperately switched, just because one "flavor" or type may work better at one particular frequency, when the other type doesn't. There are several good websites that will help you in choosing antennas and give directions on where towers are loacted. These sites are well intentioned, and offer some good information, but use them as a guide for what you need. I've tried each with locations that I know are impossible or are great, and have found them to be wrong on the hopeless ones. Again, check your local retailers of these high end sets, they will usually be far more familiar with the problems areas.
Good hunting!
Dan
Sorry to be long winded, just want you to get it right!

Thanks for the info MikeyB, I seriously haven't heard a thing from Zenith in quite a long time.

I apologize for my comment

For those in search of the higher end Direct View, just saw the new NEC 61" plasma

[Link: nectech.com]

WOW! Very good picture on both HD and reg S-video from a Sony HD100, then customer ran it through his Faroudja, stunning! For those that can afford it, retail $28K, not sure what street price will be. Also had the quietest fans I never heard, had to get within inches, and then it was barely audible.
Come on, Lottery !

Well, the best HDTV is the one sitting in MY home theater....... currently a Pioneer SD-532-HD5 53" High Definition TV [Link: bestbuydigital.com]

OK, maybe not the best, but it was only $2300 at Sams and beats the heck outta my old Sony 32 4:3 set.

your mileage may vary, party on
jb