- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 17 reviews Back to product review
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9 out of 9 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Great picture right out of box, better than the Sony KDS-R50XBR1"
Pros: Great overall picture quality with HD, DVD, and with non-HD content
Cons: Menu is complicated, changing video sources is slow
Summary: I have only had the TV for 5 days, but after 4 HDTVs and nine months of looking I found the HDTV I?m going to keep.
I had wanted the Sony KDS-X50XBR1 since they came out. However at $4000 I wanted to wait until clearance. At the end of July I was able to get one at Circuit City for $2100. I had it had home for 2 weeks. Don?t get me wrong, the picture is awesome Sony KDS-X50XBR1. However, I felt like I always had to adjust the picture to get the best picture and colors. I returned it waiting for the new models came.
When I saw new Sony SXRDs I thought would be HDTV that I would buy. However, it uses version 1 (DRC-MFv1.0) of the Sony processing engine and the KDS-X50XBR1 used version 2 (DRC-MFv2.0). This is important when you want to look at non-HD content. The XBR2 models will use version 2.5 (DRC-MFv2.5). I?m sure the picture will be sweet but starting at $4,300 for the 60? I decided to look into JVC.
According to what I read online the major drawbacks of JVC were going to be resolved in the new TVs. I noticed online that my local Best Buy had the 56? into stock. When I went to the store they didn?t even have one on display yet.
I decided to take one home to see how it looked. Let me start off with the two negatives. First, The Menu system and going through the initial setup on it was way too complicated compared with the Sony. Second, switching between sources is slow and you have to pause at each source as you go through them. Neither of these is an issue for me. First, after setup the picture is awesome and you don?t need to keep tweaking it. Second, I have a Media Center PC which up converts all my content to 1080P so I don?t need to keep changing sources.
The picture is awesome. I pretty much just use the Theater Pro mode. I only watch over-the-air HD content and DVDs. The HD content is awesome. With the DVD content I can tell a little difference from HD but you really need to be nit picky (like me) to see it. Even the non-HD content looks the best I?ve seen on a HDTV.
The reason I?m keeping the TV is great all around picture regardless of the source and I don?t need to tweak the picture settings. Some of the HDTVs I looked at had horrible images when it was not HD content. The movies I watch have plenty of dark scenes and it handles them great. I heard that was a drawback on the previous models.
This is a great TV if you are looking for TV that acts like a TV should. Basically, turn it on and have a great picture without having to constantly tweak it.
- 1 reply to this review
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Can you tell me how long it takes for your JVC to go from complete off to on? My wife thinks my Sony SXRD 60-incher takes too long to turn on. Thanks.
