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4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Top-of-the-line in the DLP market"
Pros: Individual color controls allow easy calibration; upgradeable software!
Cons: Large screen makes non-HD programs look horrible; digital closed captions are buggy.
Summary: My girlfriend decided I was taking too long choosing a new TV (I was leaning toward the Sony KDF-E42A10, as it is cheaper and fits our space better), but she took it upon herself to buy this model. (Seems women are buying the big screens even more than men are, nowadays.)
If you are watching a high-def or progressive-scan source, the picture is wonderful. However, one problem with any large-screen TV (not just this one) is that standard-def programming will actually look worse than on a regular set, since the large screen makes the low resolution that much more apparent. This issue bothers her enough that she's not happy with the TV, but I've explained to her that it is an issue with all of them, so we are going to give the TV some more time before letting her buyer's remorse sway her into returning it.
I notice the DLP-rainbow effect, but my girlfriend does not. I don't really let it get to me, but I do see it. We'll see if it gets on my nerves after a while, though.
What really sets Mitsubishi apart from all other manufacturers are two things: individual color controls and upgradable software.
Individual color control (which they supposedly have patented, so you won't find it on other makes) allows you to adjust six different color levels, fixing things like red/green-push without the need for "professional" calibration. Mitsubishi really does make it easy for anyone to do it themselves.
Upgradable software (or so the salespeople told us) will allow you to send in for a CF card (for use in the built-in media reader) when an update is available. Unlike most (if not all) other manufacturers, that means new features can be added to the TV, including even allowing full CableCard 2.0 compatibility once it's available.
Existing CC 1.0 sets from other makers will be able to use 2.0 cards, but will still be limited to the one-way communication of the 1.0 spec. Only their new 2.0 TV's will get the two-way comm ability. With the upgradable software of the Mitsubishi, however, you supposedly won't have to buy a new TV to get full 2.0 compatibility. (I sincerely hope the salespeople were correct about that.)
The only other issue we've noticed is that Closed Captioning on digital channels (my girlfriend hates watching TV without captions) does not seem to work properly. The manual says any problems with closed captions (in particular, grammar and spelling) are the result of the network's caption service, not the TV. However, the problem we have is that on ALL digital channels with digital captioning we only get every other caption (which is obviously not a grammar or spelling issue). That skipping of captions on all stations cannot possibly be a network issue. Has anyone else had this problem, even on other makes/models?
The TV will use analog captions if the digital channel does not send digital captions, but sadly there is no setting allowing us to use the analog captions regardless of whether digital captions exist, which would likely solve her issue. (Perhaps that can be added in a software update?)
Now the only other question I have is: Why does CNet have so few reviews of Mitsubishi products? They are supposedly the world's biggest producer of big-screen TV's, after all. One reason I was leaning toward the Sony was because you can actually find reviews for Sony here. Not so with Mitsubishi. C'mon, CNet, get on the ball!Updated
Update: No change to my rating of the TV itself, but the TV Guide On-Screen (TVGOS) feature is extremely frustrating, to say the least. This is probably NOT Mitsubishi's fault, however, but rather the fault of TVGOS's programming. However, if you are using a CableCard, TVGOS is your only source for an interactive guide (until an CC 2.0 update becomes available).
For some reason, the channels are all out of order in TVGOS, with no apparent rhyme or reason to it. For example, channels in the teens will be mixed in with channels in the hundreds.
Yes, you can rearrange them, but there is no setting to simply tell TVGOS to arrange them by their channel number. You have to move each one into position manually. That is what is so frustrating. Scrolling through hundreds of digital cable channels in order to put each one in its proper place is taking forever.
Also, TVGOS is missing channels from the guide's lineup, even though it detected our actual digital cable provider correctly.
Keep in mind, this does not make us unhappy with the TV itself at all (unless Mitsubishi does have some control over the TVGOS software, that is, in which case they really need to change the setup options).Updated
I really hope CableCard 2.0 comes out soon, for two reasons.
1. A common occurance with CableCard is that you will sometimes lose the video portion of your digital channels for no apparent reason. (This is NOT a Mitsubishi issue; it has also been reported by other CNet Users with the Sony I had considered getting.) Resetting your TV restores the channels. Easy to do, so it's not a big deal. However, that leads to #2.
2. Resetting the TV also resets TVGOS, so all the time we spent rearranging our channel lineup was erased.
Hopefully, CableCard 2.0 will be more stable, and we will never have to reset our TV. (Again, that's assuming the software upgrade feature of this TV will allow full-functionality of CC 2.0, as promised by the salespeople.)
One suggestion to Mitsubishi: Add the ability to backup all settings to a flash memory card inserted into the built-in card reader. That way if we have to reset our TV's due to the CableCard issue, we don't have to spend hours getting it back the way we want it.
Mitsubishi WD-52628:
