Amazing TV for the price and size!, August 13, 2010

I’ve had the WD-65738 for over a week now and I have to say that I am pleased with the overall picture quality of the set. Its definitely a big improvement over my older Sony 65″ rear projection CRT.

Pros:

1) The price for its size as I was able to grab this for under 00. I was not looking for anything wall mountable but was amazed at how deep it is for a rear projection, only 18 inches and it weighs 70 lbs! Quite the improvement over my other set which was almost 3 feet deep and weighed 330lbs!

2) Current technologies like StreamTV, 6-Color Processor, HDMI w/CEC, HDMI-PC Compatibility, 3D DLP Link, Game Mode, Smooth120, EdgeEnhance, and DeepField Imager.

3) I find the speakers are more than adequate for regular TV viewing. They are loud and are no worse than speakers found on older tube CRT sets. It does have a digital audio out connection so that you can connect to a receiver and process the sound for whatever your currently watching on the set.

4) Advanced video calibration menu. What makes this so unique from other sets is that you do not have to go into a specialized service menu for your TV to make advanced video changes to settings. The big plus is that anyone can tinker with this without fear of being unable to revert back to the default settings because you can reset ANY settings you made back to default. The set offers 3 video settings, Natural, Bright and Brilliant. I found Brilliant to be excessively bright and bluish looking. Bright seemed fine if you have the set in a bright room with lots of sunlight. Natural was the setting of my choice and I tweaked the settings for my particular tastes. I was also able to play with the ADV video option and got the set looking even better than those 3 settings.

5) The projection bulb on these types of sets do eventually fail. At for a replacement, its as easy as changing a light bulb in your house. Remove the small door panel in the rear and replace. When compared to the 0 cost of replacing one of my CRT guns on my older CRT projection set, it’s a modest repair. Obviously, the more you watch TV, the more frequent you will be replacing bulbs. At 6,000 hours of expected lamp life, you should get decent mileage before having to replace the lamp. Obviously, factors such as room temperature and how well the unit stays ventilated will play a significant role in lamp life.

Some Cons:

1) Using the TV audio and a receiver together will produce an noticeable echo. Shouldn’t be a problem so long as you mute the TV when you use your receiver.

2) The Harmony One’s command database for this TV is somewhat off. I was not able to use the direct input command for HDMI2 or HDMI3 using the database of IR codes that Logitech provides. There is a work around for this issue. You need to put your Mitsubishi Remote in Direct Functions Mode by pressing and holding the POWER button until it flashes red twice, then enter 0,0,0,9,0. Have your Harmony remote learn a new IR command (name it HDMI2(IR) and HDMI3(IR),) point the the remotes at each other, press INPUT button on the TV remote, and when your Harmony is ready to read the IR code for HDMI2, press the FF button on the TV remote. Repeat the steps for HDMI3 but press the PLAY button instead of FF. If you need to take the TV remote out of Direct Functions mode, hold the power button until it flashes red twice, then enter 0,0,9,3,5. Then assign the HDMI2 and HDMI3 functions on the Harmony the new IR commands for each input you just had it learn. Problem solved.

3) Whenever changing video format from a source, there is a video input delay on the TV. ie – I am a Cablevision Optimum customer and whenever I go to the iO interactive guide, the set goes in and out of video with a delay (screen goes black for a few seconds). I have read reports that using a receiver to send all your sources to the TV via one HDMI cable helps.

I still believe that this is the best bang for your buck if your not looking for anything wall mountable and want a TV set over 55″. For a total of 99 on a 65″ set, its definitely the replacement I needed with 2 small boys running around the house. And I was pleasantly surprised by the picture quality when I had it up and running. The last time I looked at DLP’s was when Samsung introduced the LED version of its DLP’s and this set definitely looks a whole lot better than what I saw then. Picture Quality is on par with other more expensive sets and the 3D support makes this future-proof for the up-and-coming 3D technology!

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 Comments (2)

What A GREAT TV!!, November 1, 2010

By 

Charles T. Rauchle (Milan, TN USA) – See all my reviews

  

I purchased this ‘Home Theater’ TV to replace a 56″ Samsung DLP set. All I can say is AMAZING! The picture on this Mitsubishi was AWESOME right out of the box, and after a little ‘tweaking’, is even better! HD broadcast is AMAZING, with Bluray performance even better.

I wasn’t in a big rush to try the 3D on this TV, but since DIRECTV started broadcasting 24/7 3D, I gave it a shot! The results are just as AMAZING!

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WD-65738, October 8, 2010

A few weeks ago I purchased last years model WD-65737 and was absolutely blown away by its picture. Once calibrated correctly the picture was amazing. The colors were accurate the brights and darks were natural and using 1080i or 1080P content the picture had absolutely no artifacts. Unfortunately their was a problem with the TV and a couple weeks after having it the picture would sometimes go out. I ended up having to exchange it for the newer model WD-65738 because the WD-65737 unit had been discontinued. The WD-65738 has really been a let down. Even with correct calibration the colors are washed out, the picture is to bright and the darks are not accurate. There are also artifacts when watching 1080i or 1080P content. If you are wanting a 65″ DLP TV stay away from this model and try to find the WD-65737.

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