Mitsubishi WS-55809 55 in. TV

I bought my first projection tv in the '70's. It was a two piece front projection Advent Videobeam. The next one was a one piece front projection fold down Mitsubishi. This is my first rear projection tv (RPTV) as well as my first widescreen HDTV compatible one.

I'd like to address two different audiences in this review: the first time purchaser and the seasoned owner of an RPTV (but first time purchaser of a WIDESCREEN set).

For the first time purchaser: a projection set is not a turn on and forget it product. It creates its picture by overlapping the output of 3 picture tubes (red, green and blue.) When these don't overlay perfectly (or converge) you wind up with a lot of color fringing (you will see colored outlines around, for example, white letters). The degree to which this fringing can be controlled directly relates to what the manufacturer provides in the way of convergence controls. Some are automatic. The Mitsubishi is totally manual. There are 64 specific convergence points that you can manipulate. If you take the time, you can get a virtually perfect picture.

Widescreen sets present a unique challenge at this point in time. Eventually, all broadcasts will be in what is referred to as the 16:9 format (the width of the screen is much greater than the height). For right now, however, most broadcasts are in standard 4:3.

The Mitsubishi has warning stickers on it and in the instruction manual warning you not to view non-widescreen sources more than 15% of your viewing time. The trick is to make sure all the screen is used most of the time. The Mitsubishi provides several formats that let you do this. You can stretch, expand, and zoom a standard 4:3 image to make it fill the screen with varying degrees of distortion to the image. You may or may not find that distracting.

But this is a set that crys for high quality widescreen sources. I use the Shrek DVD as a demo of its capabilities. This DVD, when played on the Mitsubishi is stunning. It fills the full 55 inches with well saturated, finely balanced color.

We only have 1 HDTV station in Jacksonville, so I haven't yet purchased a set top box (STB) to decode the High Definition (HD) signal. That will run another $500 to $900 depending on how fancy a box I want, since the Mitsubishi is HDTV CAPABLE. It does not have an HDTV tuner built in.

There are plenty of inputs: 4 for standard video sources, 2 component and 1 wideband component input for a STB. Standard video benefits from proprietary line doubling technology that removes any visible scan lines. I have to admit, however, that the cable signal from AT&T Broadband is not the highest quality. It does not do justice to the set's capabilities.

Sound is very good, although I can't imagine spending what you will pay for this set and NOT connect it to a dolby digital or DTS home theater receiver.

You may or may not find the picture in picture (PIP) and picture outside picture (POP) features useful. I am a confessed channel surfer. With this set you can view the main picture on the left, with either three or nine stations cycling on the right (much to the dismay of the non-channel surfer in the house). Why this may be a good thing, however, is that the main picture and sound is still there while the cycling is happening. Switching between the POP and main picture is as easy has hitting the Exchange button. You also have a choice of either a small or large PIP that can be moved around the main screen.

If you go to http://www.hometheatherspot.com, then navigate to the Mitsubishi Forum, you can find all sorts of ideas on how to modify the set. Personally, although I consider myself somewhat obsessive about the convergence on a projection set, I haven't yet felt the need to tweak beyond what is available outside of the service menu. Believe it or not, that is considered high praise coming from me.

Update 2/22/02: I purchased a Hughes Platinum HD (Model HIRD-E86) set top box today, just in time to catch the re-broadcast of the women's long program in high definition on NBC. The picture is incredible. Colors are extremely well saturated, without affecting the skin tones. I caught the press conference Sarah Hughes had after winning the gold medal and could almost read the small print on the Disani water bottle in front of her!

Picture quality is very close to what you get from projecting a good quality 35mm slide on a wall. The only problem with having seen this portion of the Olympics in high definition is that programs from the regular cable feed now look even worse to me.