Home cinema - Where do I start???

Convergence/Focus is something has has to be adjusted regularly on all
CRT based rear-projection sets. It isn't difficult to do (the owners
manual will explain the process quite well), it's just a little time
consuming. Generally speaking, the more points of convergence a set
has the more acurate it can be focused. For example almost all
Mitsubishi's offer 90-point convergence tweaking outside the service
menu (this means you'll have 90 points to test and correct if you
discover color problems), other brands generally offer less (e.g. JVC
and RCA typically offer only 9-point convergence outside their service
menu).

Some manufactuers (Sony, Hitachi, Toshiba, to name a few) offer auto
focus on some of their models which do an alright job, but they all
require manual fine tuning if you want the absolute best quality
picture the set is capable of.

I talk about convergence tweaking a bit in my buyers faq:
http://hdtv.0catch.com

-Jeremy

(Chip) wrote in message . com...
This is the first I have heard about the TV sets needing to be
refocused. I had my last one for 20 years and it was only repaired
once. I never did anything other than that and the picture looked
fine.

Are they easy to focus? Or should I have the company come out and do
it?

I'm not too concerned about the view angle since we watch the TV
straight on.

Thanks for all of the information. I think this weekend I'll head
over to an electronics store and look at some different makes/models.

(JDeats) wrote in message . com...
"Leonard Caillouet" wrote in message news:[email protected]
"JDeats" wrote in message
Rear-projection is still considered to produce the best picture quality
available, but

Many would dissagree. IMO, CRT based RPTV is certainly the best value, and
at any price point usually the best pix, but "best picture qualtiy" means
different things to different people. Again, the best advice is to view and
judge for yourself.

Well, I think you're right that many would disagree, but I would say
many are wrong and then I would offer this: There are plenty of
statements that can be made about all technologies that are fact. LCDs
have weak blacks (and weak dark levels in general), DLP's have
contrast problems (and some people seem to notice the rainbow effect).
Plasma's suffer the same issues as LCD.

The only negatives about CRT-rear projection technology a 1. The
sets have be routinely focused and 2. The view angle isn't that good.

Sure each vendor applies their unique touch to the technology, but the
mentioned limitions are limitations of the core technology that powers
these devices. What is acuate color and what isn't is not subjective,
it can be proven. Picture quality is more subjective, but I consider
it a fact that higher resolution offers the capability to produce a
better quality picture. There's no need to get into the 1080i vs 720p
discussion (again).

I agree that people should buy what's best for them, but what their
eyes show them on a show room floor isn't always telling. And I think
there are enoguh facts about the various HDTV technologies to make the
statement that CRT based sets produce the best quality picture.

-Jeremy