[rajmak]

I am new to this board so please forgive me if I am have started this thread in the wrong area!

I am thinking about buying a new TV. I have ruled out getting a Plasma TV due to what people have told me about them and their life spam against the cost.

I have seen the Sony KF50SX200U although I cannot find any reviews of this model. Can anyone point me in the right direction or even offer advice as to the positives and negatives of this model?

Questions I need answers to are:

1. What is the picture quality like? My cousin has the Sony KP44DX2 which is rear projection as opposed to LCD/Rear Projection. I find the picture on the KP44DX2 too grainy - how does the KF50SX200U compare?

2. Is it worth the money?

3. I was told that with this model - once the bulbs for it expire they can be replaced for a relative cost. Is this true?

4. I have the Sony DAVS800 Home Cinema Setup - is this Television a good match for this system?

Any help or advice is appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[rajmak]

Anyone?

Its a pretty good set. I think the 300 seris is also out already in the US. It has been for a while.

My opinions:-
The KP44DX2 having a grainy picture is most probably down to bad setup. Its a very good rptv.

The LCD set has a great picture but poor black levels.
Do you like to watch TV/films in a dark room? If so, stay away from LCD based rptv. However, if the room is well lit, then these TV's show a great picture. I can watch my LCD set ( samsung ) with all curtains open on a very sunny day, and the picture is awsome. Try that on a CRT!!

The bulbs have a life of around 9000 hours(ish) and cost about £250 to replace. Thats todays price. I assume in a couple of years, that price should drop.

And I would guess that your home cinema system would work fine. I dont know what kind of connections the Sony tv has, or your dvd player, so cant be sure.

What price have you seen this tv at?

[rajmak]

Thanks so much for the reply. i have seen the Sony KF50SX200U retail at about £3000! Whether that price can come down I guess would be a matter of shopping around!

I would mainly be buying the set to watch DVDs on. How is this set with that? Is the picture sharp?

At the moment its a choice between a 36" CRT or the 50" LCD RPTV. The RPTV is almost double the cost of the CRT - so while the size is appreciated - is it justifiable to pay the extra?

[squid]

you can allways get a graded one from robert whyte for 1800. afew people on forums have got graded sets from them and had nothing but good to say

£3000! ... bloody hell, that much too much money to pay for last years model. Stay away.

For well under £3000 you can get the SX300 model from robert whyte, or take squids advice and buy a graded set.

You should look at the Toshiba RPTVs instead.

The Sony is based on LCD compared to CRTs in the Toshibas.

LCD got too much negative aspects to list here compared to a CRT based set.

Use the search function here and you will get your questions answered.

LCD has its positives too compared to CRT. It depends on what you need the TV for.

[LV426]

Originally posted by Lizzard
LCD got too much negative aspects to list here compared to a CRT based set.

Utter drivel.

All technologies have plus and minus points - including CRTs. And CRT RPs have their fair share. It all depends on what shortcomings in PQ you can live with easiest.

I would always choose LCD over CRT. There are too many negative aspects to CRTs especially CRT RPs to list - and anyway they've been gone over ad nauseam on this forum.

[rajmak]

Firstly I would like to thank everybody who has replied to this thread for their comments and help.

I am still at loss of what I should get.

A big Plasma TV is out of my price range. So that leaves me with a choice of a CRT or a RP LCD. I two models I have picked out are:

Sony KF50SX300U (RP LCD)

PANASONIC TX36PD30C (CRT)

The LCD RP is a lot more expensive than the CRT. However I believe the options I am weighing up are the CRT is 36" but the picture will be very sharp whereas the LCD/RP is 50" but the picture many not be as great as the CRT. Am i right in my assumptions.

[cjking]

If you are looking at the Sony for £3000 then also consider the Samsung SP46L5HX which is similar technology at a similar price but possibly a better TV overall. If you like the Samsung then consider its little brother the SP43L2HX which is only 3 inches smaller but about half the price (from www.pantheronline.co.uk.) If you like that then also look at the LG RE-44SZ21RD which is in a similar price range to the smaller samsung.

You can search these forums on the different model numbers to see what people have said about them.

I was originally interested in the Samsung SP46L5HX but ended up ordering the Toshiba 51wh36. This is a much bigger and less convenient box to have in my living room, and I've had to buy a separate rack to store my AV components off to the side instead of on a shelf underneath as I could have done with a Samsung. What swayed me towards the Toshiba is that I wanted the best picture quality overall, and I'm told (in these forums) that as long as you are willing to spend hours fiddling with the settings, then the Toshibas superior ability to deal with dark scenes make it the better option overall. I suspect that except on dark scenes the Samsung would give a better picture (brighter, sharper) without the need for careful configuration. I was watching the Samsung in Currys, and even though it was mounted high on a wall with spotlight pointing directly at the screen, it was giving by far the best picture in the shop. The only time I started to doubt the picture quality is when the news cut to scenes of riots in Haiti and the scenes with black rioters showed up the problem LCD has with blacks.

Another important reason I eventually went for the Toshiba is that it gives an even bigger picture than the Samsung for half the price.

To answer your question, I think the 36" CRT will give the best picture, the other options will give a bigger but not quite as good picture. The CRT will be extremely bulky and heavy (relative to the picture size) compared to the others.

rajmak, in order for us to help you a bit better, why dont you tell us what you want to use your TV for.

Is it mostly for DVD? game consoles? To attach to your computer? For watching TV?

Its very important to decide what your priorities are, as all types of TV have thier weakness.

[rajmak]

It will be to mainly watch DVDs and normal television!

Just to comment some more on the apparent lack of blacks on LCD displays. Lets not forget that the human eye plays a big part in determining true contrast of a TV.
The the room is very well lit, the pupils of the eye will be much smaller, letting in much less light. In these instances the LCD display is much better than a CRT, as the image looks very bright, and the blacks look true.
Its when a room is darkened, so the TV is producing the majority of the light, the pupils expand, and the blacks start to look gray as the eye is picking up the small amounts of light comming though the black.
CRT's on the other hand do not perform well in the bright room senario, as most of the dark detail is lost to the eye due top its lack of brightness. In a dark room tho, they start to look awsome.
So you see, the enviroment also plays a big part in your decision.

Do you like to watch movies in dark rooms, or well lit?

[rajmak]

Really a bit of both but mainly in the dark and less well lit - but thats for movies - which I don't watch all the time. I guess the television will be more used for watching general television and that would be in a well lit room.

In addition I like to watch horror movies - which are pretty dark in picture too!

Well, with all you've said I would probably go with a CRT rptv. I would love to recommend an LCD set, as ive got one myself, and dont need an excuse to brag!

But, in a dark room, watching a horror movie, I think you may well be dissapointed with the image on an LCD rptv. Its a good image overall, but the black levels show up badly in the dark. This is bound to affect the atmosphere in a dark film.

Be prepared for a possible adventure getting a CRT rptv set-up properly, but once done, they really can look the buisiness.

Myself, I dont like watching tv in dark rooms. It gives me a headache! It was also very important to me to have a hi-res screen and digital input for my computer. I also had to have dual screen picture in picture for xbox networking fun! So, for myself, an LCD rptv was just about the only large screen choice for the money.

good luck with your decision!