Grand Wega RPTV

Alan_W

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Does anyone own one of these impressive sounding TVs and care to give an opinion on them or does anyone know of anywhere that has them on display in S Wales or West.

They would seem to be an ideal tv especially the 50 inch at £2099 from here

Anyone help? I getting cheesed off with looking and need to go out and buy something
 
a 51" toshiba for £1350 is better or the 57" toshiba for £1700 - Enough said
 
Originally posted by Stevey
a 51" toshiba for £1350 is better or the 57" toshiba for £1700

Better - in what respect ?
 
Originally posted by Stevey
a 51" toshiba for £1350 is better or the 57" toshiba for £1700 - Enough said

Is this rather bizarre and totally biased statement based on years of experience owning
Toshiba 51" or 57" rptv. Seems to me, doing a search on rptv is likely to bring up more posts with convergence issues, with Toshiba than Sony.
Alan suggest you do a search using Sony rptv or KF-50SX200 previous model for a more balanced view
 
Well the big benefit of the Sony over the Tosh's is that it is an LCD RPTV. So no burn in. Good news for any games players out there.

I plan on ordering the Sony Grand Wega 42" this week from Robert Whyte.
 
Toshiba RPTVs are based on CRT, they require you to tweak it to get the best out of it, it's nothing wrong with it as some people think....

It's the nature of CRT technology.

When you have a Toshiba tweaked as much as you can it beats all others easy i might say......

The Toshiba is tweak friendly as you can get much information about it on different sites on the net, they got a large userbase compared to other makes like Sony which makes the great 51PX3 also.

But comparing the Sony Wega based on old LCD technology and a set based on CRTs like the Toshiba is like day and night when it comes to picture quality.

The Toshibas are truly amazing sets for it's money.

So my final recommendation would not to buy a LCD RPTV, the blacks in the picture is pretty bad and seeing the pixels all the time is annoying.
 
I'm not afraid of tweaking and am fully aware of the Tosh 36 range, but I have been told in no uncertain terms, by a woman who it would be silly to disobey :suicide: that I cannot have a TV that "goes down to the floor"

Choice is between a 42 inch £2k plasma (panny 6 justabout) or a 50inch LCD RPTV. Its not so much picture quality, more about storing centre speakers and AV kit underneath and not being made to live to regret disobeying orders :nono:

So can anyone point me in a direction to see one of these things?
 
I see you are in Wales.... They have the 50 and 60 inch models on Tottenham Ct road in London in the Sony centre. If you are coming this way any time soon you can check them out there.

For me the biggest issue is a large screen for around £1500 that suffers from no burn in. Having seen the Sony Grand Wegas in action I have been suitably impressed to part with my cash for one.
 
Alan, I suggest you make contact with Hinchlys in Cardiff...they're av specialists, and a knowledgeable member of these forums, hornydragon, works there.
 
My boss has a sony grand wega. I think he paid about £3000 for the 42" version. Very impressed with the picture but he thought the sound was fairly poor for the price. I've not met anyone who hasn't been impressed with the picture on these sets. I suppose black levels may not match a CRT but theres plenty of detail and its a clean vibrant image.
 
The Sony Grand Wega 50SX300 and the Toshiba RPTV's are not even comparable in my opinion. The Sony craps all over the Toshiba RPTV's. It should do given the cost difference

The Sony produces a wonderful picture, has a much wider viewing angle, has better colour rendition and looks like a million dollars. It does have a significant failing though - no component input !!
 
Originally posted by Waser
I see you are in Wales.... They have the 50 and 60 inch models on Tottenham Ct road in London in the Sony centre. If you are coming this way any time soon you can check them out there.

For me the biggest issue is a large screen for around £1500 that suffers from no burn in. Having seen the Sony Grand Wegas in action I have been suitably impressed to part with my cash for one.

Waser - r u saying that you bought one for £1500. If not whats the best price they are available for ? Cheers.
 
Here for £1630 delivered. £2100 for the 50 inch.

Seems alot of telly for the price
 
Alan_W,

What are you looking to use the TV for?
All we know so far is that you need space under the tv!! So assuming the 'woman' is happy, what are your other needs?

This makes a massive difference between choosing a crt or lcd based rptv. If your primary use is movies, then ask yourself whether you like to watch films in a dark room or well lit. Do you want to connect your PC? A games console?

If dark room movies is your preference, stay away from LCD rptv's. Im sure nobody can disagree with this really. However, for just about every other use, the Sony is more than good enough.
If you like to watch TV during the day alot, then a crt set is pretty useless.

Also consider the new Sagem DLPs comet have started selling. They cost more than the LCD sets from RW, but will have much better blacks. However DLP sets have thier own problems that are down to the individual.

Let us know your wants, and the answers will be much clearer.
 
Originally posted by bongpig
Alan_W,



If dark room movies is your preference, stay away from LCD rptv's. Im sure nobody can disagree with this really. However, for just about every other use, the Sony is more than good enough.
If you like to watch TV during the day alot, then a crt set is pretty useless.


bongpig - not sure I understand - why are LCD RPTV's not good in dark rooms ? Anyways my HC room is south facing so is pretty bright ! I have seen a film on a Sony 50SX300 sitting up against a large window area (ie pretty bright room) and it still looked great.

Also I am not 100% sure that it doesnt have component input (ie progressive scan) - can anyone confirm this
 
rags,
Its an eye contrast issue rather than anything with the sets. If your tv is surrounded in darkness, your pupils open up wide and catch even the smallest amounts of light. So the poor blacks on an LCD set really show up badly as a kind of dark blue/gray colour.

As a general rule, its not a good thing when the area around the TV is darker than the blacks on the TV. This is an LCD killer.

However, in a well lit room, where the TVs surrounding room is much brighter, this creates a nice high contrast between the light in the room and the blacks on the TV. Your eyes will see blacks as true blacks in this case.

Using my samsung LCD rptv during the day, in a very well lit room, looks bloody amazing. Just like your example of the sony in a bright room.

close the curtains and switch off the lights, and it looks awfull. I actually place a light behind and above my TV. This helps greatly in the evening. Without it, its washed-out. But with the light on, my 'internal' contrast improves greatly.

Personally, I dont care. I HATE watching tvs in dark room, so I wanted a tv that looks great in very well lit rooms. For me LCD was the best option. A tv with 'better blacks' would make my eyes crush all the dark detail in daylight. The LCD simply looks perfect.
 
Ok cheers mate - I now understand.

Can anyone confirm the progressive thing ? I read something about it having a 15pin connector on another thread but it confused the hell out of me !!
 
Rags, sorry I meant around £1500. The Robert Whyte price for the 42" model is the best I have found.

BTW, Robert Whyte have a deal at the moment that gives you free 3 year warranty if you buy before the 23rd April. I am moving house at the end of the month and they are holding onto the set for me till I am ready. Great service!

I thought the Grand Wega had a DVI connection but I may be wrong. I wouldn't be using it that's why I didn't explore further. No component input though. Let us know what you decide.
 
Without doubt the sony sets are progressive.
Cant confirm the physical inputs though.
The 15pin input you read about is the PC style monitor input. This can carry a progressive signal.

I would guess there would be at least one Y,Pr,Pb style input as well. I cant seem to find out either.
 
So if the 15 style pin can carry a progressive signal is that good enough - will that give me a PS picture when hooked up to the component outs of my Arcam DV89 ?
 
There are a few 15-pin VGA <> YPrPb converters but I cant say whether they are any good or not.

A couple of US devices:-
http://www.pacificcable.com/Picture_Page.asp?DataName=9A60
http://www.crescendo-systems.com/transcoder.html

These carry a PS signal. However, they only seem to convert VGA to component, but not the other way round which is what you need. No idea if anyone in the uk sells such a thing.

I still cant get over the fact they dont have component inputs.
Such a great tv as well... What a deal breaker that is.:(
 
Yeah - thats the only thing thats holding me back. So if I manage to find the right lead then I have PS as if the Sony did have component inputs ? Or will their be a difference in resolution.

Apologies for the third degree but all this PS, interlaced, VGA, XGA, SDI, DVI technical stuff goes straight over my head !!
 
Me too!
I only know the very basics. My understanding is these coverter boxes output exactly what goes in. So you dont really need to understand all the details!
 

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