First Look: HDLP50W151 50 inch DLP Television

[Kevin Arnold]

Happy birthday to me.  American advertises a 50 inch new DLP technology set in the Sunday supplement.  Well, I picked one up. First, comparing this set to the other projection sets showed one of the brightest, high contrast pictures I have ever seen.  Second surprise:  the set's only 16 inches deep.  Third surprise:  Weighs under 100 lbs.

Got it set up in mere minutes, and the going was easy.  Has the built in RCA guide which give a onscreen guide for all the channels.  It has built in ATSC tuner as well as a QAM tuner so don't need a cable box to receive digital cable signals.

First real test:  Monday night football.  FANTASTIC!  Definet WOW factor here.  Had guests over and it did a hell of a sales job.

Other goodies:  Has LAN connection in back and optional wireless keyboard for internet access on home account, web surfing, email, and best of all, software upgrades for TV.

No burn in - ever.  DLP is basically smoke and mirrors without the smoke. Can't burn out these tiny mirrors.  See //www.dlp.com
Has a projector bulb that can be replaced after it burns out at about 7000 hours. Then set is like new.
Many other goodies.  I give it A+.

I am definetly impressed with the HD pic and the brilliance of the picture

I'll have to change the signiture!

[Matt Heebner]

Whats the price of the projector bulbs ?
In my house 7000 hours between the wife and her Lifetime channels, and the kids cartoon channels only comes to about   2.5 - 3 years or so.

Matt

[Snard]

Kevin,

That's very cool! Somehow I never managed to open the American flyer this past weekend, but I'm looking at it now. It's interesting that they don't mention the QAM (digital cable) tuner feature in the ad.

So, I have a few questions:

• Do you have TWC? If so, how does this set interact with their available channels, such as their program guide, encryption, etc. Does the QAM tuner work for both non-HD and HD channels?
• Do you happen to know what the native resolution of this set is? (I'm sure I'll be heading to RCA's web site to find out for myself)
• Can I come over and see it? (You can see I'm also in Hartland)
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[Kevin Arnold]

I'll try to answer all these.
The projector bulbs cost $250 right now.  I suspect they'll come down by the time I need a replacement.

I don't subscribe to cable.

Here are the specs from the instruction manual:
Channel tuning - NTSC/ATSC/64QAM-256QAM
Digital Cable Compatibility - 1394 DTV link, 64QAM-256QAM, DVI/HDTV, component

3:2 Pull Down (film mode) - Reverse Diagonal
4:3 format control - norm, zoom, stretch
Adaptive video noise reduction
adjustable color warmth
auto color control
auto flesh
comb filter - digital frame comb (3d Y/C)
Contrast expand
Edge Replacement - off, low, high
Green Boost - off, low, high
horiz resolution 1280
picture tube type - dlp light engine
tube pitch - screen.155mm
scan rate converter
vert viewing angle - 40 deg
wide band video amp

SOUND
Audio power front spkrs watts - 15
7band graphic eq.
Matrix surround sound
sap
srs truSurround XT

Other
Web Browser
Auto tune
Commercial skip
PIP
Guide + System
and that's enough typing for now.

Sure Snard, I'd be glad to show it to you. PM me.
One touch VCR recording

[hgoodman]

Well after months of researchi into the different television technologies and their pros and cons (I'm an ex-television engineer so my eyes tend to be extremely picky), I went with this 50" RCA DLP as well. Had it delivered yesterday. I am extremely pleased so far. Component-feed DVD is everything I hoped it would be and more. I picked up a $49.00 Radio Shack indoor antenna and managed to get both NBC and ABC from Milwaukee in Hi-Def on the built in tuner (I live in Hartford, WI in a fairly flat area. The antenna is in the living room, 1st floor condo).

The tuner must be quite good, since the analog reception is nothing but snow and noise with a touch of picture mixed in, yet the digital locks pretty solid at low signal levels (25 on the internal meter). That said, the weather has been good, and during inclement weather with trees moving, I cannot offer any predictions. I may run a cable up to the 2nd floor and put the antenna on an elevated stand upstairs and see if those increases overwhelm the expected loss from a 30' cable run.

If anyone would like the plusses and minuses of DLP vs. other forms of techology, I would be glad to post them. Please also let me serve as a resource when it comes to this particular television, I am glad to answer any questions and help in any way I can. When you see Jay Leno and NYPD Blue in Hi-Def for the first time at home, it's an amazing experience.

I'm thrilled to find this message board and to find other Hi-Def enthusiasts in Wisconsin!!

Best Regards,

~Hays

[StarvingForHDTV]

Sounds like a nice TV.  I'll have to go check it out at American.  I've been meaning to get over there, and this is a good reason.  Native 720P must be wonderful for Monday Night Football.

That's an excellent birthday present.

Starving

[mhz40]

Originally posted by Kevin Arnold
[clip]It has built in ATSC tuner as well as a QAM tuner so don't need a cable box to receive digital cable signals. [/clip]

Yes, happy birthday indeed!  Great choice!  Congrats and enjoy...  

Since Kevin mentioned the QAM tuner feature, I just want to take this opportunity to clarify the issue of QAM tuners in consumer gear.  They demodulate unencrypted signals from a cable signal.  To decrypt encoded channels in the future without a cable set top, you will need one of these.

The Open Cable spec only applies to one-way services, so VOD and future two-way innovations will not be available unless a new spec is agreed upon between manufacturers and the cable industry.  So look for the Open Cable interface port coming soon to a HDTV near you, if you want/need the decryption option in the future.

[Todd Wiedemann]

Kevin -

Just returned from shopping with my Dad. We've decided he'll be getting the 60" version of the RCA DLP Scenium you purchased.

Any new reviews since you've had it awhile ?? How's the ATSC tuner doing out there in Hartland ?? My Dad is literally two miles from me, so antenna consideratons would be the same, geographically.

Thanks !

[Kevin Arnold]

I continue to be impressed by the picture quality and the ease of use. Even the SD picture isn't half bad.  A good choice Todd. One sidelight though.  RCA doesn't have any of the accessories in stock.  There is a wireless keyboard for these units to use for the internet function that is perpetually backordered.  The hard disk recorder is something no customer service rep. knows anything about, which surprises me. Good luck.

[StarvingForHDTV]

I did get over to American TV recently.  I did see some DLP RPTV's and they seemed quite nice.  I even like them better than the more expensive Plasma TV's.  I can't get over the glare issue with Plasmas.  I did see one Plasma which seemed to have better resolution than the DLP's though.  I still think no glare is worth more than a few extra pixels of resolution.

I didn't see the Toshiba LCoS at the American in Brown Deer.  I asked one of the sales people but he had no idea what I was talking about.  Do they carry it at American?  I was hoping to do a side by side with DLP and LCoS.

Starving