Sony 34hs420 vs Panny CTwx15

[bpm2000]

I think I've narrowed down my choice to these two sets. On paper, they look fairly similar. I suppose all that is left is to go take a look at the pq, but I would like to hear from people who actually own.calibrated their own sets, as obviously the tvs at bb/cc won't be set up properly.

I do like the actual outside aesthetics of the Panny better (ex:black bezel - would have to step up to more expensive sonys to get that, lower weight (not that big of a deal)), and the lower price is attractive as well.

Does the panny really not display a 720p image at all? No conversion whatsoever?
And if so, how big of a deal is this, anyways? This is my first foray into HD and such so I am lost as to what this exactly means in the real world.

I'm getting a lot of mixed reviews on the sony as well - either great PQ or grainy picture... Obviously, my eyes should be the last judge but I thought I'd ask anyways.

I have searched for past opinions of these sets but am searching for any recent reviews/updates on past opinions as well.

thx much!

EDIT: also, just to make things more difficult - how much PQ am I sacrificing if I went with a RP unit? With my viewing distance (8~10 ft) a 40~50" RPTV would make a significant impact in size, but I wonder how much worse the pq would look?

[CrocHunter]

It's kind of a tie really, i was in the same situation myself.My choices were a panasonic and sony 34hs420 and overall i picked the sony because it was a bit crisper and the colors were a little better.

[bocmir]

[QUOTE=bpm2000]Does the panny really not display a 720p image at all? No conversion whatsoever?
And if so, how big of a deal is this, anyways? This is my first foray into HD and such so I am lost as to what this exactly means in the real world.[/QUOTE]Nope, not at all. Now, keep in mind that most everything that can output at 720p will also give you the option of outputting at 1080i - like a cable box, DVD player, game console, etc. So in most cases, you shouldn't have to worry. Personally, this would be a dealbreaker for me. However unlikely, I'd prefer to be safe - just in case. But that's all up to you.

[RandyWalters]

[QUOTE=bpm2000]I do like the actual outside aesthetics of the Panny better (ex:black bezel - would have to step up to more expensive sonys to get that, lower weight (not that big of a deal)), and the lower price is attractive as well.

I'm getting a lot of mixed reviews on the sony as well - either great PQ or grainy picture... Obviously, my eyes should be the last judge but I thought I'd ask anyways.

EDIT: also, just to make things more difficult - how much PQ am I sacrificing if I went with a RP unit? With my viewing distance (8~10 ft) a 40~50" RPTV would make a significant impact in size, but I wonder how much worse the pq would look?[/QUOTE]

The HS420 series uses the old HS510 tube from a few years ago, while the Panasonic reportedly uses a new more improved tube. Two years ago my choices came down to a Panny CT32HXC43 or a Sony 32HS510 and everywhere i looked i liked the image on the Panny better. When i got the Panny home it looked even better than in the stores, and looked a little better than my neighbor's 32HS510 on regular and digital cable (she didn't get HD so i couldn't check HD). And i think Panasonic makes a better built product than Sony but i'm biased because i've had several Sony products fail out of warranty but i've never had a Panasonic fail on me yet. That's another thing, the Panasonic warranty is better than Sony's if i'm not mistaken.

As for Rear Projection, it probably gives you the worst picture quality of any big-screen technology and if you sit off to the side the PQ drops drastically. Now that Panny Plasma prices have dropped so much in the past year there is no good reason to choose RP over Plasma. Plasma PQ is closer to CRT than any other current technology.

I finally made the jump from my 32" HD Panny to a new 42" Plasma and the PQ on regular cable is so close to what it was on my tube that i don't miss it a bit. Well maybe a little, but the bigger screen makes up for that. HD and DVDs are so much more enjoyable on the Plasma - it's a whole different viewing experience.

[bpm2000]

I suppose I will nix the RPTV idea.. I would probably kick myself about the pq somewhere down the road.

I'll try viewing the sets myself sometime this week and report back.

thx for the info thus far.

[CrocHunter]

If your interested i'm selling my sony 34" 34hs420 for cheap!

Pm me and let me know if anybody's interested.

[Q of BanditZ]

[QUOTE=CrocHunter]If your interested i'm selling my sony 34" 34hs420 for cheap!

Pm me and let me know if anybody's interested.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, Croc is selling out from CRT's guys! Read it and weep!

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=578007

Plasma or LCD...so sad. *shakes head* :( :p

[Matt_Smi]

I really don’t think you can go wrong here, I was pretty much dead set on my 30” HS420, but my only other consideration I had was the Panny. I am very happy with my choice, but the Panny looked like a nice TV too. My experience has been the opposite of Randy’s, all the Sony electronics I have owned have been very reliable for me, while Panasonic products have not, so I am biased towards Sony. As of right now Sony and Panasonic TVs are the only brands I will recommend to people or consider buying myself (for CRTs anyway). I used to like Toshiba but not anymore with this outsourcing business, Samsung may be the only other brand I would tell people to look at, but their quality control just seems iffy IMO, I have seen very nice sets from them though.

[davezatz]

[QUOTE=CrocHunter]It's kind of a tie really, i was in the same situation myself.My choices were a panasonic and sony 34hs420 and overall i picked the sony because it was a bit crisper and the colors were a little better.[/QUOTE]

I had the same debate this past weekend but at the 30" size. In my unscientific analysis at several stores over the last three months, I felt the Panasonic had a better image with a more attractive exterior at a lower price than the Sony HS. So I brought the Panny home. I was struggling to decide if I should spend 50% more to get the Sony XS with tuner, cable card, and subwoofer... My decision was made easier because everyone was out of the 30" XS and had no plans (?) to restock.

We chose CRT over anything else because we wanted the brightest sharpest picture at any angle in a very brightly lit room with floor-to-ceiling windows. The Panasonic may not display 720p natively, but that shouldn't be a problem in real world usage. For example my XBOX managed to play the new Hulk video game (rated at 720p) and my LG Tuner upscales 720p stations to 1080i in the same way a cable box would.

Oh yeah, I LOVE the TV! Though I bet I would have loved the HS too. :)

[bpm2000]

Well my decision pretty much came down to that as well - looked at the Panny and sony side-by-side in several stores. Image quality to my eyes (very untrained btw) was pretty much the same, with either set looking slightly better/worse depending on the store. In the end it was the panasonic winning for me with the more attractive exterior, plus much lower price (pricematched and got free shipping with some haggling) so I will be taking delivery of the Ct-34wx15 on Saturday!

thx for all the help, now to look for a budget upconverting dvd player...

[RandyWalters]

[QUOTE=bpm2000] In the end it was the panasonic winning for me with the more attractive exterior, plus much lower price (pricematched and got free shipping with some haggling) so I will be taking delivery of the Ct-34wx15 on Saturday!

thx for all the help, now to look for a budget upconverting dvd player...[/QUOTE]

Remember, just make sure it will upconvert to something other than 720p as the TV will not accept 720p.

[justsc]

[QUOTE=bpm2000]...thx for all the help, now to look for a budget upconverting dvd player...[/QUOTE]
I went the upconversion route and really regretted it. I had a brand new 34HS420 but no HD cable, yet. So I thought I'd get me an upconversion player and get as close to HD as possible. The picture quality was not good. Actually, it was no better than my $100 PS dvd player. So, I got a refund for the player.

[Gecko85]

[QUOTE=justsc]I went the upconversion route and really regretted it. I had a brand new 34HS420 but no HD cable, yet. So I thought I'd get me an upconversion player and get as close to HD as possible. The picture quality was not good. Actually, it was no better than my $100 PS dvd player. So, I got a refund for the player.[/QUOTE]

The 34HS420 does it's own upconversion (to 1080i), so there's really no reason for a DVD upconverting player...

[justsc]

[QUOTE=Gecko85]The 34HS420 does it's own upconversion (to 1080i), so there's really no reason for a DVD upconverting player...[/QUOTE]
The HS420 does not upconvert to 1080i from a dvd player. If you chose to have your dvd player output an interlaced signal you can have the tv scale it to 960i. But then you lose the film-like nature of progressive scan (480p). If you set your dvd player to 480p, the tv will just pass that on to the screen. My dvd player does a better job at deinterlacing than my tv does.

[KBI]

[QUOTE=justsc]I went the upconversion route and really regretted it. I had a brand new 34HS420 but no HD cable, yet. So I thought I'd get me an upconversion player and get as close to HD as possible. The picture quality was not good. Actually, it was no better than my $100 PS dvd player. So, I got a refund for the player.[/QUOTE]

Right now, if you want to watch HD qualiy movies you need to buy a DVHS.. Which is looking better by the moment with all this Blu Ray/HD DVD bickering going around. Upconversion players do work..

[RandyWalters]

[QUOTE=KBI]Right now, if you want to watch HD qualiy movies you need to buy a DVHS.. Which is looking better by the moment with all this Blu Ray/HD DVD bickering going around. Upconversion players do work..[/QUOTE]

Can you even rent movies on D-VHS?

[CrocHunter]

A big No i presume:D

[Mike99]

What happens with OTA HD up/down conversions? Some stations broadcast 1080i, some 720p. It is better to have a set with a 720p native resolution and have it convert the 1080i broadcast to the 720p native. Or is better to have a Panny CRT with a 1080i resolution and have it convert 720p broadcast signals to the 1080i CRT native format?

Mike

[Gecko85]

[QUOTE=justsc]The HS420 does not upconvert to 1080i from a dvd player. If you chose to have your dvd player output an interlaced signal you can have the tv scale it to 960i. But then you lose the film-like nature of progressive scan (480p). If you set your dvd player to 480p, the tv will just pass that on to the screen. My dvd player does a better job at deinterlacing than my tv does.[/QUOTE]

You're right...my bad. I had just recently returned a Toshiba 34HF85 and upgraded to a Sony, and the Toshiba upconverted everything to 1080i (if you want it to), and that's what I was thinking of...just got the two confused for a sec.

[bpm2000]

[QUOTE=justsc]I went the upconversion route and really regretted it. I had a brand new 34HS420 but no HD cable, yet. So I thought I'd get me an upconversion player and get as close to HD as possible. The picture quality was not good. Actually, it was no better than my $100 PS dvd player. So, I got a refund for the player.[/QUOTE]


Really? Did you try many different types or what? Can you elaborate on your experience?

thx

[kny3twalker]

Can you even rent movies on D-VHS?

you can rent DVHS from certain internet sites
I believe

and try an HTPC as a DVD player
thats really close to most over the air HD broadcasts

the Toshiba does not scale to 1080i
it scales everything but 1080i to 540p and 1080i is displayed natively I believe

Originally Posted by justsc
I went the upconversion route and really regretted it. I had a brand new 34HS420 but no HD cable, yet. So I thought I'd get me an upconversion player and get as close to HD as possible. The picture quality was not good. Actually, it was no better than my $100 PS dvd player. So, I got a refund for the player.

but with CRTs I imagine this is probably the case with most upscaling DVD players
maybe some of the high end units would do better though

What happens with OTA HD up/down conversions? Some stations broadcast 1080i, some 720p. It is better to have a set with a 720p native resolution and have it convert the 1080i broadcast to the 720p native. Or is better to have a Panny CRT with a 1080i resolution and have it convert 720p broadcast signals to the 1080i CRT native format?

thats why 1080p is so great
720p upscaled and 1080i deinterlaced
and 1080p content native

I would think that 720p upconverted would be better
rather than 1080i deinterlaced and down resolutioned

but really 720p is the better format IMO

[justsc]

[QUOTE=Gecko85]You're right...my bad. I had just recently returned a Toshiba 34HF85 and upgraded to a Sony, and the Toshiba upconverted everything to 1080i (if you want it to), and that's what I was thinking of...just got the two confused for a sec.[/QUOTE]
I know how you feel - it's really hard to keep all this straight. My reference sets are Sony, Samsung (crt) and Panasonic (lcd), and just keeping straight on these is enough to drive me crazy.

Cheers! ;)

[justsc]

[QUOTE=bpm2000]Really? Did you try many different types or what? Can you elaborate on your experience?

thx[/QUOTE]
Sure.

I purchased my set (KV-34HS420) in May '05. I had no plans to upgrade to digital cable any time soon and was really itching to get something that would show me what this set could do. Since I had pretty much exhausted my my funds on the tv set (w/stand and extended warranty) I really couldn't afford a D-VHS player.

I was aware that Samsung had a couple of upconverting dvd players (841 & 941), but at the time both were selling for just about $200 - too expensive for me. During a trip to BB I saw a new Samsung upconverting dvd player, the 850, and it had an HDMI interface and cable - just what I needed! And, it was only $150. So I took it home.

Before getting the Samsung 850, my best viewing experience to date was watching a SuperBit DVD, the 5th Element. That was just awesome! So I figured "lets see what this looks like from the 850." Before watching the dvd I calibrated the new player with my Sound & Vision Home Theater Tuneup disc. Then, to my surprise, I found the 5th Element was very dark, with little to no detail in any of the dark areas. Regardless of what I tried I just couldn't get any better picture quality. So I took the disc out and loaded it into my $100 dvd player (Samsung DVDP231) and WOW - it really looked great, especially compared to the upconverting player. BTW, the standard player was hooked up via component cables.

After spending a little time on the forums I learned that what I had experienced with the upconverting player was "black crush." Yes, this player did offer a little better detail than the standard PS player, but the added detail was overpowered by the black crush, making the whole viewing experience unacceptable. While on the forums I also learned that I wasn't alone - many, many others had similar, disappointing experiences with upconverting players.

So I returned the 850 and decided to stick with my reliable old progressive scan player. I'll wait for the HD-DVD type players to put my HDMI port to use.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions. ;)