Go to the Movies without Sticking to the Floor
Written: Mar 16 '01
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Pros: Phenomenal HDTV/DVD picture. The Promise.
Cons: Line Doubler not always up to the task. Few HDTV broadcasts out right now.
The Bottom Line: You won't find a better 16:9 set in the same price-range. If you want a company that stands behind HDTV Mitsubishi is it.
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| wagnerjc's Full Review: Mitsubishi WS-55857 55 in. TV |
The Mitsubishi WS 55857 is a nice addition to the Mitsubishi line of Rear-Projection HDTV monitors (meaning that it is HDTV ready with the addition of a set-top box). It falls in between the Platinum line and the and the Diamond line as a Platinum Plus. This gives you some of the improved connectivity of the diamond line without paying the big buck for the better lenses (minor picture quality improvement on the corners of the screen).
Warning: The following review is BIG! I love this set and wanted to give it the attention that it deserves. If you want the basic review just read the Pro’s and Con’s and the Conclusion.
Features
55” diagonal 16:9 screen, EDF (edge enhancing lenses), IRIS (sensor that auto-adjusts picture for varying lighting conditions), 10 total A/V inputs, Built-in line doubler, Dual-tuner Picture in Picture, THE PROMISE.
Connectivity
The 55857 offers a myriad of connections (9 in the rear and 1 up front). This offers about as many connections as anyone could currently want. They break down as follows:
1 VGA (for computer connections)
2 Component Video
5 S-Video
1 RGB/HD input
What this means to you is that you won’t have to fork over extra bucks for a video switcher in the near future as everything you own should be able to fit into the system directly. All of the higher-end inputs (S-Video and component) also have inputs for their lesser predecessors.
All of these connections are easily accessible on the back of the system in a central location towards the bottom of the TV. They are also clearly labeled.
NOTE: Be sure to buy long enough cables to reach to the bottom of this rather large TV, especially if you plan to keep some of you A/V equipment on the top of the TV.
Any unused inputs can be deleted from the video selection process via the setup menu. You can also rename inputs to match their use in the Menu system.
The Dual-Tuner PIP allows you to view 2 channels without having to purchase an additional tuner. This only works with standard broadcasts and not HDTV or satellite (as they both require additional tuners). With the current price of HDTV tuners you’d be hard pressed to buy 2 anyway. One of the neat features of the PIP setup is the ability to display to full-sized 4:3 pictures next to each other. Fun for play-offs and the like.
Look/Feel
The 55857 is not much to look at. It has your classic “BBB (Big Black Box)” look of other Rear-Projection TV’s. The casing is finished in a simple solid black (the Diamond line features “marbleized” casing. The system is large (over 50” wide and nearly 30” deep) so you’d better have a nice large space to keep it. Its 276 lbs. are easy to move around on the casters built into the bottom of the TV (a very handy addition during that initial tweaking and install period), but you’ll need a couple of friends or delivery to get it into your home.
Now let’s talk remotes. I’ve had trouble finding the “Perfect” remote to control all of my Home Theater equipment (I can’t currently afford the hundreds of dollars demanded by programmable remotes i.e. Phillips Pronto), but the Mitsubishi remote comes close for a couple of reasons. First off switching between multiple devices is controlled via a simple slide button. Just slide the line under the component you want and go. This is simple enough that my 3 yr. old son can turn on/off all of the equipment without help. The other plus is the proprietary “System 4 Home Theater Control”. This setup involves attaching IR transmitting cables (provided with the TV) that run from the back of your TV to your A/V devices IR receivers. After a simple setup process simultaneous control of multiple devices is easy. Simply slide the remote switch to the device you want to use i.e. your DVD player and press the Home Theater button. Your TV switches to the DVD input, your stereo receiver switches to the DVD output, and the remote now controls your DVD player. Volume control will then output through your stereo and not your TV. This is a very nice feature that I have not seen in other standard remotes. It allows those of us that have blown our HT budget to still get some of the functionality of a programmable remote control. There are a few specific functions that still keep my other remotes around. My DVD player (Toshiba SD5109) is a dual-disc system and the Mitsubishi remote won’t allow me to switch discs. Also note that it may not work with devices manufactured after the TV was. The remote also features a nice back-light that highlights the input/channel/volume buttons as well as the basic VCR/DVD controls. This remote has completely replaced my DirecTV and VCR remotes while almost completely replacing my receiver and DVD remotes.
Performance
Picture quality on this set is superb once calibrated properly (I used the Avia DVD). Several nice features include the option of 3/2 pull-down for film, the IRIS sensor, the Menu system, Temperature options (high, medium, low), multiple ways to display 4:3 pictures on the 16:9 screen, and the ability to turn the sound through the speakers off allowing for constant level out from the TV to your receiver. We’ll talk about some of these separately.
3/2 pull-down allows for better viewing of film sources on your TV. Movies are not shot at 30 FPS like TV is. This conversion allows you to convert these 25 FPS sources to 30 FPS for better picture quality.
IRIS allows an average user to leave many of the picture controls (brightness, contrast, etc.) alone during varying viewing conditions. One of the inherent problems with rear-projection TV’s is their clarity in various lighting conditions. IRIS takes care of this with a built-in light sensor that automatically adjusts to the ambient lighting conditions. The only real problem occurs when a bright light source is behind the TV and the sensor can’t see it. Your eyes will still accommodate to the light but the TV will not increase in brightness. This is easily remedied by keeping a dim light source (as is recommended anyway) behind the TV. A true videophile will never be happy with the picture quality presented by the IRIS system, but it is a nice feature for the average consumer. A nice feature of IRIS that I use is the ability to turn it off. The TV then reverts back to whatever settings you have it programmed to. The way that I use this is to have IRIS on during the day and then use my calibrated settings at night (my optimal viewing conditions) as my TV is in a very sun-lit room.
The Menu system is a brand new 3D system that is very intuitive. It allows you to watch a miniature TV picture at the top of the screen while working with the menu setup and offers many powerful tools. You can edit out and rename inputs, change the manner in which standard video sources (480i(interlaced)) are viewed (either 480p(progressive) or 960i). Standard TV sources are interlaced meaning that every other line is drawn each time the screen is repainted (60 times per second for TV) giving you 480 new lines only 30 times per second. By upgrading this with the TV’s built-in line doubler you can get 480 lines redrawn 60 times per second as either a 480p or 960i picture. The former will help eliminate what I like to call stair-stepping of images (jagged lines seen in the borders of images during fast-moving or panning scenes) while the latter will make for a better picture from many sources due to a higher resolution. While I’m here I’ll add that the Mitsubishi line-doubler does a fairly poor job of this. Even on 480p “stair-stepping” is fairly noticeable on DirecTV sources (especially the solid colors of animation). This does not bother and is not even noticed by anyone in the house other than myself. Another nice tweakability factor is the ability to align the lenses on two levels. The first is a simple cross on which you make the green and red lines go away. The second is a continuous grid pattern that allows you to align the red and green across the entire screen.
Another nice feature of this TV is the ability to display 4:3 images in multiple ways. This turns out to be a pretty big deal, as most sources you view will be presented as 4:3 and not 16:9. The first way to display a 4:3 image is to keep all of the proportions the same and simply show gray bars on either side of the image (it is important to know that too much viewing of boxed material can “burn” these images onto your screen). You can also take the 4:3 “square” and uniformly stretch it into a rectangle. This makes everyone look a little fat and dumpy. The 55857 also offers 2 different zoom modes. These modes keep the proportions the same but cut off part of both the top and bottom of the screen. This presents a few problems: 1. You can cut off sports scores or other tickers. 2. Actors look like their hitting their heads on the top of your screen or ducking to avoid this. 3. Unless your picture source is superb (even better than DirecTV’s regular broadcasts) the picture becomes too “noisy” on such a large display. The final way to present 4:3 images (and my personal preference) is to stretch only the very edges of the “square” to fit the rectangle. This keeps the majority of the screen under normal proportions while still filling the entire 16:9 screen and not losing any picture information. The only time the stretching is really noticeable is during panning sequences or when an actor’s head goes off of the edge of the screen. You will then see their ear or nose get stretched off of the screen. I have not seen this much display flexibility in any other TV or DirecTV receiver.
I’ve read in a couple of reviews that say the 55857 is pretty far from the NTSC standard of 65,000 Kelvin for color temperature. I have not had my set professionally tuned as I may soon be moving, but I will as soon as I’m settled. All involved in the Home Theater industry have told me that the only way to truly enjoy a high-quality TV is to have it professionally tuned. Picture quality on the 55857 is superb to say the least. My main sources include the RCA DTC-100 DirecTV HDTV receiver as well as Mitsubishi’s 500 HDTV receiver, an older VCR, and a Toshiba SD5509 Progressive-Scan DVD player. HDTV display (as rare as it is) is simply breath taking. You truly feel like you are looking through a window to another world. Images a clear and crisp with very little distortion. Colors are vibrant and alive. There is a very minor dimming of the screen at the corners only noticeable when very bright pure colors are displayed such as a sky shot. DVD’s make you feel like you are at the movies. I would recommend a Progressive-Scan player due to the 55857’s less than ideal line doubler. My DirecTV receiver’s picture looks acceptable (better than cable). There is noticeable “pixellation” of the images. This is due to very heavy MPEG-2 compression currently being used by DirecTV and not the TV itself. Hopefully DirecTV will get on the “High Quality” bandwagon soon and up its bandwidth.
I can’t really comment on sound quality as I immediately hooked the TV up to my Dolby DTS receiver.
Value
This set is not the cheapest on the market nor the most expensive. The Mitsubishi 55857 is a prime example of, “You get what you pay for.” You will get a high-quality HDTV set at a decent price. This TV is at its best when being used with anamorphic DVD’s or HDTV signals. If you are buying this because you want HDTV now make sure that you have some terrestrial local HDTV broadcasts. The only other sources are DirecTV (HBO, Demo/Pay Per View) and Dish Network (HBO, Full-time demo channel, Showtime, Full-time Pay Per View). If you want HDTV go the Dish Network route. They seem much more dedicated to HDTV and currently offer double the programming over DirecTV. Don’t make the same mistake I did and sign a 12 month contract before researching options. The biggest part of the value of the set lies in the Mitsubishi “Promise” that any future changes in the HDTV format will be supported by your set with a “reasonably” priced upgrade. No other manufacturer that I know of offers this kind of guarantee.
Overall
If you are in the market for a new TV and plan to keep it as your primary set for several years to come; GO HDTV with a 16:9 screen. A few years from now HDTV will be the standard, and the top and bottom of a 4:3 set will be filled with black bars. Plus the 16:9 screen really makes you feel like you are at the movies with HDTV and DVD playback. I bought the Mitsubishi 55857 to replace a Sony XBR-400 (a 36” 4:3 HDTV) simply because letter-boxed DVD’s and HDTV broadcasts were just too small on the 4:3 set. You owe it to yourself to check out the Mitsubishi line before buying a new TV.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 3,400
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Epinions.com ID:
wagnerjc
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Member: Jason Wagner
Location: Saint Lous, Missouri, USA
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
I am currently an Emergency Medicine Resident at Washington University in St. Louis.
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