This is one awesome machine!

This is an interesting time to buy a Television. My last television, a 13 year old 25” Zenith finally gave up the ghost. I was hoping it would last another year or two, but no such luck. My wife and I vowed that when our old TV went up, we would purchase a “big screen”.

Currently the United States is transitioning between the classic 4:3 format television picture, to a wider 16:9 ratio picture. The new picture is considerably wider than the relatively square picture currently being broadcast. The new format is the same picture ratio as what you find on “Letterbox” movies and programs. This transition will occur until 2006.

The Mitsubishi WS-55809 is one of the current generation of wide screen projection sets. To help reduce cost, I purchased this set without the HD converter. This converter allows you to receive and display High-Definition programs. In many markets, this programming is reserved for primetime events and other special programs – Olympics, Super Bowl, etc… By 2006, all programming is required to be HD. At that time, all TV signals will be HD, and those who still have traditional technology televisions will need a converter box to “dumb down” the television signal to something an older television can handle. In order to get the HD broadcast you need the converter.

Therefore, it makes sense, If you need to buy a TV now, which for most people is a 10 to 15 year commitment, that you purchase it in the wide screen format, and delay the HD converter until later.

That said, why did I choose this Mitsubishi? For a few reasons:

Viewing Modes

First, the Mitsubishi name. My wife’s family has a 15-year-old 50” Mitsubishi Rear Projection. It has been through 4 house moves, (two of them by non-professional movers) and still the picture is beautiful, and all the colors align. Color alignment can be an issue with any projection television. The projection occurs by focusing the color of three different lamps – one each of green, blue, and red. If any of these lamps are mis-aligned the picture will appear blurry, and the colors will be off. Mitsubishi has a long reputation for building sturdy cabinets that stand up to moves. They are not so delicate that after you move them they need a professional realignment. Furthermore, Mitsubishi promises this TV won’t be obsolete. They tout their systems as upgradeable, and are designed to grow with your needs.

Second, were the viewing options. This set offers lots of viewing options to overcome the difference between the aspect ratios of HD and Traditional broadcast. While the set does offer a mode that allows for viewing of a picture in it’s traditional mode, the manual recommends against extended viewing in this mode. The sides of the screen that do not contain picture are padded with vertical gray bars, much like the black horizontal bars of letterbox pictures on wide screen movies. These bars should on screen less than 15% of your viewing time. This is to avoid screen “burn-in”. Burn-in is the same reason you have a screen saver on your computer screen. Burn-in occurs when the screen displays the same image in the same location for an extended period. This causes the wear on the screen to occur at an uneven rate. Once the screen burns-in, you’ll forever see a “ghost” of that image in the same spot. This is not repairable. This is not unique to the Mitsubishi, but occurs on all projection televisions.

The next mode, it called Standard – which simply widens the picture to fill the entirety of the screen without regard to maintaining the aspect ratio. This causes all the images to be stretched out. Faces look wider than normal. It takes a bit of getting used to. I must admit, this is the mode I use almost exclusively, and I’ve become used to the stretched-outed-ness of this picture. It no longer bothers me.

The other mode I use is “stretched” This is a very clever mode – that I believe is unique to the Mitsu, but I cannot confirm it. In this mode, the Center 80% of the screen is maintained at the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio, and the left and right most 10% are subtly stretched to fill the remainder of the screen. In this mode the picture looks most “normal” without the burn-in risk. Why don’t I use this mode? Because I love watching auto racing, and any left-right camera panning, or subject movement (such as cars moving across the screen) really accentuates the edge stretching in this mode. It makes the picture resemble looking through a fishbowl. I should emphasize that this is only noticeable during fast left-right movement of the camera. When you watch the news or sitcoms this effect is barely noticeable.

The other important mode I use is “Expand”. In expand mode, the top and bottom of the screen are cut off to expand the left-right picture to the edge of the screen, and still maintain the proper aspect ratio. It just so happens that this is ideal for watching letterbox movies, as it only cuts off the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Perfect for movies and letterboxed programming such as “The West Wing”

There is another mode called “Zoom” which cuts off all four edges of the picture. I’m not sure what this mode is for, or why one would use it. There may be a great reason, I just can’t think of it – and neither could the sales person who sold me the TV. They say it is good for watching sports but this mode invariably cuts off the score or other on-screen text.

Inputs
Where this TV really excels is in the number of inputs. There are 4 inputs, plus additional input for 2 antennas, and a Digital signal. At least one input allows you to use component video in, where each cable carries a signal specifically dedicated to one lamp. The set offers one set of inputs on the front panel, right below the screen. This is super-convenient for connecting a camcorder. Personally, I love this feature. Most of the inputs can be used to toggle the Picture-in-Picture (PIP) and picture-outside-picture (POP). I only have one input for my satellite signal, and one input for my DVD signal, so I cannot comment on how these features work. There are some restrictions, mostly that certain sources cannot be used for both pictures (I think). My satellite system does the PIP for me, So I do not use the feature on the television.

Audio
I use this system in conjunction with my Dolby Digital Surround home theatre system, so I do not use the audio portion of the set, except when I hook my camcorder to the set. Also, for the first few days I had the set I did use the audio portion –until I hooked up the surround sound. The sound quality is exceptional. There is sufficient bass to make movie watching enjoyable. There are modes to expand the sounds, and give the illusion of surround sound. The set can play LOUD, and only at the highest volume is there any distortion. I was afraid that at high volume the picture lamps would cause the picture to blur by shaking the lamps themselves, but they did not. The picture remained razor sharp.

Cabinetry
Third -- and this is personal preference – I did not purchase any furniture or cabinetry to surround the television. They were way outside my budget. Therefore I needed to Set my components on top of the set. May of the other projects sets out there give the illusion of utilizing less space by angling the top of the set back, making it look thinner. The fact is, they still take up the same floor space, so having the top of the set to use as a shelf was a big plus for me.

Lastly, it’s on smooth rolling casters. The set weighs a ton (well… actually like 200 pounds) but, it’s still to big and awkward to push or carry. With the casters in place the Set rolls easily, and effortlessly across my hardwood floors. This is a big deal when you want to change a cable in the back of the set. No floor scratches or bunched up carpet to worry about when you move the set.

Other really neat features are:

The IRIS system, which automatically adjust brightness and contrast for the overall lighting conditions in the room. I find this really helps the picture when watching movies in the dark or NASCAR at midday.

One which I thought would only be ooh-ahh factor, but comes in really handy is when you hit “mute” on the set, the closed captioning automatically comes on (if you want it to). This makes phone calls easier to take when watching your favorite shows.

One I wish I could take advantage if, is the automatic adjustment of volume for the blaring commercials. If you use the internal speakers, the TV can automatically level the sound for too-loud commercials. Cool. Since I use my home theatre system, I can’t use this feature. Bummer.

The learning remote handles all the essential features of my receiver, DVD, and Satellite / Ultimate TV system It’s very easy to program, and remembers your settings even after you change batteries.

So, what is it missing? Well, a few things.

I really wish I could use the excellent sound system of the television as the center channel speaker for my surround sound. If it does it, I can’t figure it out. I hate having that expensive internal sound system just sitting there dormant.

The internal menu system – the system that guides you through the configuration of the television, is not the most intuitive things I’ve ever seen. Sometimes if I’m not careful, I set the default viewing input to some other source, such as my camcorder or DVD, and it’ll take me forever to figure out how to set it back.

Also, I wish the horizontal viewing area were a little wider. If I’m standing up, or lying on the floor the picture becomes much darker. The nature of the screen lenses direct all the light through a fairly narrow window horizontally. I think this goes for all projection screens because they all use a Fresnel lens system, but it can be frustrating when you want to sit on the floor with the kids and watch a movie. Luckily, this is less noticeable when you sit further away, but you know kids… they want to sit mere inches from the screen. From that angle, the screen will be almost totally dark.

Finally, The remote can be programmed to use the Satellite guide for my Sony Direct TV receiver, but has no idea how to use the extended features offered by Ultimate TV. This guarantees that I’ll have two remotes on the coffee table. Why can’t I just aim the two remotes together, and have it memorize the signals it isn’t preprogrammed to know? When you get into this class of television, you can guarantee that the owners will have sophisticated auto / video equipment that the remote should know how to operate. (Actually, this is a gripe I have with nearly ALL remotes)

Conclusion

There are about a hundred things more I love about this TV, but I’ve gone on long enough.

To me, the flaws are minor and manageable., and are FAR outweighed by the pros. For the overall picture quality, this TV rates a 10. Brightness and contrast are outstanding, especially after walking through the configuration, and using the built-in auto IRIS system.

This TV is at a higher price-point that it’s competition, but after looking at them all and taking a good objective look at them, I think you’ll find the Mitsubishi offers a lot of value for the money. I know it won me over!