Mitsubishi 62825 UPDATE to ???You have been Warned.???
After you research EXTENSIVELY, look at the competition, read the tech bulletins, spend weeks in the forums, I felt I had done my homework. The reason I settled on the 62825 is the PICTURE and the additional ability to use firewire and archive DIGITAL content out of the PVR on to Digital Tape. There is a Gemstar guide that???s coming, and 2 PVR???s will allow you twice the fun(internal & Cablevision???s); And finally the Picture ???which blows away everyone else in the market. The depth and dynamic range are outstanding. How do I know this? 5 Emmys, owner of and Ad Agency, and Director of Photography who owns broadcast HD cameras. So by creating the source material, I have a good idea as to what the picture should look like. I also spent over 15 years at the networks as an editing engineer. This is my providence. I don???t mean to sound cocky, this is not my intent, and after listening to the SPEW out of salespeople???s mouths about how much they know, I wanna hurl! I???m not condemning all salesmen/women but have you gone into a BestBuy or Circuit City lately. I actually had a guy in Radio Shack school me on the different qualities of Optical Cables. Folks, the difference between a $20 optical cable , and a $60 one is $40 bucks!. If the digital information is getting to the device, that???s about it. Gold Connectors, and oxygen free copper speaker wire.... If you own a spectrum analyzer & a 1 GHz Scope, fine, go play!! Give me 14 gauge quality wire, and call it a day!
If you???ve followed my previous posts, I???ve been quite annoyed about being a Beta Tester without MY consent. The picture is great and that is really what the TV boils down to. It???s the promise of the Diamond Series which gives so much more. PVR, Gemstar, All jet black casing. Now if you???re married, you damn well know that the wife will spend 1000 bucks more to have something that goes with the rest of her décor. Add the PVR, and we both got what we wanted. Sure, I already have the 8300HD Cable box with the PVR on order too.
Issues:
The Picture was tilted from day 1. The PVR did not work. Gemstar was not installed. The internal Channel labeling system could only accept 4 characters and sometimes 3. The input patching system will not allow 1 video input to share the same AVR input with the net-commander as your switcher. So if you are outputting the cable box with both ???S??? and component, they have to be set up on Different AVR inputs to be switched by the
net-commander.
I can see the rainbow effect. I???m in the 5% of the population. Even with the 7 segment color wheel, I catch it. Eventually my mind will block it out. That???ll take a month or two but for now, it???s a little annoying.
Blacks have a small tendency to push the green pedestal higher, which is not desirable. It???s an easy ISF fix.
PVR no worky
No Gemstar until it???s ready. The set release date was pushed back 3 months so I see no reason to believe a Gemstar ???ROM FLASH??? will be any sooner, regardless of what Mitsubishi says. And in the 62825, this IS the set. Try to navigate 300 channels and not know what they are. Will Gemstar actually integrate with the PVR and TV like you???d expect it to?
The picture is painted slowly between channel switching. they say, ???it???s because of all that digital information in the picture??? ???I say it???s because they skimped on RAM and a slower processor to save money.
Ok, so NOW SOME GOOD NEWS:
Most HD content is outstanding- picture wise. The HD2+ Chip shines. It???s TI???s best to date, and the xHD3 you probably wouldn???t notice anything except the 1080???P???.
My dealer contacted the Rep in my area and ???Dave??? the Mitsubishi Guru drove 100 miles to re-flash my internal ROM, and correct the screen tilt error, which is physically loosening the light engine lock bolts and twisting the cabinet slightly to correct for the way the set was handled during final packing and shipping. Now the grid is even and correct. We shifted the H & V Position to perfection, and got the PVR working. So only the Gemstar is not working. The cable card works GREAT, and if you intend to use the PVR, You???ll need the cable card for a digital picture direct into the set. It???s worth it.
Final thoughts:
Mitsubishi has a reputation for building among the best Televisions. QA is an issue. They really need to speak with guys like me during the electronic block layout and ergonomic design stage to create a better product. Their arrogance is beyond their stupidity. To not have their $&!% together and release their Diamond series like this is a mistake. To not have Gemstar locked down is also a mistake. To not be able to enter more than 4 characters for a channel ID in 2004 is just STUPIDITY. Eventually all of this will come together, and the finished set will be awesome. Ultimately, I yelled loud enough for California to hear me, and the Rep showed up. He???s is a great guy, and we had some very insightful dialogue about functionality. I was told that I might be getting a call from the designers as to how to improve the MicroDisplay System. I really hope so, because as Hallmark says, ???Little things mean so much???!
