From: bengt@fires1.uucp (Bengt A. Palsson)
Newsgroups: rec.video
Subject: Mitsubishi 35FX1 vs projection sets
Date: 18 Dec 1992 12:55:29 GMT
Organization: Svenska Popfabriken AB, USA div.
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: fires1.srl.ford.com


The following is a short description of how I evaluated a couple of CRT
and projection sets using the laserdisc LD-101 as a measuring device, and
subsequently purchased the Mitsubishi 35FX1 35" direct view TV.

This is not intended as a technical review or guidelines of any sort, nor
is it an endorsement for Mitsubishi or Reference Recordings (the makers of
LD-101).

Seems like none of the major appliance store chains stock the higher-end
models so I went to one of the smaller local appliance stores and inquired
if I could come in and bring my discs and do some tests on the CRTs and
projection sets they had set up. Seeing a potentially large sale, the
salesperson agreed. 

So I returned armed with LD-101, Apocalypse Now (remastered version) and
Dick Tracy, all of which I knew looked good on my 26 inch NEC monitor at
home.

I started out by resetting all the video parameters to factory default
(factory = very hot settings) and then tweaking a Mitsubishi 40 inch
projection set (model ?) and the 41 inch Sony Videoscope projection set
(model ?) side by side. In fact all the projection sets  were daisy
chained together in a dark corner of the store. The Mitsu 40 inch set was
much easier to tweak to the correct "look" according to LD-101 than the
Sony 41 inch. The Sony took a lot longer because it seemed that by
tweaking one control, it would seriously affect another. So I spent a lot
of time going back and forth between parameters on the Sony. Well I
finally got both of them to look good with test patterns and then played
a few segments from the other discs. The Mitsu definitely looked better
than the Sony, especially on skin tones. The Sony made skin look too red,
but it appeared brighter than the Mitsu. 
However the lack of resolution (visible scan lines) in the projection TVs
was too apparent for me to ignore. Maybe I was biased after watching the
relative smoothness of a 26" tube at about a 12 foot distance, but I knew
that the fact that you could see lines in the picture would ultimately be
too annoying. 


For inclusion in rec.video.salesdroids:
[The sales manager is pacing in the background during all of this, looking
a little bit confused about the person who is enthusiastically changing
things back and forth on his TV's, while looking through a blue piece of
plastic. He finally comes over and says "How about that Sony, Isn't it
great ?" I say "Actually the Mitsubishi looks better". He walks away
looking confused. Later he gives a surround sound demo to a customer,
complete with "Top Gun" blaring at full volume, and he says to the
potential customer "Well, the picture looks a little off since we had a
guy playing with the controls here just now." And he promptly resets the
two sets to factory defaults while i cringe in the background :-) My
salesperson was more understanding though, otherwise I would have walked
out of the store.]

Then I compared the Sony 32" XBR^2 and the Mitsu 35FX1 in the same manner
as the two projection sets. And picture wise the both looked about the
same. The flatter tube on the Sony is noticeable when you watch it, but
I'm not sure if it is the flatness itself that you are not used to and
therefore think the picture is better or if it really makes a difference.
Both sets looked equally good in the corner areas with the Indian head
test picture from LD-101. The Sony picture seemed (this is a personal
opinion only) to have a slight "haze" in the picture reminiscent of what
you saw in the first "IDTV" (like Toshiba's) sets a few years ago.

Features of the Mitsubishi 35FX1
================================

The 35FX1 is a monitor style cabinet with no controls or covers for
controls on the front which makes for a relatively slim looking cabinet.
There are power, video and audio controls hidden under a lid on the top
back part of the TV. There are two audio/video inputs (with Y/C and
composite connectors) and two audio/video outputs, one for the monitor and
one for the tuner. There is a subwoofer output as well as terminal for
external speakers. These connectors are located on a "block" that swivels
upwards so that you don't have to bend over the TV (not an easy task !!)
in order to reach the connectors in the back. There are two RF inputs, no
RF outputs.
There is also a phone jack that allows you to hook the TV up to the phone
line for ordering PPV programming.

The supplied speakers are detachable and are designed to "sweep" around
the sides of the TV when attached. I left mine off in favor of aesthetics
and my regular surround sound setup. I suppose they could be used as a
center channel in a pro-logic setup, but I already have a separate speaker
for that.

The inputs and each channel is "nameable" with a 8 character name.

It has a plain english "operating" system that displays text telling you
how to set the clock, name the inputs etc. while a smaller version of the
current video (PIP size) is showing in the lower right hand corner.

PIP is single tuner only, you have to use one of the video inputs for PIP.
PIP is selectable to any of the four corners of the screen, you can "hot
switch" between the two sources and exchange their places as PIP or full
screen.

There are two switches that is to be selected depending on which way
geographically the set is pointing. One switch is for North, Neutral and
South and the second switch is for strength (1 and 2). Setting these
switches is supposed to improve color purity, which the earth's magnetic
field apparently interferes with.

The remote is a fairly long device with learning 3 devices capability
(Audio, VCR-A and VCR-B). It is called a 4-layer learning remote, but one
layer is taken up by a pre-programmed layer controlling the TV itself.
Learning is done by pushing a straightforward sequence of buttons on the
remote and pointing the two remotes head on. It has one of the sexiest
backlights I have ever seen ! When you hit a button on the side, the text
beneath each button lights up as if it was painted on the remote with
paint made of light. Very effective in a dark room. Overall the remote is
laid out nice and everything is easily reachable with one hand.

The Mitsubishi 35FX1 has the following video parameters adjustable from
the remote (or by buttons on the top back of the TV):

Tint                               Slide adjustable (bar graph)
Color                              Slide adjustable (bar graph)
Contrast                           Slide adjustable (bar graph)
Brightness                         Slide adjustable (bar graph)
Sharpness                          Slide adjustable (bar graph)
Video Noise Reduction              on/off
Color Temperature                  low/middle/high
Color Bias                         Average/Accurate/Skin-tone
CAI (Color Aperture Improvement)   on/off

Video NR and Color Bias are automatically set to off and average
respectively when changing channel or input. Something that was annoying
at first since I originally tweaked the set with the Color bias set to
accurate thinking that it would give me the most accurate colors. A soon
as I changed input, the tweak was no longer any good.

There is no mention in the manual what actual color temperature the
settings Low/middle/high corresponds to in degrees Kelvin. I set mine to
high according to the scheme below.
[According to another source, the best way (subjectively) to check the
color temperature is to turn all color down and select a setting that
produces the best black and white picture, i.e. no color tinting present,
the picture should be a "black & white" as possible.]

CAI is to be used (according to the manual) when viewing "high quality
sources" and will noticeably reduce dot crawl at the color bar edges as
usually seen in the SMPTE color bar test picture.

When using LD-101, frame 50789 and 50820 reveals a red shadow along the
white line in the upper left hand corner, and the left hand white line of
the cross hatch chart runs off the screen. The "earth's magnetic field
button" alleviates some of this by setting the strength switch to 2. It
may be caused by some local magnetic field or damage in transport, I will
investigate. 
According to an ex-tv-repairman friend of mine, this is caused by
improperly adjusted pin-cushion and convergence. Also according to him it
is difficult to adjust to perfect, if you tweak (this is an internal
adjustement that I will never attempt) it to look good in one corner,
chances are that you will be slightly off in another corner. The effect
seen in the test pattern is not noticeable at all when veiwing normal
"over the air" or laser disc material so I guess it's a mute point after
all.

In conclusion: I could have chosen either the Sony or the Mitsubishi based
on picture quality. I chose the Mitsu beacuse of it's looks (without
speakers) and the slightly larger screen size over the Sony.

Your mileage may vary.
-- 
Bengt A. Palsson                         | "There is something out there,
FORD Scientific Research Labs            |  and we want to sink it !"
Internet   : bpalsson@smail.srl.ford.com | - General Bengt Gustafsson, on the
Compuserve : 70541,3431                  |   hunt for subs in Swedish waters.