Hi all,

I'm new to HDTV. I know someone who has a Toshiba 57" H84 Projection TV which he is looking to get rid of for $600. Does anyone know anything about this TV? Is this a good price? What would you do?

Thanks,

I own the 51" version of this set and it has simply the best picture I have ever seen on any rear-projection model. I did a lot of research before I bought it last year and found that it and another Hitachi model were the two most highly rated sets out there at the time (for tube based rear-projection models). Viewing from a HD source with this set is awesome.

Having said all that, I am kinda suspicious as to why the seller only wants $600....You will have to check to see if the set's picture settings were turned down at initial use or the color guns might be burned in. See this forum and specifically this thread for more information...

Cheers,

I too am suspicious that's why I brought it up here. He says it's in perfect working condition. He told me I am more than welcome to check it out before I make any decsions. He seems like a nice enough fellow but you know how that goes. Thanks for the link.

I asked the reason for the sale and he says it is just to big for his living room and there is a lot of light it that room which causes a reflection.

Both plausible reasons for wanting to get rid of it. RP CRT's are becoming less desirable the to general public with the continued improvement on flat screen technologies. You still can't beat the contrast ratio you get with CRT's though. I personally use a FP CRT projector. If there is anyway that you can see the faces of the CRT's it would be a good idea to check them out for burns or wear. Barring that you should try and find the service codes (if required) that will let you see the number of hours the set has been used. I wonder what size CRT's these use?

I would prefer the flat panel HDTV myself but I figure if I have the room the price is too good to pass up, barring any issues. This is my first go around with any of these types of TV's. I always figured I'd wait for HDTV to become more mainstream regarding station selections and the "stretching" of normal TV annoys me but like I already said the price great. If anything watching sports would be amazing.

Actually, that brings up a good point. Does it do HDMI? Or at least support HDCP over DVI? If not, you may be in for a less-than-optimal experience as HD becomes more mainstream.

Attached are the specs I could dig up. Please explain yours thoughts if you don't mind.

Okay. It claims that it has a DVI-HDCP input. You ought to be future-proof with that, but someone with more knowledge of the impending screw-early-adopters stuff might want to chime in in case there's something that actually requires HDMI.

But, to speak to the issue right now, the issue is that HD signals can be transmitted over component cabling, DVI, and HDMI. HDMI is the newest one. In the future, we're being told, there is a high likelihood that HD signals will require DRM encryption in order to be seen at full resolution, supposedly to foil pirates. HDMI has the DRM capability built into the specification. DVI is capable of it, but not all DVI inputs will necessarily be capable of dealing with it. It's impossible with component cabling.

Like I say, with the HCDP-capable DVI input, you should be good, but they're coming up with new ways to screw their customers all the time.

Thank you for the input. This is good information.

You can get switchboxes that will work. I know they exist for HDMI. I don't know if anyone makes a DVI one that will work with HDCP, but worst case is an adapter for the output of the switch.

It's called a receiver. This isn't a new problem

Just got a new toy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonbauer/237006984/

Anyone wanna buy this? http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/ele/204156645.html

- Jon