I saw a 25"of this type yesterday for 28T. 32 is 35T. Are they any good? I think at that price its reasonable.
Here's a link to a review for that model. It appears to be doing alright, Wag lang manonood na may angle...
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http://htguys.com/archive/2005/September052005.htmlThis week's show:
After our Costco roundup we received a lot of email asking for more information on the Proview RX-326 LCD TV. So this week we take an in depth look at the
Proview RX-326 LCD TV. The TV is available at Costco for $999 and can be purchased as low as $899 after a mail in rebate.
Features:
Screen Size: 32" Widescreen
Resolution (Max.): 1366 x 768
Response Time: <16ms
Contrast Ratio: 800:1
Number of Colors: 16.7M
TV Tuner: Single NTSC
Dimensions (w/d/h) (w/stand) 37.4" x 12.6" x 23.9 (95cm x 35cm X 60cm) (without stand) 37.4" x 4.6" x 19.8" (95cm x 11.6 cm x 50cm)
Net Weight: 53.3 lbs (24.2 kg)
Overall we were pretty satisfied with this TV. It displayed a sharp picture with good color representation. Standard definition when viewed through composite looked decent at a distance of about twelve feet or farther. Any closer than that and you could see lots of nasty stuff on screen. Standard definition when upscaled to 720p through our satellite and cable boxes using HDMI or component connections looked much better than the composite connections at 480i.
High definition looked wonderful. The colors were bright and blacks were decent. Football looked great but the TV had a difficult time keeping with fast pans across the screen. A kickoff is a good example of this. When the camera is following a ball high in the air with the crowd is in the background there was a noticeable amount of pixelization. This was also evident in one scene in a regular television program where a character slammed his fist on a desk. Off angle viewing left something to be desired as well. The colors washed out as you moved to the side of this TV. If you plan to put this TV in a room where many of the seats are off angle you may want to think twice before buying. If most of the viewing is head on this will not be an issue. The TVs specification says it has a 170 degree viewing angle. While that was verified we noticed the colors starting to fade at about 130 degrees.
HDTV was viewed using HDMI and component cables. There have been reports about display "flicker" through the HDMI connection on the AVS Forum site. During our testing we did not see any of this. This may be a result of us receiving a later model that MAY have had its firmware modified or that this TV just did not have the issue. Not all Proview owners are reporting this problem but it is something to consider.
Since we are not gamers we asked a colleague (Jude Greer) who worked in the gaming industry to put the display through its paces. Here is what Jude thought:
Initial expectiations
Convinced I would dislike due to CRT advantages.
Always loved flexibility and color reproduction, especially shadow detail, of CRT
Native resolution & fast-action "smear" sounded like show-stoppers
Hook up
Connected via VGA input.
Native resolution is 1366x768 so used 1024x768 for desktop and all games (with sidebars)
The Games
Half Life 2 - Great FPS shooter. Quite dark in many areas. TV looked great even in the dark areas. Very engrossing.
GTA: San Andreas. Bright outdoor environments looked really nice on LCD.
Star Wars: Republic Commando. Team-based Star Wars first person shooter. Again, looked great. This is where I really started to consider the advantages to having a big-screen gaming monitor. 32" versus 21" currently and the experience was so much more engaging, with the music, Star Wars universe.
Sacred - Diablo-like action role-playing game with 3D chars on 2D painted backgrounds. Bright environments again looked stunning on the display. Sharpness of the painted backgrounds was great.
World of Warcraft. MMORPG. Worried about text readability since there is a lot of small point text present in chat windows. Not disappointed here - text was surprisingly crisp. Definite showpiece game for this display.
Minor Issues
Limited resolution compatibility via VGA input made resolution selection a frustrating experience. Often had to swap old monitor back in to back out a change that caused TV to go dark.
For desktop work, 1024x768 at 4:3 AR never quite seemed to produce a 1:1 pixel mapping. Center was perfectly crisp but edges seemed to blur a bit. Would make it hard on eyes for computer work.
Couldn't find a way to save settings for a resolution - in 1024x768 I wanted to use 4:3 mode to get as close to 1:1 pixel mapping as possible, but whenever resolution changed or TV was powered down, I would have to go into settings and re-select 4:3 mode.
Conclusion - Native-resolution issue seemed non-existent. Response rate of 16ms gave me smear-free gaming experience. Very pleasantly surprised. Would definitely consider purchasing as a cinematic gaming experience display.
Braden's recommendation:
I really liked the TV for the price. High definition clarity was awesome. While black levels and contrast left something to be desired, overall the TV performed very well. I'll stick with my stance from the Costco roundup: I certainly wouldn't mind having this TV in my house. The lack of 480i on component video was annoying, but nothing a good universal remote can't cure.
Ara's recommendation
Better LCD TVs exist but not at this price. In my opinion this TV would make a great second HDTV for a bedroom. If you want it for your primary viewing make sure you put it in a place where most of the seats will be directly in front of the TV.
