LCD or plasma

That can't be the original digital signal sent by ABC -- your local station is playing games with the resolution and you aren't getting full 1080i.

I know - this was OTA using my old Sony projection 1080i set. It looked like crap.

So it's not the Vizio after all. How old is the SONY? A service call to clean up the inside of the projection screen (yes, pollutants and dust do get in there) and purchasing the calibration disc would help correct everything but what is out-of-whack in settings not available to consumers). The horizontal and vertical configurations could likely be at fault if you aren't getting the identical problem on another TV like the Vizio. Or a component could be failing.

TNT fiddles around a lot with the image -- it almost always looks like it is 720i. It also slight makes everyone look like they've had too many meals.

No, the image problem I saw with HD was on the Sony, but all other comments have been about the Vizio. Does that make sense? It's possible the Sony is out of whack - we moved twice in the last two years.

If it's not more than five years old and, of course, out of warranty even with an extended five year warranty, it's worth having a tech repair that problem and he should be able to do it in the home. Might as well have him clean the inside of the screen while he's at it 'cause it would cost very little. I got another year-and-a-half out of my old Mitsubishi 55" 4.3 rear projection before the main frame failed, and for that time it was still a good picture.

I need to seriously go watch it some more to see if I still see the issue. I am not convinced it wasn't the local broadcast that was the problem.

As I've noted here, I took a new job six months ago that demands an awful lot of my time, plus we bought a new house with more yard than I realized, and the two HD sets are not on the main floor, so watching them requires a commitment of time and place, something I'm not used to after years in a tiny California home where the TV was visible from the entire non-bedroom portion. I sit down a lot and have a WTF moment because the kids/whatever have horked up my TV/remote/etc.

Question- Is there any backlight at your local cinema/multiplex? Of course not,so why would you want it at home? It's a marketing toy.Please turn it off.
Just for info,my Panasonic LCD monitor,after being calibrated by the Avia disc,in subdued lighting,is as follows....
Viewing Mode-Auto
Contrast-75%
Brightness-50%
Sharpness-65%
Tint/Hue-50%
Colour Balance-Normal
Colour Management-Off
P-NR-off

Which is very similar to my current settings - done using my own eyes. I must have Avia eyes.

The sharpness will also only work on analog signal images.

The setting of the backlight on the LCD is much different than Brightness. Actually, maximum is the designed capability of the display and Sharp provides a very powerful backlight which one can immediately tell if it's washing out the image. It's an setting useful in a very bright room. This does cause one to reset the contrast and brightness and despite using an ICC disc, there are other testing devices in the lab including a scope that provide accurate settings. The backlight is the actual fluorescent lamp llluminating the display (you can't turn it "off", but you can turn it to "0" or the minimal setting). The cinema theater projection is analog, not LCD and entirely different. They do have an adjustment for the brighhtness of the HID lamp that passes light through the film. You're at the mercy of the projectionist how good the picture and sound is in a movie theater. Unfortunatley, you are also at the mercy of the engineer whose is twiddling knobs in the TV studio, and again the satellite or cable engineers who receive the signal and resend it.

You might notice on a laptop that when you go to battery, the backlight automatically becomes dimmer. That's a consideration of the battery life and in a brighter ambient room or outside, it would make it difficult to see detail.

Hey LW, is this worth it?

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?whse=BC&topnav=&prodid=11223743&ec=BC-EC877-CatHome&pos=14&lang=en-US

Now antique contrast ratio. Can't watch it in high ambient light without the picture looking faded. I'd also be suspect of their main frame -- we knew long ago that no matter the country of origin (in other words, the country of assembly), there are cheap main frames and likely screens coming out of the PRC. Costco has all but given up making any money on tried-and-true brand manufactuers but will sell their discontinued models. A year old technology today is like purchasing a display three to four years out-of-date. Caveat emptor.

BTW, even though it's nearly a year-and-a-half old, our very expensive Sharp DLP front projector and 92" screen still wows people when they walk into the projection room. It's not even the latest hi-def screen -- that might blind one if you don't crank down the contrast and brightness. Looks better than any movie theater on digitally shot 1080i programming.

Where the heck can I find a Sony E-37? You said LED - I think you meant LCD, right? Can I get it at Best Buy? ABC Warehouse? Not much to choose from here in west MI.

I think the E-series is rear projection. I don't want that - no room for it in this case, I want LCD or plasma, but it has to be about 37" and $1000 or less, preferably a lot less.

KDF37H1000 is a SONY 3 LCD rear projector -- you should pay around $900. - $1000.00 for it. Nothing of top quality in an LCD below $1,000.00 in a 37".

If you aren't wall mounting it, the profile depth is about the same as a stand for a "flat screen" (as I have mentioned before, they aren't actually flat -- by the time you add a mount, they stick out about 5" unless you install a J box in the wall and that will protrude about an inch). So you're only figuring on loosing a few inches of viewing distance. No big deal. Beautiful SONY picture and you can find them online, often with free freight and no sales tax. Shopping at Best Buy can be confusing as they also try to foist off discontinued models and bargain basement LCD or Plasma displays.

Unless I did a typo, LED is what is now used as the light engine in new Samsung DLP rear projection, also very slim depth. I often sell very large rear projection as the customer wants a cabinet or rack to put their other electronic equipment into. Guess what, that takes up depth on any wall space unless you mount the components in the wall, or in a closet with RF (radio frequency) remote control, which is also expensive.

I think the Vizio is going back and we'll wait until the prices drop. It seems ridiculous to me that I can buy a 20" LCD monitor that will do 1600x1200 for about $200 but a 37" HDTV costs $1000...

Those $ 200.00 20" LCD's are horse fodder (they are like so flimsy, a horse could chew one up). Not to mention the contrast ratio sucks and the processors are so slow, you'll get annoying picture flickers, etc. You might not notice it, but it's hard on the eyes. Price are unlikely to go down any further with the dollar doing what it's doing. Inflation is taking over in my opinion and the illusion that prices are dropping is all the cheap LCD's and plasmas flooding the market. Guess what, you don't save any money as you will have to likely buy three sets in the coming years to replace one reliable brand display.

I repeat -- you do not need 1080p on any screen below 37" (even that's borderline). The human eye cannot see it unless you were inches from the screen. Fine for a personal computer monitor that's on a desk and the highest resolutions are available on the hard drive. Dell and others are now producing laptops with higher than 1080p and without the matte, anti-reflective screen finish. For group viewing, it's not practical nor necessary to have 1080p on a smaller screen even if you were to play to most up-to-date DVD Hi-Def disc.

I have a 19" Princeton LCD monitor that I bought three years ago for $275 and it's great. The 20" widescreen HP on my desk at work is nicer...

I can sell 19" Samsung or Sanyo monitors with good resolution, color and processing for a similar price and less but we don't bother marketing them. Too many cash and carry stores like Staples, et al, so we're not interested. Profit margin of about $ 40.00 - $ 50.00. However, for TV viewing on a consumer TV, it's rather disconcerting to see the person on the left with a slighting green complexion and the one on the right with a slightly orange complexion. There's also the money that's put into speakers in a cheap display. If you like your sound emulating two tins cans and a string, they're just fine.

My Vizio does that. Another reason I'm returning it.