Toshiba 46HM84 46-Inch TheaterWide HD-Ready Rear-Projection DLP TV
Outstanding performer
Just dumped my Toshiba 42HP83 plasma due to failure within 10 months (see my review there) and was looking for a replacement, preferably non plasma this time. After extensive searching in my local stores and testing the DLP units, I'm convinced the only reason that you'd want a plama now is 1) you want to brag about having a plasma, and 2) need/want a flat panel to wall mount and can't afford an LCD unit yet. GET A DLP!    I narrowed my selection down to Samsung (50\\"), Toshiba (52\\"), and Mitsubishi (52\\"). Despite its great reviews, the Mitsu was REALLY BAD compared to the other two. Virtually every place I visited said that it was the 'Reps fault' and that they made the settings wrong. Don't believe it! Make sure you see these units with the same HD signal and you'll agree that the Mitsu is inadequate.     Thus it was down the the Samsung HLP5063W and this Toshiba 52HM84, and quite frankly I don't thinnk you'll go wrong with either one. The Samsung uses the 3rd generation of the DLP chip while Toshiba uses the HD2+ 'second generation' chip, although in some opinions the HD2+ chip is better. It took a great deal of scruitiny between the two to see any difference, and my preference leaned towards the Toshiba. As I found out, NEWER isn't always BETTER! Here's more details on the 52hm84:    Picture: AWESOME!, and this is from someone who had a plasma for almost a year! Striking color saturation (better than Samsung) and as good as my plasma before it started to die. The 2nd gen HD2+ DLP chip does better than the 3rd gen in perceived sharpness (not really sure why). Unlike the 1st generation chip, the 2nd and 3rd have the 'dimples' in the mirrors filled in and thus provide a 'flat' mirror for each pixel. Having looked at the first generation TVs before, these two were significantly better. When we got it home, we watched a DiscoveryHD program (HDMI) on the Met museum in NY and the clarity was startling, almost too good as the cracks in the paint were very visible.     One feature I liked with this unit is that you have the option of a 'quick start' mode where for several minutes after you shut down, you can turn the unit back on and the screen's back to full intensity almost instantly. Thus, if you turn it off and then turn it back on again, this circuit keeps some power going to the bulb so it's not coming up from a complete shutdown. During this time there is an eerie glow from the screen as the bulb is still on, and the green standby LED on the front will blink. The instructions say that this will prolong the bulb life (just got the unit so I don't know about that one yet).    NOTE: Be aware that DLPs require the bulb to warm up before it gets to full intensity, but as my plasma took 1 hour to warm up to see the picture, that's only a small issue for us :-) Only takes a few minutes anyway.    Sound: Can't say much here as I'm running through my sound system and the integrated speakers are off.    Inputs: Large assortment of inputs available here. HDMI works great (I'm running a DISH 811 HD with a DVI-to-HDMI adapter). If you're looking for CableCARD or direct input from cameras, etc., this one doesn't have it, but the 52HM94 model does (same light engine).    Remote/Controls: adequate but I wish they'd used the one I had for my plasma (pushbutton component selection vs a slide switch on this one). However, as I was replacing one Toshiba for another all the programmed functions in my universal remote still work fine. Menu controls are a little quirky (be careful to follow the on-screen instructions to see what you're supposed to do to get from one menu to another). However, very minor detraction from an otherwise outstanding performance.