Apex GB51HD09 51-Inch Projection HDTV
A good HDTV value
Apex has delivered a good value with this TV. It is a great fit for those who are looking for a new TV but have sticker shock over current HDTV prices. I purchased mine at Ultimate Electronics for $$$ after $$$$rebate. I also got the 5 year extended service plan for $$$. So I'm guaranteed to enjoy worry-free, high quality viewing for the next 5 years for under a thousand dollars.<br />If you want the best performance from this or any HDTV, you should be prepared to do some experimenting with your set-up. First you'll want to set the convergence of the CRTs. Take your time here since this step is critical to getting a crisp, high resolution image. The second thing you want to do is set the brightness, contrast, color, sharpness and tint on the TV. Any DVDs that have THX sound will have a video setup utility you can use to set these parameters. Third, you'll want to experiment with your signal sources like your DVD player,  set-top box, cable TV, etc. HDTVs expose many problems that you just don't see on regular TVs.<br />I tried several DVD players, both interlaced and progressive scan and found that some provide much higher video quality than others. I also found that higher priced units are by no means better than cheaper units. Try several players if you can. I can also recommend using the component video connections whenever possible.<br />I also had to do some experimentation with the cable TV wiring in my house to achieve the best possible picture. My house has cable TV wired to many rooms and consequently, there are passive cable splitters everywhere. Every cable splitter attenuates the RF TV signal, which reduces the video quality at your TV. Since I only have one TV, I took out all of the splitters and wired directly from the outside of my house to the TV. The video quality is much improved. If your TV signal is still bad after cleaning up your wiring or if you have more than one TV in your house, you can get a 10dB RCA brand RF distribution amplifier at Home Depot for $$.<br />The only complaint I have with this TV is with the video source selection. It doesn't remember the video signal source on power down and always reverts to the RF TV input. You must scroll through most of the video inputs to get to the component video inputs which is inconvenient.