RCA Has Finally Hooked me!

First, let me begin, by stating that I had serious reservations about purchasing an RCA product. Their reliability has not been as good as the competition (Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Sony etc.) I went to Circuit City to look at a 51" Hitachi HD Ready Projection TV to replace our 8 year old 45" Mitsubishi which, actually, I moved to the Master Bedroom as it still has a pretty good picture. I was looking for the latest technology in an HD Ready Projection TV. After Looking at the many Projection TV's on display, the RCA 52" Scenium D52W135D caught my eye. This TV had the BEST picture, by far, of any other on display. Also, it was not just another "Black Box". This RCA had a sleek look with Brushed Metal under the screen and below the speaker enclosure. There is no indentation around the border of the screen-just one flat screen from end-to-end. This is called a "Floating Screen" feature, which especially when viewed in a dark room, looks like a true theater screen. This feature is exclusive to the RCA Scenium widescreens, although I did see a new model from Sony that is now implementing this technology as well. Well, my wife and I decided to take a chance on RCA, as we just could not take our eyes off of it. The other TV's paled in comparison to the picture on this RCA Scenium, which by the way, is their top-of-the-line Projection TV series. We went ahead and decided that we "had to have it" after taking a few additional minutes to compare features. It had everything we wanted in a HD Ready Projection Widescreen TV!

The TV was delivered the next morning and it looked absolutely "stunning" in our living room. The appearance of the Black/Gray/Silver Brushed metal really enhanced the look of the room. I had the delivery people hook it up to my Dish Satellite Receiver and sent them on their way. I spent the next hour connecting my Toshiba DVD Player, VCR,and my Panasonic Home Theater Receiver. Even though this TV has a built-in DVD Player. I still wanted to take advantage of the Component outputs from my Toshiba DVD Player. Now to learn and play! The TV is close to DVD quality on most of the stations from Dish Network. Especially the Premium Movie Channels. The colors are vibrant and the picture is crystal clear. I think the Satellite system really brings out the BEST in this TV. We haven't even connected an HD Receiver and yet we feel the picture is close to HD quality already. My wife loves it!

I will now take some time to explain some of the features that really "sold" me on this RCA Model. It has a feature called 3:2 pulldown, which is "motion compensation". The purpose of this feature is to enhance the images from regular TV programming and VCR Tapes. It works well. Another feature is "Progressive Scan" which not only eliminates the need for a Progressive Scan DVD Player, but also enhances the picture from regular broadcast TV, especially when watching movies. It also features "auto format" which adjusts the size of the screen to the program being viewed. I actually turned this feature off because it changes from 4:3 screensize to 16:9 when going to commercials and back to the program which was annoying. A minor annoyance which may not be annoying to others. We preferred to set the screen to CINERAMA which is the BEST stretch mode for watching 4:3 screensize programs. It eliminates the gray/black bars on the sides of the screen, so you need not worry about image burn-in. This CINERAMA setting is the best stretch mode I have seen in the industry. You cannot see any distortion or stretching of people or scenes,whatsoever! This was also a big factor in our purchase decision. I believe RCA has found the best way to view widescreen TV. The other companies were lacking in this department. Their images were distorted in their stretch modes (even the Hitachi). The TV also has a 3DY/C comb filter to further enhance the sharpness of the picture.

Other features worth noting: PIP(picture-in-picture) with Split Screen Mode; 2 Component inputs; 3 S-Video inputs(2 in back and 1 in front); 2 composite inputs(perhaps for a VCR); Video/Audio Out( 1 Fixed audio out and 1 variable audio out) to connect to your Home Theater System; also, an Optical Out from the internal TV/DVD player to connect to your receiver to provide Digital/DTS sound. It also has a FUTURE DVI input which is a single connection from an HD Receiver when this technology is implemented. I suggest you go to RCASCENIUM.COM to read about the other NUMEROUS features and technology built in to this model.

It's been 3 weeks and we feel like our CHANCE on this RCA model was worthwhile. We have had no problems. We have a beautiful crystal clear picture. The built-in DVD payer is as good as our Toshiba. I cannot see any difference. So, I guess we have an extra DVD Player! The On-Screen menu is really easy to follow. It takes you through the set-up process with ease. You can adjust the convergence(color guns) manually or use the Automatic mode. I have done a combination of both. If you decide to purchase this TV, be sure to take advantage of the S-Video inputs from Cable or Satellite and the COMPONENT inputs if you decide to hook up an "extra" DVD player. For those of you who are hesitant to purchase an RCA Product, I will continue to provide updates on RELIABILITY.. Personally, I think we made an excellent choice. The picture, technology, Stretchmode, and features surpasses the Hitachi, Sony, Mitsubishi etc. (and believe me, I did a thorough comparison!). Also, you can't overlook the slim attractively designed body(only 22.8 inches in depth). You owe it to yourself to take a look!

UPDATE: 22 May 2003: This set was purchased in April and I had written this review back then, but did not post it until today.(actually I had posted it in the wrong area-under the 61" model) So, having made the necessary correction, I can say that, So far, No reliability problems! The set seems to look better everyday(perhaps a break-in period?) Many neighbors and friends have commented on the great picture the beautiful design of the TV itself.

UPDATE: 14 January 04: Continuously superb picture with no reliability problems! I now have more confidence in RCA!!

UPDATE: 29 June 04: Continuous excellent reliability. Many hours of pleasurable viewing/no loss in picture quality. Finally got an HD Receiver(DISH NETWORK)and WHOA, what an unbelievable experience-like watching a moving slide show!! Gorgeous picture!!

UPDATE: 12 MARCH 05: Continued superb performance-new 56" Scenium is now on the market. I may move the 52" to another room and purchase the 56" for the living room-since I have signed up with VOOM satellite (more HD channels) and need additional HD/HD ready TV's.

UPDATE: 14 February 2006: Continues to perform flawlessly no problems.

UPDATE: 9 April 2007: Amazingly, we are still getting a continuously superb picture. It just "keeps on ticking"!

UPDATE: 7 August 2008: This TV won't die! It looks as good as the DLP/LCD's on the market. 5 years and 4 months and no problems! True HD picture!