tbob

Sorry you are correct about the 1024 in the vertical resolution and not 768. However, the eye is more sensitive to vertical lines which means you will be more subjective to seeing vertical gaps due to the 1024 stretch across the horizontal axis. Now with sony, they put a lot of effort into their software for image filters, so the image on the Sony will be of superior quality in SD and slightly higher in HD

It has speakers but they face backward and sound like rubbish. You would do yourself a lot of justice to hook it up to an AV system. However, read my thread above about the quality of what you are looking at.

You people do not listen. Cheap is dear!! Rather save your $xxx this year and spend it and the other $xxx next year that you wish you had not spent on this low price-low quality WM item. There are numberous AV forums where people have been discussing the Viore. When it works, it is wonderful (HD feeds only). SD is very grainy. DVD playback has a problem reproducing blacks(similar to LCD). Good plasmas create almost perfect Blacks - Tube TV produce the best. A number of people had their set a few weeks or a few months and the unit died on them. Some replaced them only to have it do the same thing. I would almost imagine those trucks will have to drag at least 50-60% of those units back within 3-4 months of BF. The included ATSC tuner is only standard def and you will need a HD settop box to playback HD feeds. Also people have complained that SD and DVD images have a green halo around the characters. Not good. You are better off going with the Magnavox if you have to. Mag does not produce this item anymore, so that is why it is being sold off. It seems Philips is now supporting all technical issues(they are partners). However, the magnavox is the same res as the Viore 1024x768. Almost all of the name brands (Philips, Pioneer, Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic) 42" HD plasma sets have either 1280x768 or 1366x768 resolution. Much better pixel density. Again I would pocket my money for next year and spend double for a real Plasma. In terms of LCD vs. Plasma, Plasma is a superior technology due to its fast refresh, darker blacks, no screen door effect, and brighter image and more uniform contrast. The new 1080P LCD (DLP and LCOS technologies) sets are a step above the current Plasmas with resolutions of 1920x1080 progressive where Plasma is at 1366x768 or 1280x768 in the 42" and larger sizes. However, their prices are also that much higher. You have to make your choice but I can tell you that the Viore is like a Kia(minus the 10yr warranty), it will get you from point A to B for a fraction of a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic but it will not feel the same or hold its own over time. We have a 50" Pioneer that is 4 yrs old and looks as good today as it did when it was 1 yr old(conveyed with the house). It has been turned on and off constantly during the day without a hint of croaking. We bought another 42" last year and the old 50" looked as good as the new one. The color saturation, contrast, image reproduction and brightness are unbelievable. Even Standard def feeds are good quality(about the same as my 32" std def tube). So here is to quality!!!

I have to disagree with part of your statement. I will agree that SD TV will look the same if not slightly better since the TV does not have to try reproduce a TV feed that is less than 50% to 25% the resolution of an HD set. However, we are entering the age of HDTV whether from satellite, over the air(OTA) or std DVD and soon HD DVD. So essentially you are throwing money away now. You might as well just get a standard tube set. Furthermore, If you are sitting 15+ feet away from the EDTV, yes the image uniformity issue will not present itself fully(that's the part I agree with you). Yet, if you are less than 15 feet away, you can see image color differences(smoothing and color uniformity) and in some cases you can literally see pixel gaps(black spaces within the image)compared to an HDTV plasma. An EDTV has 1/3 less pixels to an HD set which means more pixel spacing for same size units. For example, if the Plasma is a 42" unit(TVs are measured in diagonal length-Top corner to opposite bottom corner), An EDTV will have a resolution of 852 x 480, while an HDTV will have a resolution of 1280 x 768 to 1366 x 768. This is huge when you are playing DVD's or watching HDTV with lots of color variation. If you really want a descent image but do not want to splurge on a high priced Plasma or LCD, go with a HD tube TV which is about the same price as EDTV and will actually look better than a HD rear projection or EDTV and will be able to take advantage of all the current formats(leaving out 1080p in this discussion).

I would like to "educate the general population on the "hi-end" television such as LCD and Plasma. One sentence: Cheap more times than not is dear!!! Do not think LCD is LCD or plasma is plasma from one manufacturer to the next. There is a lot of other hardware and more importantly, image rendering software (filter algorithms) that play a huge part in image reproduction. Remember, these are not analog TV's these are DIGITAL sets. If you want benchmark brands to compare images in a store, use Panasonic or Pioneer to compare Plasma. Use Toshiba, Panasonic or Sony for LCD. If you see too much of a difference in pixel gap, smoothness of color changes, jagged edges on diagonal images, color variations, or noise on the screen.....stay away from that "deal" you were looking at. Here is a perfect example of some deals on BF: The Syntax Olevia(Wal-Mart and CompUSA) and the Insignia(Best Buy) are identical products. The Insignia is a re-brand of the Syntax and the Syntax is a re-brand of a Taiwanese manufacturer Digimedia Technology. The LCD image quality from a standard definition feed was horrendous on both units. HD and DVD feeds may be better but they both have a best refresh rate of 16ms(usually measured going from black to white). I would imagine the rest of the color wheel has a refresh of over 30-100ms which will make you want to throw up when there is fast action on the screen. The only units from these brands that may be better are their 32" and 37" LCD models. Refresh, Brightness & contrast is almost double, so the image will definitely be better from DVD playback and HD signals. So remember, cheap may be dear when it comes to TV's, especially LCD and plasma. You may be better off waiting for a benchmark brand to clear out last year's model and save your money then, even if the price is twice what the off-brand is. Remember, these TV's will be in your living room or bedroom for at least 5-10+ years(unless you like to change units like a leased car). I hope this has been helpful and wish you luck in your search for video fidelity. .