Mitsubishi Diamond Series WD-65835 65-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV (Glossy Black)

Review by J. Westbrook for Mitsubishi Diamond Series WD-65835 65-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV (Glossy Black)
Rating:
I just got a WD65837 to replace an old 50″ Samsung DLP who’s color wheel started screaming to be put out of it’s misery. I was originally going to get a WD60737 (after I had decided on another DLP set), until I learned it did not have the PerfectTint feature (which allows finite adjustment of each of the 6 colors the set uses). So for a minimal increase in price I went with the larger, more feature rich 837 line.

Something I find note worthy is the ultra thin bezel on the Mitsubishi DLP sets. I had looked at all technologies when I did my comparison shopping, and had I gone with anything else (Plasma, LCD, LED/LCD), I would have been limited to a 58″ or 60″ set given the horizontal space I had to work with. Thanks to the bezel size I was able to go up 5 more inches in size.

Having had a DLP prior to this I was familiar with what to expect from the picture quality. On average I find that DLP is on par with Plasma, and on some less expensive plasmas the DLP is superior. Before deciding on the WD65837 I did side by side comparisons with a Panasonic TC-P65V10 (I was considering the 58″ version of this as a possibility). Side by side the biggest differences are the way the sets are lighted (the Plasma seeming more uniform from different angles, while the DLP requires viewing from directly in front of the set for the best image… which is a long known quirk of the technology), and the Mitsubishi colors were far more vibrant (read: need adjusting) than the Panasonic (which seemed dull and lifeless in comparison).

I do a lot of video and photo work, and as such have a particular taste when it comes to color. I do not really like colors that “pop”, and prefer warm natural colors calibrated to around 6500k.

While out of the box the Panasonic did a better job at this, I knew the Mitsubishi had a ton of options that would allow me to do the calibration I needed. Side by side though, with their factory default settings, the Mitsubishi DLP (priced at $1899) was on par with the Panasonic Plasma (at $3999) in terms of sharpness, noise, contrast, etc. In fact, I noticed that background detail on the Mitsubishi was much more sharp and detailed than the Panasonic (which seemed slightly blurry in comparison). The Mitsubishi’s red level was clearly too high (colors can be easily adjusted), but the picture quality of the Panasonic Plasma (to spite better default color settings and viewing angle) did not seem worth the $2000 price difference.

After getting the set home and having time to adjust everything, I was able to get my color calibrated to 6504k. Not perfect, but it’s on par with the PC monitors I use at work and home (hardware calibrated NEC MultiSync 90 Series).

Also of note is the rainbow effect, or rather the lack of it. DLP’s (at least the early generations) were known for having a sort of rainbow effect around edges that were often perceivable when moving your eyes back and forth very quickly, for instance when gaming or watching an action movie. I was able to see this effect in my old set, though I actively had to try and make it happen to do so. With this Mitsubishi there is NO RAINBOW at all. I’ve tried several times to see it, but only ended up making myself sick from moving my eyes around too much. I’m sure there is a way to do so using a video camera set to the same refresh rate as the set, but as far as my perception is concerned, I can not see it no matter how hard I try.

So, as far as picture is concerned you really can’t find a better one at this size for the same price. Even if you went down in size you would likely end up paying $1000 more for a plasma with similar image quality.

That said, I do have a few issues to talk about.

First, the remote control is a pain to use. Navigating the TV’s options is done with this small circular button with left, right, up, down arrows. This is a normal control for a remote to have, but the issue is that the edge of the thing is rather pointy. Add to that the fact there is another button right in the middle of this circle that is raised quite a bit, and has it’s own pointy corners. Both of these put together makes navigating the on screen menus a real pain. While I think it is a minor issue, others will not, especially if they use that part of the remote a lot.

Second is the on screen display itself. To be honest, the menu can be a bit annoying to navigate at times and could have been streamlined a little more. The issue with the remote as mentioned above likely makes it seem worse than what it really is though.

Also, there are certain things that the average user will not want to touch. I for one love the amount of control I have over color, gamma, image position, etc… but for most they would simply be confused and overwhelmed with so many options.

Third, and last, is the audio quality… or rather the lack of it. I’ll say this as simply as I can… the audio SUCKS! It truly does… no ifs ands or buts.

It is very likely that anyone getting a set of this size will have some sort of surround sound or alternative speaker system setup for output (as I do). Still, it would be nice if the set was capable of producing a better sound using it’s own speakers.

I tend to use this set for everything. Watching standard and HD cable, Gaming, DVD’s and Bluray movies. But I generally do not use my surround speakers when watching cable, unless it’s an on-demand movie or something.

As is stands the speakers in this set sound like garbage. Size isn’t the issue either, as my 17″ notebook seems to have better sound (out of smaller, lower powered speakers) than this TV does.

In general the set looks fantastic (the housing, etc). Construction seems to be what you would expect a DLP set to be (the plastic seems better than that of my old set). The menu and settings are very feature rich, but can be a little overwhelming for those that don’t know what they are doing. Picture quality is superb, being beaten only by Plasma’s or LED/LCD’s costing thousands more. And the sound quality (of the sets speakers) is a joke.

Overall the only truly bad thing about the set are the speakers, which won’t be an issue for most.

Review by M. Paulsen for Mitsubishi Diamond Series WD-65835 65-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV (Glossy Black)
Rating:
The display is nice overall – it has overscan of around 5-10% which for videophiles that are tech savvy and want to use 1080p content – blue ray, etc, pc, xbox, then consider the tradeoffs. For those that don’t know what overscan is… Overscan is when the projector throws the image over the edges of the display to make a sharp edge (non-wavy) around the display. In 1080p mode, this means you are not seeing the entire image. 1080p is more like 1000p. This is fine for movies and tv and such, but if you play games, have a HTPC, xbox, etc. then a projection tv with automatic overscan that cannot be adjusted is NOT for you. Wii 480p is fine of course, and I set the HTPC to 1700ishx1000ish. This gives a 1/2 inch block around the edge and you see the entire image. Of course, xbox isn’t so capable, and you may have problems playing favorite games – ie: stat bars chopped off / offscreen.. etc.? Colors are crisp, good controls overall to edit how you like it. TV has NO split feature, unlike earlier models (boo). The display is natively 120hz, but you cannot pair a PC via HDMI to it at 120hz. Watching blue ray vs. upscaled DVD is essentially the same quality. Also, you can use an older 5.1 off the audio output if you don’t have HDMI 7.1. The screen has a matte-like finish; which is good for watching in sunnier rooms. There is little / no glare. The downside is that this matte-like finish can make watching non-1080p content (including 720p) appear grainy; we watch ours at 9.5 feet average. Screen tearing is essentially non-existent on DVD/blueray/tv playback, but noticable on PC mode when running in 60hz.

If your focus is movie/tv/wii – 5*. If you have xbox/ps3 aspirations suggest you move on to a 65″ lcdtv/plasma 2*, pc 4*.

Review by Randy C. Boudreaux for Mitsubishi Diamond Series WD-65835 65-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV (Glossy Black)
Rating:
I was a little reluctant to purchase a large screen TV over the internet as I had never done that before. However, when I thought about how the retail outlets receive their merchandise, by truck, I thought what’s the difference. I get it delievered right to me free of charge, the price was about $700.00 less than Best Buy and no sales tax. Everything went as smooth as silk and I am extremely pleased with the Mitsubishi TV I bought. Randy in Slidell, La.