Three months ago I finally got my first HDTV. I used to have a 32" TV in an entertainment center:



I removed the TV stand and doors to fit a 42" widescreen RPTV:



Last week, I built a frame using 1x2 wood and had it covered with AcousTex fabric (made for speaker grills). There are various colors to pick from and I chose Mahogany to match the entertainment center:



The fabric actually matches even better than the picture shows. I'm building a second frame with left over fabric to cover the rest of the silver border and allow me to attach mattes for 2:35:1 or 1:33:1 DVDs.

An ISF Tech (Greg Loewen, official calibrationist for the Home Theater Forum) is visting me next week to complete the transformation.

David

that looks amazing, you dont seem many people finsihing off a HT like that very often.

Nice work
-marcus

Thanks twopecker! It makes a BIG difference to make everything dark but the picture on the screen.

Is that a Mitsubishi WT-42313(11)TV? Can you comment on its overall performance and performance with an NSTC signal? I did some research after seeing your post, its the first 42" TV I've seen under $3000 that will fit in an entertainment center. Thanks for the post.

Hi Davehead,

Really nice work. Yes, the matte is important. I was fascinated by projection as a kid and I used to hate it when professional cinemas didn't mask the screen properly for the correct aspect ratio for a given movie.

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) would be impressed by your work!

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Is that a Mitsubishi WT-42313(11)TV?

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Yes, it is a WT-42311. The WT-42313 was released about a month after I got mine and adds a DVI connector. I've also heard that it does a better job stretching/zooming the picture than my model does. I did get a GREAT deal because I knew that the new models were coming out ($1400 with a 5 year warranty).

My model does a VERY good job with digital channels off cable, but the analog channels aren't that great. I'm lucky that my cable company also offers HD signals, which include most of the major networks (I don't have NBC or WB yet, but should before the end of the year).

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its the first 42" TV I've seen under $3000 that will fit in an entertainment center

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You're right! It is designed as a tabletop TV, which is different from all the other ones that have a base that doubles as a stand. There are some DLP or LCD TVs that might fit also, but they were a LOT more expensive.

Thanks Alan! I've been using mattes for years with DVDs. I created some to use on the 32" TV using black construction paper and velcro. It was the one tweek that cost me the least, but made the biggest difference in my movie viewing.

Mitsubishi makes a big deal about how well this television handles analog signals as compared to others that don't mention it. Would you say it does better or worse that your previous alanlog set? For some of us this will remain an issue for some time in considering an HDTV. Where I live there is no cable and we don't watch enough to be interested in satellite.

If you leave the 4:3 image unstretched, I think my model does do a better job than most RPTVs in the same size range (40' to 50"). It helps that it isn't that large. The larger the picture, the more imperfections you can see. Your impression will mainly depend on how good your signal is now and how large your current tv is.

If you plan to stretch/zoom the 4:3 picture to fit a widescreen TV, there are better models than mine with that (Toshiba and Pioneer for example). The WT-42313 may also be equal to those, but I haven't seen one to compare. I will say that I do stretch the picture in most cases for 4:3 TV watching to prevent burn in and in most cases, I'm OK with the results.

David