Picture is superb, the best I have ever seen on a television. The better the signal you feed to this TV, The better the picture ( old addage crap in, crap out).

can think of any

After months of research comparing, size, cost, picture quality and overall bang for the buck, I settled on the 65SWX20B. I have had it for about a month. This television has surpassed all of expectations in every way. I have comcast digital cable with component video outputs. Some of the SDTV channels look OK while others look great. I also have 4 HDTV channels. These look far better than the SDTV channels. Some of the channels braodcast on HDTV channels are upconverted tp 1080i. They look great. The other programs that are recorded in 1080I and broadcast look absolutely spectacular. They look almost three dimensional. I watched the Disney film New Swiss Family Robinson broadcast on one of the network HDTV channels. The color and detail was the best I have ever seen. The local PBS station broadcast true HDTV nightly. Again I have to say WOW! My only gripe is that I have the television in a room with 2 windows opposite it. I can't place anywhere else .During the day I get a glare from the windows onto the televsion. I would probably get the same glare from any televsion I placed there. Nevertheless, it's still annoying. Putting up dark curtains helped. As with any RPTV, good lighting control is essential to gettting the best possible picture. DVDs also look spectacular. I just got done watching the director's cut of The SciFi channels version of DUNE on DVD. All I can say is WOW. I have an older DVD player that is not progressive scan. The picture looks awesome. The television automatically upconverts the picture to either 540p or 1080i and does a very good job of doing so. The picture looks so great with my old DVD player that I can't imagine the picture appearing any better with a progressive scan DVD player. I may upgrade in the future, but for now I very happy with my current DVD player. I can't comment too much on the sound because most of the time iuse my receiver for sound. In summary, this is a great TV for $3000 and better than most costing twice that amount. After looking at the mits, pioneer,toshiba, sony any many others, I am happy with my decision.

Picture and colors on HDTV reception or DVD player is superb. Great features and controls to fit your preferences.

none that I know so far. Maybe less bulky.

I bought this TV about 3 months ago and I still have no complaints - Colors and picture quality is superb on HDTV reception or a dvd player. (HDTV reception is the best if you have cable hdtv or receiver) Going to the movies? stay home and rent a dvd - you'll be amazed! I researched and compared to Sony,Mitsubishi,Toshiba, Panasonic,Samsung, and Philips similar size models, this "monster" tv is not only better in picture quality but also features. (only Pioneer Elite may be a notch above)

Steal of a deal, Killer picture, Quality!

No hd box already installed but you can deal, needs to be isf calibrated like all other big screens to get full quality!

People Please Judge Hitachi 51SWX20B, that is the tv you should be reviewing, not any uwx's or anything else but the swx20b. The picture is just incredable!

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Nothing!

I feel that I should give an updated view of what I think of this TV. Originally, I felt very disappointed with this TV's 480i upconversion. But having used it for a while I have grown to see other characteristics of the set out weigh it's 480i upconversion downside. I had a technician come by to look at it and he said that there is nothing wrong with the TV. He said that this TV is too sensitive to poor signals. These days, anything less than progressive scan component input is consider poor signal. So even satellite signal over svideo is not sufficient for this set. It seems to magnify all the flaws in the signal. But when I feed the TV with a good progressive scan DVD input from a Yamaha S1200 DVD player, the picture is breath taking. Coupled with a good DVD player you are able to squeeze out every once of picture information that a DVD has to offer. I even started to notice the limitations of DVD format. Can't wait to get HDTV and HD DVD hooked up to this set. I think this TV is an excellent investment for the future. You have to abandon svideo and composite video signals to truly enjoy this set. Another thing I like is the convergence of the TV which is dead on and has not shifted much compared to 3 other sets (Toshiba and Hitachi) I have owned in the past.

DVD reproduction DVI digital input defeatable SVM Decent sound

Cable fidelity varies

Can't help but feel the two previous reviewers got duds- if that's true, it may not speak well for Quality Control, but my set's performance is outstanding. (Check out Dec. "The Perfect Vision" where this set is rated BETTER than Elite in a number of criteria- also note Editor's Note in beginning of mag- R. Harley BOUGHT THE REVIEW SAMPLE.) Resolution on DVD is very crisp and detailed- can count the hairs on the beard of the archeologist dude on "Fifth Element" without any problem. color sat. and fidelity are spot on, save for a slight yellow tone to green. Cable reception is quite variable, and generally depends on the quality of the source; quite a bit of programming can look dreadful. I bought the set primarily for DVD, and to wait on the (hoped for)expeditious transition to HD. So less than stellar NTSC reproduction I can live with. I find the doubler actually better than my Pioneer Elite, so I run the Elite DVD player into the Hitachi in interlaced mode. When shopping the national chains, make sure of the model number you are being shown- some of "last years" models (ending in numerical suffixes of "10" or "12")- they do not have the improved '03 technology. (however, judging by some of the responses below, you may prefer the older sets !!)

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Associated Equip: Outlaw 1050 Paridigm Ref. 60's for mains CC-350 center Titan surrounds Paradigm PS-1000 sub. Wireworld Cabling Pioneer Elite DVD45a Universal Playere

Beautiful looking set with lots of features, moderately priced because of plasma driving prices down. Made by who I still think is the leader in rear projection technology.

poor, poor, poor picture quality. Lots of re-scan when going from sceine to sceine, lots of "digital" pixilation all over the screen.

Bought 65swx20b to replace 60sdx88b expecting the new technology to be better than the old stuff. The 60 has one of the best pictures of any set I have seen, especially in HD mode being fed by the Sony sat HD 100 rcvr. I just wanted the 16x9 screen. The picture quality of the new 65swx20b is unbearable. It verges on painful to the eyes to watch it in any mode regardless of type of signal being fed to it. The best pict I can get on it is with the JVC progressive scan DVD and it is still a far cry form the 60sdx88b. I have contacted my retailer and they are going to try and make it right and I will give them that chance, I have also e-mailed Hitachi and let them know about the problem. I may just have a dud, they may be great sets but they sure have a long way to go on this one.

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Hitachi 60sdx88b. A great set, only thing is it's 4x3.

-New Bright Wide-Neck CRT's -Dual Remote -Anti-Reflective Screen -Upgraded Sound BBE with BBE Mach3 40 watts -Better looking cabinet

-2001 model had 6 element lens - they got cheap and offer 5 element lens for 2002 -TV price should be much cheaper since they took out 1 lens AND plasma and LCD TV's are forcing prices to drop

The price I paid was in Canadian dollars before taxes! I personally place the Hitachi 65SWX20B as second best CRT rear projection HDTV in the market today. (#1 being the Pioneer Elite but way over priced) For the people who are in the market to buy a big screen this year, you've probably looked at the 2002 models of the Toshiba 65HDX82 and the Sony KP65WV700. Great TV's but the Hitachi noticeably kicks their ass! Do yourselves a favour and spend the few extra bucks for an SWX model or higher to get the NEW BRIGHT wide-neck CRT's and many other upgraded features. Just look at a UWX and a SWX model playing at the same time and you'll know what i'm talking about. For those of you who "think" that the new Sony's and Toshiba's are bright and clear just remember what environment setting you saw the TV's in - most retailers will put those TV's in a dark room so that it appears brighter! I viewed the Hitachi SWX in a bright setting with pot lights shining right in front of the TV and the colour and brightness was still vibrant. I highly recommend this TV over any other in it's class. A tip: Hitachi DV-P725U Progressive Scan DVD Player.... Apparently Hitachi does not advertise that this DVD player has the new Faroudja DCDi chipset. Look on the front of the DV-P725U player and you will find on the bottom left side the Faroudja DCDi logo stamped right on the damned thing! If you want to know what Faroudja DCDi is all about go to http://www.dcdi-video.com/index2.html

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They may be similar but not as good!... Toshiba 65HDX82 Sony KP65WV700

-Wide Neck CRTs -Dual Remote -Center Channel Capability -Better looking cabinet -Great looking picture bright and clear

-5 element lens instead of 6 -Should come out with a model with the same video quality without the high sound quality for people that invest in high end recievers and speakers 4 stars for product rating because of the 5 element lens 4 stars for value because the price is a bit too high - plasma LCD tv's should have already started to push these prices down!

The price I paid is in canadian dollars before taxes! This TV has got to be 1 notch below the Pioneer ELITE. When the Hitachi 65SWX20B is compared with the expensive Sony KP-65WV700 it still beats it by a good margin and it KILLS the Toshiba 65HDX82. Im not just saying this, but I've seen all tv's in action and fully optimized and configured. The clarity, colour and brightness of the 65SWX20B is truly amazing. The Hitachi SWX series is capable of 720p and will automatically convert to 540p or 1080i from any signal. I found that when viewing the screen from within the 160 degree angle the picture still showed but I would only recommend sitting within 120 degree angle max to the screen for maximum bightness and clarity. The SWX will SIGNIFICANTLY show a clearer, finer and sharper image than the UWX because of the new wide neck CRTs. I highly recommend this TV - you actually get the best picture for your buck. Pioneer ELITE's are better but they are for CEO's! too expensive! P.S. The Hitachi ULTRAVISION DV-P725U DVD Player has the Faroudja DCDi chipset - it is not advertised on any website via product specs but the Faroudja DCDi logo is STAMPED right on the damn DVD player! The Faroudja DCDi stamp means the player has the chip inside. Buy this thing cause the quality of video output from this player is amazing!

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PIONEER ELITES TOSHIBA 65HDX82 SONY KP-65WV700