Customer Reviews

Mitsubishi WD-60638 60-Inch 3D-Ready DLP HDTV

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I was shopping for an HDTV for a few months before I decided to buy this 60" Mitsubishi 60638. I was torn between the 55" Toshiba 55G300U LCD, 73" Mitsubishi 73C9 DLP, and this model (60638). After researching these sets, I decided to buy the 60638 based mainly on its cheap price. There were limited specs available as it's a brand new model, but after hooking it up in my room, I am solely impressed by its size and quality. It is truly a great TV. I had a 2005 62" Toshiba 62HM195 DLP for two years and this new Mitsubishi looks sharper and more color rich. But there are some cons. For me, they were not deal breakers.

PROS:
-Cheap price for outstanding image quality and size. Try to find an LCD over 60" for under a grand!
-3 HDMI
-3D Ready (haven't used this or plan to use it. I think 3D is still a gimmick)
-Relatively lightweight compared to DLP's from a few years ago (my old Toshiba 62HM195 weighed about 30 pounds more)
-Freeze Button on remote freezes the image in its current frame. I haven't seen a use for this yet, but it just seems cool
-Very simple "plug-n-play" ability to get a great calibrated picture right out of the box
-In-set speakers are good. The size of the set separates them more than with smaller LCDs

CONS:
-Lack of inputs! No S-Video! Only 2 component and you have to share these with composite!
-No side input for easy access
-No universal remote
-Lack of fine-tuning controls. A pitiful selection of only Brightness/Contrast/Color/Tint/Sharpness. Forget about fine-tuning tweaking in the more expensive models.
-Four image modes that seem to work -- Brilliant (brightest setting), Bright (daytime viewing), Natural (nighttime viewing), Game (adjusts video processing for optimal game playback)

2/17/2011 UPDATE
New official firmware (v012.01) for the WD-60638 on Mitsubishi's website
[...]

In its price range, the size and the quality of the picture seems to be far better than average. It works well with indirect or shaded daylight falling on its screen. You'll probably want to back off the as-received brightness and contrast settings to get something a little bit more natural.

This is a simplified box with simplified inputs, outputs and controls.

Unlike a LCD it is about 16 inches thick and has a projector bulb that you may have to replace during its useful life. It takes a good part of a minute to warm up. It also lacks the complex selective contrast-enhancing features of newer LED LCD TVs. On balance, the basic static contrast is plenty high for all but video perfectionists.

It has no analog outputs so that if you want to add an external audio system, that audio system must have a digital (SP/DIF coax) input (stereo), or some kind of time delay to avoid problems with lip synch.

The market for this TV is either someone who wants a basic TV with great picture and OK sound, or someone who is willing to provide the technical resources required to incorporate it into a more sophisticated A/V system with a multichannel receiver, etc. The middle ground where you just plug an analog stereo receiver or some powered speakers into it just isn't there.

Also lacking are networking and internet support. If you want to watch downloaded videos, you'll need to add a PC to your AV system. The PC-oriented video inputs are HDMI so there's no place to plug in the traditional 15 pin analog CRT connector. Of course doing so would be a waste of a great monitor. A PC with a HDMI or DVI output (with simple adaptor to match the TV's the HDMI inputs) can work well.

I am extremely pleased with this TV. It has an absolutely beautiful picture that is much much more natural than that of a pixel-ated (I think I just made up that word) LCD or a glassy Plasma. Don't get me wrong, I do also like the picture produced by LCD and Plasma TVs, but at the same time you will not find either of those at a 60" size (or above) for under 1,000$...especially with 24p HD viewing and 120hz refresh. That is why this TV is such an excellent value...you get loads of viewing features standard, along with a HUGE viewing size, for a great price.

PROS: 1) the extremely natural picture (after some tweeking of course) 2) the on board speakers are actually pretty good, although I still connected it to my Klipsch surround sound (another highly recommended brand) 3) the automatic connectivity theme makes it very easy to connect and change inputs 4) it's very easy to setup and get the colors right (use the perfectcolor feature) 5) although the screen is huge, while watching shows in HD or Blurays the TV doesn't miss a single pixel, the picture stays smooth and natural (the color is very deep and thorough, but make sure you tweek it right, which is easy to do). Even basic SDTV looks pretty good compared to comparable LCD and Plasma competitors.

CONS: 1) THE REMOTE SUCKS (I hate everything about it except the fact that it lights up when pressed) 2) The viewing angle is pretty narrow if you want to keep the picture and color in complete focus. The TV likes to be viewed straight on with a minimum of about 8 feet between you and the TV (although you can see it pretty good at angles that aren't too extreme) 3) it easily catches reflections from lights, windows etc. on it's plexi-screen (although Plasmas do the same thing, in my opinion to a worse amount)4) there is a lack of some inputs (aka S-video) but you can easily buy adapters.

ON A SEPARATE NOTE: After having this TV for a few months the input on HDMI 1 started flickering pretty bad. I figured it was my HDMI cable and so I bought another. It did the same thing after a week. So I plugged my original cable into the HDMI 2 input and it worked fine. It seems my HDMI 1 connection is slowing dying on me. I didn't dock any stars for this though because I bought the TV from a man who bought it new and used it 1 month before selling it to me due to lack of finances. Knowing him, I'd say it was probably his fault the connection is shorting out (I checked blogs and haven't found any other problems along this line). He probably tried to connect a USB cable into the HDMI input or something stupid like that. Anyway, I only need 2 HDMI inputs anyway so everything worked out fine...there wasn't any reason to dock any stars ;-)

OVERALL: This TV is easily the best buy for ANY set under 1,000$...and I'd say even up to 1,200-1,300$. If you have the ample wall space to allow this huge set to sit, I guarantee you won't be dissapointed.

I just received this perticular
tv and I was very interrested in the 3D capability.
I got the starter packet and at first I was gonna send it back, but after I wired it the right way. WOW!!! It's really Deep. The color is excellent and the 3D was just like in the movie's.

My wife thinks im nuts, cause she spends her time up stairs on the Samsung and Im down stairs on the very colorful Mitsubishi 60". I looked at the 3D ocean's and Sea's and its so good I spent hours looking at it.

Now I need to get a blu-Ray Player so I can look at other DVD's in 3D. I highly recommend this TV. You have to invest in a 3D starter kit for the 3D but its worth it...

Oh Yeah. Its very light weight. The shipping company in Michigan was very good and made sure the TV not only worked but no scratches or defects on it.
I was skeptic at first ordering over the intranet but, Ive gotten very good products from Amazon.com with out any defects or problems.

I was afraid buying that TV online since I never seen it before. I own a nice 720P 50" samsung for couple years.
I received my Mitsubishi 60" DLP 3D ready last night. easy to hook up.
Connected Blu-ray Samsung to HT-CT150 surround sound via HDMI then from Surround sound to TV via HDMI

Picture quality:
Amazing Amazin Amazing Picture quality, as bight and clear as any Plasma and LCD I seen. I was surprised. I said No way.
THe tv located in basement which is very bright, I have 6 ceiling socket lights shinning all day with power of 120W each the room size is 400 square feet.
The tv is very bright and clear as bright as the Plasma and the LCD i have on other rooms even when during afternoon time and the lights are on still as clear.

1080P is incredible, picture is very fast, very sharp and you see every detail. standard resolution is great as well.

for some reason I get Invalid format via HDMI that is coming from Sony surround sound that has the samsung connected to. I'm still not able to find the cause. but after few seconds it works by itself.

I have not tried the 3D yet. I didnt buy that TV just for 3D.
I still didnt connect my 360.

last night I turned off all lights to watch and HD movie via Netflix, I had a big smile in my face, i felt im setting inside AMC theater but butter since resolution on the TV is better.

------------------- MORE INFO ABOUT THIS DLP
All Mitsubishi entry-level DLP HDTVs use a 156W HID lamp irrespective of screen size. This seems to suggest that the larger models in these series many not be as bright as the smaller sets

And what about 3D? Well, this is an area in which these Mitsubishi DLP 3D TVs excel. Partly, the reason is the sheer size of the TV screen which helps towards achieving a more realistic and immersive 3D viewing experience. But DLPs are also much faster display devices than LED LCD TVs; this helps towards achieving a 3D image that is practically free from 3D image crosstalk - much better than that found on 3D LED LCD TVs.

Image crosstalk in 3D viewing is a phenomenon where a subtle washed-out image intended for the right eye appears as a halo around the image intended for the left eye and vice versa. This affects the 3D image detail - leading to a subtle double image effect that may at times become annoying with some 3D content. In the worst case, it may even cause eye fatigue.

Plush 1080p: This is Mitsubishi's way of upscaling lower-resolution signals to 1080p for a better image. However, more than an enhancement, this is necessary with all DLP HDTVs in a similar manner to what we find on plasma and HDTVs. These fixed-resolution displays have to convert the incoming signal resolution to the display device native resolution - which in the case of these Mitsubishi DLP TVs, corresponds to that of the 1080p image produced by the DLP imager chip.

6-Color Video Processing, whereby apart from the red, green, and blue, the video processing extracts the three secondary colors (cyan, yellow, magenta) to individually process each color; coupled with Mitsubishi six-segment color wheel, the result is greater color accuracy, whiter whites and a wider range of color.

Comprehensive connectivity: 3 HDMI with Deep Color technology and including support for PC connectivity via HDMI, PC/DVI audio input, 2 component video inputs whose Y (green) input also serves as a shared composite video input, digital and analog stereo output, and a 3D glasses emitter port which in the case of the entry-level series connects to the 3D adaptor box. What is missing is a USB port; the one provided is only used for servicing.

Deep Color technology - aimed at maximizing high definition color performance by creating smoother transitions between different shades,

120Hz Sub-frame-rate: This is often being confused by many with what Mitsubishi refers to as Smooth 120 - which works in conjunction with the film mode to reduce motion blur in action scenes. Instead, 120Hz sub-frame refers to the wobulation 120z sub-frame process necessary to generate the full 1920 x 1080 frame 60 times a second from the 960 x 1080 pixel DLP imager chip used on these Mitsubishi DLP TVs.

In other words, these are not 120Hz HDTVs in a similar manner to LCDs as some may interpret this rather 'gray' spec. It just means that these Mitsubishi DLP TVs generate 120 sub-frames per second each of which contains half the pixel data of a full 1080p frame in order to generate the 60 full 1080p frames every second.

Energy Star 4.0 compliant: All sets except the 60-inch models are Energy Star 4.0 compliant. However, these are still among the most energy efficient HDTVs when considering the screen sizes involved here. In fact, all entry-level Mitsubishi DLP TVs use of the same 156 watts lamp and are rated at 212 Watts. The latter is practically the same power consumption of a properly calibrated 2010 2D 50-inch plasma TV; a 3D 50-inch plasma equivalent would use significantly more.

Frame-Freeze Function: Accessible direct from the TV remote (either via the Freeze button or in the case of 738 and 838 series, via the Pause button), this feature is similar to the frame freeze function found on LG HDTVs. It lets you freeze the current TV frame say during a commercial to take note of a telephone number, etc.

User Settings: These HDTVs come with four picture modes (Brilliant, Bright, Natural, and a Game mode) but otherwise, what you get is a rather reduced set of user-adjustable picture controls. However, all A/V adjustments have independent memory per input; this greatly eases optimization of picture parameters for different connected devices. In addition, all important picture adjustments are there; these include brightness, contrast, color saturation, tint (to adjust the ratio of green to red), sharpness, noise reduction, and a basic high-low temperature setting. There is also a film mode for 24p content with 480i and 1080i signals, a screen saver feature, and eight aspect ratio settings for handling of 4:3 and 16:9 sources.

Audio comes in the form of 10W per channel stereo; sound quality is much better than what you find on flat-panel HDTVs - however, a separate sound system is generally required for best results in which case you have the option to switch off the TV sound to use the external speakers.

I was a little hesitant to purchase a product like this over the internet without having seen it but I decided to try it based on the reviews--and I was not disappointed. If you don't need the depth of the flat panel, this DLP in only slightly wider and, in my case, this did not matter. The picture quality in 1080p was excellent. Makes me wonder why anyone would spend 2-3X this amount for a flat panel? It also was surprising light and easy to move around (like 70 lbs). Good product at a great price.

For $599 (including shipping and tax and help setting up) this was an unbelievable value. At a thousand bucks (which is the current price at this writing), not so much. The viewing angle is fairly critical - not too high, not too low and definitely not too far off vertical axis. Features are basic. But the picture is excellent and for basic big screen viewing, it's a good deal at the right price.
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July, 2011: After six months, I would add a couple of notes: The value is definitely superb for the right consumer.

The sound is unimpressive. On axis, the picture is outstanding. But the vertical axis is fairly critical unless you have some distance (maybe ten feet) from the set. In other words, if you are standing (not sitting) within seven feet of the set, picture brightness may fall off, depending on your height. Horizontal axist is somewhat less critical but this set is NOT SUITABLE for a wide, shallow room.
You should definitely research DLP sets to understand these limitations before buying. They are remarkably light, but quite deep compared to other flatscreens and cannot, to the best of my knowledge, be wall mounted.
If you are not aware of the limitations, take my four stars with caution. If you know exactly what you're getting, then the value boosts it to four or even five stars for the thrifty viewer with the correct room configuration.

My fiance bought this TV on Amazon a few days ago, we got the email saying it shipped and 3 days later it was delivered right to out door. Coming out of the box this thing is HUGE! Everyone who has seen it today is totally taken aback by the shear size of the display.

One of the first things after setting it up was to hook up my game consoles and surround sound. When first turned on the brightness is WAY to high, so that's the first setting you should adjust, followed by the contrast. After that's set it's pretty much PERFECT! The picture quality is very sharp, even at about 7 feet its still very crisp.

Theres plenty of out puts for all the gaming consoles Blu-Ray/DVD players you could ever want (3 HDMI and 2 Component) the speakers on the TV put out some decent sound too, but using the AUX cable will make your home theater picture perfect!

All in all this is one of the best purchases we've ever made and it was worth every penny!

I have a basic 5.1 home theater system and I needed a new, larger TV. This Mitsubishi more then filled the bill with its whopping 60 inch size. The screen quality is just as good and is more natural then most any plasma or LCD in my opinion. The TV is simple to use and is easy to set up. I did not want to downrate the TV for its sound quality because I do not use its internal speakers and there is no N/A choice on the scale and I have not tried the 3D option yet. The screen only takes a few moments to warm up and it is beautiful once it does. The fan is relatively quiet and nonobtrusive. The remote is rather plain and simple, but I use my receiver remote for switching sources and volume. I basically only use the TV remote to turn it on and have kept its settings pretty much the same since I have had it. A good universal remote is probably a wise investment, but not a necessity. 1080i from my cable box and 1080p Blurays look gorgeous. PS3 gaming is superb. The dollar to size and quality of this set can not be beat.

I received the 60638 yesterday via Fedex from Amazon thru Modia.It arrived unscathed as they warn you to check the outer box prior to accepting delivery.I set it up in place of my Vizio 47' lcd which was starting to look small,and really does now compared to Mitsys 5 foot screen,the colors are fabulous,but you need to use the 4 picture modes via the video button on the remote according to the situation.This tv is bulky but not heavy by any means,it is light.And it really doesn't take up much more space depth wise than the Vizio 47".I agree with the previous post about 3D being a gimmick,I have no plans to use it for that purpose anytime soon.Hope it lasts it is a great deal at this price...now do some clicking and get yourself one!!!