Customer Reviews

Mitsubishi WD-73837 73-Inch 1080p 120Hz Home Theater DLP HDTV

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Got this TV a week ago, and I have to say I'm very impressed. I was originally planning on putting in a ceiling-mount projector with an 80" screen, but I saw a huge price drop on the 73835 and ordered it through Electronics Expo... after I placed the order, they called me and said they had oversold it and upgraded me to the new 73837 for the same price! Great customer service. A few things about the TV: It's big and bright! It comes set on "brilliant" picture mode, which is horrible. I usually calibrate my TV's as best I can with Video Essentials or Avia, but this model has an in-depth picture adjustment menu with ISF level adjustments. There are two advanced picture presets and the second one looks perfect to me. Had a bunch of people over for the Penn State-Iowa game this weekend and they could not believe how real the game looked. I bought the Bell'O AVSC-9870 stand for it, which fits it perfectly and is selling cheap on Amazon right now. (note, this stand looks fabulous, but is not very deep. If you have big audio components, they may not fit). If you scroll halfway down the page for that stand you can see the Mitsu sitting on it. The TV is not very heavy, but it's awkward to move. The remote is a waste. Most people don't use their TV's remotes anymore, so I won't knock it for that. The menus are not very intuitive, but other than that, I have no other problems with this set. The built-in speakers sound pretty decent, but I'll never have them on. It looks awesome with Blu-Ray and PS3 games, but up-sampled DVDs show their lack of resolution at this screen size. The screen non-reflective, which is a nice change from my 57" Toshiba that you could see everything reflecting on. The lamp is easy to replace yourself, with a pull-out cartridge in the back, unlike older TVs where you had to get a service tech to do it. A replacement bulb is $99 from Mitsubishi, but you shouldn't need one for a few years. It does lack picture in picture, but I'm not too keen on that anyway. All in all, I'm really pleased with this TV, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a big screen for a lot less than a similar sized flat panel. For a more in-depth review, Home Theater magazine reviewed it in their latest issue and gave it 4 stars for value.

This TV was a replacement for a 62" Toshiba HDTV from late 2005. The Toshiba had been calibrated using a DVD calibration disc (and the color filters that come with the DVD) fed into the component video inputs.

First of all, 73" is a dramatic step up from just about anything you may have seen short of a front projection set up (Mitsu, however, now goes even one larger, 82", if you have the living room real estate.) It is about 1" less deep than the outgoing Toshiba -- but this means it will require at least 12" more distance from the wall (or whatever is behind it) behind it than "flat screen" HDTVs which usually require 3" to 6" of rear clearance. In our case the 73837 is in a large family room and it does not eat up an objectionable amount of real estate.

Second, the "super thin" frame and very low base, make the TV, when off, not overwhelm the room the way the Toshiba with its side speakers and high base seemed to do.

Third, the picture, out of the box is bad, correction, not just bad, it was horrible. It is set to a preference called "Brilliant." This setting should be called "blaring," or "blooming" or "garish" -- it is so over-bright, over-blue and over-saturated it is unbearable -- but fear not.

Fourth, the screen is non-reflective, meaning that you can watch this TV with the lights on in the room, although I can't imagine seriously watching this "Theater" with ambient room lighting anything much over "way dim." The 73837 is, however, plenty bright enough, even with the lights on.

When the set was delivered, all that was done by the deliverer was to be taken out of the box and set up on the stand where the Toshiba had been. I had to make the connections -- and, in my case, since I use composite video for the set up OSD for my Proceed AVP, and component video from DirecTV and my HD disc player due to the long length of my cable runs, I had to look up the proper way to plug it in since it is not entirely intuitive. If you use HDMI or only component you should not have any issues, however. S-Video is officially dead, BTW. I'd skip composite video altogether if at all possible.

The bad news, as noted, were the factory settings -- abandon them entirely.

The good news, Mitsubishi has included extensive calibration setting capabilties -- although the BASIC user's manual that comes in the box is useless as far as actually calibrating the set is concerned (you can download a more complete version for free from Mitsu's web site.) More good news, the set CAN BE CALIBRATED by "mere mortals" with one of the available DVD calibration discs on the market (there is even a Blu-Ray (HD) calibration disc; but, if you have one of the older SD calibration discs, I would see no reason to go out and buy a new HD version, since they are virtually identical.

Allow a couple of hours+ for the set-up process and give the TV at least an hour at room temperature before turning it on, especially if you take delivery on a cold wintry day like I did. After "assuming room temperature," turn the TV on and allow at least another half an hour for "stabilization" of the "light engine" (mainly the bulb.)

You will have to use several of the menus (across the top and down the left side) that can be selected by pressing the Menu button (on the otherwise crummy, not back lit, remote) for the set up process. The menu that you will spend the most time with is called "Picture+" and you will then need to go to the "Advanced Picture Sub-Menu" for the work that will follow.

The first thing you will want to do is make certain ALL of the "special" software picture enhancers are turned off (e.g., Deep Field Imager, Super Resolution, Sharp Edge, Video Noise, etc.) You will, in the event that you do not have a calibration disc, need, first and foremost to turn down the brightness and contrast a few notches and set the Gamma control to 2.2, and the sharpness control no higher than 10 (zero or anything in between is also OK.) You may want to adjust "Color," (a notch or so lower) I found the factory setting for "Tint" to be fine.

There are literally dozens of other settings that can be adjusted, and/but, to do it right you will need the "name here" calibration DVD or Blu-Ray disc (I used Digital Video Essentials DVD, in SD, FWIW.)

You should set -- from the Global Menu -- film mode to "Auto," and from the energy menu (accessed from the left side vertical menu) you should set the lamp mode to "Standard." You can also set the clock and even turn on and off the center Blue Glow on the front of the cabinet. After trying it both ways, I left the Blue Glow in the "on" position -- you may prefer otherwise. Make sure you turn Smooth 120Hz off, too or you may find the picture looks a bit, er, "artificial."

When you are watching the set, make certain to press the "More" button on the remote and then follow it with the "Video" button (there will be an on screen prompt), choose the "Standard" setting and the Mitsubishi will automatically track the format of the incoming signal, and it will not alter or distort the picutre (it will, indeed, show with a press of the "Info" button, that you are watching source material: 420p, 720p, 1080i, etc, "Standard.") Remember by the time you do this, you will have already set film mode to Auto.

With respect to all the many, many other settings: With a calibration disc you can get this set to damn near perfect; and, even without a calibration disc, you can certainly improve on the factory settings -- and Mitsubishi even gives you a High Def still image which one can assume contains "all the elements" you need to fine tune the settings "to your tastes."

Or you can pony up about $300 and have the set professionally calibrated.

For the money, not to damn with faint praise, nothing else even comes close to this 73" beauty (once it is calibrated) -- and, frankly, even for more than double the money (which will almost certainly be for a much smaller TV) nothing else comes close to the picture of this TV.

Oh, one last thing, the speakers and "audio" are very close to if not actually, Total Crap. But, that, too, is personal.

Five+ stars.

We've owned a few Mitsubishi's over the years simpy because they've been so reliable and last forever. Our old WD-62725 DLP got moved downstairs to make way for our new WD-73837 DLP.

We'd always been impressed by the 62725's picture quality and expected the new WD-73837's picture to certainly be an improvement based on it's newer technology. What we didn't expect was the absolutely stunning picture quality the WD-73837 delivers. With its crisp picture and incredible colors it's just like looking out of an open window minus the smells in the air. Because of its great picture HD movies take on an almost 3D-ish quality.

One of the reasons we decided to stay with another DLP is because of the ability to see the screen even at a high angles off to the side so we could watch it from our kitchen. This TV doesn't disappoint and is viewable even at 60-70 degrees away from the screen.

I can't comment on the WD-73837's speaker sound quality as we have it hooked up through our entertainment system's speakers.

In conclusion we'd highly recommend the Mitsubishi WD-73837 DLP to anyone looking for a seriously good TV.

Mitsubishi WD-73837 73-Inch 1080p 120Hz Home Theater DLP HDTV

I bought my first Mitsubishi 65' HD (rear projection) in 2002 when HD was barely taking off the ground here in the U.S. The light guns of the this TV were getting old and it was only able to work in 1080i not 1080p. During the 7 years, I have owned this TV, I never experienced any issue, so I decided to stick with Mitsubishi. In 2006, I was looking for a bigger TV, a 73' unit, but the price was too high. I did a lot of research on DLP technology so I decided that as soon as the price was right I would buy one. I waited for 3 years and on Black Friday 2009, the Mitsubishi 73' DLP was at a price I was comfortable with.

I have had the new 73' DLP at home for almost 3 weeks now. The calibration process has been slow and it has taken a bit of getting used to the TV menu. I am a colorist in the film industry, so I am very picky about colors being reproduced accurately and I expected the TV to display the same quality picture and colors as my $40,000 Sony monitor at the studio. Right out of the box I was extremely disappointed, the colors on this TV were horrible, I spent hours calibrating the colors and going through the TV's menu. Two weeks later I realized that I was calibrating the TV to the HD TV signal, which is completely inconsistent in terms of color and quality from channel to channel and network to network. Last week, my third week with the TV, I decided to calibrate the monitor with some blu-ray DVDs and some high quality visuals from my studio. I spent another few hours painstakingly calibrating the monitor using the extensive range of calibration colors Mitsubishi has packed with this model, and what can I say? I am blown away!

When calibrated, the clarity and accuracy of the colors are unbelievable. The brightness and level of detail of the DLP processor is jaw dropping. It was a pain to calibrate the monitor, it has taken me endless hours of tweaking (that's why Mitsubishi strongly advices to get the TV professionally calibrated - I just didn't want to pay - I wanted the satisfaction of doing it myself) but now that the TV is calibrated I am EXTREMELY happy with the purchase. I have the TV hooked up to a Denon and Polk surround sound system. The difference in size from my older 65' to the new 73' is dramatic and the cinematic experience is just OUTSTANDING. The viewing distance ratio of where you sit on a movie theatre to the size of the silver screen is almost exactly the same as sitting 13 - 14 feet from your couch to this 73' Mitsubishi DLP TV.

I know that this is not a very cheap TV, but I do think it is affordable. 4 years ago this TV tag price was over $4,000; this year it dropped to $2,399 and if you buy from Amazon or Cructhfiled add no tax, no shipping and possibly 24 months no interest. If you watch a lot of TV, like me, this TV is awesome, but if you have a blu-ray player and love to watch movies this TV will definitely exceed your wildest expectations. I GREATLY and STRONGLY recommend two things: 1) Buy this TV!!!; and 2) Either spend the time calibrating it to a quality video signal if you have the patience and the knowledge or get it professionally calibrated.

Once you do the two things above, you will be extremely happy and proud, yes proud, with your new DLP TV.

Stuart Ferreyra
Timecode Multimedia
[...]

Mitsubishi has to be the most debated TV manufacturer in history. Search for any of these models and you will find hours worth of reading, both positive and negative. The negative made me debate it for 7 months. In that time I took three dozen trips to BB and Fry's to compare, and even became buddies with a manager at my local Fry's. He even let me take my PS3 into the store to compare it on different screens. I also read all those hours of debating technologies, so let me condense it all and share with you my experience. Now each individual experiences screens differently, so do go to compare, but here is what I noticed.

Plasma uses dots to make the screen. Once I became aware of the dots, I couldn't watch without seeing them. It was too distracting, unless I was very far away, beyond the proper viewing distance. They also offer no 3D models for 2009-2010. Furthermore, for my needs, being a gamer with PS3, 360, Wii, and a PC that plays MAME and other off resolution games, the Plasma's "possible" burn-in, and limited display resolutions put it in 3rd place. Sure all the companies will say they have improved the burn-in, but the possibility is still there.

LCD was clearly the clearest, with sharp vibrant colors, no dots that could be seen (unless your face was on the TV). I really couldn't tell a difference (other than brightness) between the normal LCD and the "LED" versions (see my note below btw), and the 2010 models are going back to non-glare screens instead of glossy. Sharp and Toshiba never did glossy, but Samsung and Sony did... and they look terrible, you can see yourself watching the TV. However technology wise, LCD also suffers from the same limited display resolutions as Plasma, along with small size compared to DLP, and the 3D models are absurdly overpriced.

DLP, while being able to display an array of resolutions, seemed like it had faded colors compared to the others. However, this was before I learned about the different series Mitsubishi makes. And regardless of colors, the shear size versus price is amazing. I also could not see any dots when up close, even with my face against the screen (it just got fuzzy).

So the debate was between the top of the line Samsung LCD's, the largest Sharp Aqueous LCD, the just out 3D Panasonic LCD's, and the 73" Mitsubishi DLP (83 was too much). I also took into account that many manufacturers are about to make much larger LCD screens for 2010-2011. Vizio is about to release a 50+ screen for around 2k, that is 3D ready. Not bad.

However, I took the DLP plunge and couldn't be happier. The screen is huge. In fact if you plan on sitting 8 feet or closer get a LCD. Too close and you will see fragmentation in everything you watch, except Blu-Ray. From the proper distance, SD channels look like a CRT, games and pc look like LCD, and HD channels and Blu-Ray literally look like you are there. I was in the Jay Leno audience last night.

Now what about the faded colors at the store? Most stores carry the lower grade series TV's that lack certain features. But the "Diamond Line" 837's have black and color enhancers that really make the screen pop. I hooked-up a tiny Samsung LCD to compare and it looks the same. Netflix through the PS3 looks crystal clear. This is truly the best choice for those who use a variety of entertainment technologies.

For gamers, DLP also has no lag between controller commands and on screen movement. I mean DLP is in nanoseconds, and the best LCD is still 2 milliseconds (meaning it's slower). That's a big difference in precise-movement games. Another thing I liked is that Mitsubishi's change the channel instantly. I hate how some manufacturers have a lag as you channel surf. DLP's also have no glass, so a well lit room or window, won't cause glare. In fact at Fry's they will punch the TV to prove it's durability. You can also set your DLP to environmentally friendly mode (an excellent rating btw) and leave it on all day for your pets, without worrying that your entire TV's life span is fading (just the 100 dollar bulb). Actually beside the bulb, DLP mechanics will last much longer than the other technologies. When you replace the bulb it's like a new TV again. With LCD and Plasma, when it dies, you buy a new set.

Now as a technophile, I was concerned about the 3D, as there is no set standard home users will use. Mitsubishi uses Checkerboard, as does nVidia's 3D kit (meaning the kit works right with the Mitsu TV). Checkerboard is also used by other off-brand 3D kit makers. However, what the standard becomes may not be Checkerboard, so to compensate Mitsubishi's own 3D kit will take any other 3D technology and convert it to Checkerboard, so there is security in the your 3D future. I'm ordering the nVidia version next month, as it changes many pc games to 3D. Future Mitsubishi's will come with the kit built in... mine did not.

One last thing my techno buddies crabbed about was the depth of DLP, "you can't hang it on the wall," they said. Correct, the TV is about 18 inches deep, and shouldn't be placed on/in a wall anyway, as it needs cool air like a computer does. But with all my gaming systems, a pc, a UPS battery back-up, games, movies, and a stereo that all fits in my TV stand, why would I hang the TV on the wall anyway? If your a minimalist that hides electronics, you shouldn't be buying a 73" anything.

If you're on the fence, don't compare the store brand C-series or 737 series, to other technologies, as the others will look better. Spend 400+ more and get the 837 series. It is perfect. I also read complaints about the speakers (on all new TV's actually), however the 837 has a built-in speaker upgrade which sounds great, and I believe the newer models, 2011, are even better.

Oh, and as for those negative reviews... look at the dates, they are all about models in the year's past. Every year DLP improves, and Mitsubishi's 2009-2010 models are highly rated for quality and energy use. Every brand has had bad years. So in the end, no TV technology is perfect, and again your eye is what matters the most... however as of June 2010, I feel that this model DLP (wd-73837) is the best choice for multi-technology users, unless you want the 83". It looks amazing, it does 3D, and besides bulbs, will outlast other TV's.

And just a side note, the so called "LED TV's" (produced by Samsung) are just LCD's illuminated by LED's, instead of CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps). They are not in fact real LED TV's. Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) is the construction of the display, regardless of how light passes through it. If I used a fire to illuminate a LCD, it's not all the sudden a COMBUSTION TV.

True LED TV's, which use only OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) will self illuminate, utilizing an internal thin layer of LED for its display only. Meaning only LED's will make and display images. For practical buying purposes, these TV's are years away. The best you can buy right now is about 10" wide, and costs over 20k.

I hope this review helps you in making any decisions and sorry for the length, but I really... really did my homework on this one and wanted to save you time. If you are reading this in 2011, make sure you debate all those new larger 3D LCD's that came out, other than the Vizio most where suggested to cost around 5k.

I was very nervous about DLP technology since it seemed that everyone was getting away from it except Mitsubishi. I remembered the VHS/Beta days, and didn't want to invest in a dying technology. So I did quite a lot of research, and realized after all of it that the main problem with this type of TV is that it cannot be hung on a wall, and is somewhat thicker than plasma, LCD or LED HDTVs. The "hang on the wall" TVs are about 3 to 4 inches deep, and this one is 17 inches deep. For its size though (73 inches diagonal), that it really not much of a difference, and once I got it home it was great. Plus I didn't need to make holes in my walls or have professional installation, or make a real commitment on where to put it before I plugged it in. I think there is also some stigma about rear projection TVs since many people remember those sort of glassy, plastic looking ones from the 80's that never seemed to be quite in focus. This one could not be more different. During my research, I saw some grumbling about picture quality, but quickly realized that every TV has someone who complains about it, and the DLP could deliver true black and did not have problems with screen burn. So my impression is that DLP actually has very high picture quality, as good or better than LCD and as good as plasma or LED. I eventually made it to a Best Buy and looked at a 60 inch DLP right next to a 55 inch plasma, and realized that the picture was identical (at least to me) - both up close and at a distance. My brother also has had a 60 inch DLP for several years, and has no regrets.

The key was that at some point I realized that the VHS/Beta argument doesn't really apply here since the HDTV signal is universal and will work on this or any HDTV regardless of whether everyone or only Mitsubishi makes these (so it is not the same thing as getting stuck with a Beta VCR and nowhere to find tapes). As long as there are spare light bulbs out there, it will work and I will be happy (my brother also mentioned that he has never changed the bulb in 5 years, and watches a LOT of football). I eventually found out that this is the same technology that is used in digital movie theaters, which seems to be a good endorsement. And it has all the bells and whistles about being 3D ready and having all the settings that can be changed and tweaked endlessly (if you're into that).

So I have it set up, and have attached a Playstation 2, Playstation 3, HD Cable Box and Wii, and they all get along (House of the Dead on 73 inches is really a trip). It is really easy to switch from one input to another, and programming them was a no-brainer (very simple menu commands, and most things you would want to attach are already there in pull-down menus on the TV by name - definitely user-friendly). I admit that I am not a true videophile, so all the discussions of professional color calibration were lost on me. I just wanted a really big TV that was cheap, looked great and was really easy to use. And this is it. No complaints so far, except now I want to know when all the 3D stuff will be coming out. I cannot wait.

Also, the built-in speakers are fine for me. I think a surround system with subwoofers would drive my neighbors crazy at this point, so that will probably wait until I have a house. But no complaints on sound for now either. And the room I have it in gets plenty of sunlight and that is also not a major problem. I would say it holds up about as well as any TV to a bright room (not perfect, but fine with the shades drawn).

A final note: It is really light and easy to move around. You would need someone to help because it is so big, but I just found a guy out in the hall of my apartment complex and we had it up on the stand in about 3 seconds. He laughed and said he bought a 60 inch DLP last year and also really likes it. Once it was secured to the stand I could slide it (carefully) into position once the wires were all hooked up.

I would definitely buy again (except this time I would get the 84 inch one)...

Great picture, brilliant colors, only 97 lbs,easy to program. Multiple imputs possible. For 73 inches, amazingly clear.
Slow warm up.

Only downer, lamp is 180 watts, needs replaced about every two to three years-$99 from mitsub

Would buy again.

I bought this TV 3 Weeks ago and enjoyed it so much.. The videos are bright and stunning color ( the background colors really comes out, its amazing.. The HD channels are very clear that you do not want to go back to the regular channels.. The con's.. the remote control its small and looked like a toy..
Over all the TV is very good also for its price... I can say that this is the best TV I ever buy..

We bought this TV when we finished the basement - actually built it into a wall. Paid a local vendor to do an in store computer calibration so I didn't have to mess with it. The results were perfect. The picture is good during the day and incredible once the sun goes down.

It is hard to pull your eyes off the screen when there is a good HD source. Blu-Rays are just beautiful. The sound is decent through the built-in speakers although they are rarely used. Great choice for the money if you have the space.

I have a 57" inch Mitsubishi C9 and I thought there was no better picture and I have 3 other LCD in my house. My wife convinced me to buy this TV since( she said it was a great price). I am amazed at how this picture looks. It's actually hard to look away from, it's so real. Do your self a favor and go somewhere and look at this TV. The closes thing I have seen to this is a Ronco 60" plasma that sold for $25,000 with out the $5,000 video processor.