RCA D52W20 52" Theaterwide HDTV-Ready TV

by RCA

Product Details

Product Manual [1.10mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 48.8 x 22.8 x 51.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 177 pounds
• Shipping: This item can only be shipped to the 48 contiguous states. We regret it cannot be shipped to APO/FPO, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.
• ASIN: B00006JBK5
• Item model number: D52W20
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #262,393 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Size: 52" Screen

Amazon.com Product Description

RCA's 52-inch-diagonal D52W20 widescreen HDTV monitor gives you a smooth, filmlike image when used with a progressive-scan DVD player (or 480p-output DTV set-top box). This projection set includes the latest connectivity: a DVI input with HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection), which allows transmission of uncompressed digital video signals from an HDTV set-top box (not included) to the D52W20.

Progressive scanning, referred to as 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines of a conventional DVD picture, giving you higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts. Both of the set's high-definition (1080i/480p) component-video inputs benefit from the Syncroscan system, which automatically performs high-resolution pixel mapping from sources up to SXGA resolution. The resulting screen image has excellent clarity from the highest-resolution sources.

Intellifocus auto digital convergence is a menu-accessible feature that automatically optimizes convergence for the sharpest picture possible. The D52W20's 3D Y/C digital frame comb filter further enhances resolution by removing blurred edges between colors and reducing dot crawl (tiny, moving dots of color along a sharp color separation in a vertical line). A dedicated subwoofer output lets you hook up a powered subwoofer (no audio/video receiver required) to beef up the low-end for home-theater thumping. Virtual Dolby simulates surround sound from the set's stereo speakers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice set for the money, December 9, 2002

By 

Skip (VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: RCA D52W20 52" Theaterwide HDTV-Ready TV (Electronics)

Well I am still amazed at the picture in HDTV 1080i; This TV is awesome, for the money, I looked at the Mitsubishi and was impressed as well, however
The price tag was much higher. This 52" unit is the same as the Scenium line without the
Added DVD, etc. On a note I did like the black border around the Scenium but I was
On a budget. The Scenium models were over 2K. Back to this unit, It truly is nice, the
White looks as good as a tube set, sitting back watching a HD broadcast takes you into a
State of mind that causes your brain to keep saying "wow" look at how good this looks
This keeps distracting me from the content of the show... I am just now starting to get
Over that shock and can follow along with the program.
It has DVI, plus 2 sets of Component inputs and 3 sets of S-Video. You can't go wrong with this set. I sold my 4 year old 4:3 46" RCA and could never go back!

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stylish set , very good picture at a great price, July 19, 2004

By 

Donald A. Webber "Hoge poge Man" (Los Angeles (area), CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: RCA D52W20 52" Theaterwide HDTV-Ready TV (Electronics)

I bought the RCA D52W15, which is essentially the D52W20 without the screen shield. The price, quality of picture and overall style were the selling points for me. Normally I would buy a Sony or other Japanese brand well known for quality, but this set just looked better than any others I had seen. The cabinet styling has a very slim look. Many sets looked big and blocky from the front as well as the backs being made with particle-board where the RCA is build like the DPL receivers using light but sturdy looking plastic. I noticed also that every set with a screen shield (just about all) was reflecting the lights of the showroom where the RCA has the mat finish (D52W15 only) and barely reflected any room lighting giving a better picture without distraction. I don't have kids or pets living in the house so I'm not worried about the screen being damaged. I am very happy so far with the performance and look in my home. As of this writing I have had it a little over a month. I bought a service contract, With a large purchase like this and being an RCA, I don't want to take chances. I have experimented with the settings and have gotten satisfaction in viewing even poor quality video. I notice even on the same stations some shows look stunning while others look poor and out of focus, so it's not the TV. I am sure the more expensive HDTV sets have more features for setting the picture parameters, but I find this set has enough to get great viewing. I find the "Cinerama" screen format is best for most 3:4 ratio broadcasts where you want the whole screen filled with least distortion on the edges. I find when watching widescreen DVDs, to eliminate black bars still seen because of being filmed in a non standard aspect ratio, I use the "16:9 up/down" mode and center the picture and loose very little picture while filling my whole screen. I hate seeing black or grey bars. I have set the contrast down to about 35%, it will save on CRT phosphor wear and then juggling color and black levels it looks better to me than the factory settings that tend to be over saturated in most cases. The audio is good, but It doesn't matter, being I am hooked up to a good A/V receiver with surround sound. Even commercials sound and look good.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Will I end up giving up the quality for the price???, January 1, 2006

By 

David Chen (Barrington, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: RCA D52W20 52" Theaterwide HDTV-Ready TV (Electronics)

Well, if you're reading this review, then it's probably because you're unsure about which TV to buy, or are unsure about weather or not you want to quote "give up the quality for the price." I know because I was in the same situation as you when I went out and bought this TV. I bought this TV about two years ago and it still has the same quality as when I bought it.

To be honest with you, this is not the exact model I bought. I bought the RCA D52W15B, but the only difference that I found when researching the two is that the D52W20 model has a protective screen over the actual screen and has a black strip at the bottom of the TV where as the RCA D52W15B doesn't have the protective screen and has a silver strip at the bottom instead. But what I have found with the protective screen coverings is that when there is light, the protective coating will reflect a glare when viewed at an angle. Without the protective coating, I can watch the T.V. with a 145° viewing range without any problems and still get a clear picture.

The picture quality on this HDTV is 1080i, which makes the viewing experience one that you and your guests will remember... that is if they don't have one themselves. ;) This TV seriously produces lifelike colors and clearly defined images. And along with the many picture enhancements, there is the scan velocity modulation for improved detail and auto convergence, which will keep the picture quality in focus. There are a lot more that I yet to have player around with, probably more than enough for the home theater experience.

One factor you need to take in to consideration when purchasing a DVD player if you plan to own this TV, is to make sure the DVD's quality will match up to the T.V. I don't recommend that you cheap out on the DVD player or you'll bring down the picture quality with it. The DVD player should at LEAST have component video outputs, and I recommend turning on progressive scan if the DVD player has it. Both the component video outputs and the progressive scan will really help increase the picture quality.

There are a lot of inputs that you can choose from to use. There is an antenna/cable input, two sets of standard A/V inputs, two S-video inputs, two sets of component video inputs, and a DVI-HDTV input. The inputs you should use to achieve the best picture quality are the component video inputs for the DVD player(s) and component or DVI-HDTV input for your cable or satellite. The other inputs seriously only decrease the picture quality from what it could be when it's at its best. Also you should keep in mind that when you use the component video inputs, that in order to use the inputs, that you have use component video cables. I recommend using the Monster Standard Cables, but I'm not saying you should buy the best ones they offer. I found some cheaper ones made by Monster Standard for around 20-40 dollars a cable, depending on length. (They sell ones at 120 to "who knows where" dollars a cable too)

As for the construction of this television, I found it to be quite durable and well designed. It might have a thin screen, but the screen or picture quality didn't get damaged when I took a slight fall into the main screen. What a scare for me... I freaked, but all was well... luckily. It was a slight accident I encountered when setting up our surround sound system. But don't try it... I wouldn't take the risk if I were you, and really wish that that hadn't happened. As for the plastic casing, which looks really slick, is also really durable. It might look thin, but its really well made.

One of the drawbacks that I noticed was that the picture quality seemed to decrease when I went from my DVD video inputs to my cable T.V. inputs, which I noticed a quite of my friends TV's did as well. After a bit of research, I learned that for this TV, if you don't have an HD receiver, this set will display 480p, but you can purchase an HD receiver, and then the content can be viewed in 1,080i. Quick fix really. But also keep in mind when viewing any station, that not all the stations have switched over to HDTV, so some, actually most, will not meet the best quality that this TV will produce.

There are a lot of screen choices that you can chose from other than the 16:9 format that the display is. But when the T.V. is in the standard format, 4:3, there are gray bars on the sides that are annoying. In order to enhance the picture quality, they should make them black to make the picture stand out more than the bars. Most wide screen TV's come with black bars.

Overall, I'm really happy with this TV. It's definitely worth the money to buy it. I would say on a five star rating scale I would give this TV a 4.30.

© 2005 - David Chen - All Right's Reserved

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