Proscan PS36800HR Standard Televisions

Proscan PS36800HR Standard Televisions 

DESCRIPTION

36" Standard Definition (SDTV) Digital Television - 950 Lines Horizontal Resolution - Scan Doubler - Comb Filter - Surround Sound Audio - Picture in Picture - S-Video, Component and SVGA Input - Universal Remote

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 10  
[May 15, 2002]
Donald Hays
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Picture, and Color unsupassed. Like looking through a Window. Good sound, better with external speakers. Computer hookups to be used as a 800X600 res. monitor. USB hub hookups in rear, with side USB connections. I could go on, and on.

Weakness:

Could have better on screen display. Fonts could have been smaller and more refined. Hard to fine a base that fits outside of the base that goes with it. Other than that, nothing.

The PROSCAN 36" HD has the best picture in its class that I''ve ever seen. Bright color, sharp crisp picture, and good sound. I''ve compared this TV to others in its class and this by far is superior. I also like the 38" HDTV by RCA. That blew them all away. Yes, even Sony!, and I like Sony!

Similar Products Used:

I''ve viewed the Sony, and like that one also. The PROSCAN just looked better.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Apr 05, 2000]
Dave Villano
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Great picture quality

I recently ordered this beast! What a wonderful beast it is. The picure quality is tremendous in all modes. I am running S-Video for all NTSC broadcasts over my DirecTV Plus Satelite System. I am using Component Video for DVD and the SVGA connection for HDTV (only 2 channels so far). This is one of the best deals that I have seen to date. The Wiz in NYC is running a special with the NBA to promote HDTV. It includes the 36" monitor, DirecTV HDTV receiver, and the dual sat dish for $2900.00. I feel like I stole this setup. I just wish that I had a wider variety of HDTV channels to watch. The only thing I dont like about this model is the material covering the speakers. I know it sounds picky, but I would have much preferred a set of solid plastic or metal mesh speaker covers.

Similar Products Used:

Sony WEGA

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 16, 2000]
jon
Audiophile

Weakness:

only thing i hate is you have to press input so many times.they should put a designated input button on the remote.

i paid $850 w/ a $200 stand.too many input and i like it.i have a rca dtc-100 hook in too it,picture quality is really nice.i have this tv in my master bedroom.there is no way i can sleep without wathing tv in bed first.i used to have a 32 inch wega and it does not compare to this one.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 28, 1999]
Bill
an Audio Enthusiast

I bought this TV after my 8 month old SONY took dump. The power supply went out and it cost me over three hundred dollars to get it fixed. I put that TV in my bedroom and bought this one for my home theater. I heard about this TV from a friend who had seen it compared to the new SONY WEGA, and since there have been some negative reviews on the new SONY products and the recent experience I just had I decided to look at another brand. He said that it blew the SONY away so I had to see it for my self.WOW-THIS TV IS AWSOME-It killed the SONY and I wasn't even using the S-video input. When I plugged in the S input it was stunning and then I plugged in the component input and WOW. The detail and depth were stunning. This TV outperforms any thing I've seen. It also has a SVGA input so now I have my computer hooked up to it and I'm writting this review on a 36" MONITOR. I'm waiting for the new RCA DSS stuff to come out so I can hook this up to the other SVGA input and watch Digital TV. I can't imagine how this picture could get any better. As I was writting this review the mail came with my latest Home Theater Magazine and gues what-They just reviewed this TV and they said this TV kicked ---. I strongly suggest that if your looking for the latest in TV technology and you dont want to pay those outragious SONY prices and you want to be able to switch between your dvd and computer with the flick of a switch AND be ready for DTV look no further. I did have trouble finding a dealer who carried this model but good luck.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Sep 15, 1999]
Len Madison
a Casual Listener

A big reason why I purchases this monster TV was due to the reviews I read on this web site.Picture quality is wonderfull, features and controlls are easy to use and if you purchase the stand that is made for the Proscan (Unlike the Sonys)
you have a beautifull peice of furniture.
I love the proscans, I now have three of them 19, 27 36in.
But out-of-the-box my new 36in has a very loud squeel which took at home service visit to correct (Well he thinks) It took almost all day for the TeleTech to find and then correct the problem by gluing a transformer, seval capacitors and wires to the frame. I don't know if this will work long term and I a thinking about returning it for another brand. It just appears to me that if you spent 1K+ on a TV there should be NO problems (PERIOD)


OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
[May 21, 2001]
Hollis
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Awesome picture quality. I have it teamed with the RCA DTC 100 for satelite. Fabulous sound.

Weakness:

PIP does not work in VGA HD input mode.

I looked at the panasonic 36 inch which I think is also nice but I am glad I went with this. Great onboard sound. Fantastic picture with vibrant colors. With the DTC 100 there are no scan lines, no flicker, and the picture is fairly sharp. Just added a HD oval dish and that is even better. The only thing one can say about a TV like this is how really bad it makes other TV's look. There is the new 38 inch which also is awesomw but with only a couple HD stations I decided to go with this. It is too much of a pleasure to watch.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 05, 2001]
Rod
Casual Listener

Strength:

Lots of inputs (including two VGA inputs).

Weakness:

Poor tech support.

Pros:
I run this TV with a DVDO iScan+ scan converter into one of the VGA inputs. The picture is amazing from satellite, DVD and even VHS tape. Film sources look as if you are viewing the movie through a window rather than on a screen.
The other VGA input is hooked up to a PC running 800x600 at 60Hz. A website, such as CNN.com, is very readable at this resolution from 10 feet away, using only the default Windows and browser font sizes. The text, while not as razor sharp as a 19" monitor would be, is pretty impressive for such a big beast. It is at least as sharp as the 27-29" NECs and Princetons used to be.

I used both Video Essentials and Avia to set the TV up and the default colour settings were not too far off. There is still a slight red push around 5-10%. The sharpness control does need to be right off. I am not sure if this gets rid of the SVM circuit, but you can sure tell that something non-linear happens between the zero and first click settings. You may find that setting the black level correctly on this TV leaves it too dim for the ambient light that you are used to. All my previous direct view TVs have been a lot dimmer than this one, when set correctly though.

The TV comes equipped with a lot of consumer helper functions like automatic flesh colour control and video noise reduction etc. If you play around with these things, you can get all sorts of wacky artifacts in the picture, like little brick patterns etc. In my opinion, the picture looks best with all these turned off.

The out of box experience was amazing even though I had seen it working before. It appears way bigger at home than it did in the store. I personally prefer the old dark grey body to the newer half silver one. I am not sure if they have changed the model number now. And by the way the stand is actually good, not garish, lots of storage space and strong.

Cons:
Scan lines are very noticeable when displaying any input from a non-progressive source. This is no different than any other TV of this size really. Perhaps a little less noticeable than the same sized WEGA even, but enough to bother me. If you are not going to use the VGA inputs, then save your money and get a cheaper TV.
In addition, this TV is far from being a flatscreen. I like the flatness of the WEGA but Sony needs to get its act together regarding ridiculous prices, geometry problems and digital inputs.
It weighs a ton. Get it delivered by huge guys. Tip them well beforehand.

Untested:
I do not use the internal tuner or picture in picture function, so I cannot comment on these. Also, the internal speakers are not being used and I thus I am glad they are so unobtrusive in the chassis.
I do not watch widescreen movies on this set either, as I use a projector for this purpose. Therefore, I cannot say how it performs in this mode.

Problems:
I have had two slight problems related to my unit so far. I am not totally sure that the ProScan is to blame, but I will mention them here.
The first problem would only be noticeable by someone who is very very picky about video. When displaying input from the iScan+, the top raster lines appear not to be straight across but have a slight depression in the middle. This results in about an eighth-inch bow. Apparently, this does not occur with computer input or non-progressive input from any source but there are overscan issues to take into consideration there. Perhaps this is even a problem with the iScan+ itself. I moved my center speaker off, just in case it was a shielding problem, but this did not change anything.
The second problem is that the TV resets itself once in a while while watching, as if some protection circuit is tripped and then it restarts. Perhaps this is due to poor power quality in my house. The TV resides on a heavily loaded circuit. It has done this maybe four times.
Also, it appears as if the red gun takes a few seconds longer than the others to start up. Whether this is actually physical or some sort of color control circuit that kicks in later, I do not know
Thomsons tech support is completely useless. They give useless advice like "there is no service menu for this TV" or "there is no way to disable SVM". The last tech I talked to seemed to think that all my problems were not normal behaviour for this TV though. At least the extended warranty is in house. I will post a follow-up to this review should I have further problems or find that the TV is not at fault.

Nice to haves for future models:
Discrete buttons for the inputs themselves on the remote(i.e. VGA1, VGA2, Component, SVideo1 etc) along with the existing buttons for devices like DVD, VCR that are then mapped to inputs.
More usable and higher scan rates for 640x480 and 800x600 modes. 1024x768 mode would be nice.
A second user customizable video control setting.
Anamorphic squeeze mode.
Non-slanted top for balancing large center speaker on. It is not so slanted that the speaker will fall off, but it is not flat either.

Summary:
The ProScan 36800 and DVDO iScan+ combined were still cheaper than the current 36" WEGA XBR. With this combination, I get to display computer input and progressive input from all sorts of sources. On the other hand, I can also use the DVDO to scan convert for my projector, so this partly influenced my decision. I am amazingly happy with this TV as its intended purpose as the last great 4:3 direct view CRT display device.

Similar Products Used:

IBM/Princeton 27" monitor.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 23, 2000]
Frodo
Audio Enthusiast

This is the tv I've been waiting for. It does everything, and does it very well.
I kept my computer in the other room and ran the svga cable through the wall so I don't have to listen to the computer fan. A netsurf keyboard (radio signaled not infrared, so it goes through the wall) allows me to use the tv as a massive monitor. Computer and tv are hooked up to a digital amp with 5.1 sound. So whether it's Matrix or Thief II it both looks and sounds great. I even have my Visor palm computer cradle plugged into the tv's USB port. I've been wanting to put something like this together for some time. Thanks Proscan.
Frodo

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 27, 2000]
Mark
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Flexibility (HDTV, Computer Monitor, TV). Image quality.

Weakness:

A little more bandwidth would be nice. 800x600 @ 72 Hz for example.

I've been waiting for a year for exactly this type of product. After a disaster trying a Net-Tv display, I decided to try again w/ this Proscan. I have had this unit for ~3 months and it has operated flawlessly.

Where it really shines is when hooked up to a computer for playing progressive scan DVD or when hooked up to the DTC-100, a DSS HDTV decoder that uses the SVGA connector to drive the Proscan at either 540p or 1080i.

If a person is using this as a NTSC-only TV it is hard to justify the price as the picture is comperable to other less expensive TV's (for NTSC sources). When hooked up to a computer or HDTV decoder however the image is incredible. The resolution is excellent for a big tube and the color balance and saturation is the best I've ever seen in a big tube.

Definitely audition this unit w/ a HDTV or progressive scan DVD and you will never want to go back to NTSC again. Another cool thing about this unit is that for $600 a person can buy the DVDO Iscan Plus line doubler and double any NTSC source (VCR, LaserDisc, DVD, etc.) and play it on the Proscan.

This unit is basically the same as the RCA but it has better audio and two tuner PIP. If space is a problem, you may want to opt for the RCA because the enclosure is smaller because of the lower quality speakers.

Without a doubt this is the most flexible product of it's type. Imagine watching regular TV, or HDTV and then hooking up a computer and playing games at 800x600 w/o any loss in image quality!

The only improvement that I can think of would be more bandwidth to do HDTV 720p, but then again most HDTV's can't go that high either. At the 800x600 max resolution of the Proscan, refresh is limited to 60hz which is on the threshold of being noticeable. 800x600@72hz would have been nice too.

For the money tho it doesn't get any better than this.

Similar Products Used:

RCA DTV.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jun 02, 2000]
James Costa
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Great picture, lots of inputs, lots of control over the picture.

Weakness:

speakers are at each side of the front of the set and covered with cloth. Makes it susceptable to damage.

love this set. Am using a Quadscan scaler for svga resolution. Looks like film to me. Lots of inputs and outputs, each configurable to its' own picture settings. Lots of picture and sound control. Size, tilt, position, scan modulation disable option. Color is very accurate. I can sit 3ft. away with the svga and not see any scan lines etc. Webtv on it is sharp and clear with great resolution. When watching a dark scene with dark clothing, you can still see the detail from darks on darks. Got it over the net for $2100.

Similar Products Used:

Last set was a Sony 32" xbr

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 10  

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