Sceptre 37" LCD HDTV. Any Common!!!

Thank a lot for those pics WebGuy. But I still dont see the back of 42" Sceptre. Maybe it got NO other inputs at all except 1 for the Media box.

 

Yea, I believe that the media box contains all the video processing elements (i.e - Tuners and input/output jacks). This allows the television to have a very thin depth and require less cables to run to it.

 

Return - Did you ever get an answer to which Chipset the Sceptre units are using?
Are the folks that had issues on 37" with DVI still having problems?

Interested to know, as I now have one of these on the way....

 

They still did not reply to me about the Chipset on the Sceptre.

 

According to a post over on AVS, the 42" Sceptre's regular price will be $2199, so with the $500 coupon, the final price will be $1699. The poster claimed to have gone into Costco and had them look up the item in their computer to confirm this price.

 

Has anyone looked at the 42" Pioneer Plasma TV that Costco has for $1999 this week after $400 rebate coupon.

I was thinking of getting 42" LCD Sceptre until I picked up $400 rebate coupon from Costco last Friday. Now I am thinking which one to get, each one has it's own plus points:

Sceptre: would make a better monitor, separate media box

Pioneer: reputed brand name, picture is as good as Panasonic, save shipping cost ($100).

I am not sure how them compare on warranty work.

Any thoughts?

 

Regarding the Pioneer at Costco. . . .I was reading posts over at AVSforum (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=569935&page=4&pp=30&highlight=pioneer) and they were really ragging on this Pioneer model. Apparently the consensus there was this was a low end (formerly NEC) plasma that was no where near the quality of other Pioneer 5th & 6th gen models. Anyway, you might want to do some more research yourself before you jump.

 

I am currently debating between the 42" Sceptre LCD ($1900 + ~$200 shipping + tax) or the 42" Visio Plasma ($1500 + tax) both from Costco.
The 1080p could be a nice feature in the future, but I'm not planning on using this for a media center or gaming so for the limited HDTV / one day HD-DVD content I don't know if I can justify the extra ~$700.
I do like the idea for the media center, but am worried that the 6' supplied cord is not long enough for my wall mount situation.

 

@xJackRyan

As desccl post with the link about the 42" Sceptre price, do people still have questions about it?

 

I too came to this forum to find information on 42" VISIO. I have never heard of VISIO and wanted to get a feel for their quality. I'm learning a lot about the Sceptre but does anyone know any links where I can get more info on VISIO? I don't want to buy a brand I have don't know about.

 

I beleive that I see VISIO at costco. They have displays there. You can check them out.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I've seen the 42" Visio HDTV Plasma at Costco. It looks good to me, but I know nothing about the company's reputation/reviews, their product quality record, service, etc. The guy I usually buy from of course doesn't recommend it (because he doesn't carry it). I'm mainly wondering how risky it would be to go with a brand I'm not familiar with.

I'm also not familiar with Sceptre but I've learned a lot about it from this thread. Like many of you, I'm trying to make a decision on which of the 42" units at Costco to buy. Both are a good price with the cupon, but neither is a good deal if they don't have a good reputation. I know I can return it, but I hate to do that.

 

I sent an email to Sceptre asking what chipset they use for their X37SV-NAGA and X42SV-NAGA, this is a copy of their response to me:

Dear Customer,

We do not release that type of information, sorry.

Best Regards,
Sceptre Technical Support Group


Whom are they kidding?
I wonder if anyone who owns an X37SV-NAGA can find out in their manual or specs, or circuit map of their set (if one came with the set) what the chipset is. A friend suggested it could be an HQV REALTA (wishful thinking?)

 

I emailed and asked them samething. But they dont even reply back to me.

 

That's odd because they answered back to me in a matter of a few hours. This is the email I used: monitor-ts@sceptre.com
which is the email for technical support of LCD and CRT monitors. I couldn't find any email for LCD Displays support so I used that one.

 

italiano

I have the 37" Sceptre and the manual is like 6 pages long. There no details on components. None!!!!

 

I FINALLY RECEIVED A RESPONSE FROM SCEPTRE TO QUESTIONS FROM MID JANUARY.

[bold]These are the original questions:[/bold]

TWIMC:

Great HD picture on HD channels with the source input HDCP not withstanding the exceptions noted below.

Questions about X37SV-Naga LCD/TV prior to re-order or rather, if to re-order:

1) Is turquoise colored video noise, most notable within the outlines of men's dark suits and green plant foliage, an indication of a defective video card in the unit, or some other problem with the set?

2) No matter how the set is adjusted a true red is elusive. It seems as though there is no way to white balance. Nothing closer than differing hues of orange or magenta, anything but RED. Is there a solution for this?

3)There is very little information on this set, including the pamphlet shipped with the unit. I would appreciate knowing what DVD player Sceptre is recommending as the 1st choice for the X37SV. I'm currently using a Pioneer ELITE DV-45A, but knowing how the X37SV handles the signaling would be helpful on selection of video components. How does 480p or "i" from the DVD [or analog TV broadcasts] get converted, up scaled or whatever with Sceptre's video processing. What is being sent to the rest of the pixels on the X37SV-Naga display? What is the set doing [it doesn't appear to be doing anything] vs. what some of the DVD players attempt to do to get a better looking picture from a 480 source? What DVD player processing would be enhancing vs. conflicting with this set?

4)It seems that the only changeable picture parameter for HDCP is "lamp" level. I'm I correct? If so, how will my A/V tech be able to set up the display to any color [and other] standards, as he/she will be doing on my other large monitor?

I will be returning the set and re-ordering another if favorable responses are returned from you regarding issues 1 & 2.

I hope to share my positive X37SV-Naga experiences with my fellow HD enthusiasts as there is a large vacuum for info. regarding this set and the 42".

I look forward to your earliest response.


Best Regards,

Marcel


PS - I could not get any of my digital cameras [Konica Minolta A2 or X1] or digital wallet [Epson Photo Fine P-2000] to work on any inputs and I can't think of any reason why, can you?

__________________________________________________________________

[bold]AFTER A COUPLE OF WEEKS I SENT ANOTHER EMAIL AND FINALLY RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING INADEQUATE RESPONSE FROM SCEPTRE:[/bold]

Dear Customer,

1. That has to do with the signal taken into the TV. It depends on where you live at and the antenna you're using and the signal provided.

2. No, that is the performance of the panel itself. The panel factory
set it accordingly.

3. No up conversion dvd player set will be able to satisfy a 1920x1080 panel no matter what filtering and conversion technique is done. Your best bet would be to have a home theater pc and hardware dvd decoder.

4. On your remote are 2 buttons PICTURE and SOUND. Keep pressing the
sound button until the screen says USER MODE and keep pressing the sound button until it says USER MODE too. With that done you will be able to adjust more options.

Best Regards,
Sceptre Technical Support Group

_____________________________________________________________-

Woefully PATHETIC!!!!! The only new thing I learned about the set was that if you do play with the "SOUND BUTTON" it will bring up some "VIDEO OPTIONS" (makes sense, eh? push the sound button for video, brilliant!), but they are still the same options as user mode anyway. So, I still can't adjust the white balance to get a true RED and there is no memory for any setting, just a return to default.

I still have not received any feedback [bold]from other set owners[/bold] about the video noise I mentioned in #1. I would surely appreciate hearing from a user who is watching HD Programming thru a Commiecast HD box connected to the HMDI port. Spectre is trying to tell me it's Commiecast, not their video card that's creating the turquoise video noise. Does anyone else see this on their set up?

Thanks,
Marcel

 

*** I still have not received any feedback from other set owners about the video noise I mentioned in #1. I would surely appreciate hearing from a user who is watching HD Programming thru a Commiecast HD box connected to the HMDI port. Spectre is trying to tell me it's Commiecast, not their video card that's creating the turquoise video noise. Does anyone else see this on their set up? ***

MarcelBLA: I do not have the video noise you describe using the Dish Satellite 811 HD box via HDMI. I was able to adjust reds using the Sceptre advanced menus I mentioned in my posting a couple of weeks ago and I'm happy with the picture. I posted my settings if you want to try them. I get a very good image from an upconverting Denon 2910 DVD player. In my opinion a lot about picture quality on this monitor has to do with the input signal, because in comparison the picture from my Samsung upconverting DVD player did not look nearly as good.
Mike G.

 

Hi All,

I have purchased the sceptre 37 Naga. To my eye the picture looks great with component input, however, I do see occasional screen door like effect on the bottom third of the screen. Not sure if this is the "firmware" bug or related to my source. I need to do some testing with other sources.

Has anyone seen pictures of the "firmware bug tearing/juddering" on the web? I'd like to take a look to see if it matches what I see.

Also - does anyone know where I can get an articulating wall mount for this TV at a reasonable price? It has 440mmX200mm mount points, which seems different from all the adapter plates I've seen available.

thanks,
Matt

 

Looks like Costco has a decent selection. Just do a search on "wall mounts" and the first several are what you're looking for. I saw at least 3 articulating mounts.

BTW, anybody know if there is a way to know if I need the firmware update? I just got my TV and if I need the update, I want to just arrange to drive the TV in to Sceptre. I live close enough that I could do this. best to just get it done now, but I dont want to waste my time if the firmware was applied before sale.