I had an opportunity to see the WD-52628 in person yesterday afternoon. It was a very nice set with a lot of features, and I like he cabinet design much better than last years x25 product line. Plus, the screen was a huge improvement since I really didn't like the x25 series glare/anti-glare screens at all. As I said, this set has a lot a features. Most notable are its Plush1080p that upconverts 1080i to display a knockout picture; Dark Detailer that displays deeper blacks and better dark scene details; DeepField used to optimize brightness and contrast within every scene; SharpEdge delivers focused edges between objects and scene backgrounds. To be honest, a lot of the source material wasn't very good. However, this set was stunning when playing the 2000 Olympics as well as a recorded CBS Football game (prior to multicasting). In fact, I got to do a side-by-side comparison of a WD-52725 (1280x720p) and the WD-52628 (1920x1080p) and this 1080p set was clearly better:
* Not much difference if you're feeding it poor quality material. (most won't notice)
* Sharper, deeper, more 3D like PQ when provided with excellent source.
* Blacks and object image details that were more like my Mits CRT RPTV.
I must admit that much of the material I compared was of poor quality (IMO) and I would have liked to have had access to more full bitrate 1080i and DVDs with a lot of dark scenes. However, it was evident that excellent source material would display a better, more striking, picture on this new 1080p set. Perhaps I'll bring along some of my favorite DVDs next time.
Sound and Vision Magazine reviewed the WD-52627 in their September Edition (
read it here ). It is similar to the 628, but without DeepField and SharpEdge. I got to see a split screen demo of the 628 with all it's features. Do yourself a favor and pay the $200 extra for a 628 should you go this route.
Ok, this Mits was an excellent set, but I am still waiting to see the KDS-50XRD1. Although this particular store carried the new Sony KSF line, they don't know if they will be carrying the Sony's new SXRD. I would love to be able to do a side-by-side comparison.