The F38310 produces a very sharp, pleasing picture. This unit converts all HD material to1080i, and the resulting images are clean and crisp from a viewing distance of four picture heights. As with most HDTV displays, if you stand too close to the screen, you can see the MPEG-decoding artifacts, as well as some video noise. Earlier versions of the F38310 had some problems with their picture tubes, but that appears to have been taken care of.

The F38310's setup profiles provide a broad range of looks for the different inputs. When set up by a qualified technician, the display's color balance and tracking are very good. As the measurements box shows, colorimetry deviates only slightly from the SMPTE specification, and the TV tracks the D6500 Kelvin color temperature well. You will need to align the F38310 to get the maximum performance, but it meets the color and alignment standards to produce a very good picture.

The remote is a standard RCA/DirecTV controller. It's not backlit, but it has several glow-in-the-dark buttons that give you a general idea of where the channel and volume buttons are. The TV's menu system can be very annoying. All of the necessary controls (color, tint, brightness, contrast, etc.) are there, but the onscreen menu covers the picture you're trying to adjust. Plus, the TV can't remember the last adjustment you made; so, if you want to start over, you have to use four keystrokes to get back to where you were.

Channel-surfers will find the F38310's main channel banner to be quite informative. This translucent box at the top of the screen displays program information and the status of the personal setting related to the channel you have selected. It also indicates if you have messages from your programming-service provider. Since you've got three programming sources to choose from, the channel- and programming-preference features are handy. The TV scans for the SD and HD broadcast stations in the same sweep. It takes several minutes to do the scan, but it's worth the wait because you then have all the channels in your broadcast area. This is the only system available that allows you to view the standard- and high-definition broadcast stations side by side in the channel order, so you can compare the different standards' picture quality.

All in all, the F38310 is my pick for an all-purpose HDTV that has everything your family will need for the next 10 years. If you want to futureproof your system for all of the viewing options that are out there, this is the TV to buy. Considering its price and features, there isn't anything that can match the RCA F38310.

Highlights

• 38-inch CRT HDTV

• Onboard DTV tuner

• Built-in DirecTV tuner