bhome83

plasma, LCD, DLP etc. just curious what type of tv people prefer. is there one type in your opinion that is superior to others? I'm not sold as of yet on a DLP mainly because of its bulkiness.

Brian Shannon

Whichever one gives me the best picture for the source material I use and the lighting conditions of the room it is in.

Not trying to be a wise guy but I would suggest going to several stores and looking at different types of sets. Also use dvd's you are familiar with to evaluate the sets. If the store will not allow you to see your own source material, consider finding a different store.

Dead

When I saw the thread title, I opened it to say essentially the same thing.

bhome83, each technology has its place. It's just a matter of finding out which is most appropriate for your situation.

bhome83

i just thought that there might be a 'winner' out there. im just looking for a 50 incher, and having a hella time deciding. im surprised DLP tv's are so popular considering how bulky they are. thanks for your responses guys.

Brian Shannon

I am sure there are "winners" out there.

My point is that TV's like speakers are subjective. What looks good to your eyes may not look good to someone else's eyes.

Not sure why you think DLP sets are bulky? Compared to CRT TV's DLP's are very compact. True they are not flat panels but that is due to the design. If shape and size are important to you then perhaps you should stick to LCD's or Plasma's.

I happen to like the picture that a DLP produces.

4KRG

There isn't

Every technology has it's ups and downs, you have to decide which up and downs fit you.

I went with a DLP. I agree I have seen DLPs that don't look good, but those were the older ones. Check out the newest series from Samsung.

From a technology standpoint, it looks like the LED DLP by Samsung is the way to go (should be the future of DLP) but it is expensive (I said they all have a down side).

Money vs PQ vs Size vs reliability vs life span vs maint costs

There is no clear winner for every person in every situation. Personally, I really like the look of the pro series panasonic plasma screens. I didn't buy one for 3 reasons - price - burn in possibility - the thought that it has a half life and must be thrown away at some point.

The reasons I picked DLP - initial cost - PQ is good enought to me - DLP size was not a factor, I was not wall mounting - bulb replacement cost seems trivial to up front increased cost of plasma - no burn in risk

I just don't care for the look of LCD ,and it is expensive too.

No clear winner

jonw9

That is my though process as well.

I am leaning RP since I am not wall mounting. Thus flat screen is not necessary.
DLP/LCD is the cheaper option.
I can replace the lamp in the RP.

The flat panels have limited life (~30k hours). I have not done the math to figure out "how long" that is. A quick count would be 3k hours lasts ~2 years, so a flat panel would be 20 years?

Viewing angles are all about the same. I don't see the rainbows, and have not noticed the screen door effect either. Burn-in is not really an issue with any of them any more. I think DLP usually has the darkest blacks. I also want to stay around the 57" range, which limits the number of flat panels as well.

Every time I think about it, I lean RP-DLP. The "salesmen" always push the flat panel, but never had a good reason why, besides lamps. Some TVs have a USB or media slot, is this for firmware or just displaying pictures and such? Would this be a necessary addition?

Sdallnct

"prefer" is a tough and way to open.

For example, if I had unlimited room I'd probably go with a CRT.

I recently bought a DLP Projector. But I did that as my first projector was DLP and I liked it, so saw no reason to change.

As others have said, "prefer" really relates to how you will use the unit, where you will be using it, what limitations you might have, etc, etc.

Spiky

Try not to bias yourself against either type. They all have ups and downs. Make sure you can live with the downs, and then pick on practical things like size and features.

The flat panels are usually rated for 50-60k hours, not 30. That would be 30-40 years, using your usage rate. Is that "limited"? Actually, I wouldn't necessarily expect the backlight to last quite that long (but close!), but the LCD/plasma cells will. No doubt the electronics will give out before that. Or the connections will rust.

The LCD panels in RP versions will also be rated this long. And DMDs (that's what is in a DLP) are rated to around 100k hours. But lamps generally do not last more than 3000 hours, so figure on spending $250-300 every 2 years, using your math above.

Almost everyone thinks DLP looks better than LCD, all else being equal. Even people who suffer from rainbows like me. So that is a good choice for picture quality. Plasma also looks good, although the resolution is often lower than other technologies. CRT easily looks the best, but is bulky.

So pick your caveat.

Mr. Salty

I was leaning toward a Panasonic or Hitachi plasma (I don't like the look of LCD either, and I don't like the rainbow effect on DLP). But during the last few days I've become really interested in the Sony SXRD rear projectors. Three chips instead of one DLP, and true 1920x1080p high-def. The 50-inch is about $250 above what I had budgeted, so I think I can swing it.

jonw9

I know the span of the flat panel is much longer than I will probably own it for, I just have a hard time buying something that can't be repaired

I have also heard good things about the SXRD displays. I may look into those some more.

What I think I have gathered:
Blacks: DLP > Plasma > LCD
Brightness: Plasma > DLP > LCD
Burn-in: DLP = LCD > Plasma
Viewing Angle: Plasma > DLP > LCD

There is probably more comparisons that need to be made, but I gotta run.

emoxley

The one I want is LCoS..........
Either the JVC HD-ILA, or Sony SXRD. When hooked up to a good HD signal, they have the best pictures, of anything else I've seen............

B.A.

I know they are bulky and have relatively small screen sizes, but if I have the room - I'm buying another CRT. Sadly, that won't be an option much longer.

Sdallnct

I had the same thought about a new TV in the living room "why get a flat panel if I'm not going to hang on the wall". But, I'm rethinking that. Why?
Because I don't believe I would keep this TV in the living room for more then 5-6 years. Why? Technology will change, connections will change, there will be some reason to want to replace it. However, it will still be a working TV. Yet there are limited places to put even a 42" or 46" digital RP. Where as with a flat panel you can always find a wall.

Right now I'm keeping an eye on something like a 46" flat panel for the living room. Then in 4, 5 or 6 six years when I want to upgrade in the living room I could put the 46" flat panel in the bar, in our master bedroom, etc.

IMHO, life expectancy is not an issue with tv's. Again they will last as long as any reasonable person would want to keep them.

Spiky

Corrections:

Blacks: Plasma > DLP > LCD
Brightness: Flat panel > RPTV (probably plasma > lcd in the flat panels)
Viewing angle: Flat panel > RPTV

On LCOS/SXRD....blacks and contrast are better, about as good as plasma perhaps. They are still RPTVs, so come with those inherent flaws like viewing angle issues.

klemsaba

I thought I would never here this. Considering how big a 50" CRT RP is, a 50" DLP is not 'bulky'.

I prefer LCD rear projection and LCD front projection because I get headaches when watching DLP.

Dead

IMO, it depends on what you are comparing the DLP projection set to. My guess is that many people buying them are replacing the huge CRT based RPTV's (or thinking about their friend's old RPTVs), so they see the DLP versions as being a lot "smaller".

For people who have flat panel sets, the DLP TV's probably do tend to seem "bulky" though.

Sdallnct

I read an article over at AVS where Samsung will be introducing a new DLP RP TV that is only 10" deep. They mention that even tho it is an RP it will be thin and light enough to hang, yet will be 30% less then traditional flat panels of similar size.

Something to keep an eye out for I suppose.

leest3

I own an LCD but would prefer a plasma. The technology has come a long way. People are still worried about "burn-in" but according to the companies, if you don't worry about your tube TV burning in, then you don't have to worry about the plasma. Plasma's have better color reproduction twice as bright, 500 nits for LCD compared to 1000 for plasma (give or take). There are only like 2 1080p plasma's available and they are very expensive, but I would prefer better colors and brightness vs. a better resolution.
And for all projection TV's, I've heard that replacing the bulbs can be pretty expensive, but the picture quality on the SXRD's is amazing.
And if SED ever makes it to the market, that will blow everything else away.

X

That's the way I'm tending as well. I've been very impressed by the Sony SXRD projectors.

rw2516

A week ago I was in Best Buy for unrelated reason. Saw this set out of corner of my eye that had about the best picture I'd ever seen. It's the Sony KDS-50A 2000. Stood arms length in front of it and picture still looked great. Can't stop thinking about it. I know when I get like this I'll break down and get it. "Ug, me want".

drmoze

never saw a dlp i realy liked. I am happy with the 65" crt rp--looks more 'natural' than most flat panels. For newer tech, I'd go with a plasma or 2nd choice an lcd (depending on size). Based mainly on pq. If I were to buy one today, it would hands-down be a 50" Panasonic plasma. Definitely most bang for the buck and excellent pq. I can't imagine why anyone would want to pay more for a dlp of the same size which wouldn't look s good.

cultshock

Just picked up the 60" SXRD last week and so far am quite happy with it (even without using it to it's full potential yet). I spent quite a while looking at different RP's in stores (showing HD sources) and I kept coming back to the SXRD, it just looked the best. Standard def TV looks only ok on it (as expected. This TV is known for handling HD very well, but SD not so well). Regular DVDs (letting the TV upconvert) look surprisingly good on such a big screen and X-Box 360 games (in 1080i) look wonderful. Now I just have to get something so I can watch HD-DVD or Blu-Ray on it (soon!)

rw2516

How good is suprisingly good on the standard dvds? I currently have a Sony 34" CRT HD-TV and sit about 8 feet away. If I get the 50" SXRD I'll probably be about 12 feet away with the SD player connected through the HDMI. In the store the picture I was looking at looked better than my 34" from just a couple feet away but may have been a HD picture. It was a basketball game with a Showtime HD logo in the corner. I am hoping the display ability of standard dvd would be equal to the 34" with a greater distance from the set to compensate for the larger picture.

Dead

Personally, I think that DLP technology offers a very good picture. And, it can be quite a bit cheaper than a similarly sized plasma. For example, the 50" Panasonic runs about $2200 from reputable dealer. If someone is interested in DLP, they can get the very nice Samsung 50" 1080p set for about $500 less.