bmdoss

I have been saveing for a TV upgrade for awhile
and have now come to an important question...
RPTV or FPTV? I would like to go FPTV but
how would this work for every day viewing with
the lights on? I have about 6K to spend...

Thanks

X

As far as I know, forget about FPTV for daylight viewing. RPTV's not that great either, but it's usable.

tdamico

I have been searching, researching, demonstrating, kicking, scratching, etc, etc. for about 2-3 months now on this very subject. My findings: If you are going to go for everyday use, a FPTV is a mistake. Also, while it is possible to get into this type of system at a somewhat affordable price entry point of about $5,000 (used or refurbished) for true HT, you need to be somewhere around the 10K range. Don't forget you will need the projector, screen, line doubler, and darkness, darkness, darkness. Having said that, I disagree with X regarding the daytime picture of a RPTV. While I am looking for a 16x9 HDTV, I have and have had a 50" 4:3 RPTV from Mitsubishi for about 5 years now. And its great in the daytime. Not fantastic, but pretty F,ing good. I watch DVD's about 2/3 of the time, and of course go by the rule that it needs to be dark to the point that you can't see your hand extended at arm's length for optimal viewing. But you know, when I watch regular TV during the daytime, I'm not ususally that picky, are you? I can clearly see the picture from pretty far away, at various angles, and it looks fine for what I am watching. But you know what they say about opinions, and this is just mine.

X

Make sure you calibrate that new set with Avia or VE so you don't burn it out! If you can see the picture very well during the day you have the brightness turned up much too high. I occasionally do that and get decent daytime viewing, but not often because I want my RPTV to last a long time. That's why I have a regular TV too.

tdamico

You know, X, I do. I calibrate both my sets at least three times a year. Don't know why, but if I haven't checked everything at least every now and then it drives me crazy. The contrast is almost all the way down and the brightness is nowhere near the top of the setting, yet my picture is clear and bright. I had it professionally calibrated about two years ago and the person who did it, told me that he had never seen a RPTV set that had as good a picture as mine. Even others of the same model. Said he couldn't explain it, but that I should just enjoy it. So, now here it is, over 5 years after I purchased, and it still seems a clear and bright as the day I bought it. Go figure.

knit-witt

As far as a FPTV for daylight viewing, it depends on your room, how picky you are, and what type of projector you are considering. If you have a room that has huge windows and tons of daylight shining in, I would steer away from a FPTV for everyday use. But if your room is not as bright, you might very well be able to use a FP for daylight viewing, if you have a bright enough projector. Some of the new DLP projectors are very bright and might work for your application. Then again, your best video will be in a darkened setting with any video display. The benefits of having a 120" diagonal display over a 65" RPTV display might outweigh the light problems you will have by the sheer WOW factor of the FPTV. You will have to judge all this for yourself.