Projection HDTV Recommendation?

Anyone have a favorite? and wanna share your opinion on new Projection HDTV's? I'm in the market for one and too lazy to research

Thanks!
Randy

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darkgear.com said:
Anyone have a favorite? and wanna share your opinion on new Projection HDTV's? I'm in the market for one and too lazy to research

Thanks!
Randy

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Make sure it's rated for HDTV and not just EDTV (which is just Progressive Scan but not necessarily HD resolution).

If you wind up getting a plasma TV, make sure that it has an image orbiting feature or some other means of dealing with phosphor burn-in.

You might need to buy a separate tuner.

Check the picture quality on both "talking head" programs as well as sports programming. Some display technologies suffer from motion artifacts that only show up on fast motion.

Look for DLP projection, which is far superior, and brighter /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif, than LCD

CRT-based rear projection TV (RPTV) with ISF calibration is still the most economical way to get quality HDTV picture. However, consumer electronics manufacturers are shifting focus from them to thinner and more fancy (and profitable) LCD and DLP RPTVs. LCD RPTVs are getting cheaper though stuck pixels can be a problem in the long run. DLP RPTVs are new to the scene and can be very good though expensive.

I got a Mitsubishi 55" widescreen a few years ago, and have been very happy with it. I think the latest model is WS55313. I use an RCA DTC100 HD box connected to rabbit ears in the attic to pick up HDTV off the air programming here in the Dallas Fort Worth area and feed it to the Mits TV. Great picture and sound.

PhotonWrangler, I will certainly get a HD not ED. Definitely not getting plasma.

Sabby, DLP stands for?? what brand uses DLP? Is this as opposed to LCD projection?

Alan Hsu, DLP suggested 2x now. Any brands in particular?

epro05, Yay a Mitsubishi fan! Mitsubishi is the only brand tht I know anything about because I am good friends with a dealer. This is the brand I'll buy if I don't find something else is better.

TIA,
Randy

DLP=(digital light processing)

I think it was developed by Texas Instruments, but I could be wrong. Many manufactures are now using DLP processing.

Digital Light Processor. Instead of shining a light through an LCD panel, DLP uses a computer chip with micro mirrors on its top surface, with one for each pixel. The projector bulb is shone onto this, and the mirrors are moved to turn each pixel on or off. The reflected image is then shone through a spinning wheel with coloured translucent panels around the edge, red green, blue and white.
The image is typically clearer than an LCD unit, a lot of this due to the fact that the crystal lattice structure of the LCD panel is not being projected too. They also typically have better contrast too.
If i were in the market for a big display, this would be the one i'd choose. Look put for home cinema orientated units that use a 3 colour wheel (no white), and one with a new generation 12 degree DLP (the micro mirrors swivel through 10 degrees for the first generation chips).
Make sure you try and get a demo of one in action before splashing out on a display, i think you'll be very impressed.
And yep, its a Texas Instruments technology. All DLP projectors use their chips.

It's also brighter because more of the light reflects off a mirror than could make it through 1-3 LCD panels

Personally I would hold off HDTV purchase for a couple of years. True hi-def TVs (with native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, i.e. it can display HD picture in all its glory) are just arriving (most available HDTV sets can't fully resolve 1920 x 1080 pixels). With HD-DVD (based on Toshiba and NEC's AOD proposal, which was adopted by the DVD Forum about a week ago) just over the horizon, I would consider this an important factor in choosing the next TV.

Well, I have to have one now so unless I'm going to spend 18K on a Mistubishi Alpha I'll have to settle for 1200 lines...

edit: Just did a search for DLP Mistubishi TV's because I didn't see any in their current models and they had DLP projection in their 2001 model year. Unfortunately now I'm doing what I didn't want to at first... research Oh well... Now I'm going to have to visit some showrooms and go look at em too. Heh, and I thought I'd just order one and be done with it

I've cooked up a small hack to view HD in full 1080i or 720p resolution on an old 20" VGA monitor. The aspect ratio is a little off, but for the price ($150), I don't care. And the dot pitch is much finer than the CRTs and plasmas that I've seen in the store, so the picture is amazing.

Now If I can only come up with a cheap way to record this stuff... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

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kakster said:
...and one with a new generation 12 degree DLP (the micro mirrors swivel through 10 degrees for the first generation chips).

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Interesting... I assume that this would provide for a better extinction ratio and thus better black level? From what I understand, LCDs (and to a lesser extent, DLPs) suffer from an inability to turn completely off, thus the night sky in a deep-space scene might appear as grey rather than a nice, rich black.

What do you guys think of this?

http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&catoid=-8041&qp=0&bookmark=bookmark_9&oid=80081

Only 3100 and looks decent. Maybe it can hold me till true 1920x1080's are common?

sweet looks nice .but im a big sony fan.

darkgear:

I looked at the Sony 50 inch Grand WEGA at Best Buy a couple of weeks ago. I believe it is the best quality picture I have seen to date on a ANY tv.

In the Cleveland Ohio area I have a dealer that sells this television for $2775.00, so if you buy, try to bargain for this price.

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darkgear.com said:
What do you guys think of this?

http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&catoid=-8041&qp=0&bookmark=bookmark_9&oid=80081

Only 3100 and looks decent. Maybe it can hold me till true 1920x1080's are common?


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Looks nice, but it will require an external tuner for HD. If you have a satellite receiver or cable box that has a component HD output, you'll be all set, but if you don't, you'll need to shell out another $300 or so for an 8-VSB ATSC tuner.

Also make sure that you watch a sports program in the store before you buy. Some LCDs don't handle rapid motion very well.

PW:

Thanks for the tip about watching sports befor buying.

My son is in line to buy a 50 inch Sony,and he is a sports fan.

I will pass your advice on.

Thanks again.

There is an article on MSNBC about thin TVs.
They don't talk about DLP, but they do talk about LCD.
Mostly what you have heard here, but just in case you want more info.....
Do you really want a thin TV?