HDTV vs. Plasma. What is better and why?

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: KnightBreed
What are the display types currently on the market?

Plasma
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
Digital Light Processing (DLP)
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

How do front and rear projection fit into this? Front would be like an overhead projector like a movie theatre, correct? What's rear projection, then? Same technology, only from behind/inside the TV?

Plasma.. self-explanatory
Liquid Crystal Display - currently they have LCD TV's (not much larger than 30" in size, and those are already in the mid-thousands) LCD Front Projectors (used in classrooms mainly, a projector with 1 lens, quality isn't as good as CRT Front Projections, but they don't burn-in and they don't need expensive calibration), and LCD rear-projection units (which are now coming into stores - 50-60" dispalys for about $4k.
DLP - won't comment, didn't consider this type of TV
CRT - most popular display type on the market today, there's the Direct-View CRT's (all the cheap smaller TV's are Direct-View CRT's) RPTV's (Rear-Projection TV's - 3 guns in the back shining on a mirror which is then reflected onto the screen) and Front Projection CRT's (Front Projectors with 3 guns - best quality, but needs a dark room and calibration to look best)

Quality-wise and value-wise every type has its pros and cons. The best displays are probably the Front Projection CRT's (but those can run up into the mid-5 figures). Plasma is nice but as commented in here the blacks aren't really that black, and RPTV's are cheap and big and have a good picture, but are susceptible to burn-in and suffer from poor manufacturing.

 

[Ameesh]

Originally posted by: NewSc2

Originally posted by: KnightBreed
What are the display types currently on the market?

Plasma
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
Digital Light Processing (DLP)
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

How do front and rear projection fit into this? Front would be like an overhead projector like a movie theatre, correct? What's rear projection, then? Same technology, only from behind/inside the TV?

Plasma.. self-explanatory
Liquid Crystal Display - currently they have LCD TV's (not much larger than 30" in size, and those are already in the mid-thousands) LCD Front Projectors (used in classrooms mainly, a projector with 1 lens, quality isn't as good as CRT Front Projections, but they don't burn-in and they don't need expensive calibration), and LCD rear-projection units (which are now coming into stores - 50-60" dispalys for about $4k.
DLP - won't comment, didn't consider this type of TV
CRT - most popular display type on the market today, there's the Direct-View CRT's (all the cheap smaller TV's are Direct-View CRT's) RPTV's (Rear-Projection TV's - 3 guns in the back shining on a mirror which is then reflected onto the screen) and Front Projection CRT's (Front Projectors with 3 guns - best quality, but needs a dark room and calibration to look best)

Quality-wise and value-wise every type has its pros and cons. The best displays are probably the Front Projection CRT's (but those can run up into the mid-5 figures). Plasma is nice but as commented in here the blacks aren't really that black, and RPTV's are cheap and big and have a good picture, but are susceptible to burn-in and suffer from poor manufacturing.

you shouldnt comment on stuff you know nothing about. i would say only like 50% of what you said is correct

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: Ameesh

Originally posted by: NewSc2

Originally posted by: KnightBreed
What are the display types currently on the market?

Plasma
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
Digital Light Processing (DLP)
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

How do front and rear projection fit into this? Front would be like an overhead projector like a movie theatre, correct? What's rear projection, then? Same technology, only from behind/inside the TV?

Plasma.. self-explanatory
Liquid Crystal Display - currently they have LCD TV's (not much larger than 30" in size, and those are already in the mid-thousands) LCD Front Projectors (used in classrooms mainly, a projector with 1 lens, quality isn't as good as CRT Front Projections, but they don't burn-in and they don't need expensive calibration), and LCD rear-projection units (which are now coming into stores - 50-60" dispalys for about $4k.
DLP - won't comment, didn't consider this type of TV
CRT - most popular display type on the market today, there's the Direct-View CRT's (all the cheap smaller TV's are Direct-View CRT's) RPTV's (Rear-Projection TV's - 3 guns in the back shining on a mirror which is then reflected onto the screen) and Front Projection CRT's (Front Projectors with 3 guns - best quality, but needs a dark room and calibration to look best)

Quality-wise and value-wise every type has its pros and cons. The best displays are probably the Front Projection CRT's (but those can run up into the mid-5 figures). Plasma is nice but as commented in here the blacks aren't really that black, and RPTV's are cheap and big and have a good picture, but are susceptible to burn-in and suffer from poor manufacturing.

you shouldnt comment on stuff you know nothing about. i would say only like 50% of what you said is correct

pray tell... I'm all ears

 

[everman]

Where would some kind of very high end projection system work in this? Say projecting onto a 100" screen in a dark room.

 

[Mani]

I'm partial to DLP partially because I work with the technology for a living. The picture quality is excellent and the size/weightwise, most of most DLP projection TVs are not as big or heavy as CRT projection TVs. Problem with DLP is short bulb replacement cycle - the optics of a DLP system demand bulbs with very high precision and two focal points - these are difficult to make with lamp life as long as that of a typical CRT projection bulb, or even LCD proj bulb. Another problem some people percieve is the rainbow effect, where one's eyes can temporarily match the colorwheel speed, which results in a percieved "rainbow" color breakup. But even with these problems, I have seen and evaluated the best DLP TVs produced, and no other display I have seen compares.

LCD by virtue of being a transmissive technology as against a reflective one, has a problem with "screen-door" effect - where if you look somewhat closely you can almost see dark lines like a screen door around every pixel of the image. This is the killer for me. LCOS could be a major contender in a few years when the technology is more refined. It is a reflective technology like DLP but uses liquid crystal panels like LCD and has the advantages of both. I have seen a few LCOS displays and while some are very impressive, others are not - though they are all very expensive.

I don't know much about Plasma other than the fact that most affordable plasma displays do not natively support unscaled HDTV resolutions and that their black levels are notoriously poor. They do look damn sexy though.

 

[GoSharks]

plasma screens [usually] have lousy resolution and large pixel sizes (you need to be pretty far away before this becomes unnoticable) when compared to other technologies.

 

[Dari]

for all the plasma gurus, which one is the best one out there today? Which one can support native HDTV (1920X1080) and shows near black? I would prefer a link as well. THe other HDTV compatible visual displays may have their drawbacks, but the main one is that they weigh so damn much (CRT) or that you have to have perfect settings (DLPs & front and rear projectors), which means you can't see them well during the day

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Originally posted by: Mani
I'm partial to DLP partially because I work with the technology for a living. The picture quality is excellent and the size/weightwise, most of most DLP projection TVs are not as big or heavy as CRT projection TVs. Problem with DLP is short bulb replacement cycle - the optics of a DLP system demand bulbs with very high precision and two focal points - these are difficult to make with lamp life as long as that of a typical CRT projection bulb, or even LCD proj bulb. Another problem some people percieve is the rainbow effect, where one's eyes can temporarily match the colorwheel speed, which results in a percieved "rainbow" color breakup. But even with these problems, I have seen and evaluated the best DLP TVs produced, and no other display I have seen compares.

That explains the noise I noticed on the Samsung at Best Buy. Thanks for the info!

Ameesh, care to correct NewSc2's post? The TV-LCD size comment I noticed was incorrect. I believe Mitsubishi-NEC has a LCD over 50".

 

Originally posted by: NewSc2

Originally posted by: Ameesh

Originally posted by: NewSc2

Originally posted by: KnightBreed
What are the display types currently on the market?

Plasma
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
Digital Light Processing (DLP)
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

How do front and rear projection fit into this? Front would be like an overhead projector like a movie theatre, correct? What's rear projection, then? Same technology, only from behind/inside the TV?

Plasma.. self-explanatory
Liquid Crystal Display - currently they have LCD TV's (not much larger than 30" in size, and those are already in the mid-thousands) LCD Front Projectors (used in classrooms mainly, a projector with 1 lens, quality isn't as good as CRT Front Projections, but they don't burn-in and they don't need expensive calibration), and LCD rear-projection units (which are now coming into stores - 50-60" dispalys for about $4k.
DLP - won't comment, didn't consider this type of TV
CRT - most popular display type on the market today, there's the Direct-View CRT's (all the cheap smaller TV's are Direct-View CRT's) RPTV's (Rear-Projection TV's - 3 guns in the back shining on a mirror which is then reflected onto the screen) and Front Projection CRT's (Front Projectors with 3 guns - best quality, but needs a dark room and calibration to look best)

Quality-wise and value-wise every type has its pros and cons. The best displays are probably the Front Projection CRT's (but those can run up into the mid-5 figures). Plasma is nice but as commented in here the blacks aren't really that black, and RPTV's are cheap and big and have a good picture, but are susceptible to burn-in and suffer from poor manufacturing.

you shouldnt comment on stuff you know nothing about. i would say only like 50% of what you said is correct

pray tell... I'm all ears

CRT = cathode ray tube = tube TV. Projection TVs absolutely DO NOT fall under the classification of CRTs.

 

[Ns1]

plasma = pimp++

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: jumpr

CRT = cathode ray tube = tube TV. Projection TVs absolutely DO NOT fall under the classification of CRTs.

Then I guess those 7" CRTs in my Mitsu 55" RPTV are a figment of my imagination.

 

[Dari]

can anyone answer my last question?

 

[rgwalt]

Personally I'm waiting for Pioneer's organic film display. A sheet of plastic you can roll up and take with you. Sweet.

Ryan

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: Dari
for all the plasma gurus, which one is the best one out there today? Which one can support native HDTV (1920X1080) and shows near black? I would prefer a link as well. THe other HDTV compatible visual displays may have their drawbacks, but the main one is that they weigh so damn much (CRT) or that you have to have perfect settings (DLPs & front and rear projectors), which means you can't see them well during the day

Well...based on what I've read in Home Theater mag and others, the plasmas are at 1024:1024i or 1024:768p displays so nowhere near the 1920x1080 that HDTV can reach. Home Theater mag just did a review of 8 models and didn't state a clear winner. They did say the Panasonic seemed to have the darkest blacks but only offers 480p resolution. The NEC MP was maybe the best from what I read.

 

[Dari]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Dari
for all the plasma gurus, which one is the best one out there today? Which one can support native HDTV (1920X1080) and shows near black? I would prefer a link as well. THe other HDTV compatible visual displays may have their drawbacks, but the main one is that they weigh so damn much (CRT) or that you have to have perfect settings (DLPs & front and rear projectors), which means you can't see them well during the day

Well...based on what I've read in Home Theater mag and others, the plasmas are at 1024:1024i or 1024:768p displays so nowhere near the 1920x1080 that HDTV can reach. Home Theater mag just did a review of 8 models and didn't state a clear winner. They did say the Panasonic seemed to have the darkest blacks but only offers 480p resolution. The NEC MP was maybe the best from what I read.

that's terrible. so does that mean that no plasma on the market does native HD? I guess CRTs must be the only ones capable of handling 1920X1080, right?

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: Dari

that's terrible. so does that mean that no plasma on the market does native HD? I guess CRTs must be the only ones capable of handling 1920X1080, right?

Yes, from what I understand of the current crop of plasma sets. And, for RPTVs, you'll only find the premium sets with 9" CRTs will be capable of the full 1920x1080i. Although, I don't even know for sure that broadcasters are pushing the full 1920x1080 resolution at this point anyway. My 55" Mitsu can resolve 1200 horizontal lines of resolution and from what I've seen on HD broadcasts (CBS, ABC, PBS, NBC, Showtime, HBO, Discovery) it looks AMAZING

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: NewSc2

Originally posted by: Ameesh

Originally posted by: NewSc2

Originally posted by: KnightBreed
What are the display types currently on the market?

Plasma
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
Digital Light Processing (DLP)
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

How do front and rear projection fit into this? Front would be like an overhead projector like a movie theatre, correct? What's rear projection, then? Same technology, only from behind/inside the TV?

Plasma.. self-explanatory
Liquid Crystal Display - currently they have LCD TV's (not much larger than 30" in size, and those are already in the mid-thousands) LCD Front Projectors (used in classrooms mainly, a projector with 1 lens, quality isn't as good as CRT Front Projections, but they don't burn-in and they don't need expensive calibration), and LCD rear-projection units (which are now coming into stores - 50-60" dispalys for about $4k.
DLP - won't comment, didn't consider this type of TV
CRT - most popular display type on the market today, there's the Direct-View CRT's (all the cheap smaller TV's are Direct-View CRT's) RPTV's (Rear-Projection TV's - 3 guns in the back shining on a mirror which is then reflected onto the screen) and Front Projection CRT's (Front Projectors with 3 guns - best quality, but needs a dark room and calibration to look best)

Quality-wise and value-wise every type has its pros and cons. The best displays are probably the Front Projection CRT's (but those can run up into the mid-5 figures). Plasma is nice but as commented in here the blacks aren't really that black, and RPTV's are cheap and big and have a good picture, but are susceptible to burn-in and suffer from poor manufacturing.

you shouldnt comment on stuff you know nothing about. i would say only like 50% of what you said is correct

pray tell... I'm all ears

CRT = cathode ray tube = tube TV. Projection TVs absolutely DO NOT fall under the classification of CRTs.

Good GAWD don't try to act as if you know what you're talking about when you do not!

The vast majority of RPTVs and higher end front projection TVs use CRTs to create and project the image onto the screen.

There is enough misinformation out there, don't add to it be being so damn sure of something you obviously know nothing about.

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: KnightBreed

Originally posted by: Mani
I'm partial to DLP partially because I work with the technology for a living. The picture quality is excellent and the size/weightwise, most of most DLP projection TVs are not as big or heavy as CRT projection TVs. Problem with DLP is short bulb replacement cycle - the optics of a DLP system demand bulbs with very high precision and two focal points - these are difficult to make with lamp life as long as that of a typical CRT projection bulb, or even LCD proj bulb. Another problem some people percieve is the rainbow effect, where one's eyes can temporarily match the colorwheel speed, which results in a percieved "rainbow" color breakup. But even with these problems, I have seen and evaluated the best DLP TVs produced, and no other display I have seen compares.

That explains the noise I noticed on the Samsung at Best Buy. Thanks for the info!

Ameesh, care to correct NewSc2's post? The TV-LCD size comment I noticed was incorrect. I believe Mitsubishi-NEC has a LCD over 50".

What you saw was probably an LCD Projection TV, those are out right now. LCD TV's (LCD Screens) i.e. the types you see on computers are still small because of many technological issues - thin films for holding the liquid crystals are very fragile during production and also the signal from the sides tend to get lost in the middle of the screen (for lack of better layman explanation). That's why the Apple 23" LCD monitor is about $2300 and the 50" LCD you saw was around $5000. The largest LCD Monitor (direct-view) out right now is about 30" and I believe it's made by Sharp. It retails for about $4000 last I checked.

One way to tell the difference (probably the easiest) between a LCD tv and LCD rear-projection units are the thickness of the screen. LCD direct view displays are about an inch thick (thinner than plasma screens!) LCD rear-projection displays are at least half a foot in depth.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Originally posted by: NewSc2

Originally posted by: KnightBreed

Originally posted by: Mani
I'm partial to DLP partially because I work with the technology for a living. The picture quality is excellent and the size/weightwise, most of most DLP projection TVs are not as big or heavy as CRT projection TVs. Problem with DLP is short bulb replacement cycle - the optics of a DLP system demand bulbs with very high precision and two focal points - these are difficult to make with lamp life as long as that of a typical CRT projection bulb, or even LCD proj bulb. Another problem some people percieve is the rainbow effect, where one's eyes can temporarily match the colorwheel speed, which results in a percieved "rainbow" color breakup. But even with these problems, I have seen and evaluated the best DLP TVs produced, and no other display I have seen compares.

That explains the noise I noticed on the Samsung at Best Buy. Thanks for the info!

Ameesh, care to correct NewSc2's post? The TV-LCD size comment I noticed was incorrect. I believe Mitsubishi-NEC has a LCD over 50".

What you saw was probably an LCD Projection TV, those are out right now. LCD TV's (LCD Screens) i.e. the types you see on computers are still small because of many technological issues - thin films for holding the liquid crystals are very fragile during production and also the signal from the sides tend to get lost in the middle of the screen (for lack of better layman explanation). That's why the Apple 23" LCD monitor is about $2300 and the 50" LCD you saw was around $5000. The largest LCD Monitor (direct-view) out right now is about 30" and I believe it's made by Sharp. It retails for about $4000 last I checked.

One way to tell the difference (probably the easiest) between a LCD tv and LCD rear-projection units are the thickness of the screen. LCD direct view displays are about an inch thick (thinner than plasma screens!) LCD rear-projection displays are at least half a foot in depth.

No, Best Buy had the HLM507W on display. Its Samsung's 50" DLP.

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: NewSc2

Originally posted by: Ameesh

Originally posted by: NewSc2

Originally posted by: KnightBreed
What are the display types currently on the market?

Plasma
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
Digital Light Processing (DLP)
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

How do front and rear projection fit into this? Front would be like an overhead projector like a movie theatre, correct? What's rear projection, then? Same technology, only from behind/inside the TV?

Plasma.. self-explanatory
Liquid Crystal Display - currently they have LCD TV's (not much larger than 30" in size, and those are already in the mid-thousands) LCD Front Projectors (used in classrooms mainly, a projector with 1 lens, quality isn't as good as CRT Front Projections, but they don't burn-in and they don't need expensive calibration), and LCD rear-projection units (which are now coming into stores - 50-60" dispalys for about $4k.
DLP - won't comment, didn't consider this type of TV
CRT - most popular display type on the market today, there's the Direct-View CRT's (all the cheap smaller TV's are Direct-View CRT's) RPTV's (Rear-Projection TV's - 3 guns in the back shining on a mirror which is then reflected onto the screen) and Front Projection CRT's (Front Projectors with 3 guns - best quality, but needs a dark room and calibration to look best)

Quality-wise and value-wise every type has its pros and cons. The best displays are probably the Front Projection CRT's (but those can run up into the mid-5 figures). Plasma is nice but as commented in here the blacks aren't really that black, and RPTV's are cheap and big and have a good picture, but are susceptible to burn-in and suffer from poor manufacturing.

you shouldnt comment on stuff you know nothing about. i would say only like 50% of what you said is correct

pray tell... I'm all ears

CRT = cathode ray tube = tube TV. Projection TVs absolutely DO NOT fall under the classification of CRTs.

Good GAWD don't try to act as if you know what you're talking about when you do not!

The vast majority of RPTVs and higher end front projection TVs use CRTs to create and project the image onto the screen.

There is enough misinformation out there, don't add to it be being so damn sure of something you obviously know nothing about.

Guess I don't need to reply to this.. anything else wrong with my post? I didn't comment on DLP tv's because that was the only TV I did not consider when I was purchasing a TV. I settled on a used ISF-calibrated Toshiba TW40X81 for $1000. I was looking at Panasonic's 47" LCD-rear projection display for about $3400, a few plasma screens for about $4000, LCD projectors, Direct-view projectors, Direct-view HDTV's (Sony Wega's), and LCD Direct-View displays (actually these were waay too expensive for me to consider - $1500 for a 17" screen? sheesh)

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: KnightBreed

Originally posted by: NewSc2

Originally posted by: KnightBreed

Originally posted by: Mani
I'm partial to DLP partially because I work with the technology for a living. The picture quality is excellent and the size/weightwise, most of most DLP projection TVs are not as big or heavy as CRT projection TVs. Problem with DLP is short bulb replacement cycle - the optics of a DLP system demand bulbs with very high precision and two focal points - these are difficult to make with lamp life as long as that of a typical CRT projection bulb, or even LCD proj bulb. Another problem some people percieve is the rainbow effect, where one's eyes can temporarily match the colorwheel speed, which results in a percieved "rainbow" color breakup. But even with these problems, I have seen and evaluated the best DLP TVs produced, and no other display I have seen compares.

That explains the noise I noticed on the Samsung at Best Buy. Thanks for the info!

Ameesh, care to correct NewSc2's post? The TV-LCD size comment I noticed was incorrect. I believe Mitsubishi-NEC has a LCD over 50".

What you saw was probably an LCD Projection TV, those are out right now. LCD TV's (LCD Screens) i.e. the types you see on computers are still small because of many technological issues - thin films for holding the liquid crystals are very fragile during production and also the signal from the sides tend to get lost in the middle of the screen (for lack of better layman explanation). That's why the Apple 23" LCD monitor is about $2300 and the 50" LCD you saw was around $5000. The largest LCD Monitor (direct-view) out right now is about 30" and I believe it's made by Sharp. It retails for about $4000 last I checked.

One way to tell the difference (probably the easiest) between a LCD tv and LCD rear-projection units are the thickness of the screen. LCD direct view displays are about an inch thick (thinner than plasma screens!) LCD rear-projection displays are at least half a foot in depth.

No, Best Buy had the HLM507W on display. Its Samsung's 50" DLP.

?? So what was the Mits-NEC LCD?

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Originally posted by: NewSc2

Originally posted by: KnightBreed

Originally posted by: NewSc2

Originally posted by: KnightBreed

Originally posted by: Mani
I'm partial to DLP partially because I work with the technology for a living. The picture quality is excellent and the size/weightwise, most of most DLP projection TVs are not as big or heavy as CRT projection TVs. Problem with DLP is short bulb replacement cycle - the optics of a DLP system demand bulbs with very high precision and two focal points - these are difficult to make with lamp life as long as that of a typical CRT projection bulb, or even LCD proj bulb. Another problem some people percieve is the rainbow effect, where one's eyes can temporarily match the colorwheel speed, which results in a percieved "rainbow" color breakup. But even with these problems, I have seen and evaluated the best DLP TVs produced, and no other display I have seen compares.

That explains the noise I noticed on the Samsung at Best Buy. Thanks for the info!

Ameesh, care to correct NewSc2's post? The TV-LCD size comment I noticed was incorrect. I believe Mitsubishi-NEC has a LCD over 50".

What you saw was probably an LCD Projection TV, those are out right now. LCD TV's (LCD Screens) i.e. the types you see on computers are still small because of many technological issues - thin films for holding the liquid crystals are very fragile during production and also the signal from the sides tend to get lost in the middle of the screen (for lack of better layman explanation). That's why the Apple 23" LCD monitor is about $2300 and the 50" LCD you saw was around $5000. The largest LCD Monitor (direct-view) out right now is about 30" and I believe it's made by Sharp. It retails for about $4000 last I checked.

One way to tell the difference (probably the easiest) between a LCD tv and LCD rear-projection units are the thickness of the screen. LCD direct view displays are about an inch thick (thinner than plasma screens!) LCD rear-projection displays are at least half a foot in depth.

No, Best Buy had the HLM507W on display. Its Samsung's 50" DLP.

?? So what was the Mits-NEC LCD?

I thought you were responding to my comment about Samsung's DLP. Sorry for the confusion!

Trying to find the LCD TV...

Edit: I lied. It was a Zenith D60WLCD and it was 60" and probably a foot deep.

 

[spidey07]

WOW,

I'm with you Amused (seems we always pop in on the video stuff ), there is enough misinformation in this thread to build a home theater.

In all honety plasma screens really don't look very good. Almost all of them are 1024x768 with the lower priced ones being only EDTVs (enhanced definition = 480 progressive). The blacks are indeed very poor making them almost impossible to produce good depth or a 3d like image. The only positive I can think of for plasma is the "looks cool hanging on the wall" factor.

Now if we start to debate the "which technology is better" that's were it gets difficult because CRT, DLP, LCD and LCoS all have their pros and cons.

CRT - still the best image quality but convergence/geometry, burn-in, focus and wear are the cons.
LCoS - great image, high 1920x1080p resolution, good blacks, no worries about geometry/convergence as it is a fixed pixel display.
DLP - Same as LCoS benefits wise except resolution is 1280x768, fixed pixel. Can have some stuck mirrors over time
LCD - poor blacks, stuck pixels

So if tinkering and maintenance are your forte then a CRT based HDTV is for you. If you want to spend a little more money and have a relatively maintenance free display then LCoS or DLP are very attractive.

 

[Amused]

You know, my main problem with TV makers today is the universal red push and torch mode they introduce on all production TVs so they stand out on a showroom floor.

Sometimes I think the TV makers are in cahoots with the ISF to make money on calibrations. It really pisses me off that any TV I buy needs to be professionally calibrated to achieve neutral color and grayscale balance.

I can understand that convergence, geometry and focus can get hosed a bit in shipping. I'm willing to deal with that. But this color thing and setting TVs up for massive burn in problems at the factory MUST be corrected.

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: spidey07
WOW,

I'm with you Amused (seems we always pop in on the video stuff ), there is enough misinformation in this thread to build a home theater.

In all honety plasma screens really don't look very good. Almost all of them are 1024x768 with the lower priced ones being only EDTVs (enhanced definition = 480 progressive). The blacks are indeed very poor making them almost impossible to produce good depth or a 3d like image. The only positive I can think of for plasma is the "looks cool hanging on the wall" factor.

Now if we start to debate the "which technology is better" that's were it gets difficult because CRT, DLP, LCD and LCoS all have their pros and cons.

CRT - still the best image quality but convergence/geometry, burn-in, focus and wear are the cons.
LCoS - great image, high 1920x1080p resolution, good blacks, no worries about geometry/convergence as it is a fixed pixel display.
DLP - Same as LCoS benefits wise except resolution is 1280x768, fixed pixel. Can have some stuck mirrors over time
LCD - poor blacks, stuck pixels

So if tinkering and maintenance are your forte then a CRT based HDTV is for you. If you want to spend a little more money and have a relatively maintenance free display then LCoS or DLP are very attractive.

Well said. I'm still kind of clueless about any technology DLP and LCoS.. because I didn't really consider those two when I was searching for a TV. I have compared my current ISF-calibrated Tosh 40" HDTV (RPTV) with other TV's, and the image quality is easily one of the best I've seen. At $1000 it was a steal. I actually kind of like doing the tinkering around with the convergence and I haven't noticed any signs of burn-in yet, so I'm happy.

Pros about image quality: No "pixels".. the image blends together nicely. Blacks are the deepest blacks, and colors are most vibrant (i've seen a "washed-out/whited-out" look on many of the newer technology TV's, but then again, those were properly calibrated and in my room, so I can't perfectly compare)

Cons: Bright colors tend to seep over the blacks. i.e. a red spot in a black screen will make the black surrounding it turn a shade of red. Also burn-in is always a worry. Convergence shifts, yeah, but nothing a quick check into the service menu can fix.

Bottom line: Best value (size-wise and cost-wise), biggest non-projection picture.