I wish Mitsubishi was still making DLP sets

[Kaido]

I hit up a couple of local electronics shops last week & checked out the new televisions while I was there. Soooo disappointed. My living room TV is a 60" Mitsubishi DLP which I absolutely LOVE. It's amazing for live-action movies (not as good for cartoons since it's not shiny-bright). I am thinking about buying a second used one off Craigslist to put in storage in case anything happens to my main one.

I'm not saying new sets are terrible. Home 3D looks great, I just don't want to wear (more) glasses at home (or get a 3D player, and special 3D movies, yada yada yada). I actually really like the new curved sets (they have a nice depth effect & look pretty cool IRL), which I thought were stupid until I saw them in person a couple of times (although they have a TN-ish pixely look to them, so I'd wait until the next-gen sets come out). But most of the sets just looked bad compared to my DLP.

The only one I would have considered taking home was like an $8,000 4K Sony set, which looked absolutely incredible, even close-up. But for $8k, I'd rather buy something like a car, than a television But really, outside of that, I didn't care for any of the other sets I checked out. I'm still pretty enamored with my DLP...it has the same filmic picture quality as a movie theater (minus the imperfection spots & streaks from using a film roll). The only thing I've seen that is close to the DLP image quality is a projector, but I think the DLP even edges those out (I've had both bulb-based & LED-based projectors).

RIP DLP...I know that someday mine will die :'(

 

[Krazy4Real]

I have a 60 inch in my basement you can buy.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I'm not a fan of rear projectors myself. I'm sure there are some excellent ones, but pretty much all of the ones I see have an anti-glare coating or something that makes the picture look like garbage to me, looks blurry unless you're very far away.

What is this "TN-ish pixely look"? TN's shortcomings is about the colors, I never noticed any pixelation issues compared to IPS so not sure if you're talking about that or something else? Maybe they were displaying lower res content that was being upscaled, or some of them might've had the sharpness or some other settings jacked way up. That Sony is probably the one getting raved about over the past year or so (and it is excellent), but it was also probably in it's own special place and is probably the only professionally calibrated display in the whole place which matters a lot (and why comparing in store to your home setup is not good).

I take it you didn't see OLED models? Those should blow away just about everything (but maybe good plasma and maybe that laser rear projection TV that never caught on). Of course if it was all in the brightly lit factory salesfloor of typical retail outlets then it might have looked dim compared to torchmode LCDs (although kinda doubt that, as they colors alone pop so much on OLED that I think you'd be blown away, so if you got to compare it to even a good LED LCD set in with a dark scene in a dim/dark area you'd be blown away by OLEDs black levels).

And totally meh on 3D. I wouldn't even consider home 3D other than the modern VR headsets whenever they finally get out and they hopefully tailor content to them, that should be pretty wow though.

 

[Raincity]

Learn to live with the limitations of LCD or just open your pocket book and get ready to give. OLED displays by Samsung and LG looks great. LCOS driven projectors like Sony SXRD are phenomenal starting around $3500. Or you can scour the earth for the last generation Panasonic or Samsung flagship plasma's. Another option is to acquire parts to keep your beast alive. I still have regrets getting rid of my aging Pioneer Elite Pro710HD a couple years back.

 

[Aikouka]

I used to use a Mitsubishi WD65C9 DLP, and it was a nice TV. However, I decided to upgrade to a Vizio M701, and sold the DLP to a friend of mine. He doesn't really have any issues with it... apart from some weird HDMI-CEC things. One good thing about the DLP was that the TVs were fairly big on the inside, and it wasn't hard to service the unit yourself. One time when I was playing a game, I heard a loud pop and my TV shut off. The issue ended up being my power board. I ordered a used one from eBay for $20, took the back off the DLP, removed the old board, put the new one in, and it was good to go. I doubt it would be nearly that easy with these super-thin LCDs... or really that the PCBs are nearly so segmented.

One of the best changes going to the Vizio TV was the use of passive 3D. I'm not a fan of wearing another set of glasses either, and getting to use passive clip-on 3D "glasses" was quite nice.

 

[NutBucket]

I like my Mitsu DLP but the light engine is dying; stuck mirrors. So do I shell out $200 for a new light engine or not...hard to say.

 

[Excelsior]

Rear DLPs are alright, parents still using their Samsung rear DLP. But honestly, once you go front projection the rear projection units don't make much sense. I'd much rather have a 50" plasma than even a 70" rear DLP.

 

[slag]

I have a last year 73 inch mitsu dlp. I'll be sad when it finally dies as nothing matches the size/cost ratio right now for a 73 inch TV

 

[Aikouka]

I like my Mitsu DLP but the light engine is dying; stuck mirrors. So do I shell out $200 for a new light engine or not...hard to say.

As long as you like everything else about the TV, I'd say go for it. I had to replace mine on my older Samsung DLP as I started getting the dreaded "white dots". It wasn't a terribly difficult replacement process -- I even put some better thermal paste on the light engine's heatsink!

 

[NutBucket]

Yeah, I'll probably end up replacing it. Ours is "only" a 65" but a quality flat panel isn't cheap!

 

[Matt1970]

I have a 55" JVC HDILA, which is basically a DLP without the rainbow. It does have a pretty decent picture but I just got a Samsung 52" LED so the HDILA will go in the basement.

 

[Zargon]

I like my Mitsu DLP but the light engine is dying; stuck mirrors. So do I shell out $200 for a new light engine or not...hard to say.

do it. a comparable TV will cost you 7-10 times as much!

Rear DLPs are alright, parents still using their Samsung rear DLP. But honestly, once you go front projection the rear projection units don't make much sense. I'd much rather have a 50" plasma than even a 70" rear DLP.

I have a 50" plasma, and a 65 mitsu led-dlp

the mitsu is my favorite, 2 years apart, I paid the same $$$ for them too.

the DLP looks a bit weird when you get really close, but you shouldn't be sitting 2 feet away from a 65" TV.....

mine is only 13" deep, the last gen(the one after mine) were cut down to 7-8" deep

 

[Aikouka]

the DLP looks a bit weird when you get really close, but you shouldn't be sitting 2 feet away from a 65" TV.....

Yeah... the weird look actually reminds me of the anti-glare layer's fuzziness that you get on some desktop monitors.

 

[JimKiler]

I'm not a fan of rear projectors myself. I'm sure there are some excellent ones, but pretty much all of the ones I see have an anti-glare coating or something that makes the picture look like garbage to me, looks blurry unless you're very far away.

What is this "TN-ish pixely look"? TN's shortcomings is about the colors, I never noticed any pixelation issues compared to IPS so not sure if you're talking about that or something else? Maybe they were displaying lower res content that was being upscaled, or some of them might've had the sharpness or some other settings jacked way up. That Sony is probably the one getting raved about over the past year or so (and it is excellent), but it was also probably in it's own special place and is probably the only professionally calibrated display in the whole place which matters a lot (and why comparing in store to your home setup is not good).

I take it you didn't see OLED models? Those should blow away just about everything (but maybe good plasma and maybe that laser rear projection TV that never caught on). Of course if it was all in the brightly lit factory salesfloor of typical retail outlets then it might have looked dim compared to torchmode LCDs (although kinda doubt that, as they colors alone pop so much on OLED that I think you'd be blown away, so if you got to compare it to even a good LED LCD set in with a dark scene in a dim/dark area you'd be blown away by OLEDs black levels).

And totally meh on 3D. I wouldn't even consider home 3D other than the modern VR headsets whenever they finally get out and they hopefully tailor content to them, that should be pretty wow though.

I think he needs to wait for Dolby Vision sets which will be more like 1000 nits brightness as opposed to today's 100 nits. I hear even OLED (so far) is only 200 nits, but i could be wrong.

 

[purbeast0]

i have a 50" samsung DLP from 2004 that has been sitting in a room for the past 2 years that i can't even give away. no one wants them because they can't hang them on the wall. everyone wants the thin LCD's that they can hang on the wall and turn the brightness up to 300% so everything looks super bright.

 

[NutBucket]

And 90% of people don't hang their TV on the wall. The "thin" argument is so stupid....marketing plain and simple.

I think the rainbow thing was something more common in older sets. I've never seen it with ours (I think we bought it in 2010). I have seen the screen door effect a few times but that could be attributed to source material.

 

[JimKiler]

And 90% of people don't hang their TV on the wall. The "thin" argument is so stupid....marketing plain and simple.

I think the rainbow thing was something more common in older sets. I've never seen it with ours (I think we bought it in 2010). I have seen the screen door effect a few times but that could be attributed to source material.

MY SXRD has the screen door effect but you forget about it after a while.

 

[Aikouka]

And 90% of people don't hang their TV on the wall. The "thin" argument is so stupid....marketing plain and simple.

This reminds me of my recent home search. I was looking at floor plans, and I kept coming across one alarming trend: there's no where in the living room for a proper entertainment setup (it's rare to have basements around here). Very few designs had enough uninterrupted wall space, and when they did, the rest of the layout didn't always support a modest amount of seating (say one couch and one chair). If they supported that, you would be lucky if they had room for speakers!

I think out of about 15 or so houses, I found two that would work, and the worst part is... they're larger than I need. :\ In the other homes, it seems they want you to either use a ridiculously small TV or mount the TV above the fireplace and use a soundbar like a hipster.

 

[Excelsior]

do it. a comparable TV will cost you 7-10 times as much!

I have a 50" plasma, and a 65 mitsu led-dlp

the mitsu is my favorite, 2 years apart, I paid the same $$$ for them too.

the DLP looks a bit weird when you get really close, but you shouldn't be sitting 2 feet away from a 65" TV.....

mine is only 13" deep, the last gen(the one after mine) were cut down to 7-8" deep

Just curious, why is it your favorite of the two?

 

[NutBucket]

This reminds me of my recent home search. I was looking at floor plans, and I kept coming across one alarming trend: there's no where in the living room for a proper entertainment setup (it's rare to have basements around here). Very few designs had enough uninterrupted wall space, and when they did, the rest of the layout didn't always support a modest amount of seating (say one couch and one chair). If they supported that, you would be lucky if they had room for speakers!

I think out of about 15 or so houses, I found two that would work, and the worst part is... they're larger than I need. :\ In the other homes, it seems they want you to either use a ridiculously small TV or mount the TV above the fireplace and use a soundbar like a hipster.

Luckily older homes don't tend to have this problem My house was built in '55, is small, and has a perfect living room for the entertainment system.

 

[soulcougher73]

Yeah Mitsu DLPs were awesome. Amazing bang for size buck. And i agree the thinness thing is a fairly lame reason. Wether a DLP or thin LCD most people will still mount it on a TV stand taking up the same amount of room as before. Thus no space savings. And even if you do hang your TV on a wall usually below it youll have your audio rack or something for all your equipment/cable box etc to sit on.

 

[Zargon]

Just curious, why is it your favorite of the two?

probably the DLP.

but mostly because its bigger and doesn't heat the room like a fire

the color on both are fantastic

I game on the DLP, including PC...like bf3/4 and its holds its own...

 

[SlitheryDee]

I've never even seen a DLP tv. I'm in nearly the same boat with my Panasonic plasma though. Man do I love that TV, but when it goes it looks like I'll have to change panel technologies.

 

[NutBucket]

Yeah, this about your last chance to get a new plasma panel. That's part of the reason I was considering replacing the DLP instead of fixing it.

 

[Excelsior]

probably the DLP.

but mostly because its bigger and doesn't heat the room like a fire

the color on both are fantastic

I game on the DLP, including PC...like bf3/4 and its holds its own...

Both valid reasons, and not surprising. Size is the only area they win out on when it comes to picture, and I am a big DLP fan though.


Just for front projection. Once you go FP, you never go back.