The Basics: The HL-T5689S is a 56-inch, 1080p DLP rear-projection television that replaces the traditional DLP color-wheel/lamp combination with a light engine that uses red, green and blue LEDs. This advanced technology adds a little more to the bottom line, compared with a standard DLP RPTV, but this TV is still a good deal compared with similarly-sized flat panels. The HL-T5689S includes Samsung’s Digital Natural Image engine (DNIe) processing and Cinema Smooth light engine, designed to reduce visible pixel structure and improve fine detail. The well-designed menu system contains a nice assortment of picture adjustments, including white-balance controls, a choice of three color gamuts (wide, normal and sRGB), and a My Color Control that lets you fine-tune pink, green and blue hues independently. There are six aspect ratio choices, including a Just Scan mode for viewing 1080i/1080p images with no overscan. The TV’s ...

Introduction Reports of RPTV's death have been greatly exaggerated. Okay, maybe not greatly. How about mildly exaggerated? Toshiba, Hitachi, and (most surprising) Sony have all announced that they are abandoning RPTV production. Last September, IDC predicted that RPTV sales would drop from 2.5 million units in 2006 to as few as 30,000 units in 2011, and that was before Sony's announcement. This expected decline is due to the fact that the price of large-screen flat-panel TVs continues to drop, chipping away at the RPTV's biggest selling point: You get more screen size for less money. Indeed, the future may be grim for rear-pro HDTVs, but 2011 is still several years away. Let's talk about the here and now. Right here, right now, Samsung, and Mitsubishi are still committed to their respective rear-pro technologies. As much as flat-panel pricing has fallen, plasma ...

Introduction So, you want a big screen experience in your home, but a 50-inch plasma won’t quite cut it and you don’t have the Benjamins for something bigger. To make matters worse, your room isn’t quite suited for front projection, or you can’t justify to your significant other why heavy blackout drapes or gray walls is a good idea. What is one to do? Get yourself a rear-projection DLP, that’s what you do. Rear projection DLP HDTVs offer most, if not all, of the features of their plasma and projection brethren with fewer drawbacks and lower prices. Rear projection DLPs come in a wide range of sizes, from 40 inches on up and, thanks to the wizards over at Texas Instruments, they’re shallower than ever, with an average depth around 15 inches, making them easier to place in and about the home. To top it off, rear-projection DLP TVs are way cheaper than their ...

Introduction The mere mention of flat screen television brings out passion in even non-AV enthusiasts. In fact, there are few households that wouldn’t purchase such display devices if they didn’t command what is considered by most to be a king’s ransom. I mean, what’s not to love? They are slim, can be hung on walls and free up much desired and highly valuable floor space. Research from our readers show the majority of homes have one of two styles of TVs – some have smaller direct-view CRT televisions while others have ridiculously large rear-projected CRT big screens. The latter became very popular in the last decade-and-a-half as an inexpensive way to enjoy very large video. These “big screen TV” displays reach up to and beyond 70 inches, and weigh in at a price that most can afford, yet they also have serious downsides, as they are enormous and frankly in most cases have poor ...