Are Rear Projection HDTVs the best value?

[kingofgrills]

I completely agree. I think today's digital rear projectors offer a tremendous value for the buck. I had a home theater section built into house, and Sony's SXRD 1080p Grand WEGA rear projector was designed as the centerpiece of the room. It offers a phenomenal picture in a relatively compact package.

Sure, it doesn't hang on my wall, but in my full wall media center many guests have mistaken it for a flat panel set. Dollar wise though, you just can't beat it for the picture quality you get. To me, that's what counts.

[Enoch]

Can someone tell me why reviews are almost exclusively on plasma's and LCD's? I mean, do people think DLP sucks? Personally, I thought it always looked better overall than other similarly sized display types (besides CRT of course). What gives? Am I just behind the times? Or are these people just reviewing plasma and lcd displays more because they're flat and therefore "sexy." If the latter is the case, that sucks. I don't care how deep my display is as long as I can get a huge one for a good price. Review DLP people!

[AudioGuy2007]

I think it might be because single chip DLP's have the spinning color wheel and give the rainbow effect. Until they can put 3-chip DLPs on the market for under $3500, I have ZERO interest in one. SXRD and HD-ILA are far superior in my opinion.

[Enoch]

Originally Posted by AudioGuy2007

I think it might be because single chip DLP's have the spinning color wheel and give the rainbow effect. Until they can put 3-chip DLPs on the market for under $3500, I have ZERO interest in one. SXRD and HD-ILA are far superior in my opinion.

Not everybody can see this effect. I can not. So I would like to see more reviews on DLP. If the "rainbow effect" is the sole reason for such a lack of reviews, that's doing a great disservice to those of us who appreciate the strengths of this technology. I agree, three chips would be better. But for now? Let's see what's out there.

[chemrat]

It is pretty hard to beat CRT's on quality. But, ..., I sure do and don't miss my old 20 inch CRT computer monitors. They were huge and heavy. One was so big that when I brought it home from work, to replicate my docking station setup completely, I found I couldn't fit it on my (cheap) home computer desk and I had to take it back to work. Argh. I still had an apple 20 inch for years, but just gave it away. Could barely lift it.

I do still use a CRT TV. But, they use a lot of energy compared with LCDs. All of my computers use LCDs now (or my old wiring couldn't take the load, given that everyone in the house has to have one (or in my case more) computers.

Luckily, we are basically a 1 TV family, though recently the kids set up a game console in the basement ona 2nd CRT, an old Hitachi "flat screen" 20 inch CRT. Bought in 1985. Works great.

Yeah, I'd like a 40-42inch 1080p (hey, why not 120 MHz) with HDMI 1.3 that works, a receiver to talk to it (no room for separates in the AV area) and a universal/upscaling/Blueray/HD-DVD player with audiophile specs. But, it is just a vain hope given the current economic climate.

Makes me glad I didn't pay retail on my 2-channel system, or the college funds would really be empty.

[deacongreg]

I tend to agree with AudioGuy2007 on this one Enoch, but not because of the sexiness or cool factor. I`ve always been a quality guy first. And this discussion on Rear Projection HDTV`s is great. Because, I firmly believe people forgot about them because of their size, weight, and I guess, lack of cool factor.

But isn`t that how our AV industry is. Convenience, cool, sexy and convenience, takes the place of quality and craftmanship, in most cases. As fars as reviews, I don`t know what magazines you read outside of avrev.com. But, I find in Home Theater, The Perfect Vision, that they seem to review a good amount of each format. Its a matter of what format, DLP, LCOs, LCD, PLASMA, SXRD, D - ILA (JVC), Rear Projection HDTV, fits your room and lighting conditions. How you plain to use your set. Each format clearly has its pluses and weaknesses. That is what it really comes down to.