Digital Projector vs. Rear Projection TV

[Guest]

Dr.Gee
clean up those cables :P



very nice unit --

I was just thinking that(cables). Most of the time the room is dark so I don't notice.

ps-U said "unit"

[BSpielbauer]

The actual answer to your question depends on several things. One of these is your own level of "pickiness" or how much of a videophile you really are. Another is your budget. Still another factor is your ability to control the amount of ambient light in the room.

To tell the truth, the only front projectors that can approach and match up with the picture quality of a CRT direct view or a CRT rear projection set are the CRT front projectors (and usually those with a three 9 inch CRTs). This means big bucks, though, and also a lot of maintenance "calibration) and ongoing maintenance (CRT replacement, lots of $$ for those, and then of course re-calibration). The types of projectors which can really come close to a respected direct view CRT or a quality rear projection set tend to run at least $18000.

But, the DLP type of front projectors have just made some pretty impressive progress. They still cannot do the deep blacks like a CRT-based direct view or a CRT-based rear projection display can, but they have come a lot closer in the past 18 months - 2 years. They are much improved in the area of contrast and deep, true blacks and gray scale. Many of the later models have solved the motion problems which were evident early on, and the rainbow-effect problems or artifacting which used to appear so regularly. Fast motion can mean lots of refresh problems on some of these units, and a film with tons of fast movement can mean a blurry, noisy image, with the resulting headaches. Some models (most of these are the latest generation) have solved this, or almost eliminated it. And, the cost for these projectors are within reach of most of us. You should still factor in the ambient light, the added cost of a screen, and how / if you will need to deal with the fan noise put out by the projector.

Ask yourself how important those deep, true blacks are to you, especially in darker films such as Panic Room, or Blade II, etc. If the blackest black you see were really only a very dark shade of gray, how much would this bother you?

I am also shopping for a possible DLP projector. BUT, I am a bit of a videophile, and spoiled by the image on my 65 inch ISF calibrated Mitsubishi. I have so far seen only one that I think I could live with, and it runs about $15000 MSRP (which might mean perhaps $10000 street price.) There is another I need to audition as a possibility, which is only $12000. Maybe a street price could be negotiated for around $7000 (?) I have seen the $5000 ones, and they do not tend to do well enough for my tastes when the signal is standard definition, and they also do not tend to like very much other light in the room at all.

Of course, as I said, I tend to be very picky. I have seen others post that they are very happy with their $2000 front projector. My goal is to get a 90-100 inch diagonal screen, and not give up the picture quality I have gotten used to (or at least to come as close as I possibly can).

None of the display technologies is perfect. Even the plasmas have a high risk of "burn in." Even the rear projection sets have a limited viewing angle, and need some light control. Even the direct view set have some risk of burn in, and a severe limitation on how large the screen can get. None is "the best."

-Bruce in Chi-Town

[BJ_M]

Ask yourself how important those deep, true blacks are to you, especially in darker films such as Panic Room, or Blade II, etc. If the blackest black you see were really only a very dark shade of gray, how much would this bother you?

this is not true with both the lower end (15grand to 20grand) and higher end (d-cinema) of projectors we use -- which have "true" black is black -- but as a general rule with most consumer projectors , can be true .. we do some modifications though at times ---

one of the best models in the 10-15 grand price point would be the projectiondesign models -- we have many of these (also sold by digital projection ) and the picture quality is stunning --

they will custom build you one also if you want ..

many of projectiondesign models are not on the projector central web site btw

they also have a very very high build quality and reliability (made in norway)..

[MACCA350]

Here's my DIY 100" screen for the X1 (I LOVE the big screen )