Projection, LCD TV's

[Kipper3256]

I have recently bought a 55’ Sony LCD projection TV and I just found out that you have to replace the lamp which costs around $200.Does anyone know how long a lamp lasts for? Is it really worth keeping this TV or should I just buy a regular LCD TV?? I want to keep this TV because I got a great deal, 55’ for $1,700.00.

[Nuje]

I heard basically, it gets dimmer over time (I heard it from a salesman, so it may be a lie) and basically, if your picture starts to get crappy, you replace it. You will not get a deal like that on an LCD. I say keep your TV. Same salesman said expect 3 years at least before it starts to get noticeably dim.

[Regulator75]

I would stay away from any rear projection TV. They cannot compare to LCD / Plasma / CRT. IMO

[LK34]

A friend of mine bought an LCD and was told to replace the bulb each year to maintain clarity.

And as for rear projection- I didn't think they were that bad. I have a 48in one (or something like that) and there's nothing wrong with the picture.

[ken0042]

I think you are right, you should go to an LCD. And because I am such a nice guy, I will be willing to swap you my 37" LCD for your 55" LCD projection; because I'm such a nice guy.

Is LCD better? Sure. But how much would a ~55" LCD cost you? Well this 52" LCD will set you back $7000

So, a $200 bulb every 2 years over the 6 year primary lifespan on the TV will cost you $400, giving you a net price of $2100 for your purchase. (My math based on you replacing it once in 2009, then again in 2011.)

Don't get me wrong, I love my LCD TV. But I can see it getting demoted to the bedroom soon and my buying a bigger TV for the living room.

[SeeGeeWhy]

Holy crap! That is a great deal. I bought probably the exact same model as you and it cost us $3K... where did you find yours?

I think it depends on wear and tear of the bulb, but I think Ken has is spot on to expect to replace it every 2 years or so.

The life of the set is expected to be 40000 hours all together (LCDs/Plasma's are about 60000), but both of these are probably more than you will ever need it for. I have not heard of an LCD or plasma lasting for that long, problem free, either.

All of these TVs are relatively new technologies, so I would consider investing in an extended warranty. I didn't get mine when we bought it with the intent to extend it before it expired (spread the cost out).

So far, the picture on our set has been phenomenal. When we were shopping, we did notice a slightly better picture in the high end LCD/Plasmas out there but you could not beat the price of the rear projection for the screen size and overall picture quality.

Regulator, what CRT unit are you running that looks as good as a rear projection LCD?

I've never heard of one that can handle a 1080p resolution.

[SeeGeeWhy]

I also found it interesting that Sony is out of manufacturing plasmas all together now (as they can't scale them down to a small enough size yet), and that a few of the big box stores around town dropped DLP type rear projection sets as 1/3 sold last year had to be brought back in for a major repair under warranty... yikes! now THOSE are rough odds.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy

I also found it interesting that Sony is out of manufacturing plasmas all together now (as they can't scale them down to a small enough size yet), and that a few of the big box stores around town dropped DLP type rear projection sets as 1/3 sold last year had to be brought back in for a major repair under warranty... yikes! now THOSE are rough odds.

Oh crap! I just bought a 50" DLP rear projection with 1080 (what ever that means). My heart was set on plasma. But I was told for sports and video games that the plasma was no good. The research I did on line told me the same.

[I_H8_Crawford]

Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy

Holy crap! That is a great deal. I bought probably the exact same model as you and it cost us $3K... where did you find yours?

I think it depends on wear and tear of the bulb, but I think Ken has is spot on to expect to replace it every 2 years or so.

The life of the set is expected to be 40000 hours all together (LCDs/Plasma's are about 60000), but both of these are probably more than you will ever need it for. I have not heard of an LCD or plasma lasting for that long, problem free, either.

All of these TVs are relatively new technologies, so I would consider investing in an extended warranty. I didn't get mine when we bought it with the intent to extend it before it expired (spread the cost out).

So far, the picture on our set has been phenomenal. When we were shopping, we did notice a slightly better picture in the high end LCD/Plasmas out there but you could not beat the price of the rear projection for the screen size and overall picture quality.

Regulator, what CRT unit are you running that looks as good as a rear projection LCD?

I've never heard of one that can handle a 1080p resolution.

If you bought it this year, chances are you picked up the Sony SXRD model which gives you true 1080p, and Kipper picked up the regular 55" LCD RP TV - that would explain the difference in cost.

That, or, you got jacked big time

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

Oh crap! I just bought a 50" DLP rear projection with 1080 (what ever that means). My heart was set on plasma. But I was told for sports and video games that the plasma was no good. The research I did on line told me the same.

Just make sure your set is covered, and you should be okay!

1080 describes the number of horizontal lines that are used to make up the picture (the number of vertical lines is the other half of the resolution number but is usually bigger because TVs are wider than taller - therefore the smaller number is used to describe the maximum resolution of the TV).

The difference between 1080i and 1080p is how the picture is 'processed' - i stands for interlocking and that means that the picture is split into two groups (odd number lines, even number lines) that are generated in an alternating fashion (i.e. odd, then even, then odd, then even) that is how the picture is 'updated'. p stands for progressive, which mean each individual line is processed, one after the other. p provides far superior picture quality over i.

DLPs truly have a 780p resolution that gets 'amplified' to a 1080i equivalent through various means, depending on the manufacturer.

Refresh rates on LCDs and plasmas are longer than rear projection tvs, which do make them less suited for fast moving pictures (sports). Plasmas have been known to get burn-in on screens that have a static image (say a set of icons in a video game), but they have made progress with that recently.

I don't think you made a bad choice, just make sure you get a proper warranty so you don't have to cover the costs if your unit breaks down. A 20 minute search on the internet should yield decent results in terms of what you should be looking to protect yourself against.

cnet.com, about.com, and various forums would probably be your best bet.

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by I_H8_Crawford

If you bought it this year, chances are you picked up the Sony SXRD model which gives you true 1080p, and Kipper picked up the regular 55" LCD RP TV - that would explain the difference in cost.

That, or, you got jacked big time

Yeah, I got the SXRD. He had me scared for a second there!

[I_H8_Crawford]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

Oh crap! I just bought a 50" DLP rear projection with 1080 (what ever that means). My heart was set on plasma. But I was told for sports and video games that the plasma was no good. The research I did on line told me the same.

Don't worry, you still made a good choice - IMO I'd take DLP over Plasma as well.
DLP is good bang for the buck in terms of screen size vs cost, and will give you HD quality. It's not 1080p, but right now from what I've seen if you want 50" 1080p you're looking at least $2200 (which is a sale price right now) and then the next are running around the $3000 range.
Pick up the extended warranty if its not too expensive vs the price you paid for your TV and you'll be fine.

[TurnedTheCorner]

There are DLP sets capable of 1080p native resolution now, just as with other technologies.

With projection vs. LCD/plasma, it's basically a question of screen size. There are larger and larger LCD and Plasma flat panel sets available these days, so it's not a simple matter of getting a big screen with RP or FP. The LCD and Plasma techs are now typically available in sizes of 50" or larger.

So it's now a matter of screen size and budget. You can get a similarly sized RPTV for much less than a flat panel. If budget is no object, go with a flat panel. If you prefer a bigger screen than can be done currently with flat panel (i.e. 60", 70" and up especially for a FP), then go with projection. The technologies are similar enough that I don't think there's a huge difference anymore, or a great advantage to choosing one or the other.

I have a 46" DLP that I've had for 26 months, and the bulb looks as good as new. When the bulb does need replacing, the TV will still look as good as it did on Day 1. Not bad in my estimation.

SXRDs are niiiice.

[burn_baby_burn]

I didn't take the extended warranty because I believe it is a waste of money. And for how hard the guy at future shop tried to tell me other wise, it has to be a scam. They would not give me a price without it. So I bought at Visions. In my experience, if you have a lemon. It is going to go right away or in the first couple of months. So manufatures waranty should cover it. But if the product is a piece of junk, your screwed.

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

I didn't take the extended warranty because I believe it is a waste of money. And for how hard the guy at future shop tried to tell me other wise, it has to be a scam. They would not give me a price without it. So I bought at Visions. In my experience, if you have a lemon. It is going to go right away or in the first couple of months. So manufatures waranty should cover it. But if the product is a piece of junk, your screwed.

I feel the same way, but with new technology like this, even the manufacturer will be somewhat unsure of what will fail by when.

A year should be good enough to cover most lemons, but if your stuff if going to bite the dust on day one of year two, I'd like to be covered against it.

I'm not too keen on spending that much money on something like a TV every two years...

[I_H8_Crawford]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

There are DLP sets capable of 1080p native resolution now, just as with other technologies.

With projection vs. LCD/plasma, it's basically a question of screen size. There are larger and larger LCD and Plasma flat panel sets available these days, so it's not a simple matter of getting a big screen with RP or FP. The LCD and Plasma techs are now typically available in sizes of 50" or larger.

So it's now a matter of screen size and budget. You can get a similarly sized RPTV for much less than a flat panel. If budget is no object, go with a flat panel. If you prefer a bigger screen than can be done currently with flat panel (i.e. 60", 70" and up especially for a FP), then go with projection. The technologies are similar enough that I don't think there's a huge difference anymore, or a great advantage to choosing one or the other.

I have a 46" DLP that I've had for 26 months, and the bulb looks as good as new. When the bulb does need replacing, the TV will still look as good as it did on Day 1. Not bad in my estimation.

SXRDs are niiiice.

True about the 1080p DLPs but one has to be careful, as apparently they can lead to eye-strain on the viewer(s).

IMO if someone is looking for a 1080p go for the LCD TVs, or if you want large screen and have the space, invest in the SXRDs from Sony which use the 3 individual 1920x1080 chips for RGB.

DLP chips are still expensive so I'm not sure how long it is going to be before they get a 3 chip solution for 1080p Tvs.

IMO SXRDs are the way to go for 1080p - they give you the best of both worlds - low cost of chips (relatively speaking), no colour wheel so no issue with rainbow effect, and also vibrant colours because it uses light and reflections through the LCoS chips to display, much like DLPs do.

(Guess what TV I plan on purchasing this year?)

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by I_H8_Crawford

Don't worry, you still made a good choice - IMO I'd take DLP over Plasma as well.

I was seriously looking at DLP as well; until I found out that I am one of the 25% of the population that sees the rainbow effect on a DLP. (The first sales guy I dealt with flat out refused to let me put in my Sin City DVD.)

B_B_B- if you like the TV then don't sweat it. The bottom line is you are the one watching it. If you like it- good.

[I_H8_Crawford]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I was seriously looking at DLP as well; until I found out that I am one of the 25% of the population that sees the rainbow effect on a DLP. (The first sales guy I dealt with flat out refused to let me put in my Sin City DVD.)

B_B_B- if you like the TV then don't sweat it. The bottom line is you are the one watching it. If you like it- good.

That;s the most important part of it all.
I think if someone is buying a TV to keep up with the "Jones'" so to speak, they will not be happy with anything and will be spending an insane amount of $$$.

Sucks about the rainbow effect - my friend has a DLP and I dont see it, so guess i'm lucky in that sense, keeps one more option open for me, even though I've pretty much decided on what i want.

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by I_H8_Crawford

That;s the most important part of it all.
I think if someone is buying a TV to keep up with the "Jones'" so to speak, they will not be happy with anything and will be spending an insane amount of $$$.

Sucks about the rainbow effect - my friend has a DLP and I dont see it, so guess i'm lucky in that sense, keeps one more option open for me, even though I've pretty much decided on what i want.

I'm of the same opinion. As long as you like what you have, and are comfortable with the budget, then it is the right unit for you.

One of my friends recently bought a rear projection LCD as well, and said something along the lines of "Sure, it doesn't look as good as a Bravia, but mine isn't going to be sitting beside a Bravia in my living room".

I_H8 - the SXRD has been awesome for us in the short time we've had it. We could've gone with a high end LCD, but we are totally satisfied with the SXRD... killer set.

[I_H8_Crawford]

Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy

I'm of the same opinion. As long as you like what you have, and are comfortable with the budget, then it is the right unit for you.

One of my friends recently bought a rear projection LCD as well, and said something along the lines of "Sure, it doesn't look as good as a Bravia, but mine isn't going to be sitting beside a Bravia in my living room".

I_H8 - the SXRD has been awesome for us in the short time we've had it. We could've gone with a high end LCD, but we are totally satisfied with the SXRD... killer set.

How does the SXRD look with standard def TV?
Another reason I am looking hard at it is that I have heard as far as HD sets go, the SXRDs are one of the best at retaining some quality for standard def signals.