LCD or DLP

[Devils00Champs]

Been doin some research lately on LCD and DLP tvs. Im considering a purchase of a new HDTV, im looking at sets in the max price range of $1600 42" max size.
Whats the best technology longevity wise? Ive heard about the "rainbow effect" on dlps but i havent noticed any of that while lookin at a few sets at a local store. So far the only thing thats turning me away from DLP towards an LCD is the longevity issues about the lamps on the DLPs. Any personal experiences with DLP tvs?

*Note* My current pc monitor is a Viewsonic vp171b pro grade model which displays 720p hd signals. This is my personal experience with LCDs

[PCgeek]

The only problem I see with DLP is the rainbow effect. Apparently though it only applies to some people, so if it doesn't bother you then go for it. As far as longetivity goes, If the replacement lamp prices are reasonable, I would say go with the DLP. I bet replacing a lamp is a lot easier than fixing a broken LCD. Also I don't know if broken pixels apply to LCD TV's, maybe because of the much higher price premium manufacturers don't ship out TV's with broken pixels? But if they do, then that's one less thing you have to worry about with DLP. You can replace a broken lamp but not a broken pixel...

[Devils00Champs]

From what i read a replacement lamp costs around $350-500

this is the TV im lookin at currently http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16889102068

[DoK]

When considering DLP, Plasma, and LCD remember that, generally speaking, you'll pay for what you get.

That is to say DLP < LCD < Plasma. Trust engineers, not opinionated consumers.

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/specsformats/plasmaTVperformance.php

You'll pay more for the DLP in the long run, it won't last as long as the other two options, and the picture quality will not be as good either. Of course, you may not be able to tell the difference without using the measuring instruments they used, so it may be worth it to just go with the DLP.

[Devils00Champs]

You would put plasma as the best? Ive read several reviews and they were sayin that after a period of around like 2 years of owning the tv it looses its brightness

[Rudegar]

plasma use tons more power then lcd's
and the cells fade in time

[PCgeek]

You get what you pay for is only true to a certain extent. When comparing apples to apples, you can use price to determine quality. For example two 32" LCDs, one for 800, another for 1000. Yes the one for 1000 is more than likely higher quality.
Plasma is more expensive than the other 2 technologies because its more expensive to manufacture. When you compare different technologies you make a list of pros and cons between them and then choose.
You can't always trust engineers. They're people just like the rest of us and its very likely that whoever wrote the article was biased in one way or another. Either way its obvious Devils wants to hear what the "opinionated consumers" want to say, this is why he posted here.

[DoK]

Opinionated consumers are more subject to bias than the engineers that run Audioholics.com. They do extensive testing in their articles and provide the data that support their claims. Sure, they're people too - but this is what they do for a living.

You would put plasma as the best? Ive read several reviews and they were sayin that after a period of around like 2 years of owning the tv it looses its brightness
I trust the results in the link to Audioholics, and that was their conclusion. There are many myths and misconceptions surrounding plasma screens. I personally have no experience with LCD or Plasma, but I do notice some brightness issues away from the center of my brother-in-law-to-be's DLP TV.

But, that's just the opinion of this opinionated consumer :).

[dog2525]

with all this nonsense going on here i would have to say CRT all the way. I have a 21in 6 year old crt and so far nothing broke and is still working in perfect condition. LOL

[AKHandyman]

I believe DLP may improve over the next couple of years, however; I just posted this about the new LCD technology by eCinema that is coming out at the end of the year. It's supposed to be "jaw-dropping" ...:cool:

eCinema Systems announces new LCD technology (14/6/2006)

Stunning LCD performance will make CRT monitors obsolete for evaluation

eCinema Systems has successfully demonstrated the technology behind their upcoming High Dynamic Range, High Color Depth display. NAB show-goers lined up in April for packed, back-to- back, private screenings of the jaw dropping system that most recognized will make the CRT obsolete for evaluation. Subsequent screenings have confirmed that response. This LCD-based monitor is the result of six years of research in the field. The HDR technology offers 10 to 12 bits per color channel (for 30 to 36 bit displays) or 1000 to 4000 step gray-scales. Contrast ratio is in the order of 30,000:1 which means black levels displayed are beyond the capability of current CRT monitors.

Martin Euredjian eCinema Founder & CEO is extremely excited about the response to the new technology and made the following comments shortly after NAB, "It is well known that LCD displays did not until now produce the same deep blacks that were achievable when using a CRT. Color depth is, of course, the 8 bit bottleneck issue. Images on the screen -- at the pixel level -- are limited to a best-case of 256 levels between black and white. In other words, if you painted a gray scale you could, at most, see 256 steps. The reality of the matter is that due to calibration and gamma adjustments most displays can't do much better than about 200 steps between black and white".

"It is because of this that the whole idea of viewing and evaluating 4:4:4 10 bit LOG images on an 8 bit device was less than ideal. While the source material is able to represent in the order of 4,000 levels of gray, the monitor could (on a good day) only show about 200 of those levels. Attempting to view 3D LUT's on such a monitor would be pointless. With a 200-level gray scale, LUT-based manipulation would have to be limited to very minor adjustments in order to avoid losing even more of your gray levels. However, the rules are about to change."

eCinema's DCM40HDR, will begin shipping by the fourth quarter of this year. This is a 40 inch, 1920 x 1080 LCD display with full 4:4:4 capabilities suitable for viewing and evaluating 10 bit linear and 10 bit log DI output from the highest quality cameras and systems in use today for digital cinema production as well as high-end DI and Telecine in post-production.

Euredjian continues "The good news is that the technology is scalable. We are looking into implementing it on a 57 inch 1920 x 1080 LCD as well as an 82 inch 1920 x 1080 LCD. We are also looking into implementing the technology on projectors".

www.ecinemasys.com

[Devils00Champs]

sounds like they are talking about a monitor not a tv for that type of technology