and pros & cons pls.
Projection TVs and Plasma TVs. Do projection TVs come in flat screens? I know much about plasma and LCD, but I am lost when it comes to projection TVs.. rear, dlp and the sorts.
Which one would you buy if given an option and a budget of around 5Gs?
Plasma and LCD take less space. But Plasma seem to have a certain hours of life. LCD too, but theirs is probably longer. They are pricier.
While Projection TV will not have a small footprint, but it has a longer life. They are cheaper.
I reckon LCD and Plasma will have better picture. But DLP is very nice too (in Projection TV) ... and if you get any of them in High-Def, you'd be ok.
^^ 5-7 years, after that, they go kaput. The info is right that plasma ha much better clarity, but considering the investment, & the no of years it runs, I dont think its worth it.
Faisal: So you are saying Projection TVs don't come in the flat sleek types like plasmas? They have a flat front but a big behind? I searched on net and a few projection TVs actually seemed flat( like plasma)..they read as projection TV Monitor, does that mean it is only the monitor and u need to buy some other equipment along with it to work as a TV?
Yeah, plasmas have a life which is a bit longer than CRTs but shorter than LCDs, but what about projection TVs?
Mal1K: the life(half-life: time in which the brightness of the TV is half as when brand new) for plasmas is 25,000 to 30,000 hours. So at 6 hours a day, the tv will last 10 years or more and not like it will stop working after tht, just the picture won't be as bright.
DLP Projection TV's don't have a big footprint. You can't hang them on a wall, but they are not huge boxes like those of yesteryears.
Plasma/LCD's are the 'cool' things these days (especially when you hang them on a wall) with all wires hidden.
So if you have 5G's as a budget, go with a cool Plasma solution. I think LG or Samsung has 50" models too. Depends on your room and what goes with your interior.
And if you are getting into the High Definition world, make sure your cable or satellite provider is giving you HD service to go with your investment. In case of satellite (Dish/Direct TV) you will have to get an HD receiver. Not sure about cable.
Faisal: Yeah, I was all hyped up about HD plasma tvs, but I researched on the net and found out that ED plasma TVs are actually better. EDs don't have much resolution but they can sometimes even surpass the HDtvs(if from the same brand) in terms of picture quality coz of good contrast ratio, colors and stuff, with normal programming( non HD) ED is always better, coz there isn't much conversion needed for the incoming signal, whereas HD needs to step down quite a bit and thus quality is lost. And ofcourse they are cheap but still have a slim and sleek look.
And yeah, here the cable providers have quite a few HD channels.
LCDs are the best, but the most expensive ones and the tiniest(42" is priced aroud 7 to 8 Gs) and viewing angles are all messed up.
Then I tumbled across another option..projection TVs, I mean, I can't seem to find an equilibrium.. a perfect balance of picture quality, price, size( 37 to 50"), shape etc. There isn't much to read about projection TVs on the web, and I want to research everything there is to, before making a decision..
thanks for the help btw..
your cute 
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*Originally posted by Chandbeti: *
Faisal: Yeah, I was all hyped up about HD plasma tvs, but I researched on the net and found out that ED plasma TVs are actually better. EDs don't have much resolution but they can sometimes even surpass the HDtvs(if from the same brand) in terms of picture quality coz of good contrast ratio, colors and stuff, with normal programming( non HD) ED is always better, coz there isn't much conversion needed for the incoming signal, whereas HD needs to step down quite a bit and thus quality is lost. And ofcourse they are cheap but still have a slim and sleek look.
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This is interesting, as I am myself thinking of moving to HD. So you are saying HD is not the best picture quality-wise and ED is better? Which websites have you used to research this so far?
Mucho Gracias!
I am not saying EDs are actually better in resolution or picture quality all the time, but for the money you pay, EDs are a better deal. Though EDs are better for the 90% of the channels( non-hd), Like I said, the signal needs a step down in case of HDs, and Eds adjust more easliy to that signal. Even with the HD programming, if u are watching the same channel on an HD and an EDtv(simultaneously) of the same brand, u will only notice a difference of 8 to 10% in the picture quality, and if u have a cheap HD and a good ED( which is still cheaper than a mediocre HD) the picture quality in the ED can easily surpass the HD tv even with HD programming.
I dunno how to post a link.. but I will just copy paste a link here..
A few myths:
Plasma only lasts 5 years ? Was true for the first gen but 3rd geen been out for a year and 4th gen approaching soon. Plasma half life is around 25 years, thanks mainly due to a higher mixture of xenon. Longer than LCD
Plasma are power hungry ! They are if you have a pure white screen but thats not normally what you haae. Power is dependant on what is being displayed and on general plasma takes less power per square cm than LCD. LCD takes the same amount of power regardless of what is on the display due to back lighting.
Plasma has better viewing angles, better colour range, larger screen sizes generally, consume less power, have a longer life. Price wise a good plasma wont cost much less than a LCD my favourite being the Pioneer's. Screen burn occurs easily
LCD has a brighter picture, contrast not as good. However it has an advantage in that less light is reflected off the screen than a plasma display making it more suited to a room with light shining through the window. Plasma is much better than LCD in a darker enviroment i.e. home cinema. Viewing angles also not as good. Not very likely to screen burn.
DLP. Nice sharp picture much cheaper than the others for large screens. Not wall hanagable although base is fairly slim. Be very careful on what model you get DLP (one) has a colour wheel spinning at 3600 RPM with RGB filters so you are seeing a picture made up of first red, then green and finally blue the frames occur so fast that most users cant tell that only one colour is displayed at any one time. However some people can tell its called the rainbow effect they pick it up and it can be a pain to watch TV. DLP 2 has the colourwheel running at 7200 RPM giving a smoother picture with less of a rainbow effect. DLP 3 runs at 7200 RPM but has 6 filters rather than 3 RGBRGB this once again doubles the frames as each revolution of colour wheel equates to 6 frames rather than 3 so think of it as 14400 RPM. Best one of all is DLP with a prism for RGB displayed at the same time better colours, no rainbow effect as each frame is made up of 3 colours but requires 3 DLP chips along with good optics. Very pricey and not availabe as consumer technology , or very rarely. Usually in digital cinemas only.
risc, are you sure about the 25 years half life? And what do u mean by 25 years? A continous viewing for 25 years or 2 hours a day for 25 years? Because mostly I have heard the half life is 25,000 hours to 30,000 hours, which will obviously mean 25 years if u watch tv for 2 hours or less per day in all.
And thanks for the info on DLP, can you give me the link to this mythbuster stuff?
One of the problems of plasma technology was the half life of the gas. it would need regassing after 5 years to be of any use. Anyway the gas mixtures are so rich/good now that they will probabaly outlast the the time you will want to keep the TV so that plasma half life is not an issue any more. Regarding whther half life is measured in actual usage hours or marketing terms I'm not to sure but TBH it's not a problem anymore. LCD's have on average a 4 years continious usage time of cathode tubes think of it like that. which would give you 20 years of mean time before failure if viweing for 2 hours a day. Keep any eye out for 4th gen Pioneer plasma diaplays should be released in Japan soon.