HD Display Technologies Explination

I won't ask someone for a complete explination here (though if you have the time and inclination to do so, please do), but I'm looking for some sort of article or explination of the different types of display technologies (TV's only, no projectors), the pros and cons of each, and over all general opinion of you fine people.

One of my goals in 2008 is to get an HDTV and I'm starting up my research. But I haven't researched a TV since just before I bought my JVC D-Series years back.

I've heard of Plasma, LCD, DLP, and LCOS, but I don't really know what each of those involves. I could care less about it being wall mountable, I just want to know about the display technology itself at the moment. Any and all replies are appreciated. Thanks!

Re: HD Display Technologies Explination

Here's a quick start on the terms and includes more links for the different types of displays.

TV and HDTV Glossary

Another article on LCD/DLP/LCOS-SXRD

What Retailers Don’t Tell You About Microdisplay Rear Projectors (RPTVs) » HDGURU.Com

(FYI: Sony is getting out of the SXRD rear-projection set production and concentrating on LCD flatpanels, earlier Toshiba did the same thing, so mainly DLP sets are made by Samsung and Mitsubishi, while JVC makes LCOS sets).

Re: HD Display Technologies Explination

Thanks for the links. I have a question though, a friend of mine has an LCD (1080p Vizio) and my father has an SXRD. Whenever I see a 720p signal on my friends LDC it looks pixelized and grainy, which really only goes away when he turns on a 1080 HD source. I've never seen this issue on my fathers SXRD, is this a limitation of LCD as a technology? Especially with most of the market moving to LCD (I saw the thread about Sony), this worries me.

Re: HD Display Technologies Explination

The Visio panels are relatively crap compared to the SXRD RPTVs. They are a cheap way for the masses to get "one of those cool flat TVs." You get what you pay for most of the time when it comes to consumer video devices.

Here's a link to a somewhat outdated but very detailed survey that compares the various display types: HDTV Display Technology Shoot-Out .

Best regards and beautiful pictures,
G. Alan Brown, President
CinemaQuest, Inc.

"Advancing the art and science of electronic imaging"

Re: HD Display Technologies Explination

Could be any number of things from the quality of that brand of panels, as George has suggested, through how each set's picture is adjusted (the lower the resolution of the source signal, the worse it will look on a maladjusted set), to the video source (cable or satellite, including the particular receiver.) Finally the quality of the scaler in each TV will make a difference. (The Vizio may do a good job going from 1080i to 1080p and a bad one with 720p source material.)

There are too many variables to suggest a certain answer, and I'd hestitate to generalize from one LCD panel and one SXRD to any firm conclusions about the underlying technologies. (Having said that, I own a JVC LCoS and regularly watch four different LCD panels, some 720p, some 1080p, and the JVC blows all of them away. And I calibrated all of them myself. )

Regards,

Joe