TV Dye Lemma (1 Viewer)

[Shaughan]

Just bought a new house and I am looking to get a new display for the home theater...

My criteria are these:

1920x1080 resolution.
1080p display
1080p input
50" min. diagonal.
Cannot have angle of view issues.
No FP technology tyvm

My assessments of current technology:

DLP: Angle of view issues. Not acceptable.
Plasma: Picture fade over time (that's what I have read).
LCD: Displays are too slow to keep up with high movement action scenes / sports.

My questions are these:

Is Plasma indeed plagued with fade issues? I suspect that my resolution requirements listed above preclude this technology anyway...

LCD: Are the speed issues for real?

Based on my criteria, I am also interested in options to meet that criteria.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Shaughan]

I am amazed that there has been no opinion here in 24 hours...

It's just not like you folks...

 

[John S]

LCD speed issues are a thing of the past, except in maybe the lowest end LCd displays.

Plasma does have fade, but it is generally an extreme amount of time before it becomes notice-able at all.


But if you want 1080p right now, this is all moot. You are certainly looking for one of the new DLP displays, no?

 

[Shaughan]

DLP is not an option because of angle of view issues. I know that a lot of them do support 1080p, but alas I do not want the problems associated with DLP. The LCD displays I have seen recently did not seem to have speed issues but most defanately had screendoor effect issues...

I was in Ken Crane's the other day sniffing around and noticed that almost all of the Mitsu boxes were 1080p. One of the salesmen there informed me that he was Mr. Pixel (someone says something like that to me they lose all credability). Oddly enough, Mr. Pixel informed me that HDMI cannot pass a 1080p signal. Also he had no idea what SED was...

 

[John S]

While not in the spec, people have successfully passed 1080p via HDMI.

Not sure exactly what to tell you here. 1080p is pretty new, maybe wait a while longer for more offerings to choose from?


I would assume in LCD you are talking about direct view because in my expeirences DLP and LCD rear projection have about the same viewing angle limitations.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Perhaps it is because your criterion leaves no reasonable solution... for now.

First of all, any display with a native resolution of 1920x1080 is by definition 1080p - all fixed pixel displays are by their nature progressive.

Secondly, if 1080p input is a requirement, which depending on the quality of a display's interpolator may not always result in a superior image, then you will have to wait for 1080p displays with the new HDMI v1.3+ input.

Thirdly, if angle of view issues are a problem for you, then you have to rule out ALL rear projection technologies, not just DLP.

Finally, you seem sensitive to pixel gap - AKA screen door, so this rules out both Plasma and direct view LCD.

All of this leaves no room to make a recommendation other than to wait for new technologies to emerge and more support for 1080p inputs.

If you want to buy any time soon, you'll have to make some compromises, as what you describe is a Utopian Display which currently is not available to consumers.

If Cannon can resolve the longevity and manufacturing issues with SED, it may very well be the closest we will come to such a product, but there are still many unanswered questions.

OLED is another worthy technology to keep an eye on.


I suspect this is not what you were hoping to hear, but I hope it helps put things in perspective.

 

[Shaughan]

That is very helpful, Nils. I am not in a hurry. I have been looking at SED as well. If I wait long enough, my eyesight should degrade to the point that I can easily lower my requirements

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

I feel your pain. I made the mistake of getting all "hot'n'bothered" the first time I saw a prototype of JVC's D-ILA LCoS projector back in 1997.

Nearly ten years later and while JVC and Sony both have made some decent improvements, as well as pushing the envelope in resolution with both companies now offering multiple 4K chips, LCoS still remains weak in certain key performance categories like black and contrast levels. Then of course there are the serious issues of manufacturing costs and poor yield rates that remain the worst among display technologies.

My new hope of video salvation currently lies with SED, but in the meantime, there are some nice products worth compromising on.