I've already got the whole Plasma/LCD thing down, but these new DLP TVs are new to me. My son in law and our daughter are going shopping for a DLP TV which he really likes. Apparently his parents have one and are very happy with it. My wife started saying she wants to maybe get a 60" DLP TV with 1080p HD which apparently are going for about $1100. Although, this sounds great it also sounds too good to be true. Anybody out there able to school me on the DLP TVs? Thanks.
I have a Samsung 50" DLP that has given me 2 years of flawless service at this point. The sets are a little bigger front to back than plasmas or lcd's but if you are not hanging it on the wall then it shouldn't matter. One nice thing about DLP tv's is that the lamp is replaceable. Unlike plasmas for instance were the screen has a finite life and after that the set is useless. I have never really liked LCD tv's but I suppose they are getting better. DLP's by the way, work by shining light onto a set of mirrors and then through a spinning color wheel. The mirrors essentially turn on and off as needed to light up each corresponding "pixel" with the correct color. Plasmas tend to be more expensive because the screen is more expensive. I don't feel that they are worth the extra coin though. I am sure people will jump on here to disagree but I would say just go to a store and compare them spec for spec and dollar for dollar and decide for yourself.
I have a 50" Sony DLP tv that is about 3 years old. I had to replace the bulb last year at a cost of $165, and found out that 2 years is about the lifespan of these bulbs. Other than that, I've enjoyed ours. The picture quality is good as long as you are standing more or less in front of the set. To the sides, the picture fades out.
My parents have had one for about 6 years.
No issues, failures, etc.
Be forewarned, there are more than one type of DLP (more generally called "rear projection") TVs. I have one of the SXRD variants that I am relatively happy with. Downsides to rear projection are poorer black levels than plasma but on par with mid-priced LCD. You will also get the "silk screen effect" with all rear projections that may or may not bother you. this is characterized by a shimmering effect viewed dead-on with very bright scenes. contrary to popular belief most rear projections these days have pretty good off-axis viewing.
Then there are different light engines too (bulb versus LED, etc). LEDs don't require replacement and have instant-on and no intensity drift over time. They are also more expensive and not the only factor in performance.
Depending on your price point, you can get a whole lot of performance and screen size for a lot less money than plasma or LCD. But the performance varies significantly across different manufacturers (and even across models of the same manufacturer).
Which model are you looking at and I can tell you if it's a good TV or not.
Feel free to PM me if you want to talk about it more.
PM Sent [thumbsup] Thanks.