Video Asylum

Posted by Joe Murphy Jr (A) on September 30, 2012 at 08:28:09

In Reply to: RE: Mitsubishi DLP HDTV posted by IEaudiodude on September 29, 2012 at 20:52:02

Chances are that there's a spinning color wheel. Some people are distracted by the noise during quiet scenes in a movie. Also, about 10% of the population experiences headaches from the alternating color patterns (it can't show all of the colors at one time) produced by this technology. If you're not affected, it is possible that someone else (spouse, kids, etc) may have this reaction when viewing the display. Another problem is off-axis viewing. Remember big-box CRT projection displays? Move to the left/right or up/down and the picture dims: same with color wheel DLP. Then there's the lamp issue. Most of the bulbs are rated for around 3,000 hours (average replacement interval). If you don't watch a lot of TV/movies/gaming, it could last for a long time. If you do, there's the bulb replacement cost ($280 - $350, but that was many years ago). And because the bulb dims, it's recommended that a calibration is done every so often, either by you or a professional, to keep the picture quality up to snuff.

While I prefer plasma displays, the largest consumer models are currently 65" and you can find these online starting at $1.6k.

If you need 70" or more real estate, take a look at the Sharp LED LCD models. They can be found online in the $2k range, with the 80" models starting at $3.7k.

As with any display, a calibration, whether done by an enthusiast or a professional, is necessary to get the best performance.