Video Asylum

Posted by mcdonley on December 12, 2001 at 05:07:23

In Reply to: projection tv vs flat screen posted by sarah on December 09, 2001 at 16:24:05:

Sarah,

You have to use YOUR eyes to decide this question for yourself. Your question spans the current border between the "direct view" and rear projection ideologies.

I have owned both, but currently am watching from the direct view camp because my viewing distance is about 9 feet, and seeing scan lines or individual pixels breaks the hi-def experience for me. At this distance my eyes perceive direct view images as continuous and sharper than similar priced rear projection sets. (There was this very large Mitsubishi for fifteen grand that blew everything away at any distance...)

The home theatre size guidelines recommend about 34" for my viewing distance. It is interesting that my 34" Panasonic widescreen "looks" quite small in the wall unit, but the image is so phenominally smooth that I am reminded why I stuck with a direct view when it is on. (I looked at the 4:3 36" televisions in the same $2000 price range but tried to "future proof" the set by buying 16:9. I also compared the RCA 38" but the picture quality seemed quite poor (poor black level, lower edge sharpness, geometry induced distortions...to my eyes). I looked at various 43 to 46 inch RPTVs just to be thorough, but the direct view always looked sharper and smoother at the same 7-9 feet distance. The larger sets sometimes showed disturbing motion inside large solid color areas. There was a plasma display that had so much solid color action it looked like the areas were boiling liquid, not solid objects.

Perhaps due to the fact that in my home, I would only see one set at a time, a 46" hi-def RPTV would look much sharper than conventional TVs that the 46" would also have been satisfactory, but there was once that I owned a 60" conventional def RPTV and I went to someone else's house and their directview 36" TV just looked so much brighter and sharper than my set. This time I stuck with directview. When this set moves to the bedroom in a few years, I may decide different when every channel is hi-def.

That tells you why I went directview, now you will hear from the RPTV and projector views and then you will have to decide what your eyes want most...

Alan