Choosing a TV used to be much simpler. They all were based on the same CRT technology. You chose one based on features, brand preference, and pricing, because, after calibration to remove the differences in factory picture presets (the main way manufactures try to differentiate their sets from their competition), they were all pretty much the same. Today, however, the HDTV revolution has brought a wealth of competing technology, each with their own pros and cons. There is no one tech best for all applications. You need to be informed to choose the right tech for your needs, because they ain’t cheap, and nothing is worse than buyer’s remorse. FEAR NOT! The TechnoAmigo is here to cut through the techno babble and get the message to the people!

You can cut your options in half by answering one question: Do you want to mount it on the wall, or can you spare some floor space? If you need wall mounting, a flat panel display (FPD) or a front-projector is for you. If floor standing is your preference, then a rear projection TV (RPTV) is what you’re looking for. If you can go with either mounted or standing, then your viewing environment and budget will point the way. Let’s look at those sexy flat panels first.

Wall Flowers - Flat Panel Technologies: Plasma and LCD Duke It Out!
If you are looking for a set less than 42” screen, then there is only one game in town: LCD. They don’t make plasmas any smaller than 42”. 42 to 60” is the regime where it gets interesting. Your viewing environment is the main decider here. If you need greater than 60” and have to hang it on the wall, direct view LCD and Plasma sets exist that big, but I hope for your sake you are a multi-millionaire, because they are insanely expensive. A front-projector is probably the way to go, see the section below.

Plasma – Once exotic and very expensive, plasma sets have dropped so much in price the last year or two, they are now suitable for mass consumption.
Pros:
• Excellent black level performance. They are better at producing inky blacks than any other tech, except good old CRTs… but no one’s interested in those dinosaurs anymore.
• Generally cheaper per square inch than LCDs, and prices continue to plunge.
• Wider and more affordable 1080P (see 1080P section below) choices than LCD.
Cons:
• Screen burn. Over time, persistent images can burn into the panel causing a ghost image that never goes away. The most common problem is that the letterbox on widescreen DVD or at the edges when view 4:3 TV on a 16:9 set, can burn in to panel… high undesirable. This was a big problem with early set, but manufacturing claim to have made big reductions in screen burn.
• Fading. Similar to screen burning, the brightness of plasma set’s decreases slowly over time giving them a shorter life span than the other technologies, and they don’t have a replaceable bulbs like LCDs.

LCD – Early LCD sets were insanely expensive and/or had an awful picture leading the TechnoAmigo wondering why anyone would buy them. However, the tech has improved greatly and the prices are plunging. They’re now a compelling option.
Pros:
• High Brightness makes them the best FPD tech for bright rooms.
• No screen burn issues.
• Replaceable bulbs extend set life.
Cons:
• Still a little more expensive than plasma, particularly 1080P set.
• Black levels still not as good as plasma, DLP, or LCoS, but improving.
• Can have bad pixels when the crystals get stuck.Which is best for you? To simplify things a bit, you can boil it down to bright room vs. dark room. If your primary care about is watching movies in a dark room for a serious “Home Theater” experience plasma may be your best wall mountable option. If you intend to watch TV during the day in a room with windows, LCD’s brightness may yield the best results.

Buck Champs – Rear Projection TVs
If you want the most screen for your pesos, RPTVs remain the best value. They come in sizes up to 73”. None of the techs suffer from screen burn or brightness loss issues, and prices continue to fall while performance rises. It’s a great time to get that monster set you always wanted… you just need to convince your wife that you NEED a 73” TV.

DLP – Texas Instrument’s Digital Light Projection technology was a gamble that paid-off big. The amount of time and money they spent developing it was staggering. Now, it is by far the dominant RPTV tech. However, LCoS is coming on strong…
Pros:
• Fairly mature technology. It’s been though 4+ generations of refinement. So, the major bugs are gone, and it’s less likely that next years set will blow away the one you just bought making you very sad L.
• Widest variety of sizes and styles, including some brand new, super thin ones that can be wall mounted.
• Excellent contrast. They do both bright and dark very well.
Cons:
• Rainbows – Some DLP users complain about seeing rainbows at the edge of bright objects, particularly when they are moving and on a dark background. This occurs because DLP sets only use one micro-display to produce the image compared to three in the other techs: one each for red, green, and blue. TI charges a hefty sum for their DLP chips forcing set makers to get by with one chip per set to remain cost competitive with the alternatives. RGB is produced from one chip via a spinning color wheel that cycles through red, green, and blue in sync with the picture. Some people can see the cycling of the colors, while others can not. Three chip DLP sets have been promised for some time, but are still a no show… probably the cost would be prohibitive.
• Wobble – Current 1080P DLP sets don’t have true 1920x1080 native resolution. They are actually 960x1080 chips that use a technique call wobulation to double the horizontal resolution to 1920. It is effective, but one can presume that a true 1920 picture would look sharper.

Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) – This is the newest RPTV tech to hit the market. It’s currently only available from two major manufacturers: Sony with their SXRD and JVC with HD-ILA. They both chose to create their own acronyms, but LCoS by any other name is still LCoS.
Pros:
• 3 Chips = No Rainbows– Wafer fabs can make LCoS micro-display for significantly cheaper than buying DLP chips from TI. Consequently, they can put three in each set and still remain price competitive with single chip DLP sets.
• Native 1080P. Full 1920x1080 resolution without any tricks like wobulation.
Cons:
• Fewer choices. Only two makers means fewer option in terms of size and features.
• Little more expensive than DLP.
LCD Rear Projection – This tech is a little bit older and being phased out by most makers, but there are still some bargains available. It’s basically like an LCD front projector built into the rear of the set.
Pros:
• Also 3 Chips. So, no rainbows.
• Can be found very cheap. Even the latest 1080P models from Sony are cheaper than comparable DLP and LCoS sets.
Cons:
• Contrast not as good as the other RPTV techs.
• Screen door effect – LCD technology requires some spacing between the crystals to insure rotation. The resulting picture looks a little like your watching it through a screen door. The new 1080P sets may fix this though.

CRT RPTV – The dominate RPTV tech for decades; now, almost extinct. As little as one year ago they still presented the most bangs for the buck in big screens. 65” models can be had for <$1500. However, DLP prices have plunged recently, and the TechnoAmigo can no longer recommend CRT RPTVs. RIP CRTs… you were amazing in your time.Front Projectors – Super-Size It!