Hey all,
this is my first post here so forgive me if its in the wrong location, but I am an dire need of some feedback. Ive been researching on here, google and other a/v sites for the past few weeks as its time to got a new set. Im going to use it primarily for sports and gaming. Specifically basketball on espn HD and gaming via the 360. Also I'd like to output my PC to it so I can watch my divx library and play some some lower res games. (I know oblivion at 1024x768 is a joke, i wouldnt even attempt it lol). I have several options, but problems with each and now cant seem to decide on a technology. First, the dreaded burn-in and IR issue with plasmas. I do understand that the burn in is not as much of an issue with newer sets/technogolgy, but it still bothers me that it still is potentially an issue. I have no problem with breaking it in watching 16:9 dvds and no games, on the lowest contrast for the first few hundred hours. What ever I have to do to protect my investment. But the fact that Ive seen posts on this forum about people having to stay away from games with HUD's and programing with logos or sports tickers (Im looking at you comedy central and ESPN, the two channels that I watch the most) makes me ill. Why spend thousands of dollars on something only to have it dictate what you can and cant watch and play? Lame. So I was originally off plasmas because of this and was turned on to Rear Projection LCD. Bigger screen, decent picture and no burn in or IR (at least not as bad as plasma). However it has setbacks too we all know. I originally thought having to replace the bulb every 3000 hrs wouldn't be that bad, but at $150-300 a bulb for every 3 yrs or so were talking $1000+ (depending on how much your bulb costs) just to maintain it up until the half life of a plasma. Basically you can buy a new plasma or lcd with the money your spending on bulbs for the RPTV :( Not cool. I think LCD is way better but I just cant find any in my price range at bestbuy at the same size. If you were to say "go with what looked best to you" I would easily say the plasma screens. The RPTV's look good, from a distance and straight on, but have a pretty bad viewing angle and they just seem to look bad from any angle but dead center. As far as specific sets Im looking the phillips 42PF9631D plasma (42 inch) and the hitatchi 55VS69 RPLCD (55 inches) which looked not quite as good but was 13 inches bigger and 400$ cheaper. Im not asking you to tell me exactly what set, I just wanted some feedback and opinions on these pros and cons of each technology in regards to the issues that are bothering me and preventing me from making a decision. Thanks-- Also, i forgot to throw DLP in the mix, but am kind of loving it in with RPTV as its the same type but I dont think they need bulb replacement...not 100% on this though.

DLP do need bulb replacement. But bulb lifes are increasing and many manufactures now offer a replacement bulb with the set. So you might be looking at 6 years+ of viewing before buying a bulb (at which point you may want a new set anyway).

I'm not positive what you are looking for. You've seem to know the pros/cons of each technologies. We can't really decide what one will work best for you.

I would say that it has been my experience that the plasma burn in issues are overhyped with the top tier sets. As long as you take it out of torch mode & don't watch a channel exclusively, you shouldn't have a problem. And unless you abuse it, burn in should be proceeded by IR. IR is able to be wiped away. Use it as your early warning... if you see the comedy central logo IRed, then put the tv on nbc or something for a few hours until the logo disappears. Then you're right back to the starting point. That's my plan anyway, but I haven't had a spot of IR despite watching (primarly) 5 channels including espn.

DLP has been the "engine" of choice for PC projectors (Infocus-types) for years. RPTV will always produce a large screen for the money. However, on-axis brightness is lower (but still "OK") but off-axis brightness drops. Are you looking at the set from an angle? Is depth an issue?

I agree with why2not, all of the technologies "negatives" are over-hyped. There are issues with them all but not to the point that there is any "crappy" technologies versus the "perfect" ones. From my take, it is resolution/physical size/$$$ issue. If you go for large sizes, go for high resolution. If you go to high resolution, drive them with a high resolution source. If done right, any technology can look good. If done wrong, any technology can look bad.

The rest, as I like to say, is a "Ford versus Chevy" argument.

DB