Figured yall could offer the best criticism relevant to my pending decision.

For me I love the picture quality on my Samsung DLP. The plasmas are as good but I don't feel it had been worth the extra few hundred bucks.

This is a tough call. I will have to change bulbs at 200 a pop. I also have been strapped cash wise lately and may have gone with a plasma if I had plenty of cash when I bought it. As it stands I'm totally satisfied with the picture quality of the DLP.

72 inch plasmas require a mortgage......need I say more :)

Mainly because I did want to have to baby my new TV set; 100 hours of lower contrast, brightness, 1000 hours of watching what I view to avoid Burn In, Image Retention and having to use a burn-in DVD to ensure I have the proper ration of shows with logo, sidebars to shows without. like aging my TV before its' time.
In fact, after hooking up my DLP and seeing the number of channels with 4:3 ratio, even the HD stations, I am really glad I did not go Plasma. I would be a nervous reck worrying about BI and IM and how the family is using my new TV set, if I had a plasma

hmm.....only paid $1736 for my Toshiba 62 inch....62HM196 :D

More bang for the buck and no burn in. I love my Sammy 5687W!

I was ready to shell out for a 65" 1080p Plasma, then I took a close look at DLP (I was biased against them without really having done much research). Ended up with the Sammy 7178 for about a third of the cost, and haven't regretted it for a minute.

Plasmas are great if you can afford them, and can take care of them. DLPs, while they have mechanicals that can fail, offer a great picture at a reduced cost compared to the Plasmas.

I don't see rainbows, I have room for my 10 inch deep DLP, and I got it on sale for under $1k. For 46 inches, that's hard to beat. If I were doing it over again, I would still go for DLP because it's good technology IMO, and you can go bigger for much cheaper. The bulb issue can get costly (if you can find a warrenty plan for unlimited bulbs, then you're in good shape), but each new bulb brings the TV back to its origional brightness.

To each their own, but for me, it's a DLP.

Simple....DLP can be repaired. Plasmas are "disposable".

No burn in, no screen door, no glare/reflections on the screen and all that for 1/2 to 1/3 the price.

I have the 56" Samsung HL-S5687 1080p DLP and it is awsome and ranked at the top of the heap (any HLS by Sammy) I am a huge DLP fan. Even if Plasma did not suffer from IR, it would still be my seconds choice. I would also go PDP over LCD on anything over 50". LCD with backlight, bands, clouds are still to problematic in most cases.

After searching through LCD panels, Plasma panels, and ever the SXRD stuff I went DLP (again) and here is why:

- Plasmas are "disposable" as was said .. but 60,000 (even if you get half) is pretty long. But with a DLP, a new bulb every 3ish years at $200 is no big deal. With a new bulb ... you PQ is once again BRAND NEW looking

- I hate the buzz 90% of all PDP's give off. My Sammy's fan is very very quite and I do not ever hear it.

- Much larger size with higher res for a fraction of the price.

- I find the DLP has just as nice PUNCH and POP in regards to blacks, whites and colors as plasma. My 10,000:1 contrast give inky blacks with no loss in shadow detail.

- DLP's are VERY LIGHT and easy to move if need be. Not mountable, but still .. only 18" thick or 10" of you go Samsung Slim line. ( Come check out my old 36" Tube CRT set .. hahahahahaha )

- I find PDP sets look very clay faced and plastic in details. With my DLP I can not only make out pours in peoples noses, but also the little hairs growing out of them. I find PDP does not offer this (unless you get a Elite 1080p PDP from Pioneer .... btw ... it will cost you $8000 for a 50" )

- Plasma sets run FRICKEN HOT !!!!!!! Panny not so bad ... but still hot !!

- I find find PDP shows less efficant color gradients. Almost since they have SO MANY colors I tend to work against them and you can see the different bands in color rather than a smooth gradation.

- PDP price to size is far more than DLP. ( 56" Sammy DPL @ 1080p around $2000 Cdn, 50" Pioneer 5070 @720p around $3700 Cdn )

- Off angle does not wash out like on a DLP, but if your angle is off access like a DLP, you will get a Double image from the actual image and the glass infront of it.

- Some complain about the RBE (Rainbow Effect) of DLP sets, fact is ... PDP has its own version called Yellow flash. I see both the RBE and Yellow Flash, so it kind of cancels each other out. The split second I see the RBE on my DLP (especially going to a 56" down from my 67" which reduced it a good bit) it is a none issue. If you want to really try and keep flicking your eyes across the screen you will see it more, but hey ... who the hell sits infront of the TV and flicks their eyes around in their head like a loonatic anyway .... ;)

- No screen door effect on DLP

- Biggest killer for me with PDP is the fact you need to tip toe on egg shells for the first few hundred hours and who know how much more after that. To many "DO NOT'S"
~ Do not keep static images on screen for to long
~ Do not play games for to long
~ Do not use black bars at top and bottom or sides
~ Be sure to put your setting to a discusting level for the first 100 - 200 hours.

Even after following all these rules, my bud who I play on XBOX live with a good bit STILL has IR problems. I want to buy a set to USE WITHOUT WORRY .... not keep a time sheet of how long I have watched what for, or be worry about the score being burnt in during sporting events.

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Even after a good amount of time tweaking my buds 5070, he is still more impressed with the PQ my DLP gives me.

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/6358/samsunghls6767011eb9.jpg
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/7329/samsunghls6767013uy0.jpg
http://img432.imageshack.us/img432/8531/samsunghls6767009xb8.jpg
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/9849/samsunghls6767008bd9.jpg
http://img432.imageshack.us/img432/8884/samsunghls6767006le7.jpg
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/8537/samsunghls6767005cn8.jpg
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/740/samsunghls6767003bg2.jpg
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/4402/samsunghls6767002md7.jpg

( my camera was pretty low on the tripod, so that is why you see a bit of a blue hue on the top of the screen in the pics ... and these pics do my Sammy ZERO JUSTICE )

As suggested above, DLPs offer superior size and performance per dollar. However, if you have a large budget, there's no reason not to seriously consider plasma.

I have owned two DLPs but I have always found the plasma a better picture for my eye. The main drawback to me is price and reflection. My main viewing area has a lot of windows and reflections off a glass plasma screen would not make it work there. My last purchase was a 61" 1080p DLP which I could not even afford in a plasma. So while I think the picture is better I am not able to justify a 4x-5x price difference.

I went LCOS, but my second choice was DLP (then Plasma). To my eyes the LCOS and DLP sets just flat-out look better. Throw in the cheaper price per inch of screen size and it was pretty much a no brainer for me, especially when you consider burn-in potential. The downside is that they're not flat and the bulbs blow occassionally. The flat thing's not an issue for me in my TV room and having to buy a bulb every 2 or 3 years seems like a pretty minor drawback.

This stuff is subjective. Some people really think a plasma looks better than a rear projection TV, and that's cool. To each his (or her) own.

Thanks for the input guys.

$/Sq. Inch=value, especially in the larger screen sizes.
when most of us were buying a dlp in the last 2-3 years plamsas were even higher comparatively then they are today. so getting a 50-73" large screen size while having to wait out another bulb blowing could be done at under $5K instead of not even being able to buy a plasma were the 42-50" were $5k+ just a couple years ago.

While the cost savings in choosing DLP over Plasma was nice, the real deal breaker for me was the reflections on the glass plasma screen. The set's in my living room and room/light reflections was always a problem. Not so with the DLP screen.

I own a plasma right now but it is getting replaced by a DLP this friday. I have had the plasma for 3yrs and it has been great, awesome picture and zero problems, I have even been playing games on it since the very beginning (plugged in an xbox as soon as I took it out of the box) and never had burn-in. The main reason I am upgrading is I want a bigger 1080p TV since my new house has a larger living room than my old apartment did when I first got the plasma. If I could afford a 55+" plasma I would get one but bang for buck the DLP just seems the way to go. I am going to miss being able to view things from most any angle like we can with the plasma which we do often when we eat in the kitchen but hopefully it won't be to bad.

^^

Obvioulsy not as good as PDP, but the view angles for Microdisplay sets have gotten better for sure.

I have a specific question: Has anyone noticed any blurring with their DLP sets? I recently got a Plasma, and have notice slight blurring on it while gaming. It is noticable when I'll take my character, set him still, and spin the camera around. It isn't as bad as on my LCD, but it is still noticable. Have any of you tried this and noticed it?

I tried the exact same thing with a CRT and noticed no blur, so it wasn't game added.

The questions for you is what are you trying to compare. Is it just the technologies or do you have sets in mind? Are you trying to compare a 70" Sony, 71 Samsung, vs 50 or 60 Pioneer, or what?

I agree with all of the generalizations that are being posted as each technology has its own pros and cons. You need to go spend a few hours sitting in front of a lot of sets, both DLP, LCos and Plasma. On the DLP, do you see rainbows? If you do, you may want to consider LCos which is Sony and JVC, or the plasma. If you don't have problems with rainbows, take a look at the room where the TV will be set up, how much room do you have? Do you want to mount it on a wall, place it in a cabinet, or on a stand, and dimensions. Can it support a big TV?

Then you need to ask yourself, what's my budget, is this decision based soley on money? What are the options avaiable at this price range? If money is the main force, then probably go with DLP or LCos. If money isn't an issue and you don't have heavy gamers, I loved the picture on the Pioneer 5070/6070, but the price was up there at 3-5k and they're not 1080p. You can get a 67"-71" Samsung DLP for almost half that much. But in the end, there still is the question, which picture do you like the most?

For me, it was a substantial price reduction on a 67" Samsung that leaned me towards DLP. I had been looking at the 70" Sony, and the Pioneer 6070, but I can tell you my DLP is really putting on a show! But we don't see any rainbows and thats a big factor to consider, do you? Which ever you choose, congrats, there's no losers in this game.

I have a toshiba 62hm196 dlp and my sister has a 50" new panny plasma. I was going to get the plasma, but I got a DEAL on my toshiba($1200 new), because the set had a small scratch in the BACK of the tv lol!! Anyway, I am VERY glad I got the toshiba instead of the panny plasma.

My dlp has more detail, its 1080p compared to 720p for the plasma.

Colors are maybe a bit better on the plasma.

Geometery seems a bit better on my dlp.

Viewing angle is of course better on the plasma, but you need to be very far on the side of my dlp to notice any change.

Screen glare is BAD on the plasma, little to no screen glare on my dlp ever. SSE on my dlp is slightly noticeable, but I notice it very rarely and its no biggie.

Rainbows on my dlp are present, but really only visible in low room light and with a very bright image against black, like screen credits or a candle flame. Either way, unless you look away fast you won't see anything, and even if you do see a flash of rainbow, so what, no one has died from seeing a rainbow flash by :). My wife has no idea what I am talking about and has never seen any rbe. Older dlps are worse then my new toshiba though.

Size of course is DLP all the way. Watching a movie on a 62" screen blows away a 50" screen unless you are REAL close. Anything over 8' and you lose that immersion with a 50" set.

Burn in with a plasma is a concern. If you play video games, I would be very wary of using it on a plasma, unless you are careful. With all the scores and things that are on tv screens today, I wouldn't want to worry about burn in. I worry enough about everything electronic I own. I cringe when my wife touches any of my electronic equip, she for sure would find a way to burn something into the plasma :).

Size of the unit goes to plasma, but my 62" dlp is only 18" wide and weighs 100lbs.. Unless you want to mount it on the wall, I don't see much benefit to the smaller size.

Basically it comes down to price and performance. Bang for the buck, dlp beats plasma. If you need a tv bigger then 50", dlp is so much cheaper and performance is as good if not better in most areas. If you want the wow, I have a tv on my wall factor, then plasma is what you need. I wasn't going to buy a dlp after reading all the horror stories about people dying from seeing a RBE and lights blowing out in a few hours ;p. , but I am SOOO glad I did.

If you are in the market for a 62" tv, the toshiba 62hm196 is one hell of a tv. It is just jaw dropping with HD and SD channels look fantastic, I mean REAL good. It makes no noise and I haven't seen any problems at all small or large. The new 1080p dlps are fantastic(pioneer pro set is amazing), but $7k is WAY too much for tv.

This summer I'm buying an LCOS. It all comes down to personal preference, but a major factor to me was this: I'm an Air Force guy, and if I get transferred to another base, the Air Force WILL NOT insure plasma sets during movement, PERIOD. They're too susceptable to damage. Once I heard that, I knew I couldn't get one. Once I shifted my focus to rear-projection, I fell in love with LCOS. As stated before, each platform has it's pro's and cons. I would hate to have to constantly walk on eggshells for my TV. Plus more " for less $$$ and 1080P for less.

i went with dlp at christmas (black friday, to be exact) because it gave the most bang for the buck: a great picture (bright, accurate, and clear -- and this set is in a room with lots of ambient light) and only about $800 for a new, current production year samsung 42"...fit exactly into our enterainment unit. ymmv, but it was right for us.

My wife has vision problems and the Samsung 42" DLP was the only TV that appealed to her. The DLP set offered the best bang for the $$$ ($1100 CDN including the stand).

Given that there is still tons of 4:3 programming here and only about 38 HD channels, concern about burn in was also a factor.

why did you choose a DLP over a Plasma?
1080p 50" plasma for $1,000.

http://xs208.xs.to/xs208/06442/headscratch.gif

1080p 50" plasma for $1,000.

http://xs208.xs.to/xs208/06442/headscratch.gif

I'd love to know anyone who can point me to a $1000 1080p 50" Plasma ... I'll buy two of them !!

72 inch plasmas require a mortgage......need I say more :) And that's just for the additional power consumption................I'd love to know anyone who can point me to a $1000 1080p 50" Plasma ... I'll buy two of them !! Probably a Black Friday deal and a no name set.

Price (for 62" screen), Picture life (replace lamp and PQ is like new), picture quality (opinion)weight.

I have a specific question: Has anyone noticed any blurring with their DLP sets? I recently got a Plasma, and have notice slight blurring on it while gaming. It is noticable when I'll take my character, set him still, and spin the camera around. It isn't as bad as on my LCD, but it is still noticable. Have any of you tried this and noticed it?

I tried the exact same thing with a CRT and noticed no blur, so it wasn't game added.

I haven't seen any blurring with Xbox 360 on my Mitsubishi DLP, when my nephew brings his Xbox over. The kid hasn't seen any problems with the display and he would be the one who would pick up on it.

My reasons:

1) dollars per inch (I would go plasma/lcd for 50" and under but I went 65")

2) don't care about the cool thin factor since I (and 90% of others) won't mount it

3) 1080 is very expensive

4) burn-in (plasmas are a no-go for gamers like me)

5) product-life

6) glare

I thought I would never buy a projection, until the DLP arrived on the scene. The picture details were outstanding, the skin tones real looking, and the moving images were smooth and crisp. Live sports was like being there. The screen was also non glare.

I had waited for the Sharp 46' LCD to come out, thinking that it might be a great step forward. However, in side by side comparisons, the lack of contrast, especially in dark scenes, and the blurring of moving images made the Sharp LCD pale in comparison the the Toshiba 52" DLP.

I tried to like the plasmas, but the reflections on the screen were annoying, and the size of the pixels themselves were noticeable to me, unless at unacceptably great viewing distances.

The Toshiba DLP also performed far better on upconverting sdtv than either fixed pixel LCD or Plasma, and since most of the broadcasts I would be watching in the foreseeable future would be sd, that was very important. I also tried dvds and there was far more pixelization on the LCD than the DLP. I did not have an opportunity to try dvds on a plasma.

I guess the bottom line came down to performance and price. Even though I was concerned about the spinning color wheel, with the 4 year extended warranty, I felt proteced for a good five years. The 46" LCD was $8,000 at the time; the plasmas were $4,000 and the Toshiba 52" DLP was $2,500. My reasoning was, rather than spend 2-3 times as much for another technology, I could enjoy the great picture on my new DLP, and in 5 years time, LCD would be way down in price, and other technologies would be on the scene ( such as SED and Laser projection- OK,I didn't know about these at the time, but my hunch was right!).

I'm happy to report that after 2 years and 2 months of service my Toshiba has performed flawlessly. I'm on my 2nd lamp- first one lasted about 3,500 hours. Cost $229 over the internet. By the way, I strongly advise you buy a backup lamp soon after you purchase you tv.. They blow without warning, no store near me carries them, so you will be without tv for a few days if you don't have a backup. Good news is that changing it is trivial, two screws, a couple thumb nuts and you pull the old one out like a safety deposit box and pop in the new one.

My set is 720p as there were no 1080p units when I bought mine. When they did come out, I rushed into the stores to see how dissapointed I'd be now with my 720p set. Guess what, it was really hard to tell the difference unless I stood really close. If your going to sit 9-10 feet from a 52" display, you could save a lot of money by going 720p. If you are going to sit closer than that, or if your are going to get into high def. dvds, then go ahead an opt for the 1080p.

I think the line of reasoning I used in not overspending to get a set that would give excellent service while waiting out the advances in technology still applies. Enjoy your purchase

For me:
1, Not mounting no big deal
2, Price I could buy a Samsung or a cheap plasma. That's a no brainer...
3, Children, since I'm not mounting I could see the practicality of having a flat panel and one of my kids knocking of over and getting hurt.
4, Once plasma goes it goes. I bought the 4 year extend warranty at BB and I'm good for my first bulb. I would have bought it (warranty) even if I had bought a plasma... You never know.
5, Too me the picture (DLP) is competitive with plasma.