DLP isn't going to provide a great viewing angle...the picture becomes compromised both when you get above/below center (vertically) or to the left/right of center horizontally.

i've got a 37" and 50" sony rear projection (720p) - the picture is great, but the contrast isn't quite as good as the LCDs/plasmas, and there are times i find myself wishing for blacker blacks.

you definitely can get a lot more screen size going with rear projection, you just give up a bit in viewability.

 

The DLP is crap! I had a 52" Mitsubishi DLP and the bulb went out on it 3x in 2 years, this on a tv that got maybe 10 hours of use a week.

I'm happy with my 52" Vizio plasma now

 

"Your experience is an exception, not the norm."

 

 

Besides, many of the new DLP televisions now use LEDs instead of a projector bulb. They'll last longer, warm up faster, and run cooler.

If I were in a market right now for a large television, it would be DLP hands-down.

 

I would get one of the biggest LCD flat screens you can afford. A plasma screen has a glossier picture but if you play video games on it there is a chance you can burn an image onto the screen. Also the life of a plasma is projected to be shorter. If you are gonna go HD I would reccomend going with the 1080p over the 1080i the p keeps the image from blurring during movement on the screen so will have a much crisper HD image. Especially if you watch races on it, or $$$$$$(I dunno what you're into) I would also just go ahead and buy a sound system aswell from my experence Onkyo makes very good systems that are fairly affordable.

 

The room has plenty of space. . .you'll definately want the largest screen you can buy. For the money, DLP is it.

I planned on getting the 73" Mitsubishi later this year, but the house I was interested in fell through so the TV will wait since I wouldnt have anywhere to put it.

I have a friend that has a 65" DLP and have watched F1 races at there house. I've never been directly in front of the screen, always to the side, and never noticed any problems with the viewing angle. From the 15' or so away the couch will be, I dont think you'll have a problem either.

 

There really isn't any threat of burn in on new plasmas.. that's a thing of the past unless you seriously abuse it.. like, leave a video game paused for days on end. Image retention is still an issue, but not a problem. All IR will disappear in a few minutes.

The lifetime for plasmas is plenty long too.. they reach brightness half-life at about 60,000 hours.. and considering brightness on most plasmas will be set to 50% at first, you have 60,000 hours before you will see a visible degradation in brightness.. thats over 16 years watching 10 hours a day before you will see any difference in picture that is not correctable through the tv's settings. So, if thats a problem for you, look elsewhere.. but in 16 years, you're not gonna want that 1080p plasma anyway..

 

WRONG! Plasmas still burn in. Their PR says they don't burn in as easily. I've been to a couple of Wings places in the past few weeks that are replacing their Plasmas due to burn in. Theirs had spots that looked like huge 18" water drops on them right in the center which was their logo shape burned in.

DLPs do have bulb which does burn out. I've never replaced one in mine, but a friend who watches less TV than me has had to replace his twice. It's like a lightbulb in your house, some last a long time and others burn out quickly. BTW it ain't cheap when they do burn out.

LCD is truly the only way to go nowadays. Many manufacturers are discontinuing their plasmas due to issues.

And then there's the fact that most plasmas are 720 not 1080p. Don't know why that is, but every place I looked for a TV recently had all 720 plasmas and 1080 LCDs. Maybe it's price point and they are just trying to have a cheaper TV to sell.

Get the biggest you can afford. Get a 1080p. In a year or two there will be lots of 1080 inputs and you'll end up buying another TV much quicker than if you'd have just gotten 1080 now.

Get an LCD if you can afford it and a DLP if you can't. But in a couple of years you will wish you'd gotten the flat screen instead of the clunkier DLP. Your room will love the wall mounted TV so much more.

 

um.. that's what I would call serious abuse. Clearly those logos were displayed for a long time. I suggest you re-read my post where I said it wasn't an issue unless you abuse the set. LCD is the way to go if you want an inferior picture, as they cannot compare to the best plasmas. There is no questioning this, and no room to argue.