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What's The Right TV Set For Gaming?
Thanks to GameSpy for its article discussing the choice of TV sets that are best for playing videogames. The piece points out: "It is also important to keep in mind that bigger isn't always better, and that some types of displays aren't so game friendly", before analyzing the options, including Direct View CRT screens ("Affordable; good resolution... [but] Very large sets; limited progressive scan options"), DLP ("Immune to burn-in; reasonably affordable... [but] Doesn't work as well as CRT in bright conditions"), Plasma screens ("Wall-mountable; bright picture... [but] Phosphor burn-in; expensive") and Front Projection ("Big display; portability... [but] No speakers; depends a dark environment.")
that very few people who buy consoles even use most of the features of their TV. In fact, only about 1% of gamecube users even use the digital output despite the fact that 90% of Nintendo made games and about 1/3 of 3rd party games support it.
My 61" Samsung DLP is pretty sweet for games... I like it a lot. Component video cables are definitely a requirement, though. The regular RCA cables make things look like total crap at that size.
I love playing games on my 80" screen. If you buy the low-end Dell projector, you can have a setup for less than $1000. I laugh at people who spent over $2K for their puny 40" high-def TV.
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So, does it burn in or not? (The answer is no) Therefore... the only con you could come up with is that there are limited brands (also not really true)? In other words, this display type is excellent for gaming.
Yet it gets a single paragraph hidden away at the end of the rear projection section where they explicitly avoid saying whether it's good or bad. DLP, on the other hand, gets one and a half sections devoted to it (The DLP section and the rear projection section. uhh...)
Meanwhile, a shitty 800x600 projector with a bottom-of-the-barrel 1200 lumens seems to be their choice for gaming, their primary reasoning apparently being "it was designed by Italians!"
GameSpy continues to live up to their traditional standard of inspid and useless ad-copy disguised as articles. It's odd how people still find them relevant enough to be submitted to and accepted by Slashdot, though.
Random and weird software I've written.
All four manuals relate that you should exercise caution with projection televisions (rear- and front-) and read the TV owner's manual befoer connecting the game system. One gives the exception of LCD (LCD rear-projection sets like the Sony Grand Wega line are immune to burn-in). None mention DLP.
Either you've just mis-read your manuals or you're trying to spread FUD about DLP for some reason.
NEC MultiSync 4PG 27" monitor. CRT, direct view weighing about 120 pounds. Specs say it can handle 15-50 KHz Horizontal, 40-120 Hz Vertical. Has composite and S-Video connectors(and switch to go NTSC and PAL), and 5BNC and 15HD RGB connectors. Combined that with a transcoder to go from component on games/DVD to RGB and I can do 480i,480p,1080i,720p.
Best part, the price. $150 at a University surplus sale.
My brother had me get one for him as well, he uses it at 1024x768 on his computer, and sometimes a game system through the s-video.
You poor guy... If you're lucky, you might get some emails offering discounted drugs to help with your problem!
wow this article wasn't written by anyone who has done a lot of research. it makes little mention of the benefits of progressive scan and instead focuses on the much less important issue of aspect ratio.
sometimes it is plain wrong (LCoS displays are roughly the same size as DLP, contrary to the "nor does it make for a small form factor." comment on page 3). And their recommended LCD of 15" costing $1800? What a horrible recommendation! A 17" LCD (meant for PC display) w/ TV-tuner costs way under $1000 and would make a much better display.
I personally would recommend going with an EDTV (480p) until the 1080p DLP or LCoS displays drop. A nice 32" EDTV CRT can be found for well under $1000 and will be fine until the new tech starts making it onto shelves.
It's a long read, but this is the most informative thread on Rear Projection CRT vs DLP vs LCD I've seen. Apparently the worst thing you can do is buy LCD, RP CRT has an absolutely amazing picture after tuning, and DLP has some strong points as well as some negatives. A must read for those (like myself) who are looking for a set and have been overwhelmed with choices. I'll probably end up with a Toshiba or Hitachi CRT RPTV, as they are highly regarded by the videophiles.
I bought a 20 inch Sony WEGA flatscreen a few years back for ~$300, and have never regretted it. Mine is even one of the cheaper models without S-Video capabilities, but people are stilled wowed by it's picture quality and vibrant colors. The first game I played on it was Final Fantasy X, and my friends playing it started bringing their memory cards to my house, esepcially if they had a effects-laden boss fight coming up. ^_^
While not as technologically impressive as other choices, I'd recommend it whole heartedly for anyone who wants a decent price and excellent picture.
If you have good light control, which *most* folks either have or can arrange, a front projector is an extremely good way to go. You get a gigantic screen and great picture quality. And no, they don't have speakers, but most folks I know have a stereo in the front room anyway, and just hook up through that.
:-) And they're tiny, easily fitting under one arm. At 9lbs, I know you could carry it comfortably with two fingers, and probably with one.
The biggest decision point on projectors is what you want to display. If you just want to do Standard Definition(SD) stuff, then even the cheapo projectors are fine. The Infocus X1 (and, apparently, the replacement X2) are very well-regarded. These are DLP projectors that do 800x600, which is just fine for SD material, including DVDs. (which are not very high resolution).
In general, DLP technology at a given resolution is better than LCD at the same resolution; the contrast ratio is better and the pixels are larger, resulting in less screendoor. However, because of how the image is generated, it is important to do a test viewing before buying. About 10% of the population sees rainbows with DLP. The technology basically consists of a spinning color wheel in front of a bright light, with thousands of tiny mirrors. The mirrors rotate so that a certain amount of each color gets through while the wheel is showing. During the (short) interval between colors, the mirrors realign. So you are seeing red/green/blue/white, red/green/blue/white. Most people can't see this, but some do, and it shows up as rainbows.
If you are sensitive to rainbows, or if you want to do HDTV, then LCD projectors are the only reasonable alternative at this point. Both the Panaonic AE500 and L500 (same unit, different distribution channels) and the Sanyo PLV-Z2 are excellent projectors that do 1280x720 resolution for around $2000. The contrast ratio isn't as good as DLP (1300:1 instead of 2000:1). To get a true 1280x720 DLP projector, you are talking $5000+: if you can afford that, it will look better, but I doubt it's 2.5x better.
LCD is more susceptible to misalignment and stuck/dead pixels than the DLPs. Misalignment mostly manifests as vertical banding. In watching posts on avsforum.com, nearly everyone who starts out with a problem will find an adjustment that will make them happy, but the chances of starting out unhappy are higher with LCD.
Of the Panasonic and Z2, the Panny is considered to have a little nicer screen quality (and is a shade cheaper), and the Z2 is much more flexible about mounting, due to a nice feature called 'lens shift', which will let you move the projected image an amazing distance on your wall.
I have a Studio Experience 2HD, which is a rebadged Z2 with a better warranty, at a little higher price. I am EXTREMELY happy with this unit. I have a HTPC hooked up to it, using PowerStrip to run a true native 1280x720 out the DVI port, and it looks *awesome*. I'm throwing a 100" 16:9 screen..... playing Ninja Gaiden on a screen 7.5 FEET wide is pretty darn impressive. "You still measure your screen size in inches? How quaint!"
If you have good light control, you want true HDTV, and you want it BIG.... these projectors are a fantastic way to go. There are many, many tweaks available, but right out of the box, either unit is likely to knock your socks off.
Both units are more than you need, however, for SD material. For that, you're fine with the $1K projectors.
Oh, one final note: you also have a runtime expense with front projectors. The Z2's bulb, for example, is rated as lasting about 3000 hours, and replacements cost about $300, so the run cost is about 10 cents/hour. Make sure to find out the expected bulb life and cost before buying a projector.
($300 for a bulb, you gasp? Yep... you gotta realize that these things are putting out an AMAZING amount of light in a very small space. That's not easy to do, and they cost plenty.)
... is OVER rated.
Of all the thousands of posts on avsforum.com, I think I've seen a grand total of 1 or 2 posts about it. I've never experienced it on my own plasma either, and I've put a lot of long continious hours on it.
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Get a high definition projection CRT. If you're buying a new TV, at this point you probably want to have the capability to do HD.
CRT projection isn't going to burn-in on you if you're even the least bit aware that it can happen.
Excellent image quality (I worked in a high-end consumer electronics store at one point, and given the choice between any TV set I would definitely go with a 5 lens CRT).
Cheap! You can purchase one of these bad boys for less than 1500 bucks.
Technology is tried and true.
Not as deep or heavy as you would think - a 46" weighs about 150 pounds and is easily less than 20" deep.
At any rate, I'd say it's the best bang for the buck. I'm THRILLED with my Toshiba 46" cinema series.