Rear Projection CRT vs LCD, DLP - Image Detail

[Scherm]

Ok, I am new and in the end stages of completing a dedicated Home theater room in my basement (moving away from a 27" CRT if you can believe that). My issue is which Rear Projection Format to buy. Seems like everything I read says CRT Rear Projection has the best picture quality available but I have yet to experience that in any showroom. The main issue I see is just sharpness and level of detail. Can a RP CRT set deliver the same level of detail as RP LCD or RP DLP? Size,weight and to some extent price are not critical factors in my choice. The set will be in a 12'6 x 26' room with no outside light entering the room. (TV on short wall) I've bought my receiver and speakers but I am agonizing over the TV purchase. I really am trying to lean toward the RP CRT until I get into the showroom and look at em side by side. Kills my desire to purchase everytime. I am about to the point of buying the RP CRT, bringing it home and setting it up with AVIA or something and seeing if I am happy with it. I am willing to try to find someone to calibrate it professionally but if it can't deliver the detail of another technology maybe I should keep looking. Any advice would be most appreciated.

 

[RipperHoss]

Ok, I am new and in the end stages of completing a dedicated Home theater room in my basement (moving away from a 27" CRT if you can believe that). My issue is which Rear Projection Format to buy. Seems like everything I read says CRT Rear Projection has the best picture quality available but I have yet to experience that in any showroom. The main issue I see is just sharpness and level of detail. Can a RP CRT set deliver the same level of detail as RP LCD or RP DLP? Size,weight and to some extent price are not critical factors in my choice. The set will be in a 12'6 x 26' room with no outside light entering the room. (TV on short wall) I've bought my receiver and speakers but I am agonizing over the TV purchase. I really am trying to lean toward the RP CRT until I get into the showroom and look at em side by side. Kills my desire to purchase everytime. I am about to the point of buying the RP CRT, bringing it home and setting it up with AVIA or something and seeing if I am happy with it. I am willing to try to find someone to calibrate it professionally but if it can't deliver the detail of another technology maybe I should keep looking. Any advice would be most appreciated.

1. What will you be primarily watching on the TV? Movies? Television?
   • If TV, what is your source?
   • Will you be using (or upgrading) to the HD version of the source?
2. How far do you sit from the screen?
3. What components will you be using with the TV (DVD, VHS, Game Consoles, Computers, etc).
4. Do you have any brand preference(s)?

 

[Mort Corey]

Your room sounds like a pretty good candidate for front projection....just to throw a wrench in your works A lot is going to come down to how much you're considering to spend....much like most everything else.

Mort

 

[ebough]

Nothing will be perfect. I set up a home theater in a similar-sized room which is also quite dark. For me, image size and sound represent the esence of theater experience, not sheer perfection. I felt that a rear projection lcd or dlp TV offered the best balance of size, picture quality, and cost. I went with a Sony KDF-70XBR950 and have been very pleased with the choice after 5 months of use. A plasma set close in size would be at least three times as expensive but does not look three times better in a dark room. Trying to judge from stores and showrooms was difficult because the sets are usually so poorly--or at least erratically--set up. Also most showrooms aren't dark enough to show rear projection units at their best. Ithought that the lcd and dlp rear projectors were sharper and brighter than the older crt units but have less good black. You just have to decide what is most important to you.

 

[Lee_Kee_Brain]

I went with the Hitachi 57T500 from what I've read and what the people in here have said Hitachi seams to have the best picture of all the rear projection TV's, I would have like to have got a 57X500 because its the top of the line .. the X series is the Directors Series. But so far I'm very happy with my T model, I love the Day/Night button to adjust for room lighting. Hope your as lucky with your purchase, I know the 500 is last years model but its already proven to be a great HDTV. I also got lucky on the price 1800 to my door from Rex TV.

 

[RipperHoss]

I also got lucky on the price 1800 to my door from Rex TV.

I hope your store is better than the one in this area. The Rex here is closer to a used car dealer than an electronics store.

I actually heard one of the guys telling a customer that he was actually getting a better quality TV by buying the floor model because "it's bad for a TV to sit in a box."

 

[Jcenzo]

Look at the 60" JVC D-ILA's

I've had my 61" JVC for week and am completely blown away by the quality of this piece. I haven’t even calibrated it yet. No screen door, no rainbow, and very bright with beautiful color. Also, the 30” high screen is just about perfect for the size of your room (70" may be a little big for 12ft). The Samsung was my second (and close) choice and I’m sure that that set would have been great also. Good luck!

 

[BMXTRIX]

CRT should provide as much, or MORE detail than almost any DLP or LCD on the market. It should display an accurate 1080i image on your screen, though the stores likely do not have it setup and calibrated correctly.

CRT most definitely is more work to maintain proper image quality and calibration but here's the kicker:

CRT will provide a black level and contrast ratio that may be around 15,000:1 while LCD/DLP may only be in the 3-5,000:1 ratio. This is significant on where black levels fall and the amount of shadow detail you get within a movie.

I am with Mort up there though - if it is a theater - you gotta go to www.projectorcentral.com and do some research on front projection with a good LCD or DLP projector and a 7 or 8 foot screen. It is what home theater is all about.

 

[Peppy]

I am with BMXTRIX & Mort up there though - if it is a theater to watch movie go for a front projector. But everything is depending how you want to use the room for and how much $ you want to put in it .

Look at me, 5 Years ago I bought a JVC NV-50D500-CRT 50" (4x3) for $3K cdn; for in our basement entertainement room. Projector at that time was way to expencive for us, I could not even put a little bit more for the new (at that time) 16x9 with a velocity scan. Almost 2 year ago Infocus come up with the X1 for $1200 cdn. Now they both in our home theater\entertainement room the JVC to watch TV and the X1 for the movie. There is nothing like watch a movie on a 8 foot wide screen ! If I knew 5 years ago would I purchase $3K RPTV ? Probably not. Do I regret it ....NO ! it as the best I could afford in size for value at that time, and the JVC still give me a excellent picture with digital cable chanel, kids something still watch movie on it and on special occasion we even play with the XBox on it.

I don't know your target price, but I have few friends in that same position. One can not go over $3K the other $5K, they both have wife and kids and both have like you, nice size entertainement room in their basement; and even if one of them have a bigger wallet, I give them the same suggestion: Find a good and now cheap RPTV 43,50 or 55 inch (16x9) that you like under $2k (very easy today) and get a DLP or LCD (I prefer DLP but that's me) front projector you can get for the reminder of your target. Exemple : Today you can get a X2 infocus\draper package for $1.6K from softmagic(http://www.softmagic.ca) and one RPTV like JVC AV-48WP55 48" Digital Widescreen TV for $1.5K at Future shop. I don't said to buy that and there, but I just want to show you that it's possible now to have the best of both world, big screen for movie and big screen to watch survivor, 24 and play Halo 2 ! Hey what else can you ask !!!

 

[mfabien]

With your setup, a CRT RPTV will do deliver the best image.

Brands, Hitachi, Toshiba followed by Sony.

 

[scottyb]

I have an old Pioneer 50" rear projection CRT and still love the picture. I was looking at the owners manual and it stated it has 800 lines of resolution. How clear that is, I really don't know.
If you are going for a rear projection I personally was thinking about buying the Pioneer Elite 53" rear projection CRT. From what I have read they are installing a HDMI input on it. I personally still prefer the rear projection CRT over DLP or LCD projection. To me the DLP and LCD picture seems like a soft/clear look to me, unless its my eyes. I have been reading reviews from other buyers and they think it is an excellent set. Anyone else have any opinions.

 

[Mega2000]

i have a Toshiba 57" RPTV and am more than pleased with it. Got it for under $2000 a year ago and it lookes jsut as good as my friends plasma and almost as good as my other friends DLP and his was $3k more.

it is just a lot deeper than thiers but that is fine for my setup.

 

[Rex]

With your setup, a CRT RPTV will do deliver the best image.

Brands, Hitachi, Toshiba followed by Sony.

I dont know, My dad has Mitsubishi RPTV almost 2 years old now and I just bought a Samsung LCD, and my LCD has a much better picture than the RPTV.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Better? Brighter? Sharper? Crisper? Better contrast?

It's all relative. CRT requires calibration on AT LEAST an annual basis which most users can do themselves by following instructions, but most never do. Do you know when your Dad's TV was last calibrated?

LCD & DLP look fantastic and are brighter than CRT. But, CRT blows both technologies away for resolution accuracy and contrast level which are two of the most critical features of a high quality presentation.

 

[Rex]

Better? Brighter? Sharper? Crisper? Better contrast?

It's all relative. CRT requires calibration on AT LEAST an annual basis which most users can do themselves by following instructions, but most never do. Do you know when your Dad's TV was last calibrated?

LCD & DLP look fantastic and are brighter than CRT. But, CRT blows both technologies away for resolution accuracy and contrast level which are two of the most critical features of a high quality presentation.

Never calibrated. Maybe if I took my Avia DVD over there it would make a difference?

 

[BMXTRIX]

If it is a rear screen projection CRT, then the Avia DVD will help, but it also needs to be converged and focused which should be in the menus for the CRT. It takes about 1-2 hours to do a bang up job of tweaking everything but then the colors should be perfectly aligned which helps a ton in making the image perfect. There may also be focus settings for the center and all the corners of the display which can be tweaked. The goal is to perfectly align the red and blue on top of the green CRT tube for perfection. There are tools inside the CRT already to make this pretty darn easy to do, but after a 6-12 months of use with ever changing weather, it needs to be tweaked back to perfection.

Then Aviafy it, and the picture should blow you away. Though it still will NOT be as bright as what you have. Should be as sharp or sharper, and it should do a better job with multiple formats and have phenomenal black levels.

Of course it's 3 times as deep weighs ten times as much and isn't as bright.

 

[Rex]

Of course it's 3 times as deep weighs ten times as much and isn't as bright.

That's a fact for sure I will report back after doing the Calibration and let you know how it comes out.

 

[BuddTX]

I've been doing a lot of reading on this subject, as my dad wants to buy a RP CRT.

So, in summary here is what I have read.

1. RP CRT is at least as good, and some people think it is better, than any other RP technology. Some people have said, that except for gaming, RP CRT is actually the best RP technology for watching TV.

2. RP CRT is an old technology, with bigger overall TV depth (dlp and RP LCD is sexy slim!) and uses higher voltage.

3. Supposedly (I do not know this for fact, I just read this) that major manufacturers are going to STOP PRODUCTION of RP CRT later this year.

4. Rumor has it that existing CRT RP price points will be replaced by DLP and RP LCD coming down in price. Again, this is SPECULATION.

5. RP CRT does need convergence maintance.

6. I do not understand this, but some people have posted that DLP and RP LCD is digital technology, whereas RP CRT is analog, and they say that future digital technology will work better with the DLP and RP LCD (and of course flat LCD and Plasma).

7. RP CRT (edit used to say "RP LCD") is actually a good value compared to similar sized DLP and RP LCD.

8. RP CRT is supposed to have the best contrast with "blacker than blacks".

This is what I have summarized after doing a lot of reading! I have not tested or verified these statements, this is what I have learned from reading.

 

[Scherm]

Original Poster makes Purchase!!

Well, it's been a long time coming but I thought I owed all of the great folks that provided help some feedback on my purchase and satisfaction levels. I decided to go with the Hitachi 75" rear projection CRT largely becuase of the input from this site. I bought this TV largely on faith because the unit in the showroom looked pretty bad. I am pleased to say I am astounded by the quality of the picture and I am well pleased with the purchase (with one exception - the remote is not working properly and I am going to have to have a service guy come out to resolve - my remote works fine in the store).

So, if you are like me and agonizing over the format to purchase, let me suggest that you go with the rear projection CRT, pocket the extra $1,000 plus the cost of a stand) and invest it in some other goodies. While the picture is not always phenominal it is clear that the issue is on the creation, broadcast end of things. The picture is every bit as good as I had hoped, and better than anything I have seen in a showroom. I am sure their are others that prefer the other formats but my eyes can't see $200 worth of difference much less $1,000 plus.

Now I am back on here agonizing over cables and trying to deterimine if my picture was better when I had a HDI hookup direct to my cable box or whether component video is doing just as well. But that is for another thread. Thanks to all for the help!

 

[jimgoings]

I love my Hitachi 57S715. Black just wasn't black on anything but CRTs when I was looking around.