Holy shit

Tom

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I was in Comet last night buying some hoover bags of all things, but I saw for the first time a proper HDTV.

http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/182974.html

The actual bulk of the TV was quite small, certainly wouldn't cause any problems for me. It was £2000!

The picture quality, to be blunt, is stunning. And I mean stunning in an entirely new sense of the word. It reminded me of sitting in the cinema, and seeing that pin-sharp quality that you get from film. I was amazed.

£2000. I don't think that price included the HD player (I couldn't see what it was playing from), but if this is whats coming for home cinema, I can't wait! Just imagine the LOTR extended trilogy on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD! And the tv is only £2000!
 

nath

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You can get a (imo) shit-hot DLP projector for 1800 quid. Supports HDTV, I imagine if it's projected on to a 50" screen it'd look as good, except if you want you can project all the way up to ~250". 1800 for the projector, 200 for a decent screen is a better buy if you ask me.


Oh and what do you mean by "proper HDTV"? I presume you've seen Plasmas before, and more often than not they're hdtv..



edit: The projector in question is the Optoma Themescene H57 which on a quick study of the stats of your rptv beats the contrast ratio - 3500:1 as opposed to 2000:1. The RPTV has a slightly higher res at 1280 instead of 1024 for the H57, but still..

nghhh, someone give me £2k plz!
 

Tom

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Well most of the plasmas I've seen don't have anything like the required resolution for 1080 lines, I'm not sure what the horizontal resolution is on HD transmissions, but on PAL its 768, and plasmas only just make that anyway.

Wouldn't the rear projection set have better contrast and also be better in daylight? This screen was very very bright, much brighter than the majority of other rear projection sets I've seen. Also, installing a projector and screen isn't something that most people would want to consider, myself included as its a fair amount of work to consider.
 

~Yuckfou~

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Am I alone in thinking that £2k is a lot of money for a TV?
I find it difficult to pay more than £500 for a TV. This doesn't just relate to HDTV (which I agree is stunning) but Plasma etc. It just seems such a waste of dosh for something that will be out of date in 2 years. It's not that I'm tight, or can't afford it, it just isn't "value" tbh. (I have 4 tv's in my house, one is widescreen)
 

Doh_boy

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Last TV I bought was a 28 inch sanyo one for £200. It's as big as I figure I'd ever want. :)
 

Rubber Bullets

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I know nothing about plasma screens, never had the money to develop an interest, but perhaps someone can explain this.

When they are displayed in shops they are frequently showing animated films, Monsters Inc., Toy Story and the like, presumably straight from DVD. They usually look fantastic. Sometimes they are showing live TV/Satellite and quite often look completely shite.

Is this a known issue or something to do with the quality of the feed signal that they tend to have in shops?

RB
 

Ch3tan

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The projector nath is talking about and the RP DLP Tom has linked use the same technology. I'm sure Big G can tell you more, cause I can't be bothered tbh :)

oh and imo, the dlp's look far far better than plasmas or LCD's.
 

old.user4556

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Yeah, the front projection DLP and rear projection DLP use the same technology.

That's quite an impressive unit because it's using the HD native 1280*720 DLP chip. Nath, the Themescene H57 isn't HDTV native (it uses the Matterhorn chip), but yes it does support it (in a mix down sort of way). HDTV native front projectors are very expensive (such as the Sim2 Domino 30, or the Themescene H77) although they look f'king amazing. Incidentally the HDTV native Sim2 and Themescene units are about £3500; £1500 more than this unit (plus you need a screen and cables).

I agree with Tom that this front projection unit is far better for everyday TV because you can view it in a lit room (the screen is a high contrast grey material, you can get front projection screens of the same stuff), however if you're a movie fan then you can only truly create the massive screen of the cinema and live a true movie experience with a front projection unit.

Front projection is unbeatable, 50" doesn't cut it for movies ;).

Sim2 Domino H30

Themescene H77
 

old.user4556

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nath said:
The projector in question is the Optoma Themescene H57 which on a quick study of the stats of your rptv beats the contrast ratio - 3500:1 as opposed to 2000:1.

The contrast ratio quoted of a front projection unit is in ideal (very dark) conditions: allow some light into the room or allow light onto the screen and that contrast ratio disappears very quickly.

So yes, the front projection unit will be better in very dark / pitch black conditions (cinema conditions) but in the same average ambient daylight light level the rear projection unit will have a better contrast ratio.

Re grey projection screens:

Grey is the new surface for Home Cinema. Normal screen surfaces are matt white and this gives a gain of 1:1. This means that whatever light from your projector hits the screen it is reflected back at the same intensity as it hits the screen and with equal brightness throughout 180 degrees. The grey surface reduces the brightness of your projector by around 20%, the gain is 0.8:1. What you get for the reduction in brightness is truer colour rendition, better contrast (better blacks).

You'll also find that the screen on the front projection DLP TV will be a grey colour.
 

nath

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Hrmm, I guess I'll have to do more research in to screens before I buy then. However, I'm fairly convinced the H57 is the one to go for. You're right about the darkness bit I guess, but I've already got a 28" widescreen tv for everyday watching and the projector will be for special occasions :D

Can't wait tbh :)
 

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