Step 2:DLP TV: Rear Projection Television for a new generation
What Was Old (& Clunky) Is New Again: A Review of DLP TV's Innovativeness
DLP TVs are basically a new spin on an old technology, or, if you like, rear-projection television (RPTV) with a digital twist. RPTVs have been around for quite some time now. You no doubt remember those "big screen" behemoths whose dim, fuzzy-edged pictures "entertained" us in the 90s. Those CRT-based RPTVs are still around, holdovers from the last millennium.
DLP technology has brought rear-projection television into the 21st Century. Instead of three space-consuming electron guns, DLPs utilize a system of microscopic mirrors and lenses to reproduce video signals as light signals, which the eye sees--or brain reads--as full-blown images on the television screen.
This technology has eliminated any number of "issues" long associated with rear-projection TVs. For starters, DLPs weigh 1/3 to 1/4 what comparably sized CRT-based big-screen TVs do, making DLPs not only cheaper to ship but also easier to move around your house. (Compared to the 300-400 pound monitors they compete with, DLPs are virtual lightweights, weighing, on average, 85-100 pounds. They're substantially slimmer than old-fashioned RPTVs, too. 50" DLPs generally have depths < 16 inches.) The light output of one of these displays is also impressive, and, since there's no convergence, the picture remains sharp and clean from edge to edge, with none of the "touching up" cathode ray tubes require. As your set ages, simply replacing a light bulb will return it to "like new" performance levels. Not so with conventional RPTVs, which incur enormous maintenance costs over time, so much so that it's usually cheaper to buy new ones than to repair old ones.
The Bottom Line: Microdisplay projection TVs afford consumers that much-sought-after digital picture at a fraction of the price of flat-panel display sets. DLPs may not be as thin as plasma TVs, but they are dramatically improved over their much larger, much deeper predecessors. Some newer DLPs are even slim enough to hang on a wall!
8 Steps to Buy a DLP TV
