Projection tv for gaming?

[Mendel]

Ok so I got this really sweet deal for this http://www.netville.fi/re_45nz80rb.html

It will be 900 euros (from a different place, but that url is where google found best pic and some specs about that particular model)

In any case, this purchase will absolutely kill me financially, luckily I just got a job almost month ago and I'll be getting some tax return payments from government but even so I will have to ask some advance payments form my workplace to get this for christmas. And I'd like this to be good then

Now, without seeing this thing in real life...a and while local stores don't have it in stock. I have to rely on you guys maybe having some experience from these.

What does this "projection" thing mean in reality anyways?
Does it mean same as "crappy"?

Does it make the screen too blurry? Is it likely that the thing will support 60Hz mode or not since it supports 100Hz? (in other words, will I be able to play metroid prime 2 with it)

What about viewing angles? Is that a major issue?

Then again... 45" for <1000 euros... sounds too good to be true!

edit: oh and what about these warnings that the image might "burn" in to the picture, is this still current?

 

[rabidrabbit]

Is that LG a LCD rear projection TV?
You might find the picture too "light".
At least the cheap LCD rptv's I've seen have had a picture that is very lacking in reproducing anything black. Everything that should be black is more like darkish gray. The picture can be a bit washed out with not enough contrast and brightness.
At least you'll need a relatively dark room to be able to view one, at summer if there is bright sunlight, even indirect, it'll be almost impossible to watch most rptvs unless you have thick curtains on windows.

Note that you'll eventually need to replace the lamp, maybe after some 3000 hours of use. Those might cost aout to €200-500

Rptvs are also quite sensitive to viewing angles, but if you watch it from a a couch in front of the tv, it should not be a problem, but they are also sensitive to vertical viewing angles, even so that if you scholuch on the sofa the image may seem slightly different than if you sit with back straight.
But overall the viewing angles shouldn't be a major problem in normal viewing conditions.

I don't know about the blurriness of that model, but the cheap LCD RPTVs I've viewed have had more of a grainy than blurry picture.

I've got a 52" CRT rear projection TV, I've been quite satisfied with it, especially with dvd movies the image is very film like. It doesn't suffer from bad black levels because it is cathode ray tube set, but it does have some problems with convergence. Id wish it had more brightness, especially in games. In films the brightness is more ok, as imo the images are more film like and natural than in traditional crt tv's.

I haven't noticed any burn-in, and I've used it a lot for gaming where there are atationary hud's on screen.
If you don't leave a stationary image on screen for hours that shouldn't be any more problem than in any other tv's.

I really recommend you try and see the tv for yourself, in my opinion it would be quite risky to buy a rptv without seeing how the picture looks with varying materials.
If you do manage to see one live, note that often the tv's in stores are set up totaly wrong. Usually the contrast setting is put to the max, and then the image will sure look grainy even on the best sets.

To answer if I'd buy that LG for gaming... probably not. As the black levels is most likely quite bad, it might make the games look very washed out (there's a lot of true black in many games (especially Doom3 ), more so than in films)

For €1000 or below, I'd look for a front projector. Quite good quality projectors are already available at that price, and also a bigger picture if you want one. You would not necessarily need an expensive screen either if you paint a wal with suitable colour (not necessarily white, light gray is often better esp. with LCD projectors)

 

[Mendel]

thanks for the in depth answer. I think that tv which I'm looking for is a CRT tv as well as yours so ok that settles it, it wouldn't have any burn problems.

I think I will go for it

I was thinking about front projector too but I decided that will have to wait.

 

[3dcgi]

It's a matter of personal opinion, but I've liked most LCD rear projections better than the CRT rear projections. In many of the LCDs the viewing angle is better than the CRTs and the blacks, while not perfect, aren't too bad.

edit: The CRT RPTVs tend to be much less expensive in the US.

 

[bleon]

I have a Toshiba 42" RPTV that we use for mainly watch TV and sometimes gaming.
You need to be careful with burn it. Where I live, every tv station displays a fixed logo on the top right or topleft corner and these are bright white. In less than 2 years I noticed the logo had burned into the screen and its really annoying.

 

[Mendel]

edit: The CRT RPTVs tend to be much less expensive in the US.

reality check:

Pretty damn much everything, at least in the high tech sector, seems to have been a lot cheaper in the US for some time. It was already so when the dollar was still 1.2 euros. Now that a euro is 1.3 dollars, the situation has gotten a good ridiculous way more pronounced.

Its very close to the moment when I would get graphics cards, games and stuff cheaper from US, even with shipping, handling and customs counted in

 

[hey69]

that's a nice price 900 euro. but i would wait a bit longer for a real LCD screen.
next week in a store in holland they will sell 66cm LCD TV with (28inch?)DVI/progrs scan/scart etc .. for 999euro! I mean DAMN that's low,
imagine prices end of next year.

 

[KnightBreed]

that's a nice price 900 euro. but i would wait a bit longer for a real LCD screen.
next week in a store in holland they will sell 66cm LCD TV with (28inch?)DVI/progrs scan/scart etc .. for 999euro! I mean DAMN that's low,
imagine prices end of next year.

66cm is actually about 26". You're telling him to wait another week to purchase a screen nearly half the screen size, but for the same price? I respectfully disagree. I think that is a terrible idea.

 

[Mendel]

umm, yea... 26" would be nice replacement for my computer monitor... but for my living room, I'm looking for something way bigger... and that projection tv seems to be only thing that can offer something that I can afford.

Of course, had I the money, I would go for a 42" plasma screen but the eh... 2600 euros is just ehh... half years salary, too much

 

[hey69]

well that's NOT what I meant actually, but i understand, i should have written more clearly. what i wanted to say is that they already startingto sell lcd's at that price, so imagine the prices for next year (17" - > 47".?) not necsecairily a 66 cm but any lcd prices. they are dropping quick

 

[zurich]

Wait for DLPs to come down.. you can already get a 46 inch DLP for $2499 CDN (~$1800 Euros or so I expect). HDMI and DVI for PC input (my buddy has one - makes a WICKED PC monitor).

 

[Mendel]

yea, would be very cool, but double price even where you live, triple price here... not possible.

My options really are:

1) 45" CRT backprojector
2) Classic 32" CRT widescreen television.
3) overhead projector.
4) wait.


4 is not an option because my current tv flat out sucks, I have to punch it for it to work

3 would be cool but its not usable often enough for various reasons, it will be a nice *addition* to a tv later on though

2 safe but not spectacular enough, I want to impress my friends

-> I'm left with the 45" projector thingie

 

[hey69]

i bought myself not so long time ago a 32' 16/9 CRT philips and i'm very hapy of it. (you can buy them nog for aprox 650euro tax included)

in 2 years when big flat panel tv's are around 1000 i will buy a new one and this one to my bedroom ..
i wouldnt buy a rearprojection tv if I where you but it's off course up to you.
what I most hate about projectTV is that you have to sit straight in front of it, otherwise you miss a lot of the screen , (very bad viewing angle)

 

[3dcgi]

edit: The CRT RPTVs tend to be much less expensive in the US.

reality check:

Pretty damn much everything, at least in the high tech sector, seems to have been a lot cheaper in the US for some time. It was already so when the dollar was still 1.2 euros. Now that a euro is 1.3 dollars, the situation has gotten a good ridiculous way more pronounced.

Its very close to the moment when I would get graphics cards, games and stuff cheaper from US, even with shipping, handling and customs counted in

You misunderstood. I didn't mean they tend to be cheaper in the US than in Europe. I meant in the US CRT RPTVs are cheaper than LCD and DLP RPTVs.

 

[Florin]

I've been using a Samsung LCD rear projector TV for about a year and a half and overall I'm still rather pleased with it. You should keep in mind though that there are some drawbacks to this system, most notably the viewing angle which is really rather poor, the brightness isn't terribly consistent across the screen (corners are a bit darker) and the LCD supposedly might need replacing after a while. Mine's still great but I went with the extended 5 year warranty just to be sure.

Also, overall there's just something uhm.. digital about the image. Some TV programs and MPEG/DIVX streams tend to look just a tad pixelated (might be what the guy called 'grainy' earlier). A normal CRT tends to smooth out the individual pixels but with an LCD RPTV you'll really see them. I can easily live with it but it might be a problem for some people.

But on the plus side you just won't find huge flat screens like these using CRTs or plasma in this price range, and I feel the image quality is just wonderful if you feed it good input material like DVDs. I also particularly like how it handles my XBox and Gamecube - given proper RGB cables instead of the standard composite stuff. To be honest, gaming is really what I use this TV for most - I watch the news on my PC with a tv card hehe - and it's great for that.

 

[zurich]

I've been using a Samsung LCD rear projector TV for about a year and a half and overall I'm still rather pleased with it. You should keep in mind though that there are some drawbacks to this system, most notably the viewing angle which is really rather poor, the brightness isn't terribly consistent across the screen (corners are a bit darker) and the LCD supposedly might need replacing after a while. Mine's still great but I went with the extended 5 year warranty just to be sure.

Also, overall there's just something uhm.. digital about the image. Some TV programs and MPEG/DIVX streams tend to look just a tad pixelated (might be what the guy called 'grainy' earlier). A normal CRT tends to smooth out the individual pixels but with an LCD RPTV you'll really see them. I can easily live with it but it might be a problem for some people.

But on the plus side you just won't find huge flat screens like these using CRTs or plasma in this price range, and I feel the image quality is just wonderful if you feed it good input material like DVDs. I also particularly like how it handles my XBox and Gamecube - given proper RGB cables instead of the standard composite stuff. To be honest, gaming is really what I use this TV for most - I watch the news on my PC with a tv card hehe - and it's great for that.

...Samsung DLP. Sony and Hitachi are LCD, Samsung, Toshiba, and RCA are DLP.

 

[zurich]

yea, would be very cool, but double price even where you live, triple price here... not possible.

My options really are:

1) 45" CRT backprojector
2) Classic 32" CRT widescreen television.
3) overhead projector.
4) wait.


4 is not an option because my current tv flat out sucks, I have to punch it for it to work

3 would be cool but its not usable often enough for various reasons, it will be a nice *addition* to a tv later on though

2 safe but not spectacular enough, I want to impress my friends

-> I'm left with the 45" projector thingie

Go with the 32 inch CRT widescreen. Is it HDTV? CRT RPTVs are big, heavy, and generally speaking, pretty bad.