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LCD rear projectors look very similar to DLPs. They are much thinner and lighter than CRTs, but not near as thin as flat panel plasmas or LCDs. They come in huge sizes and have a nice bright picture and no calibration is required to maintain sharpness. The only problem with rear projection LCDs is that they can’t hit the deep blacks in dark scenes, but this is always getting better as new models come out.
Upside: Thinner and lighter than CRTs, excellent color and brightness, no rainbow effects as in a DLP, very large screen sizes
Downside: Expensive, dark scenes can lose detail, periodic lamp replacement

LCoS is the newest form of rear projection. LcoS stands for liquid crystal on silicon. It is being pushed by Intel (they make the processor inside the TV), Philips, and JVC. JVC calls their LCoS TVs by a different name – D-ILA. Don’t even ask me what that stands for. These TVs offer very high resolution, no calibration, and are thin and light like their DLP and LCD counterparts. LCoS still has some flaws that are being worked out since they are so new.
Upside: high resolution, thin and light, no calibration required
Downside: new technology that is still being refined, expensive, may lose out to DLP and LCD

Flat panel HDTVs
We’ve all been wowed by flat panel TVs. They cause you to just stand and stare in awe. Flat panels have caused a revolution in TV and they are constantly getting better. Of course, there is a high price to pay to have that sexy, new HDTV hanging over your fireplace. Luckily for us, prices are falling at a pretty constant rate. The two major players in flat panels are LCD and plasma. Both have their advantages and disadvantages that I will highlight below.

Plasma
They have the sexy name that is driving the HDTV craze. They are as little as three inches thick and have the potential for very large screen sizes. In fact, Samsung showed recently showed off its 102-inch plasma display! Plasma Display Panels (PDPs) have very wide viewing angles, so the picture looks great from almost anywhere and they have very uniform brightness. The knocks on PDPs are that they have average black-level performance and have issues with burn-in. Burn-in occurs when a static image is left on a screen for too long and that image tends to leave a ghost of itself no matter what is showing on the screen. This has gotten better on the newer models, but it is still an issue.
Upside: Thin and cool-looking, large sizes, wide viewing angle
Downside: Very expensive, average black levels, burn-in issues

LCD
It’s sometimes very hard to tell and LCD from a plasma. LCDs are also very thin. They have a very bright picture and none of the burn-in issues associated with plasmas. LCDs have a very long life span, too. The main thing limiting LCDs right now is that they are limited to 42”. Sharp recently displayed a 65” LCD, but those are extremely expensive and probably won’t go into mass production for a while. Flat panel LCDs also have rather average black level so you lose detail in dark scenes. Their response time is also lower than other displays, so very fast action can look somewhat blurry.
Upside: Very thin and light, bright picture, long life, no burn-in
Downside: Limited sizes, average black level, low response time

Front Projection HDTV
Front projection refers to the projectors that transmit light toward a wall or a screen for really huge picture sizes. Most projectors you’ve probably seen have been used with a computer. Most of these projectors have a resolution of 800x600. This is fine for a PowerPoint presentation and even a DVD, but that is not high enough resolution to display HDTV. That is why if you want to watch HDTV in all its glory, you need a special home theater projector. These come in LCD and DLP versions and have a high enough resolution to display HDTV. Of course, these are expensive, but they cost less than the most flat panels and even rear projection DLPs and LCDs, but they produce a much bigger picture.

You really need a special setup if you are going to use a front projector. You can use a wall, but a dedicated screen will give you the best picture. You also need a very dark room because front projectors can easily get washed out by any ambient light.

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