LCD, Plasma or DLP?

(Keep in mind, everything here is just my opinion, you may agree or disagree)....I worked for CircuitCity for about a year, and that was where I first picked up all the different types of tv technology out now. My opinion is DLP is the best, that's what I would get.

1) Picture: I think LCD's are the sharpest and best looking, but they don't have great colors. Plasmas I don't feel are very sharp or crisp, but they have great, bright colors. Forget Rear Projection unless you're strapped for cash (which it doesn't sound like you are). DLP's are a good mix. They aren't ultra-sharp, but they are definitely an excellent picture, while still maintaining good colors.

2) Price: LCD's, way too expensive in the larger size. Plasmas don't come terribly small and are still very expensive. DLP's will cost less than both of these, although they don't come in the size you are looking for, but are still about as much as an LCD will cost in the size you are looking for, but you get the larger size.

3) Size: LCD's and Plasmas are the thinnest you can get, no question. If you're looking to mount it on the wall, DLP's are pretty much out, although I have heard rumors of mountable DLP's in the near future. Other than that, I don't see any advantage to a Plasma or LCD.

4) View: LCD's and Plasmas will have the best viewing angles, however, while DLP's are still a form of projection, they have a significant increase in viewing angle over Rear Projection (my educated guess is probably about up to 60-70 degrees off straight on in each direction).

5) Life span: LCD's theoretically should not burn out and they have no problem with screen burn. Plasmas will burn out in roughly 15 years or so (the rumors of dying in 3 years and have to be recharged is absolutely false, they cannot be recharged, once they die, they're done, however 15 years is about as long as any CRT typically lasts before it's no longer cost effective to repair). As far as dying out, yes they do, over time they will begin to degrade and not look as good, but not in 3 years, it will be longer than that. Plasmas also have a terrible screen burn problem. We've had a static image on a screen for only about 2 hours at the store and it had a slight burn. DLP's have a bulb inside that needs to be replaced approximately every 8000-10000 hours of usage, and for the most part this is usually user-serviceable for the competent electronically-oriented person and runs only a few hundred dollars. Depending on how much tv you watch, you can do the math on how many years that will translate to. Also, DLP's do have a small screen burn issue, but it's only slightly worse than a CRT would be, but nowhere near as bad as a Plasma.

6) Ghosting: Since you mentioned it, LCD's and Plasmas have a ghosting problem because they don't have a high response rate to keep up with fast moving things (most prominent with sports where the camera moves quickly). DLP doesn't have a huge problem with this, no worse than any CRT or Project would since there are no pixels that need to be refreshed.

All in all, my recommendation is get a Samsung (don't even look at the RCA DLP's, they're terrible in comparison) 42" DLP. I believe it has VGA and DVI input, as well as a few component and composite inputs. Hope that helps, any more questions feel free.

PS: This is everything that I have been taught and picked up over the years, if something isn't entirely accurate please let me know so I will know for future reference. Thanks.

yeah, i was going to mention LCD projection, but DLP is slightly better, also, be careful of the Sony LCD Projection, if they haven't come out with a new one yet, they have been known to have problems with the bulbs burning out WAY sooner than they should have, but I think that they have fixed that issue, but make sure to ask if you're looking at that model (i think it was KF42WE610 (or 50, 60, in place of 42 depending on the size).

Under 2 grand, I don't think you can get anything in these categories, for that price it'll be either a CRT or a rear projection, and there are some nice rear projections and some very nice HD CRT's (Samsung 30" widescreen in particular). But for those high end like DLP, LCD, and Plasma you're looking at starting about $2800 or so.

heh i thought you would make this kind of thread sonic, so sonic agree with me and get a dlp like i told you

For gaming, CRT is ALWAYS the best (as for now). LCD might comes in second.

I'm enjoying gaming on my new Sharp DLP rear projector with a 92" screen. The picture quality is just as good if not better than any plasma or DLP set out there, and it costs less and offers a much bigger screen. Personally, I believe that if you have the space and some sort of light control, you'd be foolish to go with a plasma or a large DLP ($3000+) over rear projection. It's cheaper, more portable, better, and much bigger.