DLP TV's...pros and cons.

[Keith from Canada]

I have a friend of mine that is interesting in a 43" DLP TV and has asked for some input about them. The only thing that I know so far is that they are a) very expensive and b) they contain over a million moving parts. Does anyone know how reliable these things are? Also, I have read about the "colour wheel" that they deploy. Would this "wheel" be as efficient as using 3 RPTV guns? I would imagine that a spinning wheel would lead to artifacting of a fast moving image...am I wrong?

Given that these sets are relatively new to the market, I've told my friend that these sets will likely tumble in price over the next few years and that the costs associated with the TV in terms of potential repairs could be very high. Let me know if this is correct information.

[Widowmaker]

A friend of mine has Samsung's 50" DLP TV and he loves it. You're right, they are more expensive than a comparable rear-projection but if you can swing it, the benefits outweigh the costs. Here is what I know:

PROS:
Very good corner-to-corner focus (unlike RPTVs, you don't have to be dead center, eye level to get the best picture)
Uniformly bright picture
Excellent black reproduction levels
No burn-in
Light and does not take up much room

CONS:
Expensive (a 50" will cost $4k)
Thin top shelf (my friend has to mount his center speaker on a separate shelf)
Occasional rainbow effect (can see primary colors when transitioning from dark scenes to light, although this has gotten better because 6-segment color wheels are starting to be used)
It takes about 20 seconds for the TV to power up
The light bulb eventually needs to be replaced (this is better than a RPTV, in that if a phosphor tube goes out, congratulations, you now have a 300 pound paper weight because it is prohibitively expensive to replace a blown tube)

I will make a bold prediction now. With the advent of DLP and the rise of LCD and LCoS projection, traditional phosphor tube RPTVs will become obsolete.