Just a quick little pole here. After visiting a few retailers looking at various tvs - LCD, DLP etc. I have a question. What are your opinions in regards to the technology in the next few years? WIll LCD, DLP win out and be here to stay or LCOS? With Sony not making DLP and a few others following suit, is there a reason. Will LCD be the way to go, or could it be LCOS? I had some interesting input from various dealers all of whom sell these technologies. Except LCOS as of now.
Lastly, I am about to pull the trigger on a new set. A Hitachi Director Series 60 set and I don't much care for their stands. Anyone have any good suggestions on stands? Websites etc?
Thanks
Chris R
Unregistered guest
Posted on
The problem with all of the new HD technologies is that they are "bleeding edge". The technologies are changing fast and new products are coming into the market before they are debugged and reliable. As a product development engineer, I expect a product based upon a new technology to have life cycle that looks like: bleeding edge (expensive & unreliable) -> stable (functional) -> mature (reliable & low cost). It usually takes a year or more to reach the stable point.
If we were talking about toaster ovens for under $100, it wouldn't matter. Unfortunately, these TV's are multi-thousand dollars. The real question for all of you: can you afford to be disappointed? If your rolling in cash, it doesn't matter. On the other hand, if this purchase represents a significant part of your disposable income, beware! You are very likely to be disappointed with image quality, reliability and life expectancy.
If you want to play it safe, stick with the traditional CRT TV. There are some nice HD offerings with large screens. These are mature products that will provide great reliability. On the other hand, those of you that pop for the new technology are helping to fuel the development of these new technologies.
As to which technology will win, I predict several. There is enough differentiation between technologies that they will serve slightly different needs. The real question is what will the market share be for each technology? That depends upon a variety of factors, among them name branding, cost, reliability, image quality and capabilities. Remember that the need for these devices is still emerging. There is no commercially available source of HD DVDs. HD programming is limited from satellite and cable providers due to bandwidth limitations. For some time, the typical image you will watch will be standard resolution, digitally enhanced to a higher resolution.
As things stand today, the anecdotal information points to DLP TV's having a slight edge over other technologies. There are clearly issues with DLP. The report of headaches when watching DLP is disturbing. You might want to spend some time watching one to see if this is an issue for you. There are clearly DLP technology advances that will be available within the next year. It might be prudent to delay a DLP purchase.
I wouldn't make any conclusions about which technologies are better by the vendors offering or not offering them. Companies often make logistical decisions about technologies that are about positioning, differentiation and earnings. This can result in a company promoting an inferior technology or bypassing a superior one.
The big question is LCOS. There is a lot of talk about the technology, but no hard facts to support a conclusion. We'll need to wait until a TV is commercially available to know.
Despite the LCOS promotional hype, I tend to look to the action of the manufacturers to see what they really believe. Two facts are obvious:
1. DLP has clobbered LCOS. Several makers who had announced LCOS sets have abandoned them and have come out with DLP sets instead (Toshiba and LG, the maker of Zenith sets). It appears that LCOS chipsets did not deliver and the chipset for DLP from Texas Instruments is incredibly good. Improved DLP sets will be arriving shortly with the latest generation DLP chipset--Samsung is the leader here. DLP is the fastest growing segment of the market and is within striking distance of plasma after only about a year on the market.
2. LCD RPTV is also very good. Sony and Panasonic have both gone to LCD RP and have very good sets out. Also, LG is hedging its bets by coming out with LCD RP as well as DLP. LCD is a cheaper technology than DLP, which explains why Panasonic went that way, but not Sony. Sony apparently went LCD because DLP was NIH ("Not invented here").
Either technology is very good and worthy of consideration.
Intel is trying to revive LCOS announcing their own LCOS chipset, but I understand it may be a year away, at least.
Chris R- I am one who gets a slight headache when watching Sammy's DLP. Is that the nature of the beast or can it be addressed some how to not produce these headaches in later models? I don't see rainbows, but I do get a slight headache after 20 minutes. So I think that knocks DLPs off my list.
To follow up- if the headache thing is a common side effect for some it seems silly to me that so many companies are now investing into DLPs. I'd imagine a lot of people would have similar headaches to all DLPs.
listserv
Unregistered guest
Posted on
HDTV implementation in this country has been a joke and we shouldn't support any of the current offerings. Intel is the only company with a consumer-friendly approach - they will release only the best technology. If you want an example of what companies are doing to attempt to screw us, go look at some of the "edtv's" - they're an overpriced joke.