Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners RPTV vs Plasma

The 60" version of the Pioneer is the one I have picked to go downstairs, now I just need the $6000 to get it.

I have a wall unit where the Sony 60XBR1 fits beautifully, the wall unit has an open back and it is in the basement where it is a few degrees cooler. It may not be 4inches away from the wall, but I have never had any issues with it.

I believe for price, value and performance in a 60" and up size the LCOS is hard to beat.

PS - off angle viewing is excellent, you can view from the extreme sides (or from floor) with no degredation in picture.

I also found that off-angle viewing was much better on the Sony and JVC than on DLP-based RPTV's.

The one thing is with RPTV you want to be viewing from a position where you eyes are level with the middle of the screen or lower.

When you look downward on most projection sets it looks dimmer because of the angle which the light is projected to the screen. So better to place the set higher than level as opposed to lower. LCD or Plasma dont have that issue.

Thanks for the info! I was asked that question today by an employee and I told him I would research this.

Definitely true.

I thought I'd try mine without the matching stand when I first bought it to save money. I soon had to go back to the store for the stand.

I have a pretty new Panasonic 42" plasma as well as a 4yr old Pioneer SD-533HD5 CRT RPTV. I'm not sure that you can still get high-end CRT RPTVs, and I'm not sure how well the DLP RPTVs work so some of this may be academic. My observations between the CRT RPTV and the plasma:

- RPTV is much more film-like, plasma is more vibrant
- Gray-scales are still better on the RPTV
- No motion issues with either set
- RPTV is much more angle-sensitive especially vertically, but also horizontally
- My plasma can be in the brightest room and the picture will still be vibrant. The RPTV gets washed out in a bright room, and benefits from a room with good light control.

I prefer the CRT RPTV for watching movies, and the plasma for watching television. I like my movies to look like movies.

cheers,
Ayan

Does your CRT RPTV have a protective glass screen on the front of it? Some of the recent Hitachi's did and in that case would make it similar to plasma in the reflective nature of the screen.

The DLP, LCOS, LCDRP microdisplays that have a high gain screen with no protective cover DO look more film like....I definately agree. Some do however complain about the texture in all white backgrounds as they see a SSE (silk screen effect) If you dont look for SSE you normally dont see it.

My RPTV has a protective PLASTIC screen. I haven't noticed the SSE that you are mentioning, but I haven't looked for it either. What exactly should I be looking for?

A CRT RPTV doesnt show SSE. The DLP, LCOS, LCDRP with the slightly textured, high gain screens will show a kind of shimmer on certain backgrounds.

Hockey games or snow scenes with all white background, desert scenes with a sand background can show it too. You can minimize it with settings on your set.

You won't see it on your CRT anyways.