Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater SXRD or DLP? I'm going shopping!!

I'm going shopping this week for furniture and a new big-screen television. Any suggestions about either technology would be appreciated. I know there are some happy Samsung owners on the forum but I haven't seen any of the other. I have read many reviews on both televisions and both have received accolades. I'm looking to spend around $3000 on a 60in. set.

Please help
thanks

SXRD. Albeit last year's models, since mine is about a year old, but I compared the Sony to the Samsung and thought the Sony looked better. No rainbow concerns either.

In a word "wait"!!! Do more research and wait for prices to fall.. the price difference(Can/US) is still to big on TV's of that size.. If I was you I would wait until christmass before pulling the trigger on a big screen here in Canada! Prices are falling but the real correction is comming, albeit slowly....

You can always wait and prices will always fall. If cost is a big concern, get last year's model before they are completely phased out. My dad just got the 55" Sony A2020 for less than I got my 50" A2000 a little over a year ago.

Ok i just saw use of the word "albeit" in three posts including one of my own in the past ten minutes.
I blame a forum virus.

Best Buy has the 60" SXRD 2020 on sale for $2199. Darn good price if you ask me. $600 cheaper than the Samsung HL-T6189 anywhere I looked. Might have to snatch that up. Your dad happy with the 2020?

He's been happy with it. I'm happy with my A2000 as well, which is the same TV. A2000 has silver on the bottom, A2020 has black. Other than that they're the same. A3000 is starting to replace them, so get the 2020 soon if you want one before they are gone.

Yes, thanks for the info. I found that slight difference about the two models and I preferred the 2020 because it doesn't have any silver on it. Oddly enough, I've seen pricing on Sony.com and other websites for the 3000 and they are a lot cheaper than the 2020. I don't really understand this, with them being the new model.

From my personal experiences go with the SONY SXRD. I went through 2 Sammy DLPs. The first was the very cool looking "Captain Kirk" pedestal model which was a 1080i 50 inch, the second was their first 1080p, 60inch.
Both had excellent picture quality with connected to HD, but they both showed problems with standard DVD was played. In dimly lit scenes color became smeared. Faces took on a “Chalk drawing” effect that floated – there was no real color tone levels just on flat fuzzy shade. It really stood out in DVDs of THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE and THE FRIGHTNERS. This problem also cropped up in MASTER AND COMMANDER during the storm. I had Sammy send a tech to my home who blamed it on every part in the set. He literary re-build the set in the house replacing the HDMI board, the light engine; and some board- then went on to say it was my DVD player. Well, went through all my players, a Sony, Panasonic, and a Denon (by the way, the Denon looked the worse to the incompatibility between the Farojudja chip which is known to have issues with certain sets and cause micro blocking). The tech then went out to his van and pulled out his Sammy DVD player and boy did it really look bad. Finally he shook his head and said, “DLP not for you!”, and left.
Now those two Samy did have the old light wheel, but the second didn’t show signs of the flicker or rainbow. My friend in Canada went out again my opinion and purchased a 61” Samy with the new LED lights. Well, she sent it back due to a problem of a blue “crona” effect that showed up in darker scenes. Turns out other are experiencing this too. Samy is saying it’s a light engine problem. Others on the net and saying they are experiencing red or green same light effects.
DLPs tend to be a bit more grainy in picture quality too. Again, not so noticeable with HD signals – but with standard def, and DVDs. My friend returned the Samy and purchased a Sony SXRD 60 inch and he couldn’t be happier.
I even called DLP the original designers of the technology and described what I experienced and they told my it’s has nothing to do with what their technology but rather what is “applied” to it.
Although the idea of LEDs to light DLP is a wonderful idea in terms of a longer and theoretically cooler I’ve read these sets actually use more power and for some reason burn warmer. Also, since it is a new technology, as being applied to DLP I think they probably didn’t get the kinks out just yet. The same was true for SONY with SXRD when the first 6 – 8 months of those sets had problems as well – very similar to what Samy is experiencing now.
I have referred two persons to SXED so far and both are extremely happy. Hope this helps.

I have owned two DLPs and have had nothing near the problems of the previous poster. In fact my current Samsung has been trouble free and performing beautifully for 15 months (I've had it ISF calibrated).

I would point out that all of these technologies (DLP, SXRD, LCoS, Plasma, LCD) have had their growing pains, and stories similar to the one above can be found regarding any of them. I have a good friend who had a Sony die on him (green blob issue?) after a year, and the repair would've cost him thousands of dollars. He dumped it and got a Mitsubishi DLP and has had no problems whatsoever. Does his story mean that Sony's are junk and should be avoided? Of course not. Does the story above mean all DLPs are junk and should be avoided? Not at all.

To the best of my knowledge all HDTV sets don't do as well with standard def TV signals as they do with high def TV signals. This, logically, can be explained by the fact that SD is a lower quality signal being shown on a large screen TV. I've never had reason to complain about DVD's on either of my DLPs.

It has been claimed that the Sony green blob issue has been solved. Perhaps this is so, because all of these technologies have evolved and improved, DLP included. (I would point out that LED DLPs are only a second generation technology. A new technology is bound to have problems, and early adopters should be prepared for that)

On my first DLP, the difference between standard def TV channels and high def TV channels was quite noticeable. The difference between SD and HD on my second, current, DLP is, with rare exception, barely noticeable. Though softer than HD, as is all SD when compared to HD, I would be hard pressed to classify SD on my DLP as "grainy."

Good hunting, and I hope you end up with a TV that pleases you as much as my DLP delights me.