Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Projector vs Plazma TV

It appears to me that the overall advantage to a plazma tv is that you save space. Space availabilty is not an issue for me, however I wont be able to fit in a front projector either so I am leaning toward a rear projection television. I am considering the Pioneer Elite Pro-530HDi (53 inch screen0. Anyone have any any experience with this TV or recomendations on others?

Note:I have no windows in my room so I control the lighting.

Thanks,

Rich

I keep sayin' it, but nobody seems to agree: The 60" Phillips HDTV at Costco for $1499 is a smoking deal. Yes the cabinet and grill cloth is ugly, yes the TV's built-in speakers suck, and yes it is the old 4:3 shape, but the picture is great and at $1499 you won't be cryin' 5-7 years from now when a more expensive widescreen is obsolete, too.
If you watch any broadcast TV at all, the 4:3 shape is an advantage in my opinion (no stretch or zoom mode, ick!). The letter-boxed DVD picture is crystal clear and something like 55". The letter boxed HDTV picture would be slightly larger, should that ever become a reality. I'm incredibly happy with mine (it is ugly though).

Philips needs to get rid of the silver look. My Philips DirectTivo is silver. Stands out like a sore thumb.

I wouldn't count on the silver going away any time soon. It's the new black! (or, in the case of computers, the new beige!)

Best Buy just lowered the price on the 51" Toshiba to $1599. That is a great deal on a widescreen hd ready tv.

Infocus X1 front projector $900
DaLite Hi-Power Hi-Power screen $300-400
You can go 16:9 or 4:3 with this setup.
If you want standard cable you need a viewsonic TV Tuner box $140
Still cheaper than above and you can go 60-110 inches.

Saturn, does that viewsonic box work well? I've been using my VCR's tuner, but I'd like a better picture. I'll probably get digital cable soon, but I'm curious about the viewsonic.

Using the Viewsonic TV tuner and if the signal you have is already clean then yes it scales the image up higher at least better than the VCR. I find that resolution really doesnt change from 640x480 to 1024x768. It just formats the screen to proper resolution. There is also a 16:9 format that fits well if all viewing is 16:9 on the X1. I still think though the ATI all in wonder card or any PC based tuner card will give the best scaling picture for standard cable but then you need to build up a HTPC. When I get a chance I will upload pics of the TV tuner on the X1 on my site.

If I had a dedicated HT I would certainly opt for a FP.
But in the family room? No way in the world would my wife allow me to hang a projector from the ceiling or back wall, run wires all over the place, and have a big ol' screen hanging on the front wall of the family room. She watches way too much HGTV to go for that. I'm guessing things might be the same for some of these other fellas, too.

Is another consideration viewing habits? I get the feeling that a projection unit is used to view movies while rpt or plasma is used for movies PLUS regular tv viewing.

Can someone with a projector please educate me on that one. How does "regular" non-digital tv look?