which technology really has the best picture

Actually plasmas perform better in the dark due to their contrast levels and ability to show shadow detail; an advantage lost in direct/ambient light. Also, in drker rooms glare is eliminated entirely.

The best technology I have seen as far as PQ is SED. Infinite blacks. I have no idea if it will be affordable at larger display sizes or even commercially available ( when/if). LCD and Plasma prices have had the more expensive years which likely helped with R and D costs but now its price drops and basically balls out competition.

11-10-06: Markphd
" No rear projection TV can compete against a direct view TV. You will notice that rear projection TV's are slowly disappearing from stores. The only advantage they had was size. With plasmas, and now LCDs, both above the 50 inch barrier, the only advantage that rear projection TV's had is now gone.

You mentioned Toshiba's DLP. The head of Toshiba has stated that they are going to stop making all other TV technologies once their SED TV's come on stream. That's a pretty good clue as to what they think of rear projection, as well as plasma and LCD."

I don't agree with Markphd. I'll put a well calibrated Sony SXRD RP up against any other non-front projector on the market and it will hold it's own. No, I don't own one or sell them. But I have been looking to purchase a new 55-60" TV and have looked extensively and read most of the reviews. But, that's looking through my eyes, your's may see something different. Also, the original post indicated that he/she was actively looking to purchase .... so what's SED technology got to do with the question? Anyone who's out auditioning units now certainly is not wanting to wait 5-10 years for large screen SEDs!

Whatever you buy will be greatly affected by the quality of the source material, the room, etc. My advice is, don't plan on spending big bucks for ANY technology without budgeting for calibration by a professional - and I'm not talking about the delivery guy from Best Buy.

Dbw1,

My $0.02 worth. The first thing I would do in your case is decide on screen size. If you are sitting 12' from the display, a 50" screen size is going to look like a postage stamp, especially in the context of a 21' long room.

I sit 9' - 10' from my screen. Currently have a 61" TV, but am planning on replacing that with a 71" TV- I'm a victim of the display size shrinks over time phenomenon!

IMO, if you want to try and recreate a theater experience, you need to size the screen accordingly. I suggest a screen size of 70" or larger.

Given you cannot control ambient lighting, I would avoid a front projector unless you want to get two displays, one for daytime and a FP for nighttime, but that ups the financial ante.

So I would look at RPTV versus flat panel. AFAIK, in this screen size, RPTV is notably less expensive. If you do go with RPTV, I would look at DLP versus LCOS (SXRD from Sony, DiLA from JVC), but not consider rear projection LCD or RP CRT. DLP and LCOS each have their own strengths and weaknesses. One is not better than the other, but individual preferences will lead people to prefer one over the other.

Good luck,
Bruce

If you don't have to have a flat panel, I wouldn't buy one. The SXRD by Sony has a great picture, and a more than reasonable price. If you read AVS forum, you will find that most of the flat panels have problems (banding, clouding, burn in). Not so for the SXRD. The Mitsubichi DLP is right there as well, but DLPs are not for everyone.

Northwoods-maine, I use a Sony as well, but it's an LCD. I thought it was the best taking all things into account. Better than plasma on some points, inferior on others, but overall, it was my preference; although, I thought the Panasonics gave it a run for its money. LCD's don't have the brightness of plasma, but I find the plasma pixels so large and obvious that I find it annoying. Like most pepole, I believe that CRT is the best picture, but the current version is dead, forget it. The market doesn't want it, and they don't come in large sizes. The reason why SED is getting so much hype is because it is a CRT based technology. So you get all the advantages of CRT, but in a flat panel. If it's properly priced, no other current technology will have an advantage over it on any point. And as far as waiting 5-10 years, the head of Toshiba said he plans to put it on the market in less than two, and he said that a year ago. Whether it's true or not, we'll see. It's OLED's that you will be waiting 5-10 years for.