I thought pretty much all big-screens these days were direct tube technology and not rear-projection. I remember the old rear-projection sets with a fabric display layer and gigantic RGB projectors in the body of the set...I guess that's what I think of when I hear rear-projection. If I walk into a circuit city and look at a top-of-the-line 60" Sony/Hitachi/whatever "normal" big/heavy TV, what technology is that that I'm looking at?Faster954 said:
So to answer your question... depends on what you mean by "tube". Somebody says tube to me and I think of a direct view TV.
This is exactly why I went with a 4:3 tv when I got mine. That was a few years ago though, and the decision is tougher now as SOME tv shows are in widescreen now, but most still aren't.Faster954 said:A widescreen TV won't "burn out" due to watching 4:3 material all the time. However, on a rear projection TV (which is what I'm guessing your looking at given the price range and size) the tubes may burn unevenly. That's one of the reasons why in 4:3 mode, widescreen TV's have grey side bars (not black). Grey is some color so the tubes are being used, but it's still not good to watch too much 4:3 material on a widescreen.
Hitachi's have a nice "expanded 4:3" setting which stretches the sides of the image, but not the center. So the sides look a little odd sometimes, but the center (which is where most of the action is anyways) is normal. You get used to it.
If you are watching DVD's most of the time, go widescreen. If you're watching TV most of the time, go 4:3. Video games... well there are some games that support widescreen though the vast majority do not. So for DVD & games, I'd go widescreen. For TV & games, I'd go 4:3. In other words, DVD vs TV is more the deciding factor.
You got it. That's what rear projection is. The technology has improved, but that's still basically what it is. Usually it's pretty obvious what you're looking at. Plasma/LCD are super thin. LCoS is fairly thin. Direct view doesn't go bigger than 40". Front projectors are obvious, everything else (the vast majority right now) is rear projection.beni said:
I thought pretty much all big-screens these days were direct tube technology and not rear-projection. I remember the old rear-projection sets with a fabric display layer and gigantic RGB projectors in the body of the set...I guess that's what I think of when I hear rear-projection. If I walk into a circuit city and look at a top-of-the-line 60" Sony/Hitachi/whatever "normal" big/heavy TV, what technology is that that I'm looking at?
Rear projection TV's used to be much more susceptible to burn in. They're much better now, but you can still burn them. So if you played a lot of old 8-bit Nintendo or Atari games you could burn in the screen (just like a computer monitor) due to the static images. Games these days don't have much static images so you're pretty safe.erknjerk said:
Also how are video games on a projection TV? Do they cause problems?