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DLP TVs worth it?

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cereal_killerxx

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So I'm in the process of getting a TV for my new place and DLPs seem to be relatively cheap compared to LEDs. They have wide viewing angles (although vertical sucks), no input lag, and can do 1080p (some can do 3D too!). I'm not really concerned with 4K. I'd be fine with 1080p for the next 5 years or so. What are your opinions on DLP TVs?
 
I've been using a Samsung DLP (HLS6187WX/XAA) for a couple years, got it for $200. Overall it's pretty good, in a dark room it's amazing for movies like Inside Out. However, even though it has a 1080p sticker on it, no matter what I do I cannot get it to accept a 1080 signal. I only use it for TV and the occasional movie, so I can't speak as to if it has no input lag.

I got it to hold me over till I could afford a 50-60 inch LED, and haven't felt like replacing it yet.

My suggestion is if you get one, make sure it's a true 1080p model and don't spend a lot of money for one. Also look at the cost for replacement bulbs before buying a tv, some models of tv use bulbs that can cost like $100. I haven't needed to replace my bulb yet.
 
If it's cheap yes.

You have to replace the bulbs on all the ones that were Samsung LEDs, (Those have their own set of nagging issues)
 
QualityPixel said:
I've been using a Samsung DLP (HLS6187WX/XAA) for a couple years, got it for $200. Overall it's pretty good, in a dark room it's amazing for movies like Inside Out. However, even though it has a 1080p sticker on it, no matter what I do I cannot get it to accept a 1080 signal. I only use it for TV and the occasional movie, so I can't speak as to if it has no input lag.

I got it to hold me over till I could afford a 50-60 inch LED, and haven't felt like replacing it yet.

My suggestion is if you get one, make sure it's a true 1080p model and don't spend a lot of money for one. Also look at the cost for replacement bulbs before buying a tv, some models of tv use bulbs that can cost like $100. I haven't needed to replace my bulb yet.
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003HIYR5Q/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Local person is selling it for $250 because his wife wants a wall mountable TV.
 
I didn't even know they still made them outside projectors.

Research the type of DLP. My Sony XBR was LCOS and only lasted five years. The blue dye used in the blue color channel had a history of degrading and causing yellowing and greening of the set (green blob). There was no way around it and if I knew about it at purchase I never would have.
 
I have an ancient one that doesn't even do 1080p, but it has been very good to me and the picture looks nice.

VERY hard to move tho, big and clunky and heavy.
 
<--- currently using a sony DLP. only 720p, but it was free, so there's that. it's fine. would love to upgrade to a 1080p DLP. as an added bonus, my 2 yr old kid thumping the screen with his toys hasnt broken the tv, so i'm very happy. a similar LCD or LED would have cracked at least by now.
 
TyrantII said:
I didn't even know they still made them outside projectors.

Research the type of DLP. My Sony CBR was LCOS and only lasted five years. The blue dye used in the blue color channel had a history of degrading and causing yellowing and greening of the set (green blob). There was no way around it and if I knew about it at purchase I never would have.
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I'm assuming that's related to the bulb? Bulbs seem to be relatively inexpensive and easy to change. Well, less than $100.
 
I honestly can't imagine why you'd get a 150lb DLP in 2016.

Go snag a cheap Samsung or Sony 1080p LCD for $400 on Black Friday.
 
TyrantII said:
I didn't even know they still made them outside projectors.

Research the type of DLP. My Sony CBR was LCOS and only lasted five years. The blue dye used in the blue color channel had a history of degrading and causing yellowing and greening of the set (green blob). There was no way around it and if I knew about it at purchase I never would have.
Click to expand...

LCOS is not a type of DLP. Similar in how they work, but LCOS is LCD based.
 
my parents had one and the light thingy mirror bulb whatever broke and it's apparently very common for these TVs, i wouldnt bother
 
We've been rocking a 60" Mits DLP we bought from Dell over 8 years ago, full 1080P, still one of the best pictures I've seen on any TV to date. I've replaced the bulb in it twice, and we've moved it 3 times. We actually thought about selling it before we moved this last time, but it's kind of like a member of the family now. We also have a shiny new LG 4K 65" LED we just bought about a month ago, and it's a really nice TV, but I still do all of my gaming on the DLP. When the color wheel or something else super expensive finally goes, it's going to be a sad day indeed.

cereal_killerxx said:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003HIYR5Q/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Local person is selling it for $250 because his wife wants a wall mountable TV.
Click to expand...

Edit #1: Oh shit, that's the one we have, lol. I always threatened to buy the 3D add-on for it, but never actually did. I only paid about $550 for the set new, figured I'd never use the 3D stuff enough to warrant the cost.

Edit #2: Be aware of that even tho they promoted the hell out of their "Smooth120", there's not judder control built into the TV, so it's not really useful in any way.

Edit 3: Also, I had issues getting my PS3 to upscale to 1080p on the TV through an a/v receive. If it was plugged directly into the TV, it would upscale fine, but through the HK receiver I had at the time, it would only fill 720p worth of screen, with a thick black frame around the output.

Let me know if you have any other questions, I'll see if I can answer them for you.
 
Marty Chinn said:
The rainbow effect pretty much makes DLP a non starter for me.
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I almost never notice this on my tv. Only with thin white text on a black background is when I notice it and it doesn't bother me. But I have seen much older crappy rear projection tv's that did have that issue.

cereal_killerxx said:
Because the cheapo TVs on black friday always have high input lag. DLPs have 0 input lag. And it's cheap.
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The Vizio E-Series in 1080 and 4k have low input lag and a 55" 1080 can be had for under $500. Maybe keep an eye out for one of those before buying. http://www.rtings.com/tv/tests/inputs/input-lag
 
QualityPixel said:
I almost never notice this on my tv. Only with thin white text on a black background is when I notice it and it doesn't bother me. But I have seen much older crappy rear projection tv's that did have that issue.
Click to expand...

You shouldn't see it on text; you should see it with lots of motion. I was testing out a DLP projector a few weeks back and man did it stand out like a sore thumb. Regardless, just the fact that it's there and some people are more sensitive to it than others just made it a non starter since I wasn't the only person who was going to use the TV. I was worried about it back then and testing the projector now seems like it's still easy to see despite it being a decade later.
 
I have a Samsung HL-61A750 . Still works great.. picture is still fantastic.. viewing angles suck like you said though.

But.. Black Friday is just around the corner.. hold off until then and snag a nice big tv for super cheap. I wouldn't invest any money into a big old DLP that is probably on its last legs. Also, it will be an absolute pain to get rid of unless you have a truck to take it to the dump if it does break,.

I wouldn't pay $250 for a 6 year old TV.
 
I've had good experiences with mine. (I have owned three DLP sets in total, and I'm using two of them still.)

The downsides are well known. They're all projectors of one type or another. Bulky (but light) rear-projectors, or front-projectors that won't work in all rooms. There's also the Rainbow Effect. I can easily see the R.E., but I don't find it troubling. I'll notice it a couple times a week, for a fraction of a second. The spinning color wheel that leads to the Rainbow Effect "effect" is a moving part that may eventually wear out. Same goes for the fan that keeps things cool. I haven't experienced any failures in that area, but my first DLP -- an HP set from 2005 -- got noisier over its lifetime.

You will need to replace bulbs every 3000-5000 hours of use. Every few years. They've all cost me in the neighborhood of $100-$150 each.

On the good side, they are cheap per inch of screen real estate, which is attractive to me. There are no visible pixels, nor is there any gap between pixels, so no "screendoor effect".

I currently have a 2009-era 65" inch DLP rear-projector in the bedroom. (It used to be my "main" living room TV, prior to it being replaced in that role.) My main "set" these days is an Epson DLP projector, illuminating a 96" screen in my "media room". (A converted bedroom, basically.) I do all my computing and media watching on this bigger screen, and I love it. The screen finally seems big enough to me, and the projector only cost something like $700, which is, by far the least I've ever paid for a (new) TV. (I think the MSRP was $1500 or so, but I caught a sale/rebate.)
 
Shogmaster said:
Did somebody resurrect a thread from 2005? What year is this?
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&#128514;

My first HDTV was a Samsung DLP. Good picture, but it would constantly need repairs. Bulb went out twice in 4 years, light engine went in 2nd year, and the color wheel broke. One of the few times I was glad to get the extended warranty.
 
DLPs have great picture. My brother in law has one and I'm answers amazed how good it looks whenever I go over there. Just because it's dated tech doesn't mean it's bad tech.

That being said, I'll take my Panny plasma over it any day.
 
My friend has one. It's huge, 85 inches, and was cheap but the picture quality is garbage. Very limited menu for adjusting picture too. Can't even get rid of overscan.
 
JackBauer24 said:
&#55357;&#56834;

My first HDTV was a Samsung DLP. Good picture, but it would constantly need repairs. Bulb went out twice in 4 years, light engine went in 2nd year, and the color wheel broke. One of the few times I was glad to get the extended warranty.
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I've had my 61" 1080p Samsung DLP for 10 years now (got it right after I got a 360 with Gears of War!). No problems. No bulb or color wheel replacements so far. It's been a good TV for me but I never watch on any other TV.
 
cereal_killerxx said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms91pwwaMnY

I also read on another site that as long as the signal is 1080p, it won't have any input lag. But the TV's scaler is very poor so anything less than 1080p will have significant input lag.
Click to expand...

I've actually taken an input lag tester to my Toshiba DLP. It not only has input lag, it has input lag worse than every flat panel television and monitor in the house.

It is entirely possible the particular unit you're looking at has a scaler that doesn't introduce lag at native resolution, but I've heard this claim many times across many HD television types and it is almost never true.
 
Go to avsforums.com for true feedback and avoid the misc chatter here. A good LED DLP (no bulbs and color wheel) is the best cinematic experience you can get at home - and are darn near free these days. Realize that DLP is still the predominant tech in every theater you go to as well, it's not as though it's inferior PQ.

The later model Sammy's were amazing, less than 14" deep, which is the same depth as any tv stand, and had almost no lag and zero rainbow/screen door. Sure, they're not sexy and flat when wall mounted, but certainly not an issue if you plan to use a stand.

Amd anyone who uses smoothing is wrong by default, so there's that :P
 
I've got a 65" Samsung DLP on its second bulb (replaced under warranty at the three year mark, been three more since) that I wish would die so I'd have an excuse to replace it with a 70" LED 4K. Sadly it just keeps ticking. However, I imagine that the bulb is quite dim by now but I can't tell since it is so gradual. I remember when the first one was replaced it was like night and day with the bright new bulb.
 
BigWeather said:
I've got a 65" Samsung DLP on its second bulb (replaced under warranty at the three year mark, been three more since) that I wish would die so I'd have an excuse to replace it with a 70" LED 4K. Sadly it just keeps ticking. However, I imagine that the bulb is quite dim by now but I can't tell since it is so gradual. I remember when the first one was replaced it was like night and day with the bright new bulb.
Click to expand...

Basically where I'm at. I know my bulb (the TV's 4th or 5th) is already dim as I've had to turn the video controls way up and it's still super dark, but it's a 60" monster and replacing it with a flat panel the same screen size that I'd be happy with is way more money than I can afford right now.
 
Flo_Evans said:
.

my thoughts exactly... do they still even make DLPs?

I do have an SXRD that is still going strong thats sorta similar (but far superior tech imho) but its old as hell.
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i had an SXRD, sold it for 1000 back in the days and got myself a kuro 60" fd151.

while i had it, i thought it was ok, but not really thrilled with it because of the silk screen effect and the bulb get dim halfway into it's life making the picture looked washed out. i would avoid this tech, prices are cheap for a current flatscreens.
 
I had a great Samsung one that broke down and Sears replaced it with a newer bigger model for my family but it ended having way more input lag :(. Either way it's still a great tv for movies and I still go down to the basement to use it for movies. That being said if you have a bit more cash I'd shell out for a decent 1080p projector instead
 
I have an older Mitsubishi DLP I still use for most of my gaming.

It's 1080p and I've replaced the bulb once myself. The bulb was like $30 off of Amazon.

It's not the best TV in the world but after I tinkered with the colors and settings the PQ improved drastically.
 
DLP is only worth it if you're on a budget and don't care about lugging an 80-150lb monstrosity with you when you move around.

I own 2 Samsung DLP sets and while they're not bad tvs I'm thinking I'll just sell them to someone on Craigslist for like $200. I was actually really happy with them in college when I couldn't shell out for a fancy new LED or Plasma.
 
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