REAR PROJECTION LCOS

REAR-PROJECTION INTRO

Plasma and LCD are very expensive in the large sizes. Once you get past 42", things get exponentially more expensive. With 1080p resolutions now available on all displays, 50" will cost you almost a body part. A 40" or 42" is a lot more affordable. Going back to our concept of "perception" in the beginning and also introducing the factor of "substitution", manufacturers developed several technologies to address the "big screen" issue. Some consumers would rather have a huge 70" screen even if it means giving up quality. Enter the following display types; Rear projection LCD, LCOS, DLP, and as they use in the cinema, front projectors. Rear projection allows for the "blowing up" of the picture in a cost-effective manner. What we get is a huge screen in the 60"+ range with good performace. I stress "good", because as it stands now, quality IS substituted for size. When compared to Plasma, LCD or CRT's, colors will look washed out and far from realistic while, contrast, vividness, response times, and refresh rates, will look far from that of their counterparts. When you look at the specs for any of these screens, you will often see 10,000:1 contrast ratios or 5ms response times; similar specs to those of plasmas or LCD, but I urge you to physically look at the display. The nature of the technology, the way the picture is created, will produce a very different result despite their high end specifications. Now let's not compare them. Let's look at them for what they are. What you have is a huge screen cinema experience with a great picture! Let's look a little more indepth on each individual rear projection technology.


LCOS: Unlike RP-LCD that uses a chip, LCOS uses liquid crystals on a highly reflective layer to produce the images. A lof of Jargon, but essentially it is another method of sending images to the display using RP-LCD technology. Sony and JVC have respectively developed their own version of LCOS called SXRD and D-ILA (Digital Direct Drive Image Light Amplifier). Some of these displays have proven to have black levels above that of regular LCD's!


Pros:

• Huge screen sizes
• Full 1080p resolution
• Very good picture quality
• Excellent black levels
• Good color replication
• High contast although as mentioned before, not effectively on par with LCD or plasma.
• Reasonably priced.

Cons:

• Overall picture quality is not and probably never will be on par with LCD or plasma.
• Effective colors and brightness are traded off for black levels due to the nature of the technology.

Recommendation: Sony Grand WEGA XBR KDSR60XBR2 60". Available in other larger sizes, this screen represents the best of the LCOS selection. Quality may not be on par with regular LCD, but lets face it, it's not a bad trade off to get this overwhelming screen size.