If you owned a TV with a screen bigger than 40 inches before the year 2000, chances are it was a rear projection model. And chances are it took up most of your loungeroom.
Rear projection TV were increasingly popular back in the 90s and early this decade thanks to their large screen sizes and relatively affordable price tags – especially when compared to the early asking price of LCD and plasma displays. They use three main technologies to project the image from inside the body to the screen: CRT, LCD and DLP.
But unfortunately, the technology was held back by its shortcomings and the dropping price of LCDs and plasmas. Because they projected an image, they were deep, needing the space inside the body to be able to throw the image from the projector to the screen. That meant they couldn’t be wall mounted, and tended to take up a lot of space.
Nowadays, there’s nary a rear projection TV to be found in the shops. Most of the major TV players have stuck their flags in the plasma or LCD camps (or both) and left rear projection behind. The noted exception is Mitsubishi, who have further developed the technology with the introduction of lasers, which both improves picture quality and lessens the necessary depth of the TV – their LaserVue sets are actually wall mountable. Still, that doesn’t mean that the technology hasn’t been superceded – despite having a great few years when most big TVs sold were big and bulky, these days you’re safer to go a flat panel TV.
History of TV is Giz AU’s month-long look back at the development of the world-changing medium and its influence on our daily lives.
Nozlad
Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 1:11 PMI’ve got a 60″ Sony Grand Wega, was beautiful 1080p display (no hdmi tho) with perfect blacks etc..
unfortunately for me Sony gave these tv’s a special type of cancer, they die about 3.5 years after manufacture showing blue dots all over the screen and blue corners of the display so my $7000 tv which is 3.5 years old is now probably the worst thing I have ever purchased :(
needless to say Sony wont be getting my cold hard cash next time.
AnthonyP
Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 1:45 PMYou forgot one technology, LCOS. Sony called thiers SXRD and is still in use in their projectors. And as for depth, my 60inch rear pro is only 50cm deep. The last of the Sonys to come out in the US where less than 25cm deep. They always offered the best screen size to price, had very good blacks and where bright as if not brighter then a plasma!
matt
Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 4:38 PMI know people who still swear by the quality of their rear pro’s picture quality.
funny that you should mention quality of the black levels, seeing as how they use pretty much the same set up as current lcd tvs, blasting a uniform light through a high res filter.
AnthonyP
Friday, November 13, 2009 at 9:06 AMMatt,
I think you need to look at how a LCOS works. It is a reflective technology not a transparent like LCD. When the mirror closes there is no where for the light to go. With LCD when the mirror closes light can bleed past it.
Anthony
Travis Young
Friday, November 13, 2009 at 1:10 PMI loved my massive rear projection telly. But the electricity it gobbled up was similarly massive!