Flat panel or projection

[Bluetick]

I came home from vacation and my plasma tv was dead. I moved a lcd tv from the bedroom and now it's going to a black screen a couple times a week. My 50 was 3 years old, repairman said most just last 2. Looking at the short lifespan of the plasma and LCD, I'm tempted to buy a projection setup. I know the bulb will need replaced but what other draw-backs are there with projection??

I'm leaning toward the optima hd66, anyone using one??


I've looked at the caps on the powerboard none are swollen or leaking, was hoping for an easy fix.

[sub]

My 50 was 3 years old, repairman said most just last 2. Looking at the short lifespan of the plasma and LCD, I'm tempted to buy a projection setup.

Unlucky. I've got two plasma TVs, and they're well used. My Fujitsu is 7 years old (from back when they cost like $10K - ouch). My newer one is a Panasonic plasma that is three years old. Both are still going strong with no sign of any problems.

Three years ago when I got my Panasonic I seriously looked at going LCD, but at that stage the picture on a good plasma was still miles ahead of LCD screens (with their harsh white and other contrast issues), and ended up going plasma again. When I'm in the electronic shops now, there is a lot less in it - both LCD and Plasma look great, so I dont know what I'd choose now.

I wouldnt go projection myself. Maybe if I had a dedicated home theater room, but not for general day to day viewing. For that I'd just want flat panel.

[pBS]

2 years is premature for plasma death...they don't last forever, but certainly more than a couple of years..
i wouldn't buy anything other than lcd nowdays..projectors suffer lots of color problems, depending on the ambient lighting, and have short life bulbs..
but as with all the solutions, they are all getting better...projector bulbs last longer then ever before, plasmas have tech to prolong life in newer ones,and have finally gotten same resolution as lcds..

i use a simple rule,
if you want size, go dlp...
if you want brightness, go plasma..[but beware of longevity]
if you want long life and quality picture, go lcd..

reasoning: dlp doesn't make small sets and has bulbs[except for led based models which are new], plasmas still brightest, but at a cost..sometime not full resolution..[eg.square pixels] and liimited lifetime.
lcd's a perfect balance..can be big as 55" decently cheaply, with led backlight it may last 30 yrs..even with ccfl it lasts a loooong time..
washed out whites are not a screen factor but a processing factor..[eg not inherent to lcd screens, unlike brightness with plasmas..all plasmas are inherently brighter than lcds and dlp.]

at very least i'd say get a dlp rear projection setup over front projection...it's much more precise..
worst thing about projectors is the optical drift..they need tweaking every once in a while but lcd is always pixel perfect and can never go out of focus...