While the
battlefield known as "the retail floor" is a
tough place for an HDTV to be, it looks like rear-projection televisions -- of all types -- took the gold medal for sales according to the latest research from Pacific Media Associates. Although plasma sets certainly had their own
walk in the park, RPTVs recovered from a weak performance this summer and surged "30 percent" in terms of units moved and revenue produced this past August. It was noted that buyers chose newer, more expensive 1080p-capable sets (particularly new units from
Samsung and
Sony) over the cheaper, more
antiquated flavors, even though the average street price rose 0.5 percent. Samsung shareholders look mighty smart here as well, as the firm retained the top position in shares for both units and revenues, while Sony's mighty new 60-inch SXRD (the
KDS-60A2000) became the best selling individual set (as
confidently predicted). It should be stated, however, that all this could change when hoards of crazed buyers bombard retailers in search of rock-bottom LCD prices in
just a few weeks, but we'll let the big-backed units have their 15 minutes for now.
posted November 10th 2006 8:10AM
I own the Sony 60" SXRD XBR2 .. Most Amazing picture i have ever seen ..
As a proud parent of one of those 60A2000's, I can definitely understand why it was the sales winner. The picture quality is amazing, and Amazon has them going for $2600 w/ free shipping. Can't wait to hook up a 360 or ps3 and get all of that 1080p goodness. Only problem I had was finding a TV stand big enough for that monster.
I have an A2000 and have not been disappointed ... it's hard with all the reviews out there not to be swayed toward LCOS (and specifically SXRD) tech. And when you see it with a proper signal, put up next to a DLP you can see the difference.
That being said ... DLP's are still about $500 less for the same size tv ... and still show a great picture ... I just am annoyed by the marketing blitz now from TI. Every idiot friend of mine is so confused now about what DLP is. (but they still want one) Good for TI though ... they're making a killing.
Hey, for you LCoS owners... do you guys ever see any ghosting on your TVs during fast moving games? I'm currently in the market for a new HDTV and can't decide between DLP and LCoS. Both seem to have different advantages. Response time is one area where DLP has the advantage, but I haven't been able to find out if slower response time of LCoS even makes a noticeable difference.
As for Vidikron,
I borrowed my friends 360 for a couple days and I can say after playing games all night (reason I don't own one) that I saw no ghosting on the sxrd. One of the games I was playing was the new NFS which is a racing game with alot of fast movement and I saw no ghosting whatsoever.
That being said ... if anyone is thinking about using the 360 with an A2000, it doesn't accept 1080p over component, so unless they come out with some kind of HDMI output for the 360, you can't enjoy the new 1080p update.
(not to mention the problems the new XBR2's are having with the update as well)
SXRD (LCOS) tv's have a ultra-fast pixel response time (2.5 milliseconds) ... Amazing , one of the best ive ever seen .. no rainbows of any kind , because no wheel .. and the pixels are tighter togather then any other tv tech on the market
Q: Why are most if not all LCoS/SXRD 3 panel based while they are still stuck in the one panel + colour wheel for DLPs.
In response to Smeagol
I'm not entirely sure but I would guess it has to do with keeping costs down ... I would imagine the DLP chip is the most expensive part in the setup and since DLP is marketed as a "lower end" display (lower end not necessarily meaning quality of display but cost) and making a three chip design would increase that too much.
That being said, there are some three chip dlp's on the market. Mostly used in projectors, but I think there are some tv's on the market that use a 3 chip design. Another thing that manufactures tote is that by upping the color wheel to 5+ colors, they can produce more natural colors then a 3 chip (and in turn 3 color) design which may or may not be true.
Says a lot about our economy when a $3000 television is the best selling in the country! Either that, or it just goes to show why more than half of America is in debt over their eyeballs.
"That being said ... if anyone is thinking about using the 360 with an A2000, it doesn't accept 1080p over component, so unless they come out with some kind of HDMI output for the 360, you can't enjoy the new 1080p update."
While that is true , All of the New SXRD Tv are 1080P native , so it automaticly coverts it to 1080P , i dont think even 1 out of 1,000 would ever see the difference
It is a difference for movies which are in 1080p 24fps ... there is no 1080p 24i spec.. so, all the HD-DVD/BD content needs to be converted:
1080p 24fps --> 1080i 60fps --> 1080p 24fps .. which is more complicated than it has to be.
There has always been confusion with these tv's and what they can and cannot do. First off, a 1080p signal is a 1080p signal ... yes an xbox will look great but if the tv needs it downscaled to 1080i and converts back to 1080p, the information that is lost is not somehow magically recreated.
As far as sony sxrd sets go it breaks down like this:
All sony SXRD set's native resolution is 1080p @60hrz. So anything coming into these TV's is unconverted to 1080p ... most HDTV's do similar things. Now with 1080p sources (xbox360, ps3, blueray and HDDVD players) you want that signal to come in at 1080p obviously.
The original XBR1's can only take this kind of input from the firewire port, which unless you are a movie producer, is kinda pointless.
The A2000's will take 1080p (@24fps or 60 fps) over HDMI but not component.
And finally the new XBR2's will take it on both HDMI and Component (although there seems to be some issue) (Though taking 1080p over component is kinda only applicable to the 360 since component inputs don't support the HDCP so no movies or much future media will support it ... another discussion ... you can look it up)
I stand to be corrected on all of these comments ... I'm just throwing this out there from my dorky memory
"While that is true , All of the New SXRD Tv are 1080P native , so it automatically coverts it to 1080P , i dont think even 1 out of 1,000 would ever see the difference"
Perhaps, but one issue with upconversion when talking about games is lag. The conversion process causes a delay in between the actual action and the image on the screen. That's why a lot of the Tvs have a "game mode". The game mode removes some of the image processing done by the TV. It reduces the lag at the expense of some image quality (supposedly minor on the Sony's).
This is why I wish MS would get off their ass and do something about the lack of HDMI support on the 360. Currently, the Samsung DLPs are some of the only TVs that supports 108op via anything other than HDMI. This is important because if you can give the 1080p TV a 1080p signal then no up conversion takes place and the lag is greatly reduced.
For those interested, you can check out a big thread about this issue here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=684899&page=1&pp=30
Specifically, check out this post and the pictures provided:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8144943&&#post8144943
One of the reasons i bought the SXRD is because in all the reviews or last years model and the KDS model they said there was no lag at all with game mode on or off (my 60" XBR2 RPTV has a game mode , i leave it off ) , i can tell you with out a shadow of a doubt there is no lag playing 360 ,as i play Gears of war as i am typing this : ) ... i will test the PS3 next week when my pre-order comes in ... Maybe the wii might because its 480p? i will try it as well
I just wish they would come out with a 42" SXRD. 50 & 60 are just too big for my living room.
I'm shopping around for a HDTV and would like to know everyones opinion on which one you feel is better, 46" LCD XBR2 or 50" SXRD A2000