[trdrjeff]

Mitsubishi drops rear projection TVs

Mitsubishi is finally ceding to competition from flat-panels which have grown to equally ridiculous size, and cut prices so sharply that it "can no longer sustain our business in its current form." The company's official statement is after the break, confirming that its DLP and LaserVue models are no more however "existing customer relations and parts and services departments will remain in place along with existing authorized service centers" which should be good news for current owners. There's an in-depth retrospective of the technology at the source link, looking back to Samsung's exit that left Mitsubishi alone in the segment three years ago, long after others like Sony and Hitachi fled for thinner-framed climates.

Mitsubishi also made a go of it in flat-panels, but ditched those efforts last year and will now focus on the professional market and home-theater projectors here in the US. In recent years the tech has improved with thinner models, integrated soundbars and even larger screens available. The slowing economy may have extended RPTV's lease on life with a size bang for buck that's tough to beat, but ultimately customers opted for bright flashy flat-panel HDTVs that offer easier wall-mounting options while seeming to get bigger, lighter and cheaper every year.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/02/mitsubishi-rptv-rip/

hard to believe they lasted this long, I'd still one off to the side at Fry's behind 100's of flat panels.

 

[spartanstew]

Too bad, they still put out a great display for a great price.

Too many people fell in love with sticking a TV on the wall.

 

[Cholly]

My younger son was faced with the prospect of a big repair bill a few years ago when his 60 inch Mits black box gave up for the second time. He decided to buy a Samsung 55 inch 3D LED receiver at Best Buy and took advantage of their free delivery and removal service. Neither TV would have fit in his 350Z! :lol:

 

[jdskycaster]

RPTV's seemed like great bang for the buck until the owners realized they had to spring for $300 bulbs. I still say the best of the RPTV's were HD quality CRT based units. The image quality and lifespan were great if you could afford the room.

 

[spartanstew]

RPTV's seemed like great bang for the buck until the owners realized they had to spring for $300 bulbs. I still say the best of the RPTV's were HD quality CRT based units. The image quality and lifespan were great if you could afford the room.

Not exactly. I have 3 DLP's and have only had to replace the bulb on one of them (they're all between 3-6 years old). The one I replaced was about 2 months ago and it cost $99.

Expensive, short life bulbs are a myth used by proponents of other technologies, much like Plasma burn-in still is.

 

[RAD]

My brother in law finally had to replace the lamp in his Mits after over 9,600 hours on it for $99. For what he paid three years ago for a 73" set there was o way he could have got a flat panel for anywhere near the same price.

 

[chevyguy559]

I finally had to replace my 2004 Panasonic DLP earlier this year, and there wasn't a local place I could view a DLP....only place I could get one was online, and I wasn't about to buy a TV without seeing if I liked the picture first....so I went with a 55" Vizio 3D LED tv, and I LOVE it!

 

[harsh]

RPTV's seemed like great bang for the buck until the owners realized they had to spring for $300 bulbs.

I replaced the bulb in my 61" JVC D-ILA (LCoS) back in March and the lamp assembly was $53.71 delivered.

 

[rlnoonan]

RPTV's seemed like great bang for the buck until the owners realized they had to spring for $300 bulbs. I still say the best of the RPTV's were HD quality CRT based units. The image quality and lifespan were great if you could afford the room.

As others have noted, the price of a bulb is nowhere near that. Last year I replaced my 5 year old bulb on my 57" Mits and it cost about $67. It was cheap enough that I considered buying a second one in case I couldn't find them anymore in another five years.

 

[damondlt]

As others have noted, the price of a bulb is nowhere near that. Last year I replaced my 5 year old bulb on my 57" Mits and it cost about $67. It was cheap enough that I considered buying a second one in case I couldn't find them anymore in another five years.

Yea , NOW those bulbs aren't $200 and $300 but they were when these DLP and Rear LCDs were in their prime 5 years ago.

I had a 50 inch sony, and guess what the bulb was $300. I know I replaced 2 of them. They lasted about 8,000 hours each. Thats 2 years viewing in my house.

Who wants to put money into a tv every 2 years. Apparently not many.
Since DLP and rear LCD have been 95% dead in the market for years.

PQ was good, but viewing angles sucked, the blacks were the worst on the market.

 

[harsh]

PQ was good, but viewing angles sucked, the blacks were the worst on the market.

A device with a good iris can produce some reasonable blacks.

 

[damondlt]

A device with a good iris can produce some reasonable blacks.

Dead technology! I've been away from DLP's since 2008, when I kicked my 2004 sony to the curb.
I have a 6 year old 32 inch Magnavox LCD thats works as good as the day I bought it, and cost $100 less then them 2 sony bulbs did.

My 55 inch LG Smart TV , I wouldn't Trade for the world.

 

[spartanstew]

Yea , NOW those bulbs aren't $200 and $300 but they were when these DLP and Rear LCDs were in their prime 5 years ago.

I had a 50 inch sony, and guess what the bulb was $300.

I think Sony left the market on these displays 6-7 years ago, so I don't think they were in their prime 5 years ago. And even if they were, an expensive bulb 5 years ago is not even relevant now - just like burn in and other factors with other displays isn't.

As to viewing angles (as someone else mentioned), with DLP's it's an issue vertically, not horizontally, so unless you have various viewing heights it's rarely an issue. And blacks on models the last 3-5 years have been very good when properly calibrated - but most people don't do that.

 

[Rickt1962]

As others have noted, the price of a bulb is nowhere near that. Last year I replaced my 5 year old bulb on my 57" Mits and it cost about $67. It was cheap enough that I considered buying a second one in case I couldn't find them anymore in another five years.

yea ! alot of people got turned off because of the bulb. LOL Not true. I enjoyed mine for 5 years its a 65" Mits and the bulb didnt burn out, I replaced it because it wasnt as brite like it used to be. I think i spent around 60 bucks and took me 5 minutes to change ! And i know ive been thru 3 LCD's set in my office in that 5 year period. And the DLP dosent have the SDE aka Screen Door effect ! How many TV's that you own that you can fix your self ? Even the board is easy to change out if it ever goes.

 

[damondlt]

yea ! alot of people got turned off because of the bulb. LOL Not true. I enjoyed mine for 5 years its a 65" Mits and the bulb didnt burn out, I replaced it because it wasnt as brite like it used to be. I think i spent around 60 bucks and took me 5 minutes to change ! And i know ive been thru 3 LCD's set in my office in that 5 year period. And the DLP dosent have the SDE aka Screen Door effect ! How many TV's that you own that you can fix your self ? Even the board is easy to change out if it ever goes.

I've never replaced an LCD set,because it was defective. I still have a Dell computer Flat screen thats bee on non stop for 7 years out of the 10 years I still own it.

6 years on a 32 inch magnavox, and 4 years on a Philips 47 inch.

You enjoy your tank of a TV. LOL:lol:

I'd rather have the CRT rear projection, then a DLP.

 

[Nick]

*than

 

[RAD]

I'd rather have the CRT rear projection, than a DLP.

Not me, got tired of having to redo the convergance every couple of months on the CRT based RPTV's that I've had. In the 40 months with my Mits 73" DLP all I've done is replace the bulb at 4900 hours, not because it burned out but just to get the set back into like new brightness and the bulb was $99 from Mits.

 

[jdskycaster]

My brother in law finally had to replace the lamp in his Mits after over 9,600 hours on it for $99. For what he paid three years ago for a 73" set there was o way he could have got a flat panel for anywhere near the same price.

Agree that the price of bulbs have become much less expensive but that became the norm once market interest in these types of displays dropped off the cliff.

The brightness on that Mits with 9600 hours on it was most likely 50% or less thus he has been watching a severely degraded picture. Watchable? Sure but this is not something that even comes into play on a plasma or LCD. I can also make the bulbs in my Panasonic front projector in the HT last 5000 hours if I wanted to but at 1000 hours the decrease in light output is already visible so I replace them at 2K hours.

The half-life on plasma's has been 100K hours or better for many years now. Sure not as big as the RPTV's but having to replace a high quality flat panel within 5 years? Should never happen unless you run it 24/7/365. We still have our first Samsung LCD in the house that we purchased 9 years ago. It is only 720p but for watching Sat programming it holds its own against the 2 year old Samsung in the same room.

 

[Carl Spock]

Too many people fell in love with sticking a TV on the wall.

I was surprised to find out that Mits was still making rear projection DLPs. I could have told them the single most valuable thing in a living room is floor space.

 

[RAD]

I was surprised to find out that Mits was still making rear projection DLPs. I could have told them the single most valuable thing in a living room is floor space.

For some yes, but in my gameroom, where I have my DLP, it's on a stand that has a DIRECTV HD DVR, Denon AVR, Sony Playstation 3, Panasonic Blu-Ray player, Nintendo Wii, ethernet switch, center speaker and an Apple TV. So that floor space would have been used anyway so why not put a nice 73" set on top of it, not taking one inch of extra floor space.