The hottest-selling HDTVs right now are big-screen rear-projection sets, a category that's still dominated by the relatively cheap, time-tested cathode-ray tube (CRT). But the new "microdisplay" TVs are gaining fast.
With a 60-inch (diagonal) screen and a cabinet only 5 inches deep, LG's largest plasma HDTV, the DU-60PY10, has the kind of measurements both home theater buffs and interior designers will find enticing. But unlike many of its industrial-style plasma counterparts, this panel is very much a traditional, self-contained TV.
Big-screen, rear-projection HDTVs based on traditional CRT (cathode-ray tube) technology are inexpensive enough - and good enough - to warrant consideration by just about every shopper. But they aren't all that sexy.
If you're shopping for an HDTV, you've probably noticed that the news stories and Sunday circulars all seem to focus either on expensive flat-panel plasma and LCD sets or on more affordable LCD or DLP rear-projection TVs.
New TV technologies crop up almost as often as new reality-TV shows, but among all the Celebrity Fear Factors, Obnoxious Bosses, and Strange Loves, there's only one American Idol - the kind of show that can save a network and bury the competition.
The HDTV market is heating up, especially for microdisplays - rear-projection TVs (RPTVs) that use LCD, DLP, or LCoS chips to produce their high-resolution images. These sets are essentially video front projectors stashed in a box, so it's no surprise that a projector and printer maker like Epson would want to get in the game with something that sets them apart from the competition.
