5. DLP Rear Projection

Over the past 10 years or so, DLP has been one of the most popular types of projection television, featuring excellent contrast performance and good color saturation and accuracy. Historically, the primary problem with DLPs has been that some viewers see "rainbows." These are caused by the light engine, which can producess brief flashes of what appears to be red, blue and green colors when the projected content features bright/white objects on a mostly dark/black background. The easiest way to check and see if this affects you is to move your eyes back and forth across the screen during high-contrast scenes. However, recent models have faster color wheels, which reduce the chance of seeing rainbows for many viewers.

Another thing to look out for is some 1,080p and 720p DLP models use a process called "wobulation" to display their claimed native resolutions. Samsung calls this "SmoothPicture," and the process means that the DLP chips have half as many horizontal pixels, meaning a wobulated 1,080p display would actually have 960 x 1,080 pixels instead of the normal 1,920 x 1,080. To make up for the lost pixels, a small mirror moves back and forth to create the first and second halves of the image and to achieve 1,920x1,080 resolution. The result on some sets is the picture is a little soft, but with others there is no discernable difference. Most newer DLP displays do not use wobulation, but it is something to look out for. DLP displays are priced at $1,000-$1,500 for 720p displays and $1,500-$2,000 for 1,080p displays.

Pros: Very good contrast and color saturation.
Cons: Possible rainbow artifacts, some models are not true 1080p.
Who's it for? Contrast lovers who want a large screen and don't see the rainbows.

Suggested Models

Suggested models are recommended based on a combination of personal viewing experience, other user experiences, comparative pricing, and company reputation.

Suggested models are recommended based on a combination of personal viewing experience, other user experiences, comparative pricing, and company reputation.

Budget DLP: Samsung HL-P5087W

Budget DLP: Toshiba 52HMX95

Premium DLP: Mitsubishi WD-65831

Premium DLP: Toshiba 62HM196