Buying advice: Rear-projection TVs

These big-screen sets are now few and far between

Sales of rear-projection sets have been shrinking as flat panels have become larger and lower-priced, and there are few new sets of this type on the market.

What's available

Mitsubishi is the only company still manufacturing rear-projection sets now that Samsung has gotten out of the category. (The remaining Samsung sets may be in stores for a while.)

Most are 50 inches and larger; models with 61-inch screens are the best sellers. The largest TVs have screens measuring 73 inches or more.

Virtually all rear-projection TVs now on the market are DLP sets with 1920x1080 resolution, giving them the potential to display all 1,080 lines in the most common high-definition format, called 1080i.

Typical selling prices are $1,000 to $2,000 for a 50-inch microdisplay set, $1,200 to $1,600 for a 56-through 61-inch model, $2,100 to $4,600 for a 65- to 73-inch set.

How to choose

Consider reliability

Our surveys have shown that rear-projection TVs have been much more repair-prone than LCD and plasma flat panels. One other issue to consider is the need to replace the lamp in the set periodically. Most rear-projection microdisplays use a backlight with a claimed life expectancy of about 5,000 hours. You'll hit that point in about four years if the TV is turned on for four hours a day. But, some users report that bulbs burn out much more quickly than expected. When a bulb burns out, you won't see any picture; most sets have an alert of some type to indicate you're nearing the end of the rated life, so you won't be caught by surprise. Replacement bulbs cost from $200 to $400.

Replacement isn't that difficult—no harder than replacing a car's headlight—so you can do it yourself as long as you're comfortable wielding a screwdriver. You can also pay for professional installation, which can add another $200 or so to the cost of replacement.

A few new models have longer-life bulbs; one we've seen was rated at five years. Others, such as Samsung, are using LED illumination instead, and one company, Mitsubishi, is expected to introduce later this year a model lit by lasers. These types of backlights can expand the range of colors the set can display and eliminate the need to replace the bulb during the life of the set.