OT - Plasma TV question

Martin Hotze wrote:

hm, why don't you ask in the proper newsgroup? there are the experts and
they can answer all your questions.

He probably would have received, "Read the FAQ," or "Google is your
friend!"

This is probably the number one question in those groups these days.

--
Peter
About time for Larry D. to post the rec.aviation.piloting charter...

Any idea on cost? I hadn't even considered a projector, as they
always seem too dim.

hm, why don't you ask in the proper newsgroup? there are the experts and
they can answer all your questions.

Because I know everyone here, and their opinions carry real weight and
substance with me.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Best of all, it's a box the size of a large phone book, lightweight,
and I can carry it to meetings if I need it. Otherwise I keep it
mounted in the frame I built on the ceiling.

Jay, if you go this route, make sure you lock it down, even though
it is mounted to the ceiling, and 'out of reach'.

We've got two things going for us in this regard.

1. This is Iowa, and there's very little crime.

2. The meeting room is visible from the front desk, so it would be hard to
walk out without someone seeing.

In 3.5 years we've had just two things stolen:

1. A metal propeller (that was poorly mounted out front with easily cut
safety wire -- my mistake) with a big, red & black spinner on it that looked
just like, well, a big boob. This combination provoked much conversation
around the inn (and, maybe, around town), and apparently proved irresistible
to the college boys. I'm sure it's hanging in a frat house somewhere in
town.

2. Two Hawkeye Flags. These were, in retrospect, really dumb things to
hang up while we were playing our cross-state rivals, the Cyclones. Kinda
like waving a flag in front of a bull. A drunk bull. My bad.

When you consider the many thousands of dollars of aviation artwork and
memorabilia we've got around the hotel -- much of it irreplaceable, and not
particularly secure -- that's a darned good record, IMHO.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

They get a lot bigger than that.

http://www.i4u.com/article1082.html
http://www.i4u.com/article2217.html

However, the prices get a lot bigger also!

Dang! You ain't a-kidding.

I could buy FIVE "Mighty Grape" fuel trucks -- or one TV. Hmmm....

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Also, please =please= don't stretch a 4x3 image to fit the entire screen.
Everyone looks fat and squishy, and it just looks funny. Display it with
vertical bars on the sides, in its natural 4x3 format, and save the wide
screen display for real wide screen material.

Agree 100%.

It seems that EVERYONE is putting TVs in, now, everywhere. My bank has 'em,
my favorite Mexican restaurant has 'em. I don't understand why everyone
wants to watch TV all the time, although it DOES keep the noise level down
when everyone is just staring up at the wall with their mouths hanging open,
rather than actually conversing.

Most of these places are stretching the picture to fit the big new screens,
and it looks SO dumb.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Both plasma and LCD have their own advantages. The plasma may be a
tad brighter but they are making great strides with LCDs including
very wide viewing angles. Plasma displays do age, but unless you are
like us and it sets on the weather channel for 12 to 14 hours a day
they should last a very long time. OTOH LCD displays may lose
brilliance, but you only have to replace a little bulb.

Say again? Dim LCD displays can be repaired by replacing a BULB?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Or you could put a matrix of nine cheap ones on the wall and program
them to show as one TV Jay. You get a BIG TV at a cheaper price, but
you'll have the grid effect from the borders of the TVs.

The Monk

Jay Honeck wrote:
They get a lot bigger than that.

http://www.i4u.com/article1082.html
http://www.i4u.com/article2217.html

However, the prices get a lot bigger also!

Dang! You ain't a-kidding.

I could buy FIVE "Mighty Grape" fuel trucks -- or one TV. Hmmm....

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I am quite fond of the Philips 37" LCD HDTV that I recently purchased
at Costco for $2000... I have really loved watching the Olympics in HD
on it!

Sounds good -- although I've been spoiled with the 60 inch screen on our
Panasonic rear-projection TV over the years. Size matters, although (of
course) it doesn't approach the clarity of the LCD or plasma displays.

When we bought it in '02, plasma was $20K, and I don't think LCD was on the
market yet, so it was the logical choice at the time. I think I paid less
than $2K for it, and my kids LOVE to play X-Box and Playstation games on it.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

It would also be cool to have "movie nights" at the inn, showing
classic aviation movies. 'Top Gun' on a 60 inch plasma TV would be a
great draw!

Don't forget "Island in the Sky" and "The High and the Mighty"

Hee hee! Funny you should bring that up, as I just got this clip from "The
High and the Mighty" yesterday. I find it amazing that this came from a
supposedly serious movie, because it's slapstick funny:

http://alexisparkinn.com/photogaller...hTheMighty.wmv

I think what makes it so funny is that they weren't TRYING to be funny.
Talk about "Cockpit Resource Management"!

If you're interested, you may view gigabytes of our other aviation videos
he

http://alexisparkinn.com/aviation_videos.htm
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Peter Duniho wrote:
"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...

Um, okay. What's a "digital light processor"? And who makes these
projectors?

It is a MEMS device [...]


Gotta love it when someone explains a TLA with another TLA. Very helpful.

Given that it is so easy to Google either DLP or MEMS, it shouldn't
matter. And I used a FLA, not a TLA.



[...]
You'll pay $5000 for a decent one and yes they are relatively dim as
compared to the flat panel TVs, either plasma or LCD.


$5000 should get a very nice and relatively bright DLP projector. Depending
on one's definition of "decent", the price point for that standard starts a
bit lower.

We use probably 50 where I work in our conference rooms and, trust me,
the cheap ones just don't cut it unless you are in a cave to view them.

Jay's windowless room is close to a cave so he may be OK. Most of our
conference rooms have lots of windows, but even with blinds the cheap
projectors weren't very viewable. The ones we have now are quite nice,
but I believe that are all in the $5000 range, maybe a little less or
maybe a little more.

Matt