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Recycling TVs

Apparently so many people are running out to get flat panel televisions that folks are expecting a huge amount of old television sets to be turning up at land fills (where I live now, I just put old stuff out at the street and it vanishes within an hour).

What I don’t understand is why so many people are buying flat-panel televisions instead of projectors. The picture on most flat-panel sets is less-than-desirable. A thin TV with a bad picture is not worth $3000, to me anyway. Especially when, for the same money, you can have a little bitty projector beaming a 100″ cinema-quality picture onto your wall.

We’re moving into a house with a 25×19 living room and an 18×25 rec room. Any of those flat panel TVs, and indeed our 47″ HD rear projection TV, will vanish in a room that size. Are we going to be more inclined to get this or this for the same price? Up to 133″ of picture or just 32″?

So what is it about the flat-panel TVs? Just that they’re cool? I don’t get it, but then again, I don’t own one either. Of course, with a projector I’ll have to buy a screen and deal with bulb maintenance and can’t get it smaller than about 50″. Maybe that’s a reason to get a flat-panel TV…a small one, not a large one.

7 Responses to “Recycling TVs”

  1. skb Says:

    I have a pretty nice Epson projector for business purposes and tried it out as a projection TV setup. I also have a screen, which it seems like you need (doesn’t work too well just on the wall).

    It’s OK. Probably OK for a bunch of friends over for a ballgame or something. But a good LCD is way better. No comparison.

    LCDs are just still too expensive in the large sizes. Hopefully the manufacturers will abandon the plasma path and start focusing on LCD production and get the price down.

    I saw a new type of big screen which is called “DLP” which I think stands for “Digital Light Projection”. It uses a sort of reverse video sensor to generate light which is then rear projected with mirrors or something. Much sharper and brighter than a standard rear-projection LCD and less expensive than a large LCD.

  2. mx5 Says:

    That InFocus ScreenPlay™ 5700 projector I linked to is DLP. There is supposed to be a big difference between home theater projectors and business projectors, which is why the home theater versions are considerably more costly, double or more. Those I’ve seen in action have amazing picture quality, but not sure the price on them.

  3. Countertop Says:

    EPA is in the final stages of a CRT rule and product pollution (with an emphasis on electronics) is one of the few issues the enviros seem to be gaining any traction from lately.

    My guess is that this article has more to do with a press release from an environmental group or the e-waste manager for some company (Phillips maybe???) trying to get some press to justify his salary as budget time comes around.

    But, thats just my $0.02

  4. SayUncle Says:

    Why a flat screen? Space. I have a 60 inch screen and it is a house. I’d much rather have the same thing in a thin, wall mounted unit. However, I’m not willing to spend the bucks on it at current prices.

  5. mx5 Says:

    Here’s you a 61″ plasma for the amazingly low price of $19,999.99!

  6. Phelps Says:

    I’m planning to use a wall for a screen and one of these treatments:

    http://www.diytheatre.com/diy_projection_screens/index.htm
    http://www.goosystems.com/

    Keep an eye on eBay — you can find business class projectors for about 1/3 of retail, but they usually need a bulb kit (about $300.) The bulbs still work in a lot of them, but they are selling them because the bulb is old, which makes it weak and dimmer.

  7. Brass Says:

    From what I understand, the flat panel TVs don’t handle dark colors or black very well. This is the reason they only have football games or other ‘bright’ TV shows playing on the demos.

Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.

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