Rear Projection Television Demystified
Like many people, you may be filled with a burning curiosity to understand what makes a rear-projection TV work. Actually, it’s pretty much done with smoke and mirrors. (Only joking – if there is smoke appearing out of your rear-projection TV you have a problem!)
First, a video picture is projected via a projectors lamp inside the box, then a system of lenses and mirrors redirect the image onto the inside surface of a see-through screen.
When this technology was first introduced, CRTs (cathode-ray tubes – the things that made old-fashioned television sets so bulky) were used, and it worked very well. The down side to this was that the tube made the case very heavy and, often, a floor standing cabinet was needed to house it.
So, as screens grew larger, and the industry began to adopt the new, wider 16:9 aspect ratio (the ratio of height to width), those old CRT TVs gradually became replaced by newer models which provide top quality pictures in light, compact enclosures.
RPTVs have built-in high-definition capability nowadays. This is an important point – they are equipped to handle everything HDTV broadcasting and discs can demand of them. And let’s be clear about this – HDTV will provide wide-screen images in much more clarity and detail than we are used to from traditional broadcasting. As well as tuners for cable and analog TV – not to mention being able to receive unencrypted digital cable signals without the need for a set-top box – high definition tuners are included in all modern rear projection TVs, which means they can take full advantage of all the exciting TV improvements which will be with us in the near future.
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