Hide Your HDTV: Buy a Projector
An assortment of projection units makes an impression on the Duo.
Ever notice how all the fancy home magazines never seem to have a TV set sullying the shots of those pristine living rooms? Well, now you can get a big, portable screen you can set up in less than a minute--and hide when you don't need it. To use it, though, you'll need a kind of technology you probably haven't thought about since A/V club: a projector. Digital projectors are far nicer than the models you remember from high school, or even the unit that your office uses to grace meetings with PowerPoint.
Consumer-model digital projectors are similar to some of the newer projectors you'll find in offices, which offer the kinds of connectors that work with DVD players and high-definition cable and satellite boxes (in addition to or even instead of models using computer-style connectors). But the consumer models are far more likely to match the wide-screen image you'll want with HD or DVD.
There are CRT and LCOS projectors, but the vast majority use either LCD or DLP microdisplays. The limitations are basically similar to those of the rear-projectors: the LCDs tend to let you see the pixel structure (with that screen-door effect previously mentioned), while the DLPs tend to give you crisper images, but may have you seeing the rainbows that afflict Steve.
One big problem with projectors, however, is that you may have to rearrange whichever room you're using for viewing--and it has nothing to do with those fancy home magazines. If your TV's currently at one end of that room and you want to put the screen there, you're going to end up with the projector at the other end. However, the projector needs to be near the signal source, like a DVD player or a cable or satellite box, which is probably where the TV was. And if you've got a home theater system, it also may need to get sound from that source, so logistics can be a problem--one the Duo tackle in the next segment.
