Do you get anything at all from the optical port? Or not even stereo? And you’re sure (you sound sure) that it’s not some option you need to turn on in the TV, Blu-ray menus? I’m really surprised that the Blu-ray player at least doesn’t emit surround from the optical connection.
Anyway, you could buy one of these instead of a whole new receiver. $43.21
I have a 67" Samsung DLP and it’s much brighter than LED and LCD in all lighting conditions, and will always be that way if I change bulbs. It isn’t flat. It’s 16" deep, but otherwise it is superior to other technologies in every way. Brighter, better color, no blurring or motion distortion of any kind.
I’m not up on technical details, but I can tell you we bought a 40" Z-series Sony Bravia LCD 2-1/2 years ago and have been completely pleased with it.
Are we talking about the same thing? I thought DLP meant a Projector, which isn’t 67", it’s as many inches as you want your screen to be.
I do get regular, boring, two speaker stereo via the Optical port. My receiver tries its best to turn it into fake surround, but it’s just not as good as 5.1
I recently upgraded my screen size and went from LCD to plasma. I love my new TV, in the dark - but it’s practically unwatchable during dark scenes before the sun goes down. (It faces away from the windows, but just the ambient light in the room makes it like a freaking mirror. Gah.)
DLPs are used in projectors, but I’m talking about a rear projection system. Here’s a Mitsubishi model. I’m not sure if Samsung is still selling DLPs.
Huh. Weird that a Blu-ray player can’t do better. I hope the HDMI->optical audio adapter I linked to can help you out.
Ah, I’d forgotten about them, I haven’t seen one of those in years. They don’t seem to be big enough sellers down in my hemisphere, as the local stores don’t seem to showcase them these days.
The Blu-Ray player* isn’t really the problem, it’s the TV that only comes in stereo, so anything that tries to passthrough it will only come out as stereo, unless I had an HDMI-chock-full AV receiver.
Reviews of that switcher point to unreliability, unfortunately. Also, as I live in Australia, it’s not readily available without additional shipping expense that pushes it so high I may as well get a new Receiver anyway. Which I think is my only option; The Yamaha RX-V371 looks ideal. I shall investigate deeper.
*The Blu-Ray player has HDMI 5.1 but no Optical out. Its only other audio output is 2 channel stereo.
They have several market disadvantages. They aren’t thin, the need maintenance, changing bulbs at a minimum, there is a QC issue since during shipping and installation mirrors can break or get misaligned. I had one of the fans go out and had to replace that. The parts are expensive. One after market bulb guaranteed to last twice as long as the Samsung bulb lasted only half as long, and may have been affected the bulb. I can do this maintenance myself, many consumers may not be able to. You can’t even fix the other technologies though. With those you have a choice between an expensive service contract and scrapping the thing when something goes wrong.
If you love watching TV, it’s the best picture you can get, and properly maintained it will last much longer without degradation in quality. That’s why I named mine Wonder Boy.
This sounds like a function of the TV screen surface, not LCD Vs. plasma. When I was shopping, we were only looking at LCD, and a major difference between Sony and Samsung was that Sony has a matte screen finish, and Samsung has a glossy screen finish. Some people like the glossy screen, and I’ll admit it looks classier when the TV is off, but that mirror effect when watching TV would be horrible.
I’ve got a RX-V467 which is very similar - if you can make the jump to something like the RX-V571 - otherwise the HDMI output only does video from HDMI inputs, and that can be a pain in the ass - if you want to hook up a PS2, WII, or other device that can’t do HDMI you have to buy a separate component->HDMI box or run a separate analog cable to your TV and switch the inputs on the TV itself. With a receiver than can output the analog via HDMI you get upscaling and no need to change the input on the TV.
That is a minor inconvenience, that won’t come up very often as I don’t really play video games. I have a PS2, packed away somewhere, but I think I’ve only used it about 30 times.
Does yours use a color wheel? I know there are some front projection 3-chip models, but most still use one chip and a color wheel, and the last time I looked at rear projectors they were also all single-chip.
Personally, the color artifacting is a complete deal-breaker when it comes to DLP. Even plasma has a much more subtle effect relating to phosphor decay times that I also find distracting, but single-chip DLP is bad enough to be useless to me. We have lots of them at work, and I’m instantly aware if someone has turned one on, even out of the corner of my eye and a hundred feet away.
I was looking to put a TV behind the bar in the basement. I initially looked at plasma displays, but didn’t like most of them due to their highly-reflective screens. I settled on an LG 47LE5500. It has a matte screen. It’s been an awesome TV.
Not to “one-up” ya, but in our HT room I have a JVC HD-250 projector and 103" screen. 
Yes, but in my opinion the color is just as good. However I don’t have the best color perception. If this bothers you, looking for a 3 chip model is a good idea. I’ve seen 2 chip versions, but I don’t how that system works.
We considered a projector with a screen that size, but we don’t have a good room to install that. I’m looking at moving Wonder Boy into the bedroom and getting an 80" model for LR. (and yes, I’m jealous)