You know what? This is a big TV—deceptively big. The cabinet that surrounds the screen is so thin that, at first glance, the display doesn't appear that large. In our studio, it's sitting next to a 55-inch display that I'm reviewing for an upcoming issue, and it is positively dwarfed by the 70-inch JVC. Compared with a 50-inch plasma, which would be a fair comparison from a price standpoint, the HD-70G886 has nearly twice the overall screen area, and it has almost three times the area of a 42-inch display. Kinda makes you want to second-guess that plasma purchase, doesn't it?

Form factor fueled the development of Hitachi's new line of handsome, black-lacquer-finished LCD RPTVs. Hitachi's focus-group research told them that consumers clamor for plasma more for the thin form factor than for the picture quality. But high plasma prices inhibit sales, so the company decided to take advantage of one of its core competencies—lens technology—to build a microdisplay that looked like a plasma but was priced within reach of a larger group of consumers.

RCA's 61-inch Scenium Profiles DLP RPTV created quite a buzz when it was first shown at the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show. Brought to market this past fall, this big-screen microdisplay TV (and its smaller, soon-to-be-released 50-inch sibling) is only 6.85 inches thick, as opposed to conventional DLP RPTVs with cabinets that occupy as much as 17 inches of space behind the screen.

JVC's first foray into fixed-pixel, rear-projection TVs a few years back was a big, embarrassing disappointment. The D'Ahlia, as the product was called, was introduced at a gala Times Square press extravaganza. The sets on display used Direct-drive Image Light Amplifier (D-ILA) technology, JVC's variant of liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS).

"Yes, but can you live with it?"

It's a new world. Though many of us lament the passing of the CRT as the premier video-display technology in most manufacturers' catalogs, that passing is happening rapidly. One of the favored alternatives is LCD, in both flat-panel and rear-projection designs. The latter, which use small LCD panels in conjunction with a projection lamp and optical path, are at present the more economical of the two—particularly in the larger screen sizes.

Very few manufacturers can call themselves "traditional," but until now, no description has better fit Pioneer, with their dedication to high-performance CRT-based rear-projection displays. However, that's about to change: Pioneer is scheduled to convert their rear-projection CRT assembly facilities to the production of plasma displays in April 2004, finally leaving CRT behind. While there should be enough Pioneer Elite CRT RPTVs in the pipeline to last through the end of the year, you might consider this review an homage to Pioneer's CRT era. It's also a caution: If you've had your eye on an RPTV from Pioneer, the cupboard may be full now, but it won't be restocked. Ever.