Are LCD Rear Projection TV's the same as normal rear projection TV's?
 

Is it just a fancy new name, adding the "LCD" bit in ?

Or are they different to the rear projection TV's that have been around the last few years?

There is a difference.

Sounds obvious, but LCD RP TV's use liquid crystal panels (usually three separate ones)to allow/disallow light transmission from a bulb, whereas the "older" technology ones use cathode ray tubes (again usually three) to generate the light directly

It's difficult to generalise nowadays as the newer technologies are getting better all the time, but if one were to generalise, it's prob fair to say that CRT based sets give better ultimate pic quality, while LCD ones are physically lighter

Yeah,just been reading a bit about them and the LCD are a lot thiner.....

£2000 from currys for a 42" Sony LCD RP with Glass stand. Not bad..

CRT based sets tend to have a higher contrast ratio (blacks are truly black instead of dark grey), so, given that picture quality is even more important in a big TV than it is in a small one, I'd be tempted to go have a look at a few different ones in a shop before buying.

You'll be able to beat Currys prices via the web anyway

The LCD projection screen TV's have a far brighter picture which is closer to a gas plasma screen in terms of quality, but the price is horrendous, still the best part of £2,000. DSG (Dixons, Currys etc) are selling a Daewoo 42" plasma display for about £2,700, but you can get the same screen in Richer Sounds for £1,700.... Makes a projection TV of any sort from Currys look expensive.....

Simon