"Maybe, but I still doubt it. There may not be any way to move the chps, but without exception every precision optical system I've been around (astronomy is one of my hobbies, I just enjoy music) always gets out of alignment and has to be adjusted."
You confuse the 3 display chips with the single optical output lens. Like 'steves' just tried to explain to you also.
"-Or maybe the fact that the distances involved are short and the pixels are (relatively) large mitigates the need for extremely accurate alignment."
No, the fact that the chips don't move at ALL means they need NO alignment.
"In any case nothing stays perfectly aligned."
Like I tried to relate to you before... the chips on you computer's motherboard don't un-align do they????
The 3 display chips I'm talking about whether LCD, DLP, GLV, or LCoS are all just computer chips that have their leads soldered to a one piece board/housing. No chip can move out of alligment from the others.
"I just really hate it when I see color fringing in a black and white movie or predominately grayscale scene."
Yes, that does suck. I totally agree. 3 chip displays can't EVER do that though. Hell.. if you threw a 3 chip projector across the room...
1) It'd break (duh)
2) The chips would STILL be alligned (unless the whole chip housing cracked open, but you probably couldn't even do that without hitting it with a hammer or something).
"-but I really do like the idea of a single optical system if possible."
As steves' said, there's only ONE lens in a 3 chip system.
Maybe you're thinking of CRT projectors, and you think a 3 chip projector has 3 lenses that need to line up. They don't.
Haven't you ever seen a picture even of an LCD projector?
www.projectorcentral.com They're ALL 3 chip systems, and ALL only have one output lens (which can't get un-aligned except with the screen (which can happen to ANY projector design), or out of focus (which, again.. can happen to ANY projector design), but even those can hardly happen if nothing touches the projector.
"-And it seems like color temperature is also a non-issue since gamut is (or can be) controlled by the filter wheel, as HT projectors have no clear filter sections."
DLP's don't have perfect color. Some are close. Close enough some might say (I might say 'close enough' for some myself), but in the past 3 chip LCD has always bettered DLP in color accuracy.
I had the Plus Piano for a 10 day trial. The color was pretty good (it has no clear segment), but the CRT I bought when I returned the Piano is much better.
I haven't seen any DLP's with that new 'spiral color wheel', so that might be damn near perfect, but a spinning wheel won't ever be as accurate as overlaying the three RGB colors as in three chip systems.
Why do you think TI uses 3 chip systems in their Theater projectors?
"One thing I really like is the fact that the colors won't shift like CRTs can with age."
CRT's don't shift with age. They shift from movement and heating/cooling cycles, and it's a very very tiny amount.
I tweak my CRT's guns about every month or so. It just takes a few minutes. Do it during a commercial and you'll never call it an 'issue'.
In fact I watched the B&W classic 'The Hustler' just last night (I give it a 9 out of 10) and there was zero color fringing. None. (Great sharp DVD transfer too!) and it's been at least a month since I tweaked the CRTs.
"Once in a while you pop in a new lamp (keep one or two around) and that's it."
You know you just described ~$1,000 in bulbs don't you? My CRT was $3,000, and should last 10 years at least. No bulb worries at all.
"If you think about it (and we seem to agree on this) the whole glowing phosphor idea is pretty hokey."
Hokey? How so? I guess I don't agree.
It might 'sound' outdated compared to all these new digital solutions, but my 65" CRT Mitsu. has better color than DLP (or 'as good' at worst), no motion blur like past DLP's I've seen, totally solid pixel structure even at 'too close' viewing distance, 1080i resolution, under $3,000 new, CRT guns that should last a decade based on several decades of longevity reports, and only needs occational few minute allignment tweaking (once a month at the very most).
If I listed these traits off and said it was a DLP set everyone would freak out over how amazing that would be.
Downsides... It's cabinet is 24" deep.
But any 65" screen is big in width x height, and 'up against the wall' might not be the optimal distance for someone with a thinner DLP rear PJ, or LCD or Plama direct view set, or front projector and screen.
If my 65" was only 3" deep, I'd still have it pulled out the ~30" it is now. I mounted my 80" screen I had when I bought the Piano this way since up against the wall was too far away (my seating is set for optimal sound so I couldn't just move the couch closer in).
I attached the screen to a removable frame (mounted to my 32" tv I also had in the room at the time). Took a long time to build and worked great. I was ticked I had to send the Piano back 'cuz of rainbows, but the CRT while slightly smaller screen, is much better in every other way.
There's the 'burn in' issue too, but the screen adjustements on my set and also on my Dish Net HD rec. allow me to fill the whole screen (like when watching Sat. or Over-the-air TV) in a very natural looking way. A little strech at the sides and a little cropping overall. Works great.
My buddy's got a 8 year old 50" 4:3 CRT RP, and for the past 2 years watches almost nothing but letterboxed DVD's on it. When he flips to local TV, I saw for myself that there's zero burn in.
This was my only worry with buying CRT (that and digital connections), but in the past year I have no burn in at all, and my wife and I play videogames on it for hours on it, and watch all movies at their correct aspect ratio so almost all of them have letterboxing. No damage at all.
I like the technology of an all digital solution, but they still can't top CRT in rear projection in almost any way, and it's still got some negative 'issues' in the front projection realm, but front projection (whether CRT or display chip) will always have 'the room is the cabinet' issue which can be tough to deal with in everayday use (unless you're a vampire and like your room pitch black at all times).
And for anyone who says they watch their front projector with some room light at times... While of course you can do this, it's just a plain fact that your picture is VERY washed out compared to a RP set.