Today’s rear projection TVs are all high definition displays and deliver great quality on sizes bigger the 42 inches in diagonal.

What you need to know about specs when choosing the best rear projection TV?

The most important thing when you choose a RPTV is the aspect ratio. Aspect ratio defines the proportion between width and height of the screen. A 4:3 aspect ratio is encountered at the old TVs and are 16:9, wide screen is now more popular. Since most movies made in the last decades were recorded in a wide screen it was obvious that at some point 16:9 aspect ratio would be the standard.

Resolution is another aspect to take into consideration. A high definition image is usually a wide screen display with 1 million pixels. From 768p (1366 width by 769 height in pixels), 720p (1280 by 720) to 1080p or 1080i (1920 by 1080) are all HD resolutions. Having a bigger resolution translates into a sharper and clearer image, but you have to know that there is not a big difference between these.

Viewing angle plays an important role. You don’t want to move a little to your right to take a soda and the image would be gone? While most displays (not only RPTVs) suffer in the vertical viewing angle, the horizontal is more important and with a 180 degree angle you should be fine.

What about video input types? These ranges from lowest quality to highest: Composite Video, S-Video, Component Video, VGA, and DVI to HDMI. The more input types your RPTV supports the more flexible it will be and you’ll be able to watch video from any device.

So, what is the best rear projection TV out there? In my opinion only Samsung and Mitsubishi can compete for this title. For the purpose of this analysis I choose the Samsung HL72A650 and the Mitsubishi WD-73737.

Samsung HL72A650 72-Inch 1080p Slim DLP HDTV is a 72” widescreen HDTV with an elegant design, super slim and lightweight it can be installed in almost any room in your home.  This RPTV supports the highest HD resolution: 1080p and it Cinema Smooth Light Engine offers an amazing image quality with 3D ready technology and a wide range of color which is simply breathtaking.

Here is what a customer review says: “The use of the Dark Chip 3 is not really the whole problem by itself. The problem is that at some point Samsung decided to remove the iris from their lamp DLPs light engines. An iris is used on DLPs to deepen blacks on the fly as the screen changes. Perhaps this deletion was done to make the LED DLPs more competitive against the lamp set. The net result is a TV that is very good in most every way except it has poor contrast and black levels for a TV at this price point. Excellent black levels and contrast are typically a given for DLPs.[…] “If the blacks were at the level of current Mitsubishi DLPs or even the Sammy bulb sets of a few years ago that included an iris, the HL72A650 with its accurate color and excellent resolution would deserve 5 stars plus. As it is, I can only give it 3 stars. If you mostly watch movies, than 3 stars might be a stretch.”

Another customer seems to be very satisfied with his purchase: “I just upgraded from a 1 year old 65 lamp projection HD set from Hitachi (which was great for a lamp projection) and was blown away! HD DVDs and Blue-Ray takes on a whole new world with this set – and was a STEAL for the price! Takes up much less space and along with the stand (I purchased this also) fits perfect with tons of space for the players and more.”

What about the Mitsubishi WD-73737 73-Inch 1080p 120Hz Home Theater DLP HDTV. From my experience I can say that this is the best rear projection TV available on the market today.

This 73 inch RPTV offers a vivid viewing experience in a 1080p resolution, 3D Ready using the Smooth 120Hz Film Motion technology which offers the best image even for the fastest scenes from games, sports or movies. For enhanced display, brighter colors and whiter whites this model also incorporates a 6-Color Processor that processes and produces images with six different colors, instead of traditional three.

Here is what people are saying about this amazing product: “This TV is great. I was looking at LCD and DLP TVs, and the DLP offer bigger screens and the same great picture at a lower price. HDTV, Blu-Ray, DVD, etc all look great on this TV. 1080p resolution is amazing, I have an older 52 inch HDTV, which displays 1080i and this DLP looks 10 times better.”

And here is another review:  “Just bought a 73″ 737series a couple of weeks ago. Was considering 65″ but went with the 73″ – GREAT Decision. The picture is fantastic – even my wife who isn’t into TV very much thinks it is great. The price of the replacement lamp is not significant every 2 – 3 years when you consider the quality and price of this TV. If you have the room for it I highly recommend this TV – Great value.”

While you can get the Samsung for about $2500 on Amazon and a used one for something around $1700, the Mitsubishi price revolve around $1999. The conclusion: the best rear projection TV is the Mitsubishi WD-73737.