I have compared the bright room visibility of a Panasonic TC-32LX44S TV with my new Optoma HD25e projector, and was pleasantly surprised. So I decided to share this photo of them next to each other.

The projector was fed live TV from EyeTV on an Apple Mini in 720p mode, and the screen was an unpainted piece of 1/2" white foam board from an art store. The TV was live via "bowtie" UHF antenna. The room was brighter than is apparent, due to sunlight on the nearly closed blinds behind the screens and partially open blinds on smaller at either side plus room lighting at a medium low setting on dimmer. The photo is from a Nikon D5100 in Auto mode 1/60@f4 ISO640, editing: cropped from RAW file and re-sized to 1080 pixels high in Preview app saved as .JPG file.

While the gamma and other settings on both devices are at factory defaults, the image was quite comparable and in most ways (beyond the obvious advantage of size) superior on the projector. The TV was over-saturated and had poor rendition of shadow areas.

While the projector is vastly better in a darker room and on full HD content, I was very impressed with how well it holds up in this brighter setting. With the blinds open to full daylight, it's still comfortable to watch as a TV in "Reference" Mode with the advantage of being larger than any TV I've seen. It can also be pumped up in other Modes and with further adjustments for bright settings, and even without that would be fine for typical TV fare and sports in particular.

We have DVD parties several times a week, and in "theater" settings it has been a delight. The noise level in Reference Mode is low enough that it's only noticeable in silence, with the projector 3' above my head. Although I would love to have a real high quality Home Theater setup, this projector is truly amazing for only $900.