A rear projection system is usually made of a large-screen TV... which is also called read projection TV's (RPTV). Older models used to be using CRT red green and blue tubes to project an image on a Fresnel lens acting as the front screen. High resolution HDTV models using CRT produced about the best image quality due to the use of CRT tubes (see the section on front projection systems for more details on CRTs).

Nowadays, most RPTVs use either LCD, DLP or LCoS technologies to produce the image. The screen is still based on a Fresnel lens. The image quality among these can greatly vary. On some models, you can clearly see pixel element separation between each pixel as you look closely at the screen. This being said, at normal usage distance, these screen can produce a very dramatic home theater experience. The biggest advantage of read projected home theaters is that you can watch it in situations where there is quite a lot of environment lighting present... something that is usually not possible with front projection based home theaters where light in the room must be controlled. The biggest draw back of RPTVs is probably their size and weight. It is not as easy to move these around the house then a front projection setup.