Hey, I'm here The market is pretty crazy right now. Lots of new models and prices are dropping rapidly (the industry rumor is another price drop after Thanksgiving!)

You can really make your head spin reading all the reviews and comparisons. It really depends upon what you want. Do you want to hang this thing on the wall or on a stand? That alone reduces your choices if you want to hang it on a wall.

From there you have to decide which technology looks best to you. DLP, LCOS and LCD are rear projection sets, which mean you have a light bulb to replace every 3-4 years (you get about 6000-8000 hours on a bulb, replacements are about $200-$300).

Plasma does not have a light bulb to replace. Life on the display is about 60,000 hours (many many many many years of viewing). The downside is that Plasmas suck down a lot of electricity (400-500 watts). That probably is not a big deciding factor, but compared to its rear projector cousins (200-300 watts) it can add up after hours of viewing.

So without further ado.

Plasma: Great picture, excellent viewing angles. Expensive, expensive to own (electricity), some can see a 'screen door effect' at close viewing distances. (Look at a LCD computer monitor at a very close distances and you'll see what I mean by 'screen door effect'). Have to be careful with screen burn in. Check out Fujitsu, Hitachi, Pioneer, and Panasonic for best brands.

DLP: Great picture. Excellent contrast ratio (great blacks). Not as good viewing angles as Plasma. Lots of moving parts (spinning color wheel, mirrors). Some can see 'rainbows'. No screen door effect. Try watching black and white material on a DLP to see if you can see rainbows. If you get down to narrowing your choices to a DLP set, make sure you watch one in a store for a few hours. no screen burn in. It is rear projection and hence uses a light bulb. Check out Mitsubishi, Samsung for best brands.

LCOS: This is technology is pretty cool. It's similar to LCD but has better colors and contrast ratios. It looks very, very good so far. Unfortunately it does use a light bulb (its rear projection). No possibility of rainbows. No 'screen door' effect. Possible that it can retain temporary screen burn in (30-45 mins) if you leave an image on the screen for many hours. Not as good viewing angles as a Plasma. Check out Sony for LCOS technology. JVC will have some new LCOS sets out later this Fall.

LCD: LCD has pretty much become a budget technology, but don't let it fool you. It may not have as good blacks as some of the other technologies, but companies are still producing a very nice LCD set. Unfortuantely it does use a light bulb (its rear projection). No possibility of rainbows. Viewing angle is not as good as a Plasma. You can see the screen door effect on these depending upon your viewing distance. Like LCOS, it is possible to retain temporary screen burn in if you are not careful. Check out Sony and Panasonic for LCD.

LCD Flat Panels: Very nice picture, and the technology is constantly improving. Like LCD rear projection (see above), it might not have the best blacks but it is getting better and better in each new model. No possibility of rainbows. Viewing angle not as good as a Plasma. You can see the screen door effect depending upon your viewing distance. The nice thing about flat panel is, like a plasma, you can hang it on a wall if you wanted to.

Best black levels: I would say LCOS (Sony's new SXRD sets are great), DLP and Plasma have the best black levels (not in any particular order). LCD is a little bit behind in this category.

If it were me, and I had a good budget to work with, and I was not stuck on hanging a display on a wall, I would consider Plasma, LCOS, DLP. Not necessarily in that order either. I can see rainbows when I watch a DLP set, so I immediately tossed that technology out as a candidate. Plasma is nice but I'm concerned about screen burn in and electric bills. LCOS is nice but the technology is very new for Sony and, to some extent, JVC.

Just be aware that a) technology is improving VERY rapidly in HDTVs b) Prices are falling every day, c) What you buy today will be outdated in 2-3 years from a technology standpoint, but will certainly still be usable.

So with that in mind, happy shopping

Check out the AVS forums http://www.avsforum.com/?styleid=12

There are threads that have literally thousands of posts to wade through.

If you have questions, ASK!!!

Chris