You will have to go up a bit in price to get what you want. Plasmas usually start at 42" and up. They will run 720p natively, and will downscale 1080i/p (both are HD compliant formats, and reflects the number of lines/pixels available, for reference 480i is SDTV). All fixed pixel displays will scale to their native resolution, generally 768 for plasma, except at the very high end for 1080, 768 on inexpensive LCDs and 1080 for better LCDs. Current generation plasmas should almost never suffer from burn in, unless run at ridiculously brightness settings and left with CNN on 24/7 for a veeery long time). One advantage of plasma over inexpensive LCDs is the lack of smear of the image seen with fast moving objects across the screen. LCDs that cannot "turn on and off" their individual pixels fast enough will show smearing with fast movement. On higher end LCDs that "speed" can be reduced to 6-8 ms which is a fast enough response time to avoid smearing.
Plasma also display a truer black than most (close to all) LCDs. This matters when watching a movie. The shadows on a plasma will be deeper than on an inexpensive LCD. LCDs usually only provide a dark gray rather than true black. This really does make a difference in the perceived quality of the image.
LCDs are coming down in price while the quality keeps getting better. There are some brand names you won't recognize, such as Olieva, that may sound questionable, but that's not always the case. Here's a set of links to a review on an Olevia LCD, a nice FAQ on plasma vs LCD, and just a nice site for resources (plenty out there, so it's worth visiting a few sites:
Olevia review: http://www.hdtvexpert.com/pages/syntax_sanyo.htm
FAQ: http://www.hdtvexpert.com./pages_b/shopping.html
Site www.hdtvexpert.com (surprise)
If you can up your budget to $1,300 this 37" LCD with 1080p capability (currently the highest resolution available), this Westinghouse has gotten terrific reviews:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...CategoryId=pcmcat95100050044&id=1140394400806
For a mainstream affordable 42", Westinghouse has this:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Westinghouse_W4207/4505-6482_7-32159738.html
Lots of choices, lots of opinions. Whichever way you go, I would advise to go for picture quality over screen size, unless your viewing distance is going to be high. Once you live with an HDTV, you'll never want to see standard def again.
BTW, don't always judge the quality of the picture when in the store. They usually jack up the brightness and color to make them look better than they are. You won't be viewing them in the same environment or with the artificial settings they dial in. If there's an LCD you like, you can order on line. They're not as heavy as a plasma and cost less to ship, and are not as fragile as a glass plasma display.
Henry
Plasma also display a truer black than most (close to all) LCDs. This matters when watching a movie. The shadows on a plasma will be deeper than on an inexpensive LCD. LCDs usually only provide a dark gray rather than true black. This really does make a difference in the perceived quality of the image.
LCDs are coming down in price while the quality keeps getting better. There are some brand names you won't recognize, such as Olieva, that may sound questionable, but that's not always the case. Here's a set of links to a review on an Olevia LCD, a nice FAQ on plasma vs LCD, and just a nice site for resources (plenty out there, so it's worth visiting a few sites:
Olevia review: http://www.hdtvexpert.com/pages/syntax_sanyo.htm
FAQ: http://www.hdtvexpert.com./pages_b/shopping.html
Site www.hdtvexpert.com (surprise)
If you can up your budget to $1,300 this 37" LCD with 1080p capability (currently the highest resolution available), this Westinghouse has gotten terrific reviews:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...CategoryId=pcmcat95100050044&id=1140394400806
For a mainstream affordable 42", Westinghouse has this:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Westinghouse_W4207/4505-6482_7-32159738.html
Lots of choices, lots of opinions. Whichever way you go, I would advise to go for picture quality over screen size, unless your viewing distance is going to be high. Once you live with an HDTV, you'll never want to see standard def again.
BTW, don't always judge the quality of the picture when in the store. They usually jack up the brightness and color to make them look better than they are. You won't be viewing them in the same environment or with the artificial settings they dial in. If there's an LCD you like, you can order on line. They're not as heavy as a plasma and cost less to ship, and are not as fragile as a glass plasma display.
Henry
