Direct View or Rear Projection TV

Burn-in is possible with projection TV's if they are badly adjusted (contrast and brightness too high) and a constant image is projected for VERY extended periods of time. I have 4 years on my RPTV with no burn-in whatsoever. Have a room where you can exercise reasonable control over ambient light, and calibrate the TV with Video Essentials or Avia, and I would not worry.

I own the 36 sony wega, the XBR version. This TV kills any rear projection TV. The resolution is so crisp, the colors are so vibrant. Compare the two at a nearby Audio/Video store and you'll see for yourself. Also the Wega (direct view) doesn't have the burden of worrying about the angle at which all of the people who view your screen.

I owned a 32 XBR before going to a rear projection. They each have their own benefits. Picture quality is superior on a direct veiw. Color, sharpness, shading, resolution, everything. Dvd essentials is a good idea with any new tv.

The rear projection tv is more involving. The extra size, to me, is worth the loss of quality. Movies are so much better on the big screen.

As long as you dont play a video game system on the rear projection you should be fine. I have never had a problem with burned in images on mine. They have also reached a point where if you are off center they really arent bad like they use to be. You can go pretty far off center with no loss on light and quality on mine.

Although my rear projection's picture quality is nothing compared to my XBR I have never regretted upgrading to the rear projection and I have always been pleased with it.

I picked up a 65" Samsung high def for under 3Kus and have to say there is no tube on the market that can touch the picture. If you watch regular cable, or satellite then you will notice a difference in clarity of course going to a larger size for the worse. But I will take the movie theater feel and the slight blur over the larger pixel size on the big tubes any day.
In high def off satellite or progressive DVD there isn't a tube that can touch the film quality clarity of a rear projection I feel on a hdtv TV and this is where projection leaps far ahead. As for burn I have had rear projections over the last 10 years from a cheap 52" RCA to this now and have never had this happen on any of them. If you don't play the same video game for weeks on end or watch a channel for weeks on end with their logo on the screen I don't think this would ever be an issue. If you are spending that much I recommend future proofing yourself and going high def, projection.
my 0.02$

I purchased about three different TVs while going through this same process. First, Sony XBR 36". Great TV, best picture. But after looking at it a while I just kept coming back to the same statement: the image is too d@mn small. Back to the store it went, and home came the 34" widescreen Sony HDTV. Even better picture, widescreen finally. But once again, after a week: the image is too small for the price. Last and final TV, Mitsubishi Diamond 55". Image is great, progressive scan is great, picture size is just right. Upgrade to rear projection--the size of the picture contributes quite a bit to the movie experience. Good luck.

If it is size you want go with the new 40" XBR. This has an incredible picture, but make sure you have a couple buddies help you move it in, it wieghts about 300lbs. Good luck, with your choice, make sure you go to an A/V store and preview them all.

What about front projector? Any body compared a DLP projector versus a rear projection TV? Front DLP projector can project image up to 100" and the picture quality is great when you close the curtain and dim the light. Any comments on this as I've got a Panasonic 51" rear projection TV with progressive scan and I'm still considering getting a DLP project for my movie experience.