Need help making TV decision

Thanks. We want bigger than 30" (40"=42" would be ideal I think). Isn't 36" about as big as you can get in a CRT?

As far as price goes, I'd like to keep it under $3.5K, but there might be some wiggle room.

> After watching HDTV any source that is upscaled seems to pale to True HDTV Source material.

What's the implication of this? Does one give up watching non-HD programming?

Interesting! I have also heard some people say goood things about SD on plasma sets. It may depend on the source (sat or cable) and the set (this was Fujitsu).

Semi and Dynnut, would you pick plasma over a 36" HD CRT assuming you had space for a CRT?

In the 40" plus plasma space, there is a commercial version (no tuner, no audio) of the Panasonic 42" for around $2400. Somewhat limited input options. Also a Pioneer for about $1K more. Any opinions on these? Fujitsus are supposed to be great but are much pricier. Hope to spend less than $3500.

EDTV will give me better viewing on non-HD sources and TiVo than HDTV? (Perhaps I should ask, will HDTV give me worse viewing than EDTV on these sources?)

The Panasonic TH-42PHD7UY is the "commercial" 42" and is HD I believe. But it does not have HDMI. Am I correct that I really want a digital input of some kind for DVD at least, even if my cable box doesn't support it? All these years in high-end audio have me concerned with proper interfaces and minimizing conversions.

Thank you!

Thanks Rysa4. If I purchase something like the Panasonic through an online retailer, should I pay for installation, or is there not much to it?

It has one open slot, so I could put a cable card in it (except then what happens to TiVo?) or add a second component video or a DVI or HDMI. TiVo outputs component as does my current DVD player. Would I want an HD STB with an EDTV? (questions, questions....)

My thought about the cable card was to use it in lieu of the STB, not in addition to.

Does the consumer version have more than one set of component video inputs? I would need two at least (TiVo and DVD), and it appears that the commercial version has just one, so I would need to purchase the additional card. If the STB has DVI or HDMI (not sure if they do), then it would be good to also have that input and be able to take a direct feed from the STB for best quality when I can watch live (sans TiVo).

Are the displays themselves (and the PQ) identical? Someone around here said or implied that the commercial versions are superior.

We ended up getting an Hitachi 42HDS52 plasma. This cost about $300 more than the consumer Panasonic 42" but is an exceptionally attractive unit, has two HDMI inputs and is getting great buzz over at AVS forum and other sites. I can't say whether or not it suffers from any of the problems identified for some of the Panasonic models, but it sure looks like a great buy. It hasn't been delivered yet, so we'll see how things work out, but I feel good about the decision.

Just ordered an Oppo Digital DVD player to replace my aging Onkyo. The idea was to get the benefits of progressive scan, upscaling, and digital video out to the TV (DVI-HDMI). It is absolutely amazing to me what your money buys in digital gear these days. This player cost $200 (!!), uses the Faroudja DCDi, and seems to do just about everything you could want processing-wise. I should be able to stay purely in the digital domain for audio and video from both DVD and STB/DVR for as long as possible (my AV receiver, which handles the audio, is a digital device also). I think this is a key to getting great results from all sources. I'm pretty excited, as you may be able to tell.

Thanks to everyone for their advice and recommendations.