Sony KD-34XBR960 or Sony KDS-R50XBR1?

I bought my Sony 36 XBR before Sony introduced the 34 wide screen. The picture is one of the best I've seen. The grey scale when watching something like Casablanca is amazing in its gradations from white to really black. We watch CSI: Miami just because the panoramas are so grand in HD and the surround sound so involving. For me, the question is not my set or a 60" SXRD, nice as they are, but my set or an 80' wide projection screen. Only the big screen of front project seems to really draw me into a movie. But then there's the practicality issue of what to use for regular TV viewing in a reasonably lighted room. I guess it's a pull-down screen in front of a plasma TV, but I have yet to settle that in my own mind.

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As an "almost" videophile-- The set should be ideal at night and daytime comes in second. A year and a half ago I bought a 61' JVC hdila set. Beyond it breaking down 3xs in 4months the black were sad,as was the low level grey scale/ dark scene pq. I lost my ass but sold it. I bought the 65' Mits 9in crt's. ---Big bulky but PQ was more important 2me.

If space is a factor and you have to sit close, the 34" is great, however; if you want a larger picture and more of the 'theater' experience than the 50" SXRD can only be beat by their 60" set.
I have the 60" SXRD and there is no way I can go back to watching my old 35" Mits. set.
High Def. is fantastic !!!

The questions is not what tv has better blacks, better colors, faster whites, what weights more, It all comes down to the following factors,
1) how far away from the TV will you sit?
2) how much ambient light do you have in the room?
3) what thickness of a tv can you place on the wall that it will be on?

Both TV's are superb. The 60 inch Sony Lcos has been given the tv of the year award from the Perfect Vision, The 50 inch Lcos won the six set 10080P tv shootout in Home Theater mag, IMHO the sony 34 inch Glass tube has the best picture on the planet, but you need to decide if you can use that small of a picture.

Measure your room, see how dark you can get your room, then decide.

I own the 30 inch version of the Sony CRT set.
It has a very good picture for DVDs and regular
broadcast TV. The little high-def I've seen on it
looked very good but my indoor Terk antenna can't hold
the signal so I never use it ( yes, I align it with a compass).
I've also seen the SXRD models at Best Buy.
I wouldn't hesitate to purchase the SXRD except that
Sony decided to NOT LET IT ACCEPT 1080p INPUTS!
Gad, how could they decide to do this when their high def
(1080p) DVD players are mere weeks away from rolling out?
Will they come out with Mk-II versions for 1080p?
This is FUBARed to the point of unbelievability.

A huge consideration is: Do you really want a CRT set
that weighs close to 200 pounds?
My 30 incher weighs 150.

I own the 30 inch version of the Sony CRT set.
It has a very good picture for DVDs and regular
broadcast TV. The little high-def I've seen on it
looked very good but my indoor Terk antenna can't hold
the signal so I never use it ( yes, I align it with a compass).
I've also seen the SXRD models at Best Buy.
I wouldn't hesitate to purchase the SXRD except that
Sony decided to NOT LET IT ACCEPT 1080p INPUTS!
Gad, how could they decide to do this when their high def
(1080p) DVD players are mere weeks away from rolling out?
Will they come out with Mk-II versions for 1080p?
This is FUBARed to the point of unbelievability.

I just asked in my own post under opinions on LCD's, PLASMA and DLP heading about the Sony 60 inch version of the KDS. The picxture on the 60 and 50 is unbelieveable. I haven't seen a current CRT better than these 2.