Need help making TV decision


I'm looking to replace my ancient Proton 27" CRT with something new. I've poked around AVS forum and CNET but still feel confused and underinformed. Would welcome advice here and pointers to other sources of information.

Here's our situation:

-- Can accomodate up to 40"-42" wide display
-- Use Comcast digital cable box through TiVo box as main source; also DVD
-- TV (not DVD) probably 80% of viewing
-- Viewing distance is about 8 feet
-- Can accomodate the depth of a CRT or rear projection, but a flat panel would be just fine (will sit atop 40" AV cart)
-- Don't need built-in audio as I route audio signals through an AV receiver
-- Price not too much of an issue

So....LCD, Plasma, DLP or CRT? HD or ED? One of my main fears is that I will get a set that kills on DVD or HD but leaves me unhappy when I watch an old movie or a Seinfeld rerun or any non-HD TV program. There's also the issue of our addiction to TiVo and the absence of an HD TiVo box for digital cable (as far as I know).

Thanks for any guidance you can provide.
Ag insider logo xs@2xdrubin

Showing 2 responses by donbellphd

If you were willing to move over to DirectTV satellite, the DirectTV HR 10-250 is an outstanding HDTV/TiVo receiver. SD at 480p looks fine on my Sony 36 XBR as does HD at 1080i. Although I don't think it's a great program, we are hooked on CSI: Miami just because the pan shots are so magnificant; the 5.1 sound is pretty effective as well.

I'm going through the same decision process myself. I want a larger screen that's more in keeping with the soundstage my audio system projects, and I want to eliminate mass between the speakers to enhance soundstage depth for stereo. Front projection is a partial answer, but not practical for general viewing, so I think a screen that pulls down in front of a wall-hanging plasma or LCD TV is the way I'll go. Pretty sure I want a 96" 16 X 9 Stewart Firehawk screen, but unsure about projector and plasma or LDC.

db
Does the commercial version of the Panny 42 plasma include audio? I use a separate HDTV/TiVo tuner, so I don't need an internal tuner, but I rarely feel the need to fire up my audio system for watching TV programs, so internal audio from the HDMI feed of the HDTV/TiVo tuner would be a big plus.

db