I thought the same. 2 years ago I bought a Sharp Aquos LCD 1080i for the bedroom and loved it. This year we went looking for a TV to replace the one in the den. The Sony Bravia LCD was nearly twice the price of the Sharp, but my wife insisted the Sony's picture was better. She was right. Not only on Blue Rays, but on standard DVD's and regular channels as well. The difference is readily visible. It seems to me that the higher the contrast ratio, and the faster the refresh rate, the better. These are my two cents, FWIW. Happy listening.
what do i really need 1080p for?
if my only intention of getting a plasma/or lcd is to buy a new tv, that can accept the high def signal in the future, what do i need a 1080p tv for? arent they only really useful if using a blue-ray type source? my intention is to NOT use this as part of home theater , or even to watch dvds..simply watch cable tv. that being said...looking for 46" isnt plasma the way to go? ive got a sony 36" Wega XBR and not much rivals that...so whatever i get needs to outperform it. And 720p of course is way less coin.