OT, Looking for info on the best big screen

[Martin in Bellevue]

Bill, we have the 60" grand wega. It is a couple years old. The backlit 3 lcd panels are incredible with a good HD signal. There is a depth & clarity that I think is singular to this set. There are settings to focus this depth in reference to the seating distance from the screen. It may be too big to tolerate crappy signals. I like it very much. A friend with the same Grand Wega, has an HD DVD player, I think the sony blue ray, that almost equals the HD signal from Comcast, the local cable provider.

Also, it has a very good picture when viewed from tangent positions to front & center. You can be almost anywhere off to the side of the screen & see the picture well, unlike plasma screens. I discounted front projection sets due to the low light level resolutions too.

[HDhandyman]

How about (to put it your way) I'm a professional and the HD actually stands for High Definition (not hard drive) with my own business working with this stuff successfully for the past 3 years. I think that Samsung and Olevia are really on top of the market right now in terms of quality, warranties, build, and features. Plasma is just something to stay away from in my mind because burn-in far out weighs lamp replacement (plasma vs. LCD) as lamps get cheaper and easier to replace all the time.

Olevia is a sort of out of the way company that you might not know about, but they have unbeatable pricing and are getting ready to make a big splash.--They've also almost singlehandedly cut the going market price in half.---check them out: Syntax Brillian

Samsung teamed up with Microsoft last year for the 360 and they have since unleashed unpresidented features and build quality. Lots of kids and adults have become educated about quality for their video games in the last year, and it has helped the market quality increase signifigantly.

Keep in mind that contrast ratio is key. Remember that Samsung and Sony offer ratios of 3000-4000, but olevia's 1200 and 1800 ratios are dynamic which essentially doubles that existing ratio.

Sony is great, sure, but I feel the same way about them that you do about Konis, just can't justify the money.

Hope this helps you Bill, feel free to contact me if you want further serious help.