I recently bought Sony XBR4 Bravia LCD's. The 40" in the bedroom has a Bluray player hooked up, and the picture is absolutely stunning, to my eyes anyway. I also put a 32" in the basement exercise room.
I'm very pleased with both.
I'm very brand loyal to Sony TV's. I still have an old tube console Sony I bought around 1980-something which still works great. I've been thru Toshibas & Sharps that have crapped out in a year or 2.

1080P for broadcast TV won't be around anytime in the foreseeable future, not even a consideration at this point.

Unless your really into HD DVD, don't spend the extra big bucks chasing ghosts. Spend that extra money on a good quality surround sound amplifier and speaker system. That will make a BIG difference in your viewing enjoyment.

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Question Authority before it Questions you.

The software in the XBR Bravia is also excellent I don't know how many people here use the HD over the air HDTV but the built in tuner is excellent as well.

That's one of the issues to consider with plasmas. The screens are glass, so reflections can be an issue.

My family room is full of windows, and I have zero problems with reflections with my Panasonic.

Good plasmas, like Panasonic, have anti-glare or anti-reflective coating.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Thats my take on it too after reading around on TV sites and forums. The broadcasts will be in 720 for a long while yet. It costs more to broadcast in 1080 and you know how much big biz likes to spend money....

I have gone shopping with 2 friends recently and had two different stores do side-by-side comparisons with Blu-Ray playing into 720 and 1080p plasmas. I couldn't tell the difference and neither could they. Neither store was very happy about this little comparison but they did it after we bugged them for 15 minutes or so. Both of them ended up with Panasonic 50" 720 plasma units. Thats what I am planning as well just waiting for the scratch.

Unless you do Blu-Ray all the time or play PS3 then I don't see the value in 1080p. The football games look unbelievably clear in HD and I cannot imagine it getting any better without needing new eyes!

RT

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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

I have a Mitsubishi 40-inch 134 series with 1080p and I'm thrilled with it, although I don't have HD service (I will when I move out of this apartment in two weeks). My brother in law has a 46-inch Sony Bravia XBR which I'm very impressed with as well, and he has the service and a nice surround sound system. The surround really does add to the experience when viewing HD programming, at least in my opinion. When I feel like allocating the money for it, I'm going to spring for that and maybe a BluRay as well. Both my TV and my brother-in-law's came from Tweeter, which I think provides a better buying experience than a Best Buy or Circuit City, but that's just personal preference. I hate going into a Best Buy and having to trek through three departments to find a salesperson. And as I like to say, I don't feel comfortable buying a TV from a store that also sells toaster ovens and Justin Timberlake CDs.

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

It's not that hard or expensive to find a TV with 1080p, though, so why not get the most capable machine possible?

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

Very easy to find one, and the cost is considerably higher. What doesn't exist is the 1080p cable/sat. format. Many people are not aware that 1080p is useless when it comes to cable/sat. HD reception. Why spend an extra 50 percent more to get something that doesn't really exist?

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Question Authority before it Questions you.

Well, I was well aware of the broadcast format when I bought my TV, but I just felt it made sense to cover my bases for the future. I'd like to get a BluRay player, which will utilize the 1080p format. I wasn't looking for a bargain. If you're budget is tight, then sure, 1080p can go by the wayside, but what I spent for my TV really wasn't a big deal for what I feel I got. I purchase very few luxury items, though (heck, I don't buy many non-luxury items, such as furniture), and I plan on building around this TV for several years. I basically just set a price-cap for myself and then sought the best possible unit within that range. 1080p was doable, so I did it.

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

I bought a 720p Sony 55" 3LCD Projection from Sears (?) for $750 before Thanksgiving and it impressed me so much that 2 weeks later I bought a 42" Hitachi 1080i plasma from Sears (!) again for $670.

I get everything over the air (OTA) and I agree, there won't be any 1080p for at least 5 years. By then, all current technolgy will be junk anyway- why spend double on 1080p?

720p and 1080i both look absolutely stunning from what we had. I'm not about to go out and buy a library full of blu-ray either....

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

Although I do have a 1080P set, this is the best advice I've seen on this subject.

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99 ML320
94 SL600
92 SL500
95 E320 Cabriolet
87 560SEC
86 300SDL Grease Car
80 380SLC Euro

13 Fiat Abarth
02 Maserati Spyder Cambiocorsa
00 BMW Z3
90 Rolls Royce Silver Spur
80 Ferrari 308 GTSI
88 Jaguar XJS12 H&E Edition
99 Land Rover Discovery

that has been my though on this. ANYthing they're selling right now looks so much better than what I have that I'd be tickled pink with it.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

You don't need to buy a library of Blue Ray or HD DVD discs to watch 1080p tv.

Your local Blockbuster stocks these in all the new video releases.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

It isn't 50% more. In my case the difference was negligible and the features I wanted were only available in the 1080p machine.

I'm definately not what you would call an early adopter. Look at the cars I have- that's all I have.

My local library has all the DVDs I need- and I pay taxes. I'm really not interested in the latest crap that comes out of "hollywood" - it leaves me cold. I'm very happy with 1990's technology, too as far as DVDs.

That's a big YMMV.

Rick

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)