Guys I am in a little of a dilemma...choosing a new TV for the upstairs loft. Sorry in advance for the long post...

Currently I have a 34" Toshiba HD CRT (CW34XC2, made DEC 1999) upstairs and it's starting to show it's age; during dark scenes the picture becomes more red, colors are off, etc.

I think it's time to invest in a newer TV as I am in the process of buying a PS3 for Blu-Ray movies / gaming and also I am getting a second HD receiver (Bell TV) for upstairs to watch Centre Ice Hockey and Golf channel (SD)..I currently have an Oppo Upconverting DVD player and a XBOX with XBMC to play Divx, Xvid and MP3s, connected to the Toshiba.

The space it's going in is a 12ft X 8ft open space, with the new theater seats in place of the old couch. The seats will be about 9 to 10 ft from the wall.

Sunlight comes in thru 2 bay windows, one of which is higher than the loft. One of the patio doors is on the opposite wall, but has a dark curtain in front of it. We face South West, so we get the mid-afternoon to evening sunlight.

I can't spend crazy money so I restricted to looking at last year's models but one of my choices is in fact a current 2008 model.

Pioneer PDP-5080HD

Pros:
-Great picture quality, great blacks, great color accuracy
-able to handle fast moving actions without incorporating 120Hz tech
-non-reflective screen
-SD feeds look decent
-flat panel, Wife factor
-can be hung off wall, wife factor

Cons:
-Last year's tech (720p instead of 1080p), need to upscale 1080p feeds
-Heavier than most panels, slightly bulkier
-Power hungry
-Daylight may wash out picture??

Samsung HL-61A750

Pros:
-1080p ready
-excellent picture quality and blacks for DLP, due to LED BL.
-Power saver, due to LED BL
-same price as Pioneer
-lightweight, being that it is just a box


Cons:
-Not flat panel. Wife factor comes into play
-cannot be hung on wall, Wife factor
-a little too big size wise for upstairs, taking up more space (stand included)
-Blacks and SQ still not as good as Pioneer.

Unknowns
-SQ on SD feeds

Samsung LN-T4681F

Pros:
-1080p LCD
-excellent picture quality and blacks for LCD, due to LED BL.
-bright picture
-Power saver, due to LED BL
-Flat panel, wife factor
-can be hung off wall, wife factor
-lighter than Pioneer

Cons:
-response time still slower than Pioneer
-Blacks and SQ on the same level as LED DLP, but still not as good as Pioneer
-more expensive than both the DLP and Pioneer ( a few hundred dollars more)
-glossy screen.
-smallest screen (46")

Unknowns:
-SQ on SD feeds

My wife and I both like the Pioneer, picture wise; in fact she picks the Pioneer over all of the other flat panels she sees. I do admit this is choice #1 but this is not a firm choice.

We have a 36" Toshiba HD CRT downstairs (36HFX72) and that is not moving, for now. Picture quality is great, even if it is only 1080i.

Asking for some rational opinions and advice; am I looking at the right options?

I'll add pictures of the space in another post.

a couple of Pics of where my present TV is and the one bay window that above the loft level....

Pioneer PDP-5080HD

Pros:
-Great picture quality, great blacks, great color accuracy
-able to handle fast moving actions without incorporating 120Hz tech
-non-reflective screen
-SD feeds look decent
-flat panel, Wife factor
-can be hung off wall, wife factor

Cons:
-Last year's tech (720p instead of 1080p), need to upscale 1080p feeds Still looks better than most flat panels, and I doubt you will much of a difference at your viewing distance
-Heavier than most panels, slightly bulkier Is this really a factor, considering your CRT weighs as much as a grown man?[/U]
-Power hungry [U]If $3-5 dollars more a month is a factor, then a TV is probably the last thing one should be worrying about
-Daylight may wash out picture?? No more than it did to your CRT

Samsung HL-61A750
I am an advocate of always going bigger :D

Pros:
-1080p ready
-excellent picture quality and blacks for DLP, due to LED BL.
-Power saver, due to LED BL
-same price as Pioneer
-lightweight, being that it is just a box


Cons:
-Not flat panel. Wife factor comes into play
-cannot be hung on wall, Wife factor
-a little too big size wise for upstairs, taking up more space (stand included)
-Blacks and SQ still not as good as Pioneer.
Not so great off axis viewing angles
Pictures suffers even more from ambient light

Unknowns
-SQ on SD feeds

Samsung LN-T4681F

I would rule this one out completely

Pros:
-1080p LCD
-excellent picture quality and blacks for LCD, due to LED BL.
-bright picture
-Power saver, due to LED BL
-Flat panel, wife factor
-can be hung off wall, wife factor
-lighter than Pioneer

Cons:
-response time still slower than Pioneer
-Blacks and SQ on the same level as LED DLP, but still not as good as Pioneer
-more expensive than both the DLP and Pioneer ( a few hundred dollars more)
-glossy screen.
-smallest screen (46")

Unknowns:
-SQ on SD feeds

Pioneer is one of the best in this respect

Thanks Fanaticalism for your input...like I said the 5080HD is the front-runner for now, but wanted some feedback from others.

Anybody else with some feedback?

Anybody else with some feedback?

Fanaticalism has stated it very nicely.

I'd mark the 81 off my list. The Pioneer 5080 looked much better in store from what I saw. If you put the 81 on your list IMO I'd put the Samsung 950 on it instead as it's apparently out now. Since you didn't list a price range I'm not sure what your limit is.

I'm looking at around $2000 - 2200 CDN

Fanaticalism says it nicely.
He speaks like someone who has some experience with flat panels.

The 5080HD IMO was a breakthru in Flatpanel Technology.
It busted thru the flat-panel world and set the standard.
I think more 5080's were sold than any other Kuro. Simply because they were priced pretty good and made all the other sets look like they were missing something in my opinion.

Do not let the fact that the 5080 is not 1080p worry you at all.
At normal viewing distance you will not be able to tell a difference.

I have seen the 5080 next to the 5010 many many times and from more than 7 feet I could not tell the difference.
Even though it is 768p it will still give a much better picture than just about any 1080p LCD out there in my opinion.
I still have not found one flatpanel that outperforms it other than step-up (5010, elite 8G's, 9G non-elites, and elite 9G's) Kuro's. But the new pannys give it a run for its money in my opinion.

After having multiple top tier LCD's, I can safely say that the 5080 is the best bet on your list for sure.

Especially with Standard Def.
My 5080HD displayed Standard better than Any TV I have ever had. Being it is 720p (768p to be exact), it does less scaling which does a little better job sharpening up the picture than a 1080p set does in my opinion.

Blacks on the 5080 are amoung the very best in my opinion.

The 5080 was the TV that ended my LCD addiction. After trying it for 1 day, I was ready to get rid of my XBR4 and 71F.

Get the 5080 and don't look back.
At the very least, Try the 5080 first to keep from having buyers remorse if you buy one of the other sets.

as agreed by others Fanaticalism pretty much said what is needed to say. 1080p is not such a big deal if you factor PQ vs resolution.

resolution also has to do with distance vs size And very importantly source, their is not much 1080p native resolution except blu ray.

gaming is usualy upscaled to 1080p OTA is only 1080i and VOD from satelite will be 1080p but with a lower bit rate.



pioneer would be the best choice it is what it is

So far it's been a unanimous choice...Pioneer over all...

It sounds like I won't be able to by it until at least the end of the month...I kinda wanted it before Hockey and NFL season starts

5080 was being sold at Future Shop for $1599 for the past few days. Can't beat that value.