I have been generally sold on rear projection LCoS for my likely HD buy, and will probably get the 65" JVC slim HD-ILA unit coming in March. I was in a Fry's last week, gawking at sets, and gave the current 60 - 70" LCoS sets from JVC and Sony a good look. I could see the inevitable SSE, and the impression that I was watching a screen was subtle but present. As I was speaking to a floor manager, I happened to glance at some smaller (~42") LCD flat panel sets. The impression of a window into reality was very powerful, and punchier than the LCoS RP sets. Granted, sometimes smaller sets appear crisper than large ones, but the difference in WOW factor was pretty obvious. I have typically resisted LCD flat panel sets, mostly because 65" costs too much (can afford it but won't), but I had also felt that there were issues related to motion, contrast, and viewing angle. I have also heard on these boards that LCD sets easily wow you in the fairly well lit showroom, but can disappoint buyers who then set them up in a darkened room. Can anyone address the relative trade-offs? It may be that LCDs have continued to get better and better (120 Hz, LED backlighting, 1080P, cheaper in large sizes), and that this is now or will shortly be a better choice, albeit at some trade-off in size. Comments are welcome.

P.S. As an aside, my division gets a fair proportion of its revenues from LCD fab gear.

IMO, the main tradeoff is size/cost. If you want a 65" display, flat panel is just too expensive, and 42" is likely just too small (bigger is better).

I too was in the same boat, and in a perfect world I would have purchased an LCOS set as that is what I "want". I also was a bit surprised by flat LCD's as I didn't think I would like them as much. And was ready to pull the triger on a JVC (looked better than the Sony to me) but when viewing a darker movie the color shift from straight on viewing to off axis was horrendous. I could not believe it could change so much. A good skin tone that was slightly red, would appear almost gren just a few feet to the side. I saw this on all the LCD sets, especialy Sony. Now with a nice outdoor bright scene that I first saw, it was freaking awesome. But for vieing a movie, particularly a dark one, in a dark room (my Fry is pretty dark) it was a dissapointment for sure. I actually ended up with LCD RP as LCOS is unfortunately a bit much for me right now, but I am surprisingly pleased.

Everything has a tradeoff. Larger LCDs don't come close to creating black in dark rooms. CRT rear projection and Plasma have on-screen reflections from light. Lcos and DLP have SSE like you pointed out.

I've already owned an LCD, so I knew that there was no way I could stand the grey-haze I saw with LCDs larger than 40" in a dark room. My parents have a CRT rear projection, so I understood that I couldn't put up with reflections from any light in the room. For my interest to have a 50" TV in a somewhat bright room during the day and a dark room at night, SXRD with SSE was the least objectionable tradeoff.

By the way, I watch the 50" at 8'. When I'm watching OTA-HD I think the TV is a little too big, due to all the imperfections in the signal. When I'm watching HD DVD or Blu-Ray, the TV can seem a little small. Mostly I watch disks, so if I was leaning toward a bigger or smaller TV I'd go bigger.

I happened to glance at some smaller (~42") LCD flat panel sets. The impression of a window into reality was very powerful, and punchier than the LCoS RP sets. Granted, sometimes smaller sets appear crisper than large ones, but the difference in WOW factor was pretty obvious.
You should find a store to compare a 50" LCoS to a 52" (or at least 46") LCD, to decide which tech. is better in your opinion.

One of the benefits of the LCD flat panel set, is that there is no lamp to replace. The LCD set would probably be a better "daily driver" for that reason alone.

If you want a larger size set than 52", an LED DLP set may be a good option.