Best Flat Screen for Standard Def

I recently upgraded all my components to HD and gave my little brother and his family my old 32" Sony CRT. Wouldn't you know it, the darn thing apparently went haywire the other day (channels changing, onscreen menu flashing on/off), so now they're in the market for a new tv. They're not interested in going HD yet, but do want a flat screen. So my question is, what tv is going to display the best standard def image? I don't think it matters if it's plasma or lcd. I think the space they have is no bigger than 50" across, so I was thinking of something between 40 - 50" might be nice. They don't have any game consoles, but they do watch dvds. Under a $1000 would be nice too.

thanks in advance

Thanks Randy. The reviews I've read so far on the Panasonics are very encouraging. I had dropped by Best Buy this afternoon (before seeing your reply), and the only guy back there was the Sony rep. Guess what he was pushing? Yup, the Sony's with the new "Bravia" technology. Anyway, the problem with viewing displays at the store is they're never set up properly. They send a single movie or tv station split between multiple televisions, so you don't get a clear idea of how good the image is. Plus, I've heard they will calibrate the more expensive sets to look better so they can sell them (makes sense).

But back to the sets you mentioned. I told my bro about them, and he wasn't sure he wanted a plasma because he thinks they use a lot more power than the LCDs. I'm not sure on that, further research will be needed. But when you start getting about a certain screen size, the LCDs become more expensive than the plasmas. With the LCDs you need to be aware of judder (or jutter) and the higher end models can take care of that but again cost more (I have the Samsung A650, which has been great but wasn't cheap).

The 720p set is about $100 less than the 1080p at Amazon. I'd be inclined to the 1080p, but I'm not sure my brother and his people would notice the difference. But they do watch a lot of DVDs, and I'd prefer they have the best resolution they can get. And if they do switch to HD programming, I want the best resolution for that too.

That's where research comes in. I'm not hung up electricity cost (unless it's through the roof). The layman only hears "uses more electricity," from the salesmen, or only reads "more electricity" in an article.

People also worry about heat and burn in. And again if you don't do the research, you won't learn those aren't really problems anymore (if you buy decent equipment).

I love sites like these, because there are so many people here that know far more than I ever will. And if they don't have an answer, often they can point me to somewhere that does. I never would've found that link you posted, even though I read reviews on Cnet all the time.

Thanks