well, let me be more specific. the room is roughly 20' by 20'. Its a family room that opens into a kitchen, which is also 20' by 20'. Space isnt an issue, either TV will work. I am gonna get separate speakers regardless, for stereo sound, I dont think any TV speaker could be heard well from 40' away. Basically, if i'm spending arond 3,000, and from what i've read in the direct view board, SonyXBR is the best, and since there are no 720p TVs, except monitors, which isnt something I want, I guess I'll go with the Panasonic, because 1. i've seen screen shots from a member and it looks amazing, even for EDTV. 2. its natively progressive and a little bigger than the 34, which might be good for viewing at distances. Also there may be a pool table in the family room, and usually direct view TVs are placed on Low stands, which would be then obstructed by the pool table. So a wall mounted Plasma may just be the most equitable solution. Again, i'm basically concerned with quality and after what I read on the Secrets for Home theater and Hifi about Interlaced and progressive, i think i'm gonna lean towards progressive, even if it is 480p, vs 540i.