Too bad the original poster has eliminated Princeton from his option list. I own an ISF calibrated (by John Gannon of SGHT) Princeton Ai3.6HD. It is a 36" 4:3 (modestly curved Toshiba tube) with built-in DVDO Sil503 3-2 deinterlacer/scaler, full control over color temp, aspect ratio and geometry tweaking (with multiple memories), and plenty of high-scan and NTSC inputs. Direct input access too. Displays true 720p and also 800x600 SVGA (can even be pushed to 1024x768, but it is not so sharp there).
As for the picture? Truely amazing after calibration! I had shopped for over a year, looking at every high-end 34" 16:9 and 36" 4:3 set, both flat and curved. I wanted at least a 29" picture width to sit just 30" away from (with headphones on late at night after the kids are asleep).
The only others that came close for me were the Sampo, Loewe, and Panasonic. The built in doublers on most every set other than the Princeton drove me nuts--especially on broadcast, VHS, and satellite. The DVDO (iScan Pro chip) in the Princeton appears flawless on a set of this size, so much so that I'm not even that curious about running a prog scan player into the high-rate input--unless I can try someone's 720p player! (Cinematrix anyone? I'm more a Mac guy, so while I could build up an HTPC to try, I'm just not motivated.)
So why did I choose the Princeton (aside from the above)? True the dot pitch is just 0.9mm versus the .82 of the Sampo. And it does not have the flat Toshiba micro-filter tube that the Sampo has. But I have a family and the Sampo is an ergonomic mess, has no doubler, dificult aspect control, and received many mixed reports that seem to make it sample dependent as to whether you get a good one. Believe me, I watched a Sampo for a while (non-ISF calibrated, but I tweaked it in my small local store in the dark).
The Panasonic was certainly better than the Philips (IMHO), and the Loewes always look good out of the box (and their remote is so sweet). But limitations of inputs and scan rates, and the fantastic performance of the Sil503 doubler in the Princeton threw me over.
Plus the Princeton stays very sharp (no blooming) even calibrated to about 24fL. Some of the others really need to be set dimmer to stay sharp. Great family viewing on the weekend days.
As for the gentleman recommending the Princeton Arcadia series: I am glad you enjoy your set. It is a fine and flexible unit. But it really is not in the same league as the AS3.2HD (their only flat tube model), AS3.6HD, or new AS3.0HDW (30" 16:9 micro-filter tube, .63mm dot, Sil503 version of the Joe Kane AF3.0HD--now retailing for just $2,299!). The colorimetry on Princeton's HD sets is what really sets them apart.
So even though my set may have a slightly coarser dot pitch than some others, it is the colors and blacks, the geometry, and artifact-free scaler that make watching it (up very close) even with lesser sources a pure joy.
And Princeton's new agressive prices (keeping pace with the bigger firms) are a plus.
BTW, the Ai3.6HD which I own and which is detailed on their website, is identical in construction and video performance to the AS3.6HD. Same set without the CH1 module.
I have had a number of recent conversations with the chief engineer at Princeton, so I have a pretty good idea of what is up with them. Now if they would just market their new sets more agressively.
Cheers,
ALEX.
