which picture quality do you prefer, plasma or LCD? i know each has its strengths, but which do you guys prefer for picture quality? and why does it seem that retail stores are pushing LCDs so much?

I just went with plasma -- Pioneer Elite 940HD -- for our bedroom, so have a bias. We compared it to a Sony KDL40XBR2. Fed with a high quality source, both had great color and good black levels. But the three of us who compared the two thought the the LCD picture still looked a little more "digital" than the plasma, which we thought was more film-like. The plasma also handled high-speed motion better. The price for each was about the same (LCD slightly less). We were concerned about burn-in on the plasma (LCDs don't suffer from it), but it appears they have made real strides in that area now. Plasmas do use a lot more power than LCDs.

BTW, compared a Blu-ray feed into the 940HD and the new 1080p plasma from Pioneer. While the 1080p looked slightly better, the picture on the 940HD still was stunning and the consensus was no reason at that size (42-50 inch) to move to 1080p.

My understanding is that plasma fares better at off-axis viewing angles (from the sides or above/below) than LCD does. I know that dad's LCD looks pretty washed out of you watch it from their couch (probably 45 degrees from the side), but it does a much better job straight-on. That was one of the main reasons a co-worker of mine went with plasma last fall.

I suspect that stores are pushing LCD so much because LCD has seen such a significant price drop lately, making it sort of the "hot new tech" - while plasma's been comparatively stable on price and screen size. Plus there's no need even to bring up burn-in with LCD, although what I've been reading for the last year or more suggests that plasmas have really improved in resisting and preventing burn-in.

I saw the latest (60+") Panasonic plasma in person a week ago and was blown away by how clear the picture was at 45+ degree off angle viewing. My Aquos LCD conversely has a clear degradation at off-angle (not that I care, since I sit dead center at all times )

LCOS rules. LCD and plasma have their shortcomings.

I think LCOS (SXRD) is good, too, and I might have gone that way but for the need to keep the screen depth minimal (WAF) and screen size (42 inch).

For projection (rear or front), LCoS seems to be the top technology at this point. For smaller displays or cases where rear projection isn't an option (need wall-hanging, perhaps), it's unfortunately not an option.

Personally, I'm probably going to leave my CRT HDTV in the home theater until OLED shows up at a reasonable price.

I make it a point to watch most of my NFL playoff games on my father in law's 70" SXRD. The picture quality never ceases to amaze.

I think most display types can be coaxed into a great picture. I've seen plasma and LCD and front and rear projectors that all look wonderful but that can be made to look terrible as well.

I'm sure everyone has seen completely awful Blue-Ray demos running in your local big box store and wondered why would I buy that?! The first titles released were pretty terrible and if you were to see anything demonstrated with them you would think the whole system was crap.

I guess my point is only that when you go to audition do your best to either take your own source discs and if you can possibly vet the whole video chain before making a choice. Not so much to exclude the good stuff but to avoid excluding what may look bad.

Second had opinions and experiences can steer you in the right directions but your own impressions are ultimately the ones you need to worry about.