Flat Panel ... Where to start

I am planning on getting a Flat Panel TV due to the small space provided by NYC apartments.

Does anyone have a good sources of information to get me up to speed to make the right selection ?

Plasma vs. LCD or perhaps something I don't know about yet.

I lean towards Plasma but hear that LCD's are getting better. I would want something in the 30-40 inch range leaning toward the smaller side unless a larger size has better technology.

If anyone knows about ALiS Technology I am finding many plasma's that have this. Seem strange to have a progressive scan player and an interlaced TV. I think I want to avoid this technology.

I found avs forum quite helpful before purchasing my latest TV.

Thanks. I'll check them out. Hopefully the folks over there are as helpful as the Outlaws.

One of the hardest things I found when TV shopping is that you can go look at them, but they're usually not set up well, they are often getting horrible feeds, the lighting in the store is nothing like what you'll have at home, and the salespeople often provide you with more mis-information than anything else.

I went with a LCD RPTV because I wanted a significantly larger display than you're looking for and a flat panel was no where near my budget. I have less than total light control in the room so I couldn't go front projector. This left me with dlp and lcd rptv. I preferred the lcd from my trips to the retail stores.

Since you have stated that you really want a narrow television, I think you're right, this narrows down your choice to LCD or plasma (note my LCD-RPTV is only 20" deep, but it's quite big relative to an LCD panel or plasma).

I think the next thing you need to do is decide on a ballpark price. $2k, $4k, $6k? LCD is more money than plasma for the same size, so the budget could come into play. EDTV plasmas are a lot cheaper than HDTV plasmas. For me personally, getting HDTV was important, and I just couldn't buy an EDTV and down-convert HD.

I think they are very helpful at avs, a lot of the posters are very technical and extremely nit-picky. This can be helpful, but sometimes when they say something is "awful" it's only noticeable side by side with the best competitor, and hardly noticeable in normal settings.

I went with a CRT HD TV last year. I got the Sony KV30-XBR910 because for the price it had the best image and I had enought room in my living room. At the time only Plasma's in the 6-8K range could deliver the specs I wanted. Now I would like to spend around 3K perhaps up to 4K if I can get an HDTV for that. If not I will have to convince myself to increase my budget because I know I can't convince myself to lower my specs especially since I am now used to the XBR910.

Make them ply something not animated like "Shrek"

The only thing I don't like about fixed pixel displays is the dithering. This is pretty much the main reason why I changed my mind about getting a DLP. Good Luck.

Point of information: No commonly available dvd is high def. yet. To audition any display you must have a hd source like Zoom satellite, for example. Although I use a Sony front projector, for an apartment I'd look at an lcd. The plasma's consume lots of energy and produce heat. Their contrast ratio is also questionable.

Jay