Owl's_,

"I just read where LG.Philips LCD has unveiled a 42" LCD display. You read that right, 42" LCD... not plasma."

The Ultimate Electronics (chain store) by me has had quite a few LCD screens for months. If you're in a big city, I think you should be able to find some to see for yourself -though I guess not that Phillips yet.

"If this trend continues, I think the majority of home users would migrate to large panel LCD's in lieu of projectors. This thing boasts a viewing angle greater than 175 degrees and is only about two inches thick!"

I doubt the viewing angle. LCD off axis looks horribly solarized, unlike plasma that just looks a little dimmer, or rear projections that look dimmer still. LCD in just flat out unwatchable.

The sets I've seen all looked awful. The worst pictures in the store. I think Samsung or Sharp is the name making the first big push. Not prized brands, but I don't think you'll see any great LCD screens from great TV makers Pioneer, Toshiba or Mitsubishi.

It's cheaper than plasma, but it looks it. Black level is no better than gray so the picture's flat and dull. The pixel gaps are pretty noticable too. Worse than any other technology I think.

Even more so than w/ plasma (something I never liked about plasma either).

They're still more costly than an HD CRT RP which (execept for space savings) blows the LCD's away in every way including screen size. 42" is just not very big at all ither IMO.
Actually in a screen that small to can get a tabletop RPTV. The LCD is still thinner, but worth much when pic. quality is so poor.

42" is about the smallest plasma or rear projection tv you could get. I'd call it the smallest of a 'med sized screen'. Tiny for a 'Big Screen'.
I'd call 0"-~40" a Small screen...41"-79" Medium, and ~80+" Large.

My 65" Mitsu. was 3 grand a year ago and makes all the smaller screen LCD's look like a joke quality and cost wise.
It's a BIG black box, but if you're gonna have a big screen against one of your walls does it make a huge diff. if it sticks out a 3" inches or 20"?

If my 65" was 2" deep I'd have to mount it on a stand to bring it closer to my couch anyway. Can't move the couch to the TV 'cuz it's set for optimal speaker and room placement.

If you want to see LCD screens just go to the computer store and look at the LCD monitors. Exact same technology (minus the built in TV tuner). Apple's widesceen LCD looks better than any LCD tv's I saw though.
Still can't beat CRT.

"Projectors will still be the order of the day for displays over about five or six feet, but I think most users would find a large screen LCD a better fit. Shorter cable runs, quieter, and no bulbs to burn out. Of course, still just my opinion. What do you guys think?"

I think DLP rear projections will beat LCD in price and quality (once DLP beats CRT -in some ways it already has but not all).

DLP's are not as thin, but a 17" deep screen ain't very deep, and can be a tabletop model with space below it like LCD and plasma.
DLP RP's might not be as light as a same sized LCD (not sure?), but they're lighter than plasma (people always forget how much plamsa sets weight) so you could mount it in the air on a shelf gaining space below.
DLP has a 100% solid pixel structure (unlike the big ugly gaps LCD, subtle but noticable gaps in plasma, and tiny but invisible gaps in CRT), and if you want a huge sceen in your room, you obvioulsy have to have the wall space available right?

I mean, what would you do with the extra 15" of space you'd gain from having an LCD screen? Might be a nice 'bonus' in a tiny room, but not too many tiny rooms with 50-65" screens. Electronics stick out as much as RP's in most people's rooms. Speakers even more so.

The new DLP RP's w/ the HD2 chip look like they'll finally make the CRTs 'get scared'. Once these DLP sets hit CRT prices... CRT is extinct (something I said last year). Still several years till that day though I think.

I don't like the light blub thing either in DLP's, but the RP's are typically rated at ~10,000 hours unlike the far shorter front projectors. And should have silent fans at your seating position.

Plasma sets get VERY hot too, and have IMO risky life spans esp. for the rediculous prices that they are.. and may very well always be.

I actually don't think there's anything I like about plamsa or even less about LCD. It's very bright, but it doesn't look like film IMO, like projector designs do (both rear and front).

Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) looks to someday be more affordable than DLP (it's like a combo of DLP and LCD technology -sort of). Still seems like the production runs of these display chips is still poor though... Someday this'll be the best technology though I'll bet. Just a guess of course.