Which is best for normal tv watching (best viewing angles and such) and best for gaming and that type of thing? I am looking at buying a new tv in the next few months and would like to get a nice one. Viewing angle is a pretty big deal, I have how some of those damn things get really light or really dark if you don't look at it straight on...

I can't speak for plasma, but I've owned an LCD and currently own a DLP HD projector. They were both nice, but I like the DLP more. It may be due to bias because I have a 100" HD screen, but I like the color representation on the DLP better.

I prefer LCDs but each has its own benefits. Plamsa is the fairly brightest, thin, and light, but it doesn't have the best resolution and needs to be recharged after a few years to retain good quality. DLP has always has good quality and good brightness, but it is not as thin or light as plasma and lcd. LCD always has good quality and is thin, but isn't as bright as the others and can get washed out by direct sunlight. Obviously though each technology is getting improved so the negatives no longer exist or are less pronounced.

if you don't care about it being somewhat larger depth-wise, rear-projection DLP has probably the best picture, brightness, contrast, viewing angles and is better in almost every way than Plasma, LCD, including price/inch EXCEPT - it is somewhat deeper.

to me this isn't that big of a deal as the TV we have is a 56" 1080p DLP and is ~15 inches deep (~18 inches from wall to front of TV) and it sits on a 20" stand that houses all our AV equipment (VCR, upscaling 5-disc dvd player, reciever, etc). So with the stand there, a flat-panel seemed silly to us.

Oh, BTW, a projector is the way to go. As soon as I bought my LCD, I was immediately regretting the purchase. Now I have a screen only limited by the size of my room, and I love it.

Do you have any windows in the room you have your projector in? I've never seen much merit in projectors because any light generally kills the picture..

I have it controlled with two black curtains (though they are not black-out curtains by any stretch of the imagination) and it looks just fine. One of the reasons I bought the projector I did was because of its lumen output.

The projector is a Mitsubishi HD1000U if anyone wants to check it out. I got mine for about $900.

All of them have their downsides. I think Plasma TVs have the best color and contrast, but that is helped a lot by the glass screen (as opposed to the plastic on lcd/dlp). Downside of that is glare from the sun can be pretty bad. Oh, and they are more expensive and don't support 1080p yet.

For the price to quality ratio, I think LCD is the way to go. That being said there is a wide range of good to bad LCDs.

OLED FTW! 9mm thick, 1080P resolution, 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and 0.01ms response time. Drool!

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/sony-demos-9mm+thick-high+def-oled-displays-251613.php
I might even be able to afford one in 10 years.

now if they could only get them to look kickass for more than the length of whatever Consumer Electronics showcase they go to, and not have to throw them out when they get back home.

I have a 37' 1080p Westinghouse LCD TV in my living room and during the summer had a 57' Mitsubishi DLP 1080p TV for a few weeks before the end of the summer.

LCD's cost more to produce expoentially as they get bigger due to the fact that the process to create the screen is done at once and one problem trashes it (or something like that). That is why you don't find too many LCD's over 42'. Anything in the 50's and up will be DLP or plasma.

DLP generally supports around 10,000:1 contrast ratio. The color reproduction is perfect* on DLP. Plasma can wash as well as LCD, but for different reasons.

You can always look at the stats, but from what I have seen, I really thought the DLP was amazing. If you want to be amazed by how the technology works check out Texas Instrument's website and check out the DLP informational video. I haven't had any experience with plasma so I can't exactly say.

One thing I would stress to anyone buying a TV, get a 1080p with DVI input no matter what. Having a computer running Milkdrop visual while pumping some decent music is pretty sweet. Not to mention Blue-Ray has been cracked so you can now download 1080p movies!

I might be able to get the 37" 37w3 1080P Westy for somewhere around $400. I just need to wait a month or so when BestBuy gets ready to send it back as it is EOL. BestBuy employee FTW!

Personally I prefer the color and clarity of a plasma over the LCD. While they usually are more expensive you can find really good deals if you look and are patient with your purchase (it took me 3 months before I bought one). I got a 46' samsung plamsa tv at 1080p for 1450 with a 5 year in home warranty.