If you were to buy a TV now, which technology would you buy into?

Depends mostly on the amount of room you have. If you've got space for a projection screen, and a bit of time to research it and set it up, nothing else competes IMO. Projection screens look way more natural to my eyes than an LCD or Plasma.

I think it boils down to research and picking the technology that looks best to you and downfalls that you can live with. I read a lot of information before finally purchasing a Sony 50" a2000 SXRD rear projo. I am certainly glad I did the research and am not regretting buying this set at all.

Plasma has better blackness level but LCD is catching up like the Sony Bravia.

Wow I was afraid to even post my feelings about this subject ,thinking I would be such a minority. But I guess not and agree with this 100%.

I'm still a big fan of Plasma...

LCD still doesn't cut it for me, even the latest Philips models suffer from bad stutter on fast panning shots from what I've seen.

If price is no object, plasma is still the way to go. 1080p panels are available in large sizes although they are pricey. The 103" 1080p Panasonic plasma is stunning ($75K) and I opted for the more reasonably priced 65" 1080p version, the TH-65PF9UK.

I also have some top notch LCDs. They are very nice, but do suffer from off-axis viewing issues. Nevertheeless, under 45", they are starting to become your only choice.

Projector systems are nice if you want a huge picture, but IMO, they are a compromise if you want the best PQ. With larger panels becoming more readily available, the industry is already predicting that projectors will be relegated to very large viewing setups (>100") and more "budget" oriented small setups. (65"-100").

There are some new technologies in development, but those won't be fully flushed out for some time.

What's with the smiley on top of my post?

Those SXRDs are really nice. However, some sets suffer from "green blobs."
As the OP suggested, every technology seems to have their limitations.

If I had to buy a new HDTV today I'd pay $750 for a 34" Sony CRT and live with it for 5 - 10 years while digital technology picture quality improves, prices drop, and HDCP "handshaking" issues are worked out.

Since I've had 27" SDTVs for 20+ years now, I don't think the wait will kill me.

PS: I'm also waiting on HD content. Why should I buy an HDTV when only 6 out of the 250 channels on cable have HD content?

What makes it all even harder to figure out is that the sets are *never* setup calibrated or with optimum sources in showrooms.

Most showrooms claim they are showing HD signals and all they are playing are plain DVD output.

I've yet to see one place with a properly calibrated set on display either, they are generally waaaay out of whack.

Until you have a set properly calibrated and with a true HD source, you will never know what it really looks like.

I got a Sony KDF-E42A10, it's a rear projection 3LCD type. After a basic display calibration and getting all my gear setup for the proper output modes and the digi cable box setup to pass through HDTV without up/down sampling the signals...the picture is stunning.

I trusted what the display calibration pros on the forums at avsforums.com had to say....maddening amount of reading to do too. They were right on, I couldn't be happier.

I went with the LCD based rear projection for a few reasons.

My model had the same light engine as a 50" and many stated it had the better contrast/black-level of the two.

I preferred the LCD to the DLP models I looked at.

The model I picked had a much wider viewing angle than most others I saw, the picture was much more tolerable to look at over a wider angle.

Bang for the buck vs LCD panel or plasma seemed to be a winner. I'd do the same thing again.

I picked the 42" because I wanted a "big TV" more than a "theater" experience from it. I actually find watching something like the news to be annoying on giant screens.

We're in an energy crisis folks. Hand crank TV's FTW. I'm not gonna miss the Super Bowl.

Great resource. It has been invaluable in helping me with my purchasing decisions and calibrating my sets. I don't think most people realize how dramatically different a set can look after it has gone through proper calibration.