9. Ratings

Here is a table that rates each feature by type of display, 1-10 with 10 being the best rating:

As you can see, I have tube HDTVs rated very high, but you can only get them in the 34" inch size, which is obviously a huge detriment. If they made a quality 50" tube HDTV, it would probably top my list; of course, it would weigh about 400 lbs. Plasmas and LCDs are neck and neck in my book, as each has it own niche relative to how far the viewer normally sits from the display and what type of content they normally watch. I lumped all the rear projection displays, as they are very similar (except for CRT projection, which is on its way out), with a slight edge to LCOS and DLP over LCD. Rear projection televisions, on average, are not quite as crisp as direct view, but the latest models are not far off and they also normally provide more size for your television dollar. Front projection provides incredibly large sizes for your dollar, but there are some trade-offs with ambient light and cost of ownership.

What's Next?

Are there any hot new technologies coming soon that you should wait for? Let's take a look.

SED

SED stands for "surface-conduction electron-emitter display" (whew!), and was co-created by merging Canon and Toshiba proprietary technologies. Without getting too technical, SED TV is supposed to combine the color and contrast of traditional CRT tube televisions with the form factor of flat panel LCD displays. If their claim holds up and the price is right, SED could make a major dent in the flat-panel market. However, Canon has recently bought out Toshiba and issued a press release that said: "...SED television sets are to be introduced in Japan in the fourth quarter of this year (2007) as originally scheduled, although Canon will reassess its future mass-production plans for SED panels." That doesn't sound all that encouraging for the U.S. market.

Verdict: Don't hold your breath or your HDTV dollars.