The biggest question to start with is, how much light is there in the room. If you have a very open, very light/bright room, LCD is the choice, simply because it is significantly brighter.

The other zippy is absolutely correct on blacker blacks with plasma. Picture quality is going to depend on the set. Most of the newer 1080p set do at least a little processing, and if you have any plan to get Blu-Ray, do not get anything other than 1080p.

The best reviewed brands are:
Plasma-
Pioneer
Panasonic

LCD
Sharp
Samsung
Sony

I have tree Sharps that were bought over the past five years and they are great.
I also have a Sony (most recent) which has a great picture, but not up to the Pioneer, that I was also looking at (I know different technologies). The Panasonics are great buys for the money, but again I stress the ambient light issue, in my house it's a real killer.

 

If you have a bright room go with LCD. If you can control the light somewhat go with plasma.

 

I bought a panasonic plasma last year. I am very happy with it. The sales person had two equal tv's side by side, one plasma the other LCD. I was instantly sold on plasma due to the true colour and the clarity. The sales person said I couldn't go wrong with either, but if I am watching in a room with a lot of light or direct light, LCD was the better choice.

I have a little plastic stick thing on the blinds that allows me to filter the light

 

I would say the sizes you are looking at are right on the edge of really benefiting from 1080P resolution as opposed to 720p.

I'd be surprised if you find any 720i models. I believe the i stands for interlaced, like the early color computer monitors. These will not provide the kind of picture you are looking for from HD programming.

I personally would rather have a better brand 1080p LCD than a weaker brand 720p plasma. You will definitely pay a significant premium for plasma. One other note about lcd vs plasma...plasma screens tend to be much more reflective...i.e. you are much more likely to notice glare from artificial and natural light sources. LCD screens tend to produce much less reflected glare so placement relative to windows, lights, etc. is far less critical.

Dave does make a good point about program material with a lot of very fast action. But you should be able to find LCD units that perform well with such material. The key is the pixel refresh rate. This is much higher in most LCDs than it was just a few years ago. Check the specs or, if possible, watch some fast action HD material on any model you are considering.

I just got a Samsung 37" LCD and love it. It is only a 720p but this is plenty of resolution in this size. The size was chosen to fit a specific location. Samsung has a great reputation in computer monitors and LCD TVs.

Good luck with your shopping.

 

I just got a 60" Hitachi Plasma P60X901 1080 Directors Series for $1999 shipped w/ no tax and a free stand that would have cost almost $400.

Go big.

 

+1, but the only way to truly go big is with a front projector...

 

If your tv is going to be in an area that the sun can hit the screen, a plasma will bleach out (that's what our sales person told us). Where our tv sits, it gets a sun reflection on it during the summer months. We chose an LCD for that reason.

 

One more thing to consider, 1080P is useless to you if you are only going to watch broadcast television. As it is and will be for a long time only broadcast in 720p.

Direct Tv and Dish network broadcast HD in 720p and do a poor job at that. Dish network claims they have some movies available in 1080p with their turbo hd package I have not seen it and I would imagine it is highly compressed.

The only sources today of 1080p are an xbox with hd, a blu-ray player, a sony ps3 or a now defunct hd-dvd format player and a top end one at that. Unless you have one of these than 1080p is useless to you.

There is no broadcast 1080p now or in the near future.

If your confused between 720p and 1080I than look at the pics below although comical they will clear up the subject for you

 

^ Mmmmm...not really. There are no pics, just the red X's.

 

^^ None of the images appear for me, z.

Another thing to consider is refresh rate. The newer 120Hz displays really do make a difference with sports and action in movies.

And the 720i/p or even 1080i sets are real bargains just now because retailers are trying to unload them. They're obsolete. Although Blu-Ray players will downscale and so on, only the 1080p units can display the full signal of this new technology.

So go obsolete and save money, or pony up and have something that will be at the top end for at least a while. HPH