I looked at these damn things for months, really kicking the tires and researching the models. I already owned a Samsung 23" 1366x768 set, which I'd give a grade of B to.
Here's what I found:
The brand new Samsungs (LN-S), especially with HD-DVD players hooked up to them, look fantastic, but they are extremely expensive (like the Sony XBR, see below). The older LN-R series, like my 23" are just flat out grainy with most broadcast sources (seem to do much better with DVDs, albeit it still retains the DNie issue). Not as bad as their plasmas, but noticeable compared to some others.
The Sony XBR3s are beautiful, and they should be, since they cost so damn much. They are just too damn expensive to recommend. If price isnt an issue, then knock yoruself out.
The new Aquos sets have perhaps the best overall look and picture, minus one really annoying problem - the red push. As the guys over on AVS forums noticed, the sets come out of the box with such a red push that pasty faced english guys look badly sunburned. I played with the tweak settings on models at Tweeter and HH Gregg, and you cant completely get rid of it. It seems to be a tradeoff of their calibration to make the set display some of the best black detail youve ever seen on an LCD TV. The shiny cabinet is nice too, but beware any room where glare can be a factor, or OCD wives who hate fingerprints, cause it picks them up badly.
The Olevia cabinets are cheap and ugly. The panels are decent, but do not deserve the quality praise they get (they are inferior to Aquos and XBR, IMHO). Basicly, they are solid panels in cheap cabinets priced on the low end of the spectrum which makes them a good buy, but not the best.
I ended up getting a Toshiba Regza 1080p display set that only has 1080i inputs (the Regza chip de-interlaces the 1080i signal to display it at 1080p). The black level detail on this set is subpar compared to the Sony & Sharp, and maybe even the Olevia, which bothers me a tiny bit. The 1080i/p issue doesnt bother me at all since that is the native resolution of my cable/satellite feeds and DVDs look stunning on it, even with the "upconverting" gimmick. It was extremely affordable and has a flat black finish for no glare or visual distraction, which I liked. It also has 2x HDMI, 2x component, ethernet, an excellent game mode, and built in TV Guide. I decided to buy it now, because Toshiba is offloading production to a 3rd party in 2007 and I wanted a Toshiba built unit.
My purpose in posting this detail was to show that there are tradeoffs with every set and to er-affirm my belief that bleeding edge is not worth the price premium. I'd say my 'shiba is 90-95% of the TV the Sony XBR is, at about 40% of the price. Yes, I'm happy with it.
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