1080p an issue for now?

Dave...it seems as if its more of a budget issue than technology issue. If you're looking into getting a 1080p LCD along with some type of 1080p media, then yes its truely worth every dime. However, if you're only gonna feed the 1080p LCD 720p or 1080i, then it may not be worth it at this point. BluRay or HDDVD isn't going anyware for the time being. They will get better yes, but they are here for a while. Remember, they said the same thing about digital CD's. And don't forget, BetaMax was the thing of the future, not VHS.

IMO, your safe either way. If upgrading in 5 years or so is not an issue to contemplate, then spend the 2G's. This will more than likely be the very earliest you would have media available to upgrade to. If you wanna future proof, now isn't the best time. Also, keep in mind, 1080p may be broadcasted in 5 years or so. Maybe. But it will be probably another 5-7 years or so after that before a higher resolution than 1080p is broadcasted. That could easily be about 10 years before you would be "forced" to upgrade. Even then, you're not forced to do that.

Here's a suggestion for the "best bang for your buck". If you wanna get the 1080p but don't wanna chance HDDVD or BluRay, then take the money for the HD player and get a low priced video scaler. New or used, its your call. You may end up spending roughly the same price overall ($1000 vs. $15-1800). That way, every signal you feed the scaler can be processed to whatever your LCD can handle. If your LCD can handle 1080p, then everything the scaler processes with be output to 1080p. This includes, video games, dvd's, cable/satallite, etc. Same rules for 720p or 1080i, or any point in between.

An important question is do you want to buy now, or can you wait a little bit. The two grand spread between the new LCD's and the plasmas will narrow over the coming year. Last year, the 40 plus inch LCD's first appeared; they were premium priced, now they're quite a bit cheaper. This year it's the 50 plus inch LCD's coming out. Next year it will be 60 inches no doubt. If the past year is any indication, I fully expect that a $5500 50 inch LCD will be $1000 less by April. Further drops in price in the new year will depend upon when newer models come out.

I don't think that 1080p by itself is worth an extra two grand for until there is more source material. A year from now maybe with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD coming on stream, but not at this moment.

A 1080p projector, if its a good one like the Sony SXRD, would be an interesting comparison with a 720p direct view if you have 1080p material. But again, there is not a lot of source material. I don't know which would be the better picture, but the projector would still have the deficiencies that projectors have, such as dimness in off-axis viewing. And reliability. If you get an LCD projector, keep in mind that Consumer Reports have been noting a lot of problems with them. They are almost the only electronic product that they recommend purchasing an extended warranty for.

Saving money for the future might be a good idea. We're very close to the market introduction of SED TV's.

"a related question - if plasma has better picture quality than rear projection (to my eyes it does), will that continue to be true if the source is 1080p and the rear projection handles 1080p but the plasma doesn't?"

Yes...unless the "foundation" of rear projection is further developed and upgraded. 1080p will remain 1080p; Plasma will just do a better job of showing it than RP, until RP is upgraded and developed. Meaning, since plasma does a better job at showing the media, be it 720p or 1080p, the plasma will produce a better picture than RP because it can do the job better...until RP is further developed. When this happens, RP can take the place of plasma because the "foundation" is stronger and development has taken place. Its a huge claim to say now, but it can happen; should RP be further developed and upgraded. Its actually taking place now; DLP is incorporated with RP. The more DLP is developed, the better RP gets, and so on.

i've never even heard of a video scaler (i'm mostly an audio guy, totally new to video stuff). what exactly does it do? can you actually 'upscale' a 720p or 480p signal to 1080p? or is for the reverse (i.e. taking a 1080p signal and making it viewable on a monitor with lower resolution by 'downscaling it')?

True 1080P displays can accept a native 1920 x 1080 deinterlaced signal. The only widely available content that is 1920 x 1080 are Hi Def DVDs, which have nothing to do with SACD or DVD-A by analogy, and are here to stay as a resolution. Cable/Sat HD is 1240 x 1080 and so the display will upscale the signal to fit the fixed pixel display- not desirable even with the best quality video scaler.

So the choice on what to buy could be matched to a buyers viewing material-- if Hi Def DVDs are not a part of the current landscape-- perhaps another less expensive resolution display makes more sense. Over the next two years, the 1080Ps will come down in price and maybe there will be more content out there with equipment that even allows us to hear the " lossless" hi def audio on the high def DVDs!

LCD is not as good as plasma becuase contrast ratios are lower; so shadow detail is lost in darker movies and scenes such as " Sin City". This makes an LCD display unacceptable for me on this basis alone. IMMV