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Hi all, after months (and months and months) of research / viewing / saving have narrowed down TV choices to 2

1. Sony KDL 40W4500

2. Panasonic TH42PZ800b

Will be eventually buying AV reciever to go with depending on SD picture quality from V+ via HDMI. The recievers are either

1. Yamaha DSP AX 763 (if I dont need to upscale)

2. Sony 2400ES (if I do)

These will be used with KEF 2005.3 (only part of system actually sorted)

Main use for TV, SD viewing sports (no HD on Virgin boo hoo), PS3 gaming and blu ray.

Am willing to pay the extra for the Panasonic IF it really is worth it??

Any views on any of the above will be helpful.  Total budget for system inc cables and two stands £2500 (less hopefully in January) already own PS3.

Hey, there is BBC HD on V+! If you are a Jools Holland fan you are in luck!

There is also HD stuff 'On Demand' What more do you want

A package like Sky you say......oh I see.....then you (and Me) are out of luck there....

Yeh, takes ages for me to browse my hd channels (sorry channel) any ideas on the new set??

rewerb, yes, unfortunately that is one of the big red flags that is causing my dilema, do you think plasma then or another LCD?

Gander, many thanks, is it worth the extra £300 in ur opinion then?

True Blue:

rewerb, yes, unfortunately that is one of the big red flags that is causing my dilema, do you think plasma then or another LCD?

Gander, many thanks, is it worth the extra £300 in ur opinion then?

you could get a plasma for the same money, doesnt have to be the 800. I have the equivalent to the 80b and love it with all sources. Treats SD brilliantly.

 The first night i had mine i hook it up with an old dvd player, connected with a scart and watched jaws. It was great!!

Was looking at the 80b, heard audio pretty poor, obiously not a problem once I get my reciever, but is it really that bad in the first place?

i was like you,was all set to buy the sony 46w4500 but just couldnt risk the clouding and backlight issues. did some research and bought the panny th50pz80. although only the 80 i was blown away what a set and saved a few quid as well. £1150 DELIVERD AND 5 YEAR WARRENTY.go with the 80 you wont be dissapointed.

True Blue:

Was looking at the 80b, heard audio pretty poor, obiously not a problem once I get my reciever, but is it really that bad in the first place?

True Blue,

I was in the same situation until recently. I previously had a Panny 32" Quintrix CRT which I have been more than  happy with, but wanting to upgrade to HD, I have been watching events all this year as to determine which TV to buy.  My viewing distance recommended 40/42" and I have been wavering between Panny's and Sony's.  After many, many viewings, seeing the TV's in friends/family's homes in "real" conditons, and reading all the write-ups I choose the Sony KDL 40W4500 and Sony S550 Blu ray player.  I basically let my eyes do the talking and I just found the Sony's overall picture quality, definition, colours, contrast and motion, to be the most natural and pleasing. I too was concerned about backlight/clouding issues but just as concerned with screen burn problems.  I was also concerned with SD quality on the Sony's.  Well, having collected my new TV on Monday, I can happily say I am gobsmacked.  Easy to install and set up, brilliant Digital tuner in both SD and HD (I live in France and receive the French free to air channels (TNT) of which 4 are HD), awesome upscaling of my existing DVD collection and equivalent if not better SD pictures from my Sky Digibox via scart. The downsides are slightly inferior sound compared to my CRT TV and image quality reduction on Sky SD via scart when 45 degrees or more off-axis.  Sound though is adressed through my surround sound system and the Digibox will be swapped out soon for a Humax HD Freesat box giving me TV via HDMI. No backlight problems.  I do get the "four torches" in each corner of the TV when the screen is completey blank/black but I would expect this to a degree given the level of backlighting, which you can turn down anyway.  The acid test is whether it affects the viewing pleasure/image quality, but it doesn't seem to, to me.  I have been a life long Panasonic fan so the switch has been a hard one from a brand loyalty point of view but one that I now don't regret. Apologies if I have thrown a spanner in the works.

Sony KDL 40W4500, Sony DMP-S550, Yamaha DSP E800 AV processor, Arcam A85 amp, Roksan Caspian CD, Monitor Audio Gold Reference 20 fronts/surrounds, Sky Digibox