If light reflection is an issue, would a set like this be better than a plasma? How is the picture quality compared to a plasma?

I'm looking at the HD-56FH97 one that goes for around $1400 incl. shipping. In that price range, is this a good buy or would you recommend something else? I want something in 50-56" size. The set will be used for movies and TV only; no PC use, no gaming.

Also, the viewing distance will be about 12 ft. Is 56" not too much for this distance?

Sony use the same technology (SXRD/HD-ILA = LCoS), but you have look to Sony's XBR line to get the same overall quality as the JVC sets.

I'd say the JVC's offer the best picture for the money right now. Higher rez than most plasmas, non-reflective screen (plamas reflect as they use a glossy screen) and the color's don't fade like they do on plasma technology.
Not that I'm saying plasma is crap, most major players still produce a good plasma set, but I've lived with all the current technologies for quite a while now and SXRD/HD-ILA is as good as it gets. Not perfect in every area, but more so than the others.

next to it (TH-50PX75U). I thought the Plasma was considerably nicer. Now, it could be any number of things- but it there was no angle distortion on the Plasma, the colors looked more "real", and the picture looked sharper. On the flip side, the LCoS sets have come down in price and are now a bit cheaper than the Pany Plasma. Also, it's 1080p, while the Plasma is 720p, but I;m not yet convinced I <i>need</i> 1080p.

ugh- too hard to make a decision!

out of all TVs in the store, it must have been the only one that was being fed SD signal as opposed to HD for everything else, so needless to say, it looked aweful.

All the plasmas looked more vivid, vibrant compared to all the RPTVs (including LCoS), but it's hard to say if vivid = more natural. Definitely no problems with light reflection on those RPTVs.

I'm gonna have to to find another local retailer to see that JVC in proper action.

Other than that, I noticed it has a huge speaker bar running across the bottom. Looked bigger than in pictures for some reason.

If you are, I'd be happy to show you that TV in my home in Falls Church. I can show you SD or HD from FiOS. And if you want I'll open some blinds and let light into the room and onto the screen (if you come at the right time of the day).

I can even throw on an ordinary DVD through an Oppo upconverting to 1080p.

If you had a chance to do it over, would you buy something different?

My brother has a Panasonic 52" LCD RPTV. We visited him last Thanksgiving and we were blown away watching "Equator" in HD. We got the itch from that and by the middle of NFL playoffs, we had decided to jump in on the JVC 56".

It has been fantastic from day one. We visited my brother again last weekend and afterwards agreed that his TV, which we thought so highly of six months ago, doesn't hold a candle to ours today.

Everyone that has been to our place and watched something on the JVC has been stunned.

Some people think we must have spent $4000 on it. Even more surprising is that the price has dropped about $400 since we bought ours.

We bought it from BeachCamera.com and it was delivered. We unpacked it and set it up ourselves. No problem. The local Best Buy wanted more money, and I bet there would a deliver fee, and of course sales tax.

I recommend it without reservation.

Also, do you know if I will need a cable box from Comcast to be able to receive their HD programming? I know this TV comes with ATSC/QAM tuner, but I don't know if that's enough. Currently I just have basic analog cable and no cable box.

About BeachCamera - yeah, they currently seem to offer it for $1400 with free shipping which sounds like a good deal. Glad to see you had a positive experience with them. The price at BB is $1800 plus tax plus delivery, and they sales guy claimed it was already a sale price (after discount). Uhh...

cant decide FTL

Older TV shows may look a little grainy. I watch a lot of History Channel and Food Network and that stuff all looks good.

I don't think you're going to find an HDTV that excels at SD, and if it does, I have to wonder if it's the best choice for HD.

LCoS is such good value for the performance you are getting however. And in the long-run, don't be surprised if you end-up preferring the overall character of an LCoS over plasma. To me it's easier on the eye (important if you are going to be looking at the thing for 2+ hours in a sitting), very natural color and non-reflective screen makes for a fine TV. Colors don't fade over time either. 1080p for less isn't bad.
All the major TV brands make great-looking TVs (with an HD feed), regardless of the technology they are employing. Stick to a good brand and you stand a much better chance of being enormously satisfied. Vizio, Magnavox, Akai etc. offer tempting prices, but it quickly becomes apparent where they have cut corners to get to that price point.

since the TV will be in the family room, and should be viewable both from the couch (head on) and the kitchen (30-60 degrees). I basically ruled out DLP because of this as every DLP I looked at greatly distorted when view at angles other than head on. How does LCoS perform in that regard? I noticed some distortion, but not as bad as DLP.

Also, I have a 16 mos old in the house- "easier on the eyes" as you stated is probably very important to me as well, since he'll be watching plenty of Sesame Street and Little Einsteins on this thing. Thanks for your input.

But the LCoS still looks decent from that angle. You'll lose a little brightness, but not much. There shouldn't be any distortion though. Distortion is usually caused by interference, which wouldn't be a viewing angle issue. From those angles, what you lose a whole lot more of on any type of TV is depth of field, and that's harder to live with - causes loss of proportion. Not much can be done about that though unless you put a smaller LCD flat panel in the kitchen.