Ask MetaFilter: Buying an LCD tv. Recommends this article.

I keep telling myself that I'm not getting a new TV until my 27" Sony Trinitron dies, but I try to pay attention to the tech just so I'm not completely baffled when the time comes. I've also been nervous about media industry efforts to mandate copy protection technology that would invalidate all the digital high-def TVs currently for sale. Some pundits are starting to say that now that Microsoft and Apple both have living room devices that output unencumbered pure digital signals, deployment of unencumbered tech is pretty much a done deal, and encumbered tech won't be able to get a TV set in edgewise. I'm still pessimistic, given how digital cable TV and DVD players are tightly controlled by media companies, but maybe the picture will be clearer when I do get around to buying a new TV.