Since your DLP is old I won't argue the cost, but is your 7-8 year old DLP really better than any new LCD? I know mine can be had for under 2k and it was better than any DLP I saw at the store even though I didn't pay much attention to them.
You absolutely cannot compare TV picture quality in the stores, I'm sorry.
It's been well-documented that many of these TVs have a significant improvement in picture quality when properly set up and calibrated, a process that can take up to several hours. Not a single one of the TVs you will find @ Best Buy, Wal-Mart or Ultimate Electronics has
ever been properly calibrated. While some may look slightly different/better out of the box, even that is misleading, as you have no way to predict the potential improvement other models might offer over that one... what if it looks worse out of the box but offers a dramatically greater improvement when properly calibrated?
Also keep in mind the environment in which you are evaluating these TVs... a big box store? With 40-foot ceilings, massive flourescent lighting, millions of reflections, absolutely ZERO natural light allowed inside the building? Ever wondered why almost all large TV dsiplays are either in the back of the store or off to the side, well-shielded most of the time from the natural light entering through the glass front doors???
And let's not forget the fact that most of these TVs are not even running a true HD signal in the store... how many of them are playing a true BluRay movie or running HD programming continually? 2 or 3?? Really? And those 2 or 3 look soooooo much better than all the rest, which happen to be playing a regular DVD or standard programming? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif Wonder why?//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wow.gif.23d729408e9177caa2a0ed6a2ba6588e.gif And what about the cables being used? Multiple splitting/switching stations? Monster Cable got busted a few years ago trying to pass off their HDMI cable as a superior picture quality improvement and got busted when someone checked their setup and reported that the Monster HDMI cable was being used against either generic S-video or component, can't remember which.
Maybe some models have better profit margin than others... I could easily set up most of these TVs to look drastically different from each other, especially in such a harsh viewing environment....
The variables are absolutely endless... in fairness, it does make it very tough for us as consumers to get a fair shake and to find the best deal for our budget. This is why tons of research is arguably my best tool when I get ready to buy such a TV.
