HDTV purchase likely

[smib]

Yeah, I had forgotten I mentioned that earlier, oh well, you still get the rep.

Onto something much more important, the tv. I went to go play Xbox the other day, and during the initial loading screen of the game, which is entirely black with the word loading in the center, I noticed burnin lines all over the screen. They're faint and completely non-noticeable once a picture of any sort is displayed(I checked), but I still don't like it. The two worst lines were the vertical ones left by black bars on the sides of SD tv content, which is all we have at the moment. I don't know how much I should be concerned about this, but I have a strong feeling that it's a bit soon to be seeing anything like this at all. I guess I have to get digital cable on order to save the tv... it's a shame really, having to watch the Science Channel, the Military Channel and BBC America and such all in HD, but I'm willing to do it to prolong the life of my new tv.

[AarheadC]

SMIB, I don't know if the vizio has this, but if theres an option to make the black bars grey instead of black, select that option. The most influential time for a plasma is the first couple hundred hours of use. After you've used it for a while, you can go back to the black bars without any fear. Also, i doubt the lines are burned in. Its most likely just image retention, which will fade away.
Also, have you looked into a break-in disk for your plasma? They also help prevent image retention and burn ins.

POLYGON,you said that plasma is dead tech, I highly disagree. They might not sell in high numbers like LCD, but proves nothing. Majority of people spend little time researching and use store employees for a recommendation.
You also stated "Pioneer pulled out and now it's just a matter of time before they are gone." Again, not true. Pioneer stopped producing the screens, and now buys them from Panasonic, but Pioneer makes some of the best plasmas out there! Many companies don't manufacture their own LCD screens, so should we assume LCD is a dead technology as well?

PRIZRAK, you said "For the most part plasma doesn't perform all that well over 42". " I don't know where you're getting your info from, but I think that's where plasmas really shine.

If all you're looking for is a casual game/movie watching experience in a brightly lit room at an affordable price, then LCDs would be a great choice. And if you are a movie watching enthusiast that appreciates accurate colors and detailed picture quality, then go for plasma.
Both are flawed, so choose the features that are important to you and go from there.

[smib]

Ah, thanks for the insight, I'm definitely going to look into a break-in disk. I don't remember seeing anything about grey bars when I was playing around in the menus, but I'll look for it tonight,