Useful information would be your budget and whether or not you already have a receiver (though I'm guessing you don't).

The two ways to get 5.1 surround out of the 360 are the optical out or HDMI (on the Elite).

They do sell 360 surround packages, but these are basically a HTIB. Both of these will get you surround, but generally aren't very good quality. If you want something better you should get a Receiver and separate speakers. Generally, for the same money, you can get better components this way than the cheap quality packaged HTIB stuff you find at big-box stores.

There's so many things wrong in this thread. DLP bulbs are good for about two years on normal viewing habits. DLPs are great, if you don't see the rainbow effect, and you don't sit off at an angle. LCDs are great, if you're not a videophile, because they have poor contrast, ghosting, and are subject to uneven backlighting by the time you get up to about 40" or larger.

Plasmas are better at displaying blacks as well as significantly more colors in general, don't ghost, and have a 60,000h half-life which as pointed out already by another poster, is a long time; approximately 20 years at 8h/day. Plasmas require care when new in order to avoid burn-in, but after break-in are largely burn-in free unless you bought a cheap brand. While plasmas often do have a lower resolution than LCDs, subjective tests often tend to prefer the level of detail offered by the plasma's superior PQ. Plasmas win hands-down for movie viewing and, in the hands of anyone mature enough to care for it properly when new, are superior to LCDs for gaming, and to DLPs at the very least for those who see the rainbow or sit off at an angle.

I game on a Panasonic plasma, and enjoy it immensely and am aware of forums full of other home theater enthusiasts and videophiles who do the same.

They all come to the same conclusion that HD DVDs look better than comparable BDs. This is not an Sony vs. Microsoft issue (HD DVD is pushed by Toshiba, BTW).Kodai_kun

Seems you haven't been keeping up. The reviews of the latest batch of BR discs have been nothing but stellar. Kingdom of Heaven, Black Hawk Down, MI:3(which looks "identical" to the HD-DVD version, despite being MPEG-2). Not to mention the fact that Warner is using the exact same encode on all their titles for both formats now.

[QUOTE="Dualshockin"]

[QUOTE="GalvatronType_R"]Hello, folks [bows deeply], this thread is dedicated to answering questions anyone feels like posting about HDTV, which TVs are good, cables, audio, etc., etc. So don't be shy, post a question and I'll try my best to answer it. I'll start with a few observations (most of these are IMOs, some are facts):

-expensive A/V cables, (Monster, Acoustic Research, et. al.) are the snake oil of the 21st century (if you don't believe me, look at the founder of Monster Cables's mansion, if that doesn't show that their products are overpriced and overrated, nothing will)

-not only has HD DVD won the first round vs. Blu-Ray, it won it in a landslide

-1080p is very, very overrated and is used as more of a marketing tool than an actual screen resolution

-don't make the mistake many others make, if you buy a decent display, dont't sell the audio side short, pair it with a phenomenal digital audio system

-for your own sakes, please don't buy Bose, if you have that much money to spend on audio, there are comparably priced, better-performing alternatives

So, again, post any questions, you'll get some semi-worthwhile answers.
GalvatronType_R

If you're going to be biased,whats the point of this thread?

We all know there is hardly any difference between Blu-ray and HD-DVD(only real difference is Blu-ray disc capacity which happens to be bigger),so if you feel some hatred towards Ps3's 1080p capabilities compared to Xbox 360's fake 1080p capabilities,I suggest you head on over to System Wars.

Why is everybody trying so hard to declare a winner now? The "war" has just barely begun. There aren't very many players on the market yet, and nobody cares besides the early adopters. Give it some time...

Learn about burn-in and how to break-in your plasma hdtv.

I really wish the mods would sticky this thread so everyone would see it.

The official HDMI site

Information on the standards and versions of HDMI connections, which transmit digital high-def video and audio.

Yes DVI sends lower quality sound on it's own.

Truth01