I'm fairly well versed with audio stuff but not nearly up to speed with video equipment so please bear with me if my questions have been raised before.I'd like to purchase a set for a basement playroom with no daylight brightness issues.The viewing distance is 9' and a flat panel is a must so I assume we're talking LCD or plasma.I'd like to spend around $2,500 and HD over ED is my preference.I have a couple of key questions that I'm unsure of.I realise some units have HD tuners built-in while others are simply HD ready.I can rent a HD cable box for about $6 a month so is the built-in tuner something I should be overly worried about.I have cable and wonder if a unit has the HD tuner built-in should cable card acceptance be a priority for me.I assume that negates the need for a cable box which certainly is a big plus space wise.I also am unsure about the built-in speaker issue,do all these types of units have built-in speakers.I will definitely be going home theatre but it would be nice not to need an A/V reciever turned on for all viewing applications.It seems as though plasma gets the nod over LCD for overall picture quality but I don't know how much of that is a matter of personal preference versus the actual technological differences between the two types of displays.I figure something in the 42 to 46 inch range will be sufficient for my room and I realize that flat panel technology is a very rapidly changing science right now so of course I'm concerned about being patient enough.They seem to be getting better and more reasonably priced and I don't know when that curve will level off.If anyone has any suggestions regarding the 2 different types of sets and respective manufacturers I would greatly appreciate it.Of course I will go looking in the stores but I'm just trying to learn as much as I can before making this purchase.I've heard of LED backlit LCD's coming soon and I don't know if that's a performance upgrade or more of a longevity upgrade.I'm also wondering if Plasma screen burn-in and running hot issues have been reduced with these newer generation models.If there's other flat panel formats that are worthy of consideration I'm certainly open to suggestion.