Christmas may be over, but the Superbowl is just around the corner — a great time to get yourself a tasty new HDTV. One of those flat-panel LCD models on the shelves of you local big box would sure do the trick. I can almost hear the sales ad now, "Right this way sir… absolutely you want the 1080p model… extended warranty, too… let me just take that credit card…."

Hold it. Flat panels are cheaper than they used to be, yeah, but they still cost a chunk of change; plenty more than what we used to pay for tube models, anyway. DLP sets that use Texas Instruments' Digital Light Processing technology may not be as thin as LCDs, but they cost less, don't weigh as much, and come in bigger screen sizes.

Pretty sweet, yeah, but do DLPs look as good as LCDs? Only one way to find out — get one of each set, and see what we can see. Those sets being Samsung's Slim HL-T5087S (DLP) and LN-T4671F (LCD) and the "we" being myself and my colleague (and Call of Duty 4 badass) Adam Frucci. Hit Continue for some head-to-head high-def action!

Samsung LN-T4671F LCD ($3,199)
Peter says: Laying my eyes on this set's 46-inch screen for the first time, I was struck by how much LCD technology has improved over the years. As Adam and I played a little Call of Duty 4, our heads-up displays whipping around, there was virtually no motion blur — sometimes a problem with lesser sets. As Adam ran by me and slit my throat in one sudden motion, I barely saw him at all (that super-fast refresh rate of 120Hz just might not be all hype) Color was decent: And when he blew me to smithereens with a grenade, the everything went red, but not overpoweringly so. Sucking at CoD4 was never so clear. A trailer for The Golden Compass showed what the panel could do with true HD material. I could see pretty much every wrinkle on Daniel Craig's face, while the epic scenery made the screen feel more like a window.

Adam says: The TV is a beauty, featuring smart design elements like allowing you to swivel it on its stand to access the back as well as keeping different settings for the different inputs, so your Xbox can have a different picture setup than your cable. When I was smoking Pete at Call of Duty, the picture was bright, crisp, and clear. I could spot him from far across the level with ease, taking him out before he knew what hit him. It felt like it was the way the game was meant to be played. Broadcast TV looked stunning on it as well, with everything looking so crisp and clear it was like looking at a moving photograph. Even in dark areas details popped and motion was smooth. It just constantly provided those "wow" HDTV moments that make you realize how much of a leap above standard-def TV it is.

Samsung Slim HL-T5087S DLP ($1,999)
Adam says: The DLP is a different animal than the LCD. While bright colors really popped on it, when things got darker the DLP just couldn't compete with it's more sprightly cousin. Any motion in shadow or darkness took on a blurry, smudgy quality that was very, very distracting. While watching hockey on it was great due to the brightness of the scene, any shot not loaded with color and light looked downright lousy. Furthermore, the viewing angle of the DLP was much worse than the LCD. With the LCD, you could sit on the floor and watch it, or far off to the side, with the picture still looking fine. Not so with the DLP, which requires you to sit at eye level directly in front of it. Standing above it made the picture look dark and washed out, as did standing off to the side. It requires sweet-spot viewing, which is annoying if it's more than just a couple people in the room.

Peter says: I've never spent much time with DLPs before this, and I don't think I will again. While I expected the screen to dim when viewed from off-angle (it is a rear-projection set, after all), what I didn't see coming was a certain "patchiness" in places. In areas where the color or brightness wasn't uniform, colors would smear, even though the picture was sharp. Calibration reduced but didn't eliminate the issue. Watching the action-heavy new series Chuck, I could also see a little motion blur, though I'm not sure if this was the same problem as the patches, just manifested differently. It seems DLP, at least in this model, has some difficulty keeping up with LCD. About the only bright spot was the color — it was consistently vibrant for all viewing. Yes, better than the LCD. And even though it's not flat, the TV is still pretty slim.

The winner: LCD
The winner if you're on a budget, appreciate great color, and need a big set for a room where you can sit far back and don't plan on doing a lot of off-angle viewing: DLP