My 12-year old Sony 29" TV has finally come to the end of its life, and I'm now thinking of getting a 36" widescreen TV. I'm in the UK but I use mostly R1 DVDs, so I'm very interested in the NTSC performance. My DVD player is the Sony 7700 - it has component video output but doesn't do progressive scan. It would be nice to be able to make use of the component video if possible, but only the Toshiba sets appears to have component video inputs. I'm not yet on a digital terrestrial service, and I'm fairly neutral about whether to get an integrated digital set or stick to analogue. (I have no interest in paying for extra subscription channels.) I've been very happy with the Sony set, and my taste leans towards the kind of rich vibrant colour that Sony were using about 12 years ago (i don't know whether this is still the same now). I've seen one or two Panasonic sets and their colour palette seems to be a bit on the cool side for me.

I'm considering a short term rental option while I investigate some purchase options in more detail. The only 36" rental option available to me locally is the new Philips 36PW9607. I've heard some good things about this set, but I'd appreciate any views from other owners, particularly regarding the screen geometry, and the NTSC picture quality. Also any suggestions for the best 36" purchase option, given the particular interests I mentioned.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.