In the market for a new TV: advice needed

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I've finally broken down and come the the conclusion that our 68cm Panasonic CRT is simply never going to give up the ghost and should therefore be forced into semi-retirement so to speak.  With this in mind I'd appreciate some advice as to what I should be looking for.  If there are a few choice threads I should peruse I'd appreciate it if you could point them out to me.

Our TV habits are predominantly SD DSTV (I won't buy a HD decoder until they make one that's not a PVR - are there any SD to HD decoder mods out there?) and DVD played back via an Intel chipset PC running XBMC on Ubuntu.  I will replace the server board with another including 1080p HDMI output and plan to serve Blu Ray in much the same way in future (storage is not an issue).

Our TV room/ main lounge is roughly 36sqm in a 7.5 x 4.8 config.  Our seated position is currently around 4 - 4.5m away from the TV (depending on where you're sitting) and if needs be, our couches can be moved further away or (preferably not) closer to the TV.

On the west-facing wall (right of the TV), 1.3m along the room's length there's a 1m wide x 1.8m high window.  It's about .5m to the front and 2m right of the TV position.  It's brightest in the afternoon, but blinds take care of it if we want to watch something.  At the opposite end of the room to the TV is a 3.6m, north facing window.  Fair to say it occupies the overriding majority of that wall and hence lets in a fair amount of light if curtains are left open.

Never been a gamer but I guess my 6 y/o son will at some point get whatever the PS3 or Xbox evolve into when the time comes.

All sound is currently routed through an old Yamaha RX-V730 feeding Quad 12L's (front) & 11L's (rear) and as of yesterday a SVS SB12-Plus subwoofer.  There's currently no center speaker.  Clearly, I've never been a home theater guy and I'm not about to spend a fortune kitting out the TV room or creating a home theater room, but I guess now is a good time to bring our home movie experience into the 21st century, or at least in that vicinity (e.g. I've no intention of replacing the RV for a while yet).

So, my questions are:
- LCD or Plasma (my gut feel is LCD [lower power consumption, no IR])?
- Samsung, Panasonic or something else [I'm not a brand slut, but do expect quality and longevity.  I may be able to get a rebranded Panasonic via Rectron]?
- Most appropriate screen size for the room?

Thx
 
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