dlp's are usually at least a foot deep at the base and can not be mounted to a wall. plasmas on the other hand are flat and can be. plasma relies on tiny pockets of gas (plasma) that change color when hit with energy/electrons. dlp has an extremely bright light in the back/bottom part with a 7 color wheel that spins at ~14000 rpm. the screen is made of millions of tiny reflectors that can be turned on and off very quickly. if there should be green in a specific region of the screen, the reflectors click on when the green part of the color wheel is in front of the light and so on to create a picture.
it really depends on what you want to use it for. DLP's will never get an image burnt into it. plasmas will if you leave a picture on it for too long. i went w/ dlp because i use it as a second monitor. its fun when ppl want to watch a game w/o looking over your sholder.
if something goes wrong w/ a dlp, 99% of the time it is your light bulb in the back or the fixture for the light bulb, both of which are covered by the warentee.
both of them, plasma and dlp, are known for decreasing in brightness after like 2 years of use. w/a dlp and extended warentee, u can get the bulb replaced. w/ a plasma, there is nothing you can do because it is a result of the plasma pockets becoming less reactive to the energy.
I recommend a DLP if you want to stick w/ a tv for more than 2 years, want to pay at least 25% less, and plan on leaving a dvd on pause for any amount of time or use it as a computer monitor (i have even heard of ppl leaving their tv on a station like fox news or cnn and the emblems/ticker around the edges get burnt in!)
i got a 6th generation samsung DLP when the 7th came out and got it for about 60% off. there really is no difference in tv performance, most of the difference was in the outter design (the new ones looked slimmer)
i think you know what my recommendation is
