"HD Ready" just means that you are looking at a monitor with no HD tuner built in. The displays range from 6:4 to 16:9 ratios and from 720p to 1080i or even 1080p. They will up convert any SD signals to whatever their native display ratio is and may down convert based on the set.

To be an HD set, you need a built-in tuner. I prefer HD-Ready because the sets are cheaper and you're not paying for a tuner while the industry figures out what standards they want.

If you though HDMI cables were outrageous, take a look at an HDMI switcher!

To set up a subwoofer properly, you'll some good test tones and a sound meter. I wonder if my empeg sound guide would help there? I have one of those DVDs full of test tones and patterns to tweak my whole setup. I recommend spending the extra $30-50 to get one. It's a small investment to get the most out of an expensive TV. For us, the popular ones are AVIA and Video Essentials. Those are NTSC not PAL as far as I know..