My application is for a small bedroom, maybe 11' from the viewer to the wall [...] a reasonable size (between 25-35") flat panel TV

Heh, that's about the viewer-to-screen distance in the living room in my house, for which I recently got a 17" LCD television. It's great for DVDs, and, although I haven't tried it with a games console, it should be fine as its native resolution is 1280x768. So please forgive me, ricin, if I'm slightly amused by the notion of getting a 50" television for an apartment because you're waiting to do it properly when you get a house...

The previous owner of my house had a 42" plasma television in the same location, which frankly always seemed a bit much, sort of like a bedsit with a Michelangelo ceiling.

Peter