"Refresh rate" - I see listings with 240 Hz and 120 Hz - indicates the speed that the screen redraws the picture lines. It is important in fast moving action scenes like sports action. Most HDTV of a medium price point already have this in it! "Resolution" I see 2160p (4K) and 1080p - is the quality of the image basically. If you are using Blu ray players then you get full 1080p but if you are on cable/dish; then you looking at 720p or sometime lower resolution. Old TV programs were broadcast in 480i which is lower then 480p. Standard DVDs are in 480p or lower resolution depending on what the material is - movie is best; TV programs depending on age: 1950s where lower resolution recordings then 1960s,1970,1980s age. 1970 and beyond are good 480p recordings until HD took over. Mostly all HDTVs provide a double scan image technology where it boost the image density to close to 1080i for your standard DVD images. So if it the image on the DVD is poor; it looks even worse and if the image is good; it looks better. Not much is available for 2160p yet but they are working on it! Most current movies are filmed over 2160p. The trouble is that there is no DVD player that can play that high resolution other then hard digital storage media - computer hard drives, flash drives, etc... If it were you; I buy a bigger TV then 55". But that personal choice! I just get an average HDTV - 1080p; since they are commodities right now! Dirty cheap! Some TVs have built-in Wi-Fi with built-in apps for Netflix, Hulu, etc... I just went with Roku box since technology changes each year and the new 802.11ac is going be the standard. 3X faster then 802.11n. I have a 70" HDTV myself! LOL! 2016p is a long ways away in having any media to view and cost a fortune too!

Thanks for the tips! I have been reading up on the threads regarding solid surface counters and also checked out the finished kitchens board. Regarding my new kitchen, I will have a stainless steel undermount sink. Cabinets will be rustic pecan from Dynasty Omega. Hardwood floors in a medium to dark finish. Island countertop will be butcher block. I will not be installing granite as it is too expensive. (We are a couple of hundred miles from the nearest granite yard so mileage and time for templating and installation will kill us before the price of the granite is even considered.) That is why I am going with solid surface. I prefer a matte finish rather than shiny and am leaning toward darker, earthtone colors with a stone look. I know about the issues with the heat but have never had anyone in our household set a hot pot on the old yellow/gold laminate counter so I don't anticipate that as a problem. (My KD says you can't use griddles or the George Forman type of grills on solid surface without a trivet or hot pad underneath. Anyone have experience with this?)

Each uber brand has its own color sense about it and it all really depends on who ya ask. I can explain. The final finish of paint matters because we *see* color on many levels. Our eyes see and brain registers color in an order: hue, chroma, lightness. When we sum up an environment as a whole, it's the lightness:darkness contrast that impacts our visual system first. All that means something to how one wishes to color a human environment -- to what degree is entirely a matter of choice. And it's in that choice that one needs to decide what they want, expect, and can tolerate from color. There is no doubt that FPE, F&B, EK, C2, DK, etc. each bring something different to the table. Because of the differing finishes, and because of the differing colorants, and because of the specialized color processes they each have a special quality of nuance to offer. Nuance is where the rubber meets the road with color. That's where all the magic is. That's where it's decide how the spectral curves and ups & downs and ins & outs of a color will play with the inevitably varied and imbalanced unique combination of wavelengths of light in a room. Nuance comes from within color and the components used to create and build that factor each matter -- a lot. The quality of the base in general will matter as will it's whiteness. So the better a can of paint starts out, the better quality of color it's able to deliver. It's the combination of quality base material, caliber of colorant, and art of literal color design, and its final finish or *visual hand* that add up to what we are able to debate, discuss and compare as complexity (or quality of color) and depth of one paint's color attributes to another. Each brand of paint has the potential *to be the best*. It's simply a case of when they are the right fit for human and project. It's kinda difficult to directly compare FPE to F&B in terms of color quality and depth. I can give you a few examples. We've all read differing comments about various brand's: EK colors are muddy, F&B has an odd collection of colors, DK's colors are washed out nothingness, FPE has an array of colors that strike the eye harshly, and on and on... All those comments are true.... according to someone! :~D Color is intensely personal and the huge buffet of paint/color choices available to us means that now, unlike ever before, every paint job is a very custom paint job. Even if the choice is as simple as Home Depot or Lowe's. So we can deconstruct FPE and F&B if we want to. I can see and agree with whatever characteristics someone else is seeing in those color palettes. Essentially, when it comes to color we are all correct about what we see. I hope I answered you fly -- and that I made some sense! I'm feeling I may have rambled on like a crazy lady but I wanted to really answer you with good thoughts and not just bunch adjectives together and call it a color review FPE vs....

I like my Giallo for exactly the same reason that lalitha did not like her ST Cecilia. I love how dirt and crumbs do not show and if I miss something, who cares? I do sometimes rub my hand over the counter. If I had to do it over though, I would pick a different color granite. I was rushed by DH and the granite people. They assured me with "Everything goes with white!" (Meaning my white cabinets) I finished my kitchen in 09 and I have to say that I am not tired of it. Although the counter has movement, the BS is very simple. I think you have to know what kind of person YOU are. For me, if I really love something when I buy it, I will always love it. I can become accepting of things that were maybe a mistake, but I will never come to love them. Ten years is when things can start to look dated. The interior design industry makes sure that there will always be that one new trend. Look around your house. Have you always like bright and bold? Or do you like subdued? Do you constantly change your style. Go with a granite that matches your decorating style and you will not tire of it too quickly.