Ok so I work at a company that does a bunch of camera stuff and they want me to set up a display in their showroom that loops sample footage from their cameras. I already grabbed a 32inch LCD flat panel and mount, but I am looking for an elegant and cheap way to get the video running (set top box? dvd player?). I want it to look like it's just a screen hanging on the wall--no wires or boxes near it, although we can run wires through the wall behind it.
You guys are my most tech-savvy friends, any ideas?

If the LCD panel has an USB port, maybe you can use that one to insert an USB flash memory or something?

That was my first thought, but the display definitely doesn't have the capability to play raw video. Most panels that can do that are at or above the $2000 mark, I figured I could get this one at $600 and a $300 media pc and still save a bunch of money if it came to that.

I can recommend Sony Vegas as the program to build the media file. It supports HD, mixed media, rotated media (for vertical mounted screens), titles, transition FX and has a great sound editing capabilities. I would skip the standard DVD format since it is limited in resolution. You would need hardware / software to burn a BR disk and a BR player.
OR (Vegas learning curve can be daunting)
Probably the easiest way would be to do it in PowerPoint if it is just still images. . . continuous loop and you are good to go . . . =)
Edit: if 720 is good enough for the res I like ConverXtoDVD for combining several videos into one DVD. It also gives you the option to Auto-start, loop playback and play titles one after the other on insert. It's a simple program but it works well . . . just limited to a max of 720 x 480 NTSC. Should add that it looks great when played using an upconverting DVD player.

You looking at connecting to several live cameras and switching between them or using preshot stuff?

All hail the mighty Arkose!

It's a continuous video loop and I have already taken care of that (it's my job!), I'm really just concerned about the hardware. I guess the DVD player is the best bet, I think I'll use white cable covers to make the wiring look more discrete.

Since your company is in the business of displaying or offering video services, they could easily justify a few hundred extra bucks for HD/BluRay capability. From your end it would only require the extra cost of a BluRay player, and a PC based Bluray burner optical drive. This would also have the advantage of using a small HDMI cable that can be easily hidden. The standard Def up scaling is nice on decent players also - if you ever needed that capability as well.
edit: the above is based on the assumption that the cameras are better than "Standard Def" quality.

heheh actually they're worse
they make cameras that are mounted on surveillance drone planes. the footage is digitally-zoomed and has all sorts of anti-shake software and noise filters applied to it. it won't be hi-def for years, and even then the quality probably won't be that great.