Well, my wife and I went to two local TV stores (Best Buy and Ultimate Electronics) and spent a good amount of time looking at the big screen HDTV's. I've done a TON of internet research, and we're ready to make a purchase. My "three finalists" are the Samsung UNC 6000 series, the Sony NX-800 series, and the Panasonic G25 series. I'm pretty tired of reading all the nonsense about "Panasonic's black level problems," since I've spoken to about thirty people who have bought Panasonic plasmas in 2008, 2009, and 2010, and NOBODY has seen any worsening of the picture quality.
So, enough of my analytical thinking, and let's see what my wife thinks. To her eyes, it's easy.....the Panasonic G-25 plasma is so far superior to anything made by Samsung or Sony, that she doesn't understand why I'm stressing out about this. In her words...."just buy the Panasonic, and let's be done with all this stuff and enjoy a new TV."
I'll follow her advice, since she's also the one who discovered the beautiful synergy between Rogue Audio tubes and Vandersteen speakers, a while back when I was shopping for a new amplifier. So, Panasonic G-25 it will be, and I promise not to stress any more about black level quality.
