Upcoming plasma 1080p tv's vs Sony SXRD LoCS?

I don't think comparing tv's at a retailer is fair. The factory setups from each manufacturer may not be the most optimum for each purchaser.

I just purchased a Pioneer 5060HD plasma that blows away my 6 year old Hitachi 50" Ultravision and my brother-inlaws 2 year old 55" Hitachi Ultravision HD. Is the Pioneer plasma the best? For me it is! My wants were - thin, wall mountable, a good picture and long life. The 5060HD leaves me wanting nothing more including 1080p. 1080p may be needed if you have a 60" screen and sit 8 feet away.

I think 1080p will be a major issue with current transmitting technologys, i.e. cable and satellite and it may be 8 or 10 years before 1080p makes any kind of showing besides DVD.

Hello all,
My impressions have changed somewhat.
I admit, I was biased toward the Sony SXRD's up until tonight.
At CC and BB the Sonys did seem to have the best overall images, hands down.
But, they were using the Sony demonstration loop on the Sonys and not regular sources like all the other big screens were using.
The Panasonic plasmas were also at the other end of the stores from where the Sonys were, and were being fed what looked like a mediocre source.
Well, tonight I went to a huge Sears at the local mall and they had the Sony SXRD KDS-R50XBR1 and a Panasonic TH-50PX50U plasma display SIDE BY SIDE and were using Dicovery HD Theater as a source.
They actually let me tweak the pictures and play a couple of top notch dvd's that I brought with me.
My conclusions:
The Panny plasma and the Sony SXRD were EXTREMELY CLOSE!
To my eyes they were essentially equal in:
1. Black levels
2. Color intensity
3. Details
4. Motion Scenes
5. WOW factor
The Panasonic SOMETIMES actually seemed better at:
1. Image sharpness and outlines
2. Color accuracy
3. No SSE
4. Wider viewing angle
5. Color uniformity
The only areas where the SXRD MAY have been better, and only on certain scenes was:
1. The Sony was usually alittle brighter
2. No SDE at all.
3. Less screen reflections
4. Images were very slightly denser.
5. Only twice, I thought I saw some very slight video noise or an artifact or two in a very dark scene, but it was VERY SLIGHT!
Makes me wonder how good the new Panasonic TH-50PX60U will be with its 10,000:1 contast ratio and 28 billion colors, and especially the upcoming 1080p plasmas.
My big screen options are now WIDE OPEN to say the least!

All, I've investigate to no avail: Sony's SXRD RPTVs etc are not available where I live, Hong Kong: end of yr. All recent models of 1080p RPTVs same thing.

I am thus no looking at plasmas and again not all of the most recent models are available.

Among the one's I've seen, Pioneer 5060HD vs Panasonic TH-50PV500H. Any comments on either?

haVE HAD THE sONY FOR A few weeks. Its so awesome. Best I have ever seen. Peter