This year's contenders for flatpanel shootout included three plasmas and three LED-lit LCD TVs. The models were:
Panasonic TC-P65ZT60 65-inch Plasma HDTV
Samsung PN64F8500 64-inch Plasma HDTV
Panasonic TC-P65VT60 65-inch Plasma HDTV
Sony XBR-65X900A 65-inch LED-lit LCD Ultra HD TV
Panasonic TC-L55WT60 55-inch LED-lit LCD HDTV
Samsung UN55F8000 55-inch LED-lit LCD HDTV
As was the case last year, the plasma TVs outperformed the LED/LCD sets overall, by a fairly wide margin. Even the mighty 4K "Ultra HD" Sony LED TV was bested by the three 1080p plasma sets from Panasonic and Samsung. Of course, we did not view any native 4K content (of which there is currently very little) on the Sony. Doing so would surely have highlighted its strengths in picture detail. But one might have expected its greater resolution and scaling would have given it an edge over the competition even on regular HD material. It turns out many other areas of display performance are more important than the number of pixels, so the Sony finished off around the middle of the pack.
Panasonic TC-P65ZT60 65-inch Plasma HDTV
Samsung PN64F8500 64-inch Plasma HDTV
Panasonic TC-P65VT60 65-inch Plasma HDTV
Sony XBR-65X900A 65-inch LED-lit LCD Ultra HD TV
Panasonic TC-L55WT60 55-inch LED-lit LCD HDTV
Samsung UN55F8000 55-inch LED-lit LCD HDTV
As was the case last year, the plasma TVs outperformed the LED/LCD sets overall, by a fairly wide margin. Even the mighty 4K "Ultra HD" Sony LED TV was bested by the three 1080p plasma sets from Panasonic and Samsung. Of course, we did not view any native 4K content (of which there is currently very little) on the Sony. Doing so would surely have highlighted its strengths in picture detail. But one might have expected its greater resolution and scaling would have given it an edge over the competition even on regular HD material. It turns out many other areas of display performance are more important than the number of pixels, so the Sony finished off around the middle of the pack.