Best of the best: High-performance HDTVs

David Katzmaier, Senior Editor October 7, 2009

It's been more than a year since we awarded our first and only "10" in performance to the Best TV we've ever reviewed, Pioneer's Kuro PRO-111FD. Since then, we've reviewed more than 50 other HDTVs, none of which were capable of matching its picture quality. Since the Kuro has been discontinued, and is quickly gaining the status of legendary collector's item as it disappears from store shelves, it's time to crown a new "Best" for each category of TV we review.

Best plasma: Panasonic's TC-PV10 series blends great black levels with accurate-enough color and that uniform plasma picture to leap past any of the other plasmas we've tested this year, and nearly all of the LCDs.

Best LCD: The Samsung UNB8500 series takes LCD picture quality to a new level. This local-dimming, LED-based display costs a bundle, but makes up for it with the deepest black levels you can get without springing for a Kuro.

Best non-LED-based LCD: Sure LED-based models get all the ink these days, but we thought that for completeness' sake, LCDs with conventional backlights should get a category to themselves. Yes, the winner is another Samsung, but not because if its 240Hz processing.

Best projector: Samsung's improved Joe Kane projector delivers the most accurate color in the business and better black levels than ever, making it the hands-down winner in this category.

Best picture quality overall, flat-panel TV: It's basically a tie between the best plasma and the best LCD. As long as you sit in the sweet spot directly in front of the screen, The Samsung 8500 delivers better picture quality than the Panasonic V10. But if you move to either side, the 8500's black levels wash out and the V10's picture slides into first place.

Barring a better-performing model coming out between now and the end of the year--an unlikely scenario in our opinion--these sets will remain atop the HDTV picture-quality heap until the flagship 2010 models arrive.

More Resources

Best 5 HDTVs,

Best HDTVs overall,

CNET's HDTV World,

Four styles of HDTV,

'Should I buy a Kuro before it's too late?',

LED-based LCDs explained