Panasonic Viera TC-P50V10

Pros: Deep natural blacks.
Rich colors.
Great natural motion.
Nice and bright.
Enough settings to get the picture you're looking for.

Cons: Blues and yellows can seem a little too electric.

Summary: I've been looking at TVs awhile to really see what is being offered out here. Checked out the Pioneer and yes, the tv was pretty damn nice with rich blacks and accurate colors...but I was not happy with the brightness at all, especially for how expensive the TV was. It's good for blacks to be black, but the whites were not bright white. Another thing that was pretty important to me was the motion and of course, accurate colors. Now with these expectations, I had to pick the one TV that could pull off all of these well with the money I was willing to pay. So I checked out Mr. #2 on the list.

The blacks were deep and makes for great detail, especially since there wasn't a lot of blooming and washing out. After having this TV for a week, I've seen this thing really take on the darkest of scenes and still establish bright whites where they peaked out. There was the cave scene on Ironman that showed, on one half of the screen, a very dark corner in the cave with the smallest of details still being seen in the shadows and on the other half of the screen, there was a blinding light peaking into the cave that was BRIGHT WHITE. That was the balance I was looking for.
The colors are very intense on this TV if you don't tone them down, especially the blues and the yellows. But after some tweeking, I got everything under control and nicely balanced.
Now as far as motion goes, I've read that plasmas have the best motion because of the 600hz processing. Now you'd think they were head and shoulders better than the LCDs because they are only peaking at 240hz. I tested this theory and after my tests, I've found out that nothing could be further from the truth. Many of these manufactures are comparing two different types of processing. I make this claim because of the test I performed. Nothing big but revealing. This was the test. While at Paulson's audio, I was floating the floor and came upon a demonstration being shown on the Sony TV. They had three 42" Bravias running a Sony demonstration disc simultaneously. And the video was of a pendulum in motion. What better way to capture motion, right? But they put one on 60hz, one on 120hz, and one on 240hz. Of course, the first was very choppy, the second was considerably smoother, and the third was perfect. You could see all the detailed writing on the pendulum very clearly on the 240hz set TV. So I wanted to test this with plasmas...the "masters of motion." So I ran that test on Panasonic and it performed slightly better than the 120hz LCD Sony Bravia performed. So yes, you will still see the "clicks" or "jutter" in the motion. However, in all fairness, the motion of the 240hz LCDs are UNNATURAL. How do I know? Test your own eyes in the real world. While driving in your car, look at the motion of the light poles zooming past you. If you notice, it is not an ultra smooth motion because our eyes cannot process that motion that quickly. But the 240hz technology really is just filling in the gaps of what isn't there and therefore, it does not look natural and can at times can make a movie look like a camcorder recording. But it really is a matter of preference. I read on someone else's review that Disney movies were really jerky. I have to admit, I test a Pixar movie, and it was a little jerky. But for the most part, this TV performs well with motion.
I wish the screen wasn't so glossy because there is a nice amount of reflection there when compared to the LCDs or the Pioneer. But it's not a biggie.
I'm not gonna touch on sound because if you have a 50+ inch tv, there is no way you shouldn't have an external sound system.
But all in all, I am extremely happy with this purchase. Probably the best purchase I've made in years. Obviously, the picture was the most important thing for me because I didn't critique the menus, the sound, and the Vieracast feature...but the picture on this TV is REDICULOUS. You WILL be in awe every time you sit in front it. So hopefully, this helped you make a decision. And if you go out, test some of the things I hightlighted. Demand to play with the settings on the TV and if they won't let you, don't give them your money. Move on.