Coming from plasma...will I be happy.

The 46PZ800U is an excellent choice. It should provide you excellent picture quality and meet your expectations.

Chris

I bought a Pioneer 503CMX back in 2003. LCDs back then sucked. Even as late as last year, to me, LCDs still looked horrible compared to plasma's. I think the key difference is the glossy screen. Something about it allows light to come through naturally, and with high brightness.

So my Pioneer just starting having issues with the red sub-pixels on the left side of the screen sometimes not firing. Time for a new TV. I took a trip to Best Buy, and the Samsung LCDs blew my mind. So I bought the 52" 650. It absolutely destroys any plasma I saw at BB, including the vaunted Kuro. Plus, the black are so black, they make my old Pioneer's blacks look positive gray.

One word of caution. Plasma looks equally good at all angles. The 650 does not have the same punch at anything off exact center. As you move off center, it loses the pop, and starts to wash out. Nothing as bad as DLP, but it's there.

It's hard to describe how bright the 650 is. Reminds me of how my old Pioneer looked for the first few months. Unfortunately, the plasma lost brightness slowly over time. Not sure if LCD backlights degrade in the same fashion over time, but I doubt it.

So bottom line, you're safe to go with an LCD.

Your Pioneer must be pretty old :P. JK. But yeah, the A650 is truly a sight to be seen. They have definitely hit the mark with this one in regards to the 120 and color accuracy (which Samsung has always shined). I hate to say this, as it seems like all my posts sound the same when the whole lcd/plasma questions comes up, but I would buy a Samsungs lcd/plasma over any Panasonic, any day of the week. I truly don't mean to seem like I have some sort of vendetta against Panasonic plasmas, but I truly don't see them being superior in anyway to Samsungs panels. My biggest quirk with lcds is its uneven back light, especially in a dark viewing enviorment. Either way, you will be very happy with an A650, wether it be their plasma, or lcd.

I don't see any uneven backlight stuff. Besides off angle viewing, this looks like my old Pioneer plasma, but much brighter, and MUCH better blacks, and frankly, more balanced and even whites.

So if the angle thing isn't a problem for you, this is your TV. If it is a problem, and you wanted it mounted to the wall, get an articulating wall mount (that's what I use).

Yes.

One, response time is no longer an issue.

Two, black levels are very good on newer LCDs, better than my old plasma.

Three, brightness is way higher than plasmas.

Four, no burn in, the bane of plasma owners.

Five, no sucking 400W of power for a 50" screen.

Six, no harsh reflections - even in a room with dim lighting, this is an issue.

Seven, you don't need 65" (or to pay a fortune with 50") for 1080p.

The only slight advantages plasmas still have is more natural rendition of color and great viewing angles, but the above cancel them out, easily.

Get an LCD. Dump plasma. You will not be sorry.

on bright scenes, you'll think someone finally opened the damn window and you're seeing directly into another world.
that's the best advantage of lcd over plasma among many.

one of the reasons i can't go plasma until they catch up with that aspect.

the one caveat to that is you have to get a good lcd and you have to feed it a good source.

Why don't you simply forget which is LCD/Plasma and choose what best suits your viewing preference.

Forget the bias and the camps on this forum use your own eyes and your viewing room conditions and buy with return rights.

I prefer the LCD having owned Panny Plasma and no one on this forum could ever convince me otherwise as I went down that road following the herd's advice to my own loss on a plasma that sucked in my viewing environ. I thought the Panny whites were dirty gray or urinated look to them and the daytime washout made viewing useless in my sunny room. In fact you couldn't give me one for free in my sunny room as I'd toss it or resell it to get the Samsung. Yes, I am biased but your in an LCD thread.

Also, I bought the Panny when it was king of the hill for blacks on this forum (500U) and there was the same obsession that is going on now for the Kuro and when I got it in my room after having an SXRD Sony loaded with WoW factor and best of class shadow details and then suddenly feeding the same content and the Panny had none of the WoW factor the SXRD presented created a huge disappointment even at night - same HD source and the Panny plasma had no WoW results whatsoever! When you get used to Tide commercial grade winning whites of LCD and on the SXRD and you find yourself looking at those dirty whites it's annoying as hell.

I've done six comparisons with the Kuro vs. the Samsung and not once have I ever found the Kuro could beat the 650/750 as I find the Kuro to be dim and dull during normal daytime viewing comparatively - so perhaps Kuro can win between 10PM and 6AM for the nightshift.

Buy what you prefer not the Herd.

LCD blacks are close, but still not as black as plasma. Off axis quality is not a comparison. Plasma wins hands down. My Sammy A550 has a very nice picture (I was very impressed when I got it home). Funny to say, but there is a 3D quality to it and at the same time something that is just not quite as natural. I still prefer my Pioneer plasma for realistic images.
My take is that LCD are going to render plasma obsolete for a few reasons. First, computers. Second, gamers. Economies of scale make it possible to make better LCD's for less. That's where the manufacturers are putting their money.
To each his own. I wouldn't say you'll be disappointed if you buy a quality LCD set like the Sammy or Sony XBR, but with everything, there is a trade off.