Looking for best picture quality for the money

Can you control the amount of ambient light in the room? Are there lots of things that might reflect off a shiny screen? What's your budget?

My initial reaction is the new Panasonic plasmas, but that's just me.

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Plasma hands down if PQ is your top priority. There may still be some deals left on the 2012 sets, but they are far and few in between.

This is about the only cheap deal still going on I could find.

http://www.costco.com/Panasonic-55%22-1080p-Plasma-HDTV-TC-P55UT50.product.100027872.html

There's a 65" VT50 for $2,500 if that's within your budget also.

http://slickdeals.net/f/5865682-Panasonic-TCP65VT50-for-2499-99-at-Paul-s-TV

55vt50 is 1618 from a quick look at cnet

From Abes of Maine...

Alright then. What did 6 to 50 mean? I take it you meant 60?

10 feet out, you want as big as you can afford, and the 65" VT50 is a tall order at finding under $2k.

There are a lot of other manufacturers, but you asked for top rated....Panasonic plasma. Get one and enjoy it!

amazon has panasonic 60gt50 for 1700

Well, if you want Plasma, you want a Panasonic. You should probably decide if you do want a plasma or an LEd based on your viewing habits though. Plasmas are the best for movies, but they do excel in all areas. The exception is whether or not you're going to have issues with IR due to your usage. If you want to leave the TV on CNN/ESPN for hours at a time or play games for 3-4+ hours at a time you're going to have problems with IR. That's not to say you can't do these things in moderation, and any issues you have with IR will begin to lessen over time. Still, you may want an LED to avoid any of these hassles in general.

If you have a Pauls TV in your area, they are running some pretty good deals for the VT series.
You can goto the deals section and see what people are paying. For the most part, I think the 55" VT's are gone, but there are still 65" VT's to be had.

Samdung (but their 2012 plasma sets pale in comparison to those from Panasonic) or Sharp if you can find 7 grand for their Elite LCD series.

Panasonic offers the best performance per dollah ratio.

The Sony HX850 is probably the best (besides the Sony HX950).

I'd get one if they came in 60" size. Since they don't, and since Samsungs and LG's have horrible flashlighting, I have no choice but to get a plasma and deal with IR. IR is better than having flashlighting IMO.

Panasonic 60ST50 is $1699 at Amazon. The best bang for your buck TV right now. You can probably find a better price too.

60GT50 is $1,700 too though.
Edited by JSpectre88 - 2/27/13 at 5:00pm

Yes and Samsung 60E7000 & Galaxy Tablet for $1500 total.

get the panny plasma or the sony Led

But...but...

Samsung.

Gotta love The impartial and balanced replies in this thred.

Samsung or Panasonic will suit your needs and if you can still find them the 2012 models can be had at a discount. Panasonic is generally the top rated plasma but Samsung isn't far behind and does excel in some areas where Panasonic may "falter" a little.

Goes both ways. ST50 and GT50 owners have flocked to Samsung for the better video processing and more resistant IR, and E6500 and E7000 owners have flocked to Panasonic for blacker blacks and less buzzing.

Fair enough.

Samsung does handle motion slightly better, people who like LED like Samsung colors better, BUT they buzz. They say that all plasmas buzz, so what's important is considering at what distance can you hear it buzz- you, everyone's hearing is different. Samsungs buzz loud enough for most people to hear it at a greater distance than Panasonic. I can only hear buzz on my 60GT50 if my ear is about 2" from the panel.

If you decide to go Panasonic, then I recommend the GT over the ST especially if you don't have a light controlled environment and want several excellent options for viewing such as Day and Night. It is also a better TV out of the box, but if you plan to have your TV professionally calibrated you can achieve one mode that will match the GT50. In addition, the GT (and VT) has a dual core processor which will allow for future updates that the ST will not be capable of. From what I understand Panasonic may push updates to the GT50 and VT50 will improve picture quality even more bringing it even closer to the 2013 models, the ST won't be capable of doing that processing (no dual core processor).

IMO, the VT50 is not significantly better than the GT50, especially if you don't plan to have it professionally calibrated.

I highly recommend Amazon for an online purchase above all others with the exception being Value Electronics and Cleveland Plasma. However, I believe that Amazon is the best because of their price matching, and return policies.

^^^ to say most would be a misstatement as it is unproveable....Do many reports on the forums state that thier TV Buzzes sure, but we also have many that say there is no buzz....Much like Panasonic and IR\ect issues any TV is goign to have its drawbacks and its a luck of the draw if you experience those issues.......

TOp choices I would say are
samsung E6500\7000\8000 (8000 can be had a discount right now and very close to the 7000 pricing)
Panasonic GT50\ST50

Depends on your specific viewing needs. FYI though, if you plan on using the USB drive to insert a movie file, Samsung provides the BEST file support capabilities that no other manufacturer can match.

For absolute unrivalled picture quality, there's no other choice other than Plasma - if your primary usage will be for HD movies and Cable TV
For robustness and brightness (prob better suited for a bright room environment) - if you intend to use your TV on video games for a significant portion (over 50-60%) total usage, go LED technology.

Best Brands, Plasma:
Panasonic Viera series ST50, GT50, or VT50
OR
Samsung - PN60E6500 or similar models <

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this is the one I have, 60"

LED - Samsung UN60ES7000 or 8000 series