Extremely happy with this Television
Customer Rating: 
I did extensive on-line research for over a month before deciding which flat screen to buy. My first dilema was LCD vs. Plasma. This was the easy part of my decision. I like movies and sports, and plasma handles fast motion much better. A few things that made me consider LCD were: burn in, glare, and screen brightness. I haven't had it long enough to comment on burn in (I am still following the break in procedures), but even with all the calibration settings low, brightness & glare are a non issue. I have watched it with all the lights in my family room on with the brightness at 40, & still didn't have a problem seeing it.
The next (and hardest by far) decision was Panasonic vs. Samsung vs. LG. All these brands received good reviews from multiple sources including this site. I finally settled on the Samsung mainly becuase I already own two smaller Samsungs, and have been extremely happy with them. I know Pioneer is supposed to be a step ahead of everyone else, but they also cost twice as much. Any knock you read on this TV is from an extremely picky viewer. Even the sound, which received the most complaints, isn't that bad for TV speakers. I can't imagine not having it hooked up a sourround system anyway. The picture will absolutely knock you socks off. I popped in Avatar on Blu Ray, and it was amazing (even with the break in settings). I can't wait to turn this thing loose and see what it can do. A word on break in. I know Samsung and other brands officially state that you do not need to break in Plasma TV's any more. I read a post by a Samsung tech on their website that stated although it is not absolutely necessary, he would not skip this step on his own personal set. That's good enough for me, I'm doing it. To be honest, I probably would have been happy with the LG, or the Panasonic too. I compared the three side by side in Fry's, and they seemed pretty much equal. They all got great pictures. I will admit that the color was better on the Samsung, but not enough that I would not consider the other brands if they were a couple hundred dollars cheaper. I guess my point is, if you are a normal TV/Movie viewer, and not a hard core videofile, you will be happy with any of these brands. Buy the one you can get at the best price. I'm not saying don't do any research. There are still particular models, even from top manufacturers, that you will want to avoid. What I am saying is that I probably did way too much research to the point that I was almost confused and worried that I may have picked the wrong one. My fears disappeared once I got it sep up and turned on.
A side note on this TV. As I understand it, most TV's come in "demo mode". When I first got it, my set kept setting itself back to the "Dymanic" setting. I knew it was demo mode, but couldn't find how to change it. Here's how: Press the volume button on the fron panel of the TV(up or down, it doesn't matter) and when the volume bar appears on the screen, push and hold the menu button for 7 seconds. A box will appear on the screen telling you it is now in normal mode.
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