Panasonic TC-P50G10

Panasonic announced the TC-PG10 series at CES, we immediately knew it would go up against the Kuro in our lab. What we didn't know is that Pioneer would stop producing HDTVs, leaving the hill wide open for anybody to claim the king's throne. Panasonic G10 series is the new king. No, it's not as good overall as the soon to be extinct Kuro Elite, but it comes closer than ever in the arena of black level performance, and mounts a good fight in just about every other field of picture quality, with the exception of some color accuracy issues.

Panasonic steeped the G10 in extra features compared with its less expensive brethren, adding a THX mode that's largely responsible for its excellent picture, along with VieraCast for access to a limited range of Internet extras. The downside, as always, is that it costs significantly more than lower end models, but if you're looking for the best picture quality in a post Kuro world. The Panasonic TC-PG10 series is the safest bet so far this year.

The 46 inch model, the TC-P46G10 ($1,699 street price), but our remarks on picture quality also apply to at least two other models in the series, the 42 inch TC-P42G10 ($1,299) and the 50 inch TC-P50G10 ($1,999) all three share identical specifications except screen size. The largest model in the series, the TC-P54G10, also shares similar specifications, but the screen size difference is great enough to warrant another hands on evaluation when that model becomes available.