Gadgetory

if you're in the market for a TV right now I'm gonna bet that plasma is either not on your list or a low on your list makes for an interesting story about how the next big thing is bumping the last best thing this is my favorite TV for 2013 the reason is because it provides excellent picture quality for the money given that the number of plasmas is shrinking this TV almost gets a recommendation by default I like the understated design of the ST 60 although it's not quite as slick as some of the LCD TVs out there the F 8500 exhibits the extremely deep black levels in very accurate color but the thing that sets it apart from those other plasma TVs is its light output this thing can get extremely bright almost as bright as some LED TVs and of course that really helps its picture quality in rooms where you can't control ambient lighting I'll let you in on a little secret if you were to go to the homes of CNET's television editors you'd find plasmas on the wall in fact take a look at our list of the best televisions at any given moment and the top handful are usually plasmas in fact they're usually Panasonic plasmas but that company has pulled the plug on its plasma operation leaving Samsung and LG left to read that writing on the wall and possibly interpret it the same way it's dire times for a TV we think is the best LED LCD is king plasma is this thinning little sliver an OLED which many talk about is the next big thing has years to go before it's gonna hit really big market numbers just based on cost alone according to display search data now it's important to remember here that 4k or Ultra HD is not a display type it's a level of resolution so it's kind of a different discussion but it relates to plasmas apparent demise because it turns out it's very difficult and very expensive to re-engineer current plasma technology to get those little gas tubes that make up the screen small enough and functional to show that many pixels on a given display size a key lesson coming out here is one that we've seen repeatedly in consumer electronics consumers move away from being in pursuit of excellence so much to being in pursuit of adequacy convenience and a low price prices come down brutally while quality and features go up dramatically we all benefit but in this case plasma is getting squeezed out specifically we as consumers right now caught up in lightness thinness a degree of greenness with things like LCD television plasma doesn't fit those new roles nor does it have shiny new object qualities about it it leverages something of an old-school characteristic and that is just great picture quality it's a turnover of the crown of the next big thing not the last time with all your sale