beautiful. just beautiful

This is our second plasma monitor. Our first was a Pioneer, years ago, and made me wonder what the big hoopla over HD was about. This monitor helped me to understand! The picture is so sharp, even with non-HD programming. HD images are sharp with clear colors and flawless contrast. The black tones are true, without any greenness or inkiness (both problems with our old Pioneer). My favorite part about it is that I sometimes can't even tell that what I'm watching isn't in HD. It just makes everything look great.

I should add, though, that you need to take the time to set up the color saturation, brightness and contrast. When we first plugged it in and turned it on, the image was awful. My first thought was that all HD monitors were crap and that it was just a fad. But once my husband worked out the kinks in the image, I was sold. I could tell the difference the first time I saw it, before he even told me. So take the time to get to know your TV and learn how to make it work for you (or get someone that will do it for you) and you'll be thrilled!

And finally, you don't want it too close to your face. When we first got this monitor, we had a smaller set up for our living room. The screen was only about 8 feet from the couch. This was fine for our smaller screen, but with this one it made all the pixels way too obvious. Then we moved to a new place and the screen is about 12 feet from the couch. At first it's weird to be so far away from the TV, but it's just what was needed. Bigger may be better, but you need to have the proper distance. If you're closer than 10 feet to your TV stand, then be sure to get a smaller monitor.

The picture on this set rivals the HD Sony we had that was a CRT. The TV even makes standard def look better. The picture is bright and the colors are rich, detailed and very natural looking. Not a single hiccup in three months. About the only thing I do not like is the weight, (140+ lbs.) but than it is a 58" TV.

The Panasonic 58" Plasma is an excellent TV. The picture is incredible,sound is OK. Got a great price from Amazon Warehouse Deals.

The only issue was an "Out of the box" problem. After setup the TV had a 4" green stripe down the left part of the screen, but it cleared up after 3 days of use. Panasonic Service was excellent, they got a Service call scheduled immediately, which turned out I didn't need.

I bought a Panasonic plasma 2 years ago and it died for no reason. It will now cost $2000 for the board just to fix it. The TV repairman said he has never seen such a high cost for a replacement board. Multiple different board tried without luck. Still waiting.

I am continually amazed by the picture quailty of this TV. I'm using generic HDMI 1.3 cables with an HDMI 1.3-compliant AVR, a HD DVR, a PS3 and an upscaling DVD player. In 10 months, I have had no problems with the TV (yes, the built-in speakers don't have decent sound, but if you can afford this TV, you shouldn't be using the built-in speakers). Previously, I had a 50-inch Panasonic plasma that died unexpectedly, shortly after the warranty expired. Panasonic customer service was pretty good. They asked me to get a repair quote and submit it to them (prognosis was a bad power supply board). They authorized the repair, and all I paid for was the initial estimate ($75 out of $575). Yes, I agree with generally everyone that there should be a 3-5 year warranty included with such a fine and expensive TV.