Summary: After 2 weeks of use this is the best TV I have ever owned.
The Good:
This TV is incredibly crisp, the colors jump out at you, and although some have said that regular cable is weak, I would have to disagree. If you have a good signal, or better yet a digital signal the image is at least as good as a traditional picture, and better than my 61" Toshiba 4:3 projection CRT, which I may never really watch again. Right now I can only pick up one HDTV station over the air, but even with a cheap $20 antenna it is a superb picture, I can hardly wait until more stations start broadcasting. DVD's look great, especially with a progressive scan player. And if you like to play games, XBOX looks great, and no worry of burn in!...unlike a crt projection or plasma. At only 80 lbs it is quite easy to move around for a 50" TV. If it was not such an awkward shape a person could move it themselves, and at only 16" deep it doesn't take up that much space.
The Bad:
Black levels, I knew this going in, so I can't complain too much, but you just cannot get real black. It is not really noticeable, unless there is a lot of black in the image at the same time ("Pitch Black" for example). Light bulb, the bulb will burn out, and it is pretty much a crap shoot when it is going to happen. It is rated for 10,000 hours which should last 3.5 years at 8 hours a day, but my personal experience with lcd projectors is that it will probably last less than that especially if it is not allowed to cool down properly, or if it is turned on and off many times in a short period. At approx $300 a pop it will be an expensive replacement, but I think that price will come down in the future, and once replaced it should be good as new.
The Ugly, cable companies, at least mine, will have a monopoly on HDTV service, and I will be forced to use their box to receive HDTV service in the near future, which makes the tuner on the TV somewhat useless until HDTV becomes standard.
Overall:
I did a lot of research to try and decide what kind of TV to get, and LCD projection is the winner, and the Panasonic the best of the lot.
CRT Projection - Great picture with good black and not very expensive, but heavy, takes up a lot of space, and you run the risk of screen burn in.
Plasma - Great picture, but heavy for it's size (you will be hard pressed to put it on your wall), you run the risk of screen burn in, and has a short life. Not to mention very expensive.
LCD Flat screen - Basically the same as the lcd projection, but quite expensive, and still limited to smaller sizes.
DLP Projection - A little more expensive than the LCD projection, and although the black levels are a better I didn't think the picture was quite as good as the LCD projection, but it is really a personal preference. The big thing about the DLP projection is that certain people will be able to see the separation of color in the projection resulting in an irritating rainbow effect. I didn't see it, but my sister-in-law could see the effect.
LCOS - I didn't have a chance to see one of these, but from what I have read they are very good, but very expensive.
If I had to order them I would list them
LCD Projection - +No burn in, +light,
DLP Projection - +No burn in, +light, -rainbow effect
CRT Projection - +Great picture, +cheap, -heavy, -burn in
LCD Flat Panel - -Expensive, +no burn in
Plasma - +Great picture, -Expensive, -burn in, -short life
LCOS - Don't know much about them.
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