Top Flat-Panel TV

Sharp elite pro-x5fd series

 The picture of the Sharp Elite PRO-X5FD LED TV delivers deeper black levels and better contrast than any other LCD or plasma on the market. Unlike other full-array local dimming TVs, it maintains its superior picture from normal viewing angles and blooming artifacts are virtually nonexistent. Color is relatively accurate, shadow detail is excellent and video processing does everything we expect. The screen maintains black levels well under ambient light. No-nonsense styling, best-ever energy efficiency and a nearly-complete feature set, including two pairs of 3D glasses, ice the cake tastefully.  Even with its superb performance, it's impossible to call the gratuitously expensive Elite a good value. Blue/green areas are less accurate than we expect from a TV of this caliber, uniformity and off-angle aren't quite as good as plasma, and its screen creates relatively bright reflections.

Samsung PND8000 series

The Samsung PND8000 series has outstanding overall picture quality, with excellent black-level performance, and the most accurate color of any TV we've ever reviewed. It can handle bright rooms well and exhibits the nearly perfect screen uniformity of plasma, as well as superb 3D picture quality. It includes built-in Wi-Fi and a comprehensive set of picture controls. The Smart Hub Internet portal boasts more apps and streaming services than the competition, along with a functional Web browser, and is easier to use thanks to the included dual-sided Bluetooth keyboard with a screen and QWERTY keyboard. The PND8000's design is one the most attractive of any plasma we've seen. The relatively expensive PND8000 cannot produce full shadow detail or proper 1080p/24 cadence without sacrificing some black-level performance. Smart Hub lacks Amazon Instant, its search is next to useless, and its interface can be cluttered and confusing.

Panasonic TC-PST50 series

The affordable Panasonic TC-PST50 series exhibited outstanding overall picture quality, characterized by exceedingly deep black levels with great shadow detail, accurate colors, and solid bright-room performance. Unlike LCDs, as a plasma it has superb off-angle and uniformity characteristics. The styling is attractive and the feature set well-chosen, including excellent onscreen help options.  The ST50 uses more power than competing LCD TVs, and doesn't perform as well in bright rooms as those with matte screens. It doesn't include 3D glasses, and 3D picture quality showed more crosstalk than many competitors' models. The ST50 is only available in 50-inch and larger sizes. Three HDMI inputs is one fewer than most midrange TVs offer.