I have a 58" 700U and the picture quality is phenomenal. The higher the contract ratio the better though. It gives better blacks which make for a enhanced 3D effect. (I just looked up the specs the 58" 700U has a 10,000 to 1 contrast ratio). I would go for the highest contrast ratio you can get.
The set I have also has an anti glare coating. I agree the Eli that the shiny glass plasmas are a problem in that area.
Very interesting article I might add. Anti-glare was the major factor in my decision.
Since there are no industry standards at all for the testing / reviewing / reporting of all these various huge, numerical values, these soon become only worth what they are -- simply "advertising hype" -
... buy mine because my numbers are bigger !....
That difference between your two Panasonics - more importantly - has to do with display treatments for reflections / glare seen by some in that display... very bothersome.
eli whitney
Nope - you need to click onto that .. link .. again !
None of those .. 10, 000 , 5,000, 100,000 .. silly specs mean a thing !
There are NO standards for testing / reporting of same. Just watch some samples instead.
eli whitney
Actually Fastback is correct. The Panasonic factory specs are indeed 5000:1 for the 700 series. I was able to find other reviews which stated 10,000:1 (like Cnet - so my quote was incorrect). I bought it because it had the best picture and great reviews for a 58" set. I paid a little over 3 grand on line and the local stores are still selling it for $4500 (and that's without 8.75% sales tax). But the article Eli posted was very good in explaining just what contrast ratio means. You can certainly see a difference in a 500:1 vs 800:1 lcd computer monitor, but at 5000:1 with a Blu-ray DVD it blows the doors off of my CRT direct view Panasonic which has been my benchmark standard for comparison purposes for many years.
