Grunt-
Contrast ratios and screen brightness seem to be bygone issues with most current-generation displays. Funny thing about contrast ratios (and most manufacturer specs): The spec for my sets contrast ratio was some blah blah figure like 8 or 9k to 1 or something but most real-world tests (meaning on sets calibrated for home use in normal conditions) the figures were closer to 1000:1. Remember the manufacturers post "best-case" numbers. They max out the settings in a controlled environment. The actual picture quality when they do this is probably horrible, but it produces the numbers they want. But brightness, black blacks and white whites and the rest are much better now than even a couple of years ago, from my own observations. The JVC 52z55 (?) I looked at 2 or 3 years ago looked great, but had some sharpness and artifacting issues and the blacks were a little washed out. The 56fn97 is I believe 2 generations newer and these issues are gone.
