Thought I'd chime in since I own the LG you are probably looking at. I recently purchased and have had an LG 60PK550 for just under 3 months. It replaced a 51" Sony RPTV. I've never owned a plasma but I do own a 32" LCD for casual viewing in a different room.
I purchased this TV based on good reviews it received for being one of the best bang-for-buck value televisions. My main reason for upgrading was to go bigger (60") and to accommodate BR playback at 1080P 24fps, as well as buying newer technology to improve picture quality. I purposely did not buy the 'best' (i.e. Panasonic VT25) and was looking for best bang-for-buck as I suspect that I'll be replacing this in a few years time when newer technology comes out and when/if 3D becomes the standard. I didn't need to spend too much.
In these respects I can wholeheartedly recommend the LG PK550. It was the least expensive 60" I could find (paid $1500 CDN, including delivery) that still provided excellent picture quality and BR playback.
Is it the best TV? No. But it's close enough for me and my family. Here are my general observations and pros/cons. Keep in mind that I had this TV professionally calibrated but, to be honest, out of the box it wasn't far from where I ended up after calibration.
Pros
[list]
- Excellent picture quality. Color accuracy is spot on, good contrast and pop to the picture, very smooth looking picture.
- Smooth playback of BR 24fps. No stutter or judder. Avatar looked simply amazing.
- Decent black levels. Not great but I don't really notice that the black levels are elevated. Particularly if you watch with a bit of (back) lighting. In pure darkness you'll notice it but even then only if you are looking for it. It definitely doesn't bother me with normal watching.
- Shadow detail is pretty good
- Extensive calibration controls. 2 point or 20 point white balance adjustments and partial CMS. My calibrator did not require anything in the service menu and did full calibration using the user controls
- Minimal buzzing. On a full white screen there is some audible buzzing if you are up close to the screen - but sit back more than a few feet and it's barely noticeable. No noticeable buzzing during normal program material.
- Simple, elegant design. Looks very nice. Bezel is thin and gives TV a very nice look.
- Simply put - probably the best-bang-for buck TV on the market right now.
Cons
- The screen is reflective. I don't really notice it too much but I don't have much ambient light and usually watch in a lower light environment. Plus my previous RPTV was quite reflective and this TV is somewhat less reflective. It's definitely noticeable when not turned on but once a picture is being viewed it's not too bad. But I'd reconsider if I was watching in a room with lots of sunlight.
- I have a bit of a screen uniformity issue or dirty screen effect. Not really noticeable unless I'm watching something with a constant lighter background such as hockey (can see 'shadows' on the screen against the ice) or golf when they are on the putting green. Don't really notice it too much under normal viewing (i.e. movies, TV) unless I really look for it. I also think that it is getting a bit better as the TV ages but that might just be me getting used to it.
- I would say that this TV employs a bit more visible spatial dithering than other plasmas (i.e. green/red/blue dancing pixels) in darker, but not black, areas of the screen. However, it is really only noticeable when viewing up close (less than 4-5 feet) and isn't really noticeable from my viewing distance (11 feet). Sometimes I think it's adding a bit of noise in the background of some images but then I think that it could actually be the source material. Regardless, it's not really that noticeable and is simply how the TV renders these images. Definitely not noticeable when watching BluRay.
To put it simply - when I watched Avatar on BluRay from my PS3 via HDMI I was blown away. I had never seen any TV look as good as my LG 60PK550. Ditto for Cars and Toy Story 3 on BR - simply amazing!
Hope this helps!
Bryan
