I will keep this as brief as I can and will not get too technical. I have done a lot of the research and visited the HDTV enthusiast forums and looked high and low for the right TV in my price range. The TV I was told to buy from several sources was the Panasonic ST50. That TV was discontinued to make way for it's replacement (2013) model the ST60, so I got it. I have been nothing but pleased with this TV and it's features.
If you want a superior quality pictures with all the right blacks and vivid colors, look no further. If you just want a great TV for the money, look no further. How this TV gets this quality at this price range is a mystery to me. It is a plasma TV, and there are some advantages and dis-advantages to that. Mostly advantages, but not for everyone. Disadvantages that might disqualify this TV to someone could be the weight, since plasma TVs are a bit heavier... so if you plan on hanging this somewhere that the weight might be an issue, get an LCD. Also if you view TV in the daytime in a room with a ton of windows for some reason (your likely watching soaps), you might want an LCD that handles highly lit rooms a little better. It is also a bit more fragile than an LCD and the glass is more likely to break if something hits it (kids toy, wii remote etc), you can buy a screen protector to solve that issue, but you will spend an extra $140 or so.
Anyhow, I have compared this TV to the ST50 and the quality of the image is the same. They use identical boards and screen tech. The only noticeable changes has been updates to the Smart TV interface and options and the slight difference in appearance (ST50 had transparent plastic rim along the frame of the TV, the ST60 has a small silver rim. The remote is also slightly different, the new one is not backlit and the 4-way controller around the "ok" button is now 5 buttons and not one connected pad. The ST60 comes with two pairs of 3D glasses, the ST50 came with none. The ST60 can also use the new Panasonic Pen (does not come with the pen) that can be used to draw on the screen to alter photos, draw pictures and play games (seems like a useless feature, I would not let my kids advance on my TV screen with a pen). In every other way the same TV.
Note: You should break in new Plasma screen TVs by allowing them roughly 100 hours of viewing before you watch too much TV with sidebars, Netflix interface and games with static HUD elements. They can potentially cause burn in if left on screen too long. Modern Plasma has mostly eliminated these issues, but it is a good idea to break in the phosphorus at the same rate if for nothing else to give your TV the best chance at a long life of use. Some people run color slides like a photo slideshow to break in their new plasma TVs... while this is not really necessary, it is common practice and I did it myself. It is just a good way to control the break-in process and it makes you feel like videophile (even if pointless).
There you have it, my bloated review of an awesome TV.
If you read nothing else, read this. This TV is a great buy. Amazon is a great place to buy this TV, so if you can afford it, and don't need the bleeding edge $4k TV... get this one it's just as good.
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