Panasonic TH-65VX100E

The basics

The Panasonic TH-65VX100E Full HD Home Theatre Monitor is a 65-inch top-of-the-range Panasonic plasma television that has a massive 60,000:1 contrast ratio and a colour range that's 120 per cent higher than a normal HDTV.

The good

Bells and whistles are for the kids. The more you spend, the purer the experience you get. This flawless 1080p plasma panel doesn’t have a Freeview tuner. It doesn’t even have speakers. What it does have are the richest blacks, the clearest colours and the most exquisite detail we’ve seen (and, yes, that includes Pioneer’s late lamented Kuro). A modular connection system lets you connect any video source you might want, and you can even switch off the (stunning) on-board processing to hook up your own video module. Blu-ray looks like ten million bucks (blame video inflation) and even standard definition signals – should you have to resort to them – are blessedly free from noise. It’s even bright and sharp enough for full daytime use.

The bad

Panasonic must have been standing in the corner with its fingers in its ears, going “La la la la” for the last 12 months. Eight grand is a sizable chunk of change to drop on a standalone screen, especially as you’re probably looking at spending the same again on sound, source and installation. Think of it as a one-box economic stimulus package, though, and you might feel a touch less guilty.

The bottom line

This is not the best High Def screen in the world. It’s the best High Def screen in the known universe. Scientists peering through the Hubble telescope suspected for a time that they may have located a better display in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. But they were wrong, this is it.