Now
Let's start with the big one. The black level, as measured in our lab, is 0.004 foot-lamberts. For comparison, the best black level we've measured on a plasma previously was 0.012 ft-L, which was a Panasonic TH-42PX60U. The best black level on an LCD we've ever measured was 0.006 ft-L on the Sharp LC-52D92U. So that 0.004 ft-L is lower than any other flat panel we've ever measured. While excellent, it's still not black. As in, you can still see when the TV is on or tell the black letterbox bars from the dark room beyond. I know, I'm asking for a lot. I mean, you'd have to get a projector and a pretty big screen to reach a better black level (or, admittedly, a CRT). But as impressive as that measurement is, it isn't even the amazing part.
At 4,020:1, the PRO-110FD's full-on/full-off contrast ratio is so good, it is nearly double that of the next best flat panel. Read that again. Double. This isn't an incremental improvement, as we've seen with all flat panels over the past few years. This is a marked jump. And that's comparing it with the best of the rest. If you take the average contrast ratio of current flat panels, it's three or four times better. The irony is that plasmas aren't supposed to have a good full-on/full-off contrast ratio; it's in their very design not to. I'll come back to that, as this still isn't the amazing part.
