42inch Hitachi, Panasonic, or Toshiba Plasma? Help make my final decission please.

[BKSinAZ]

Hitachi Model # 42HDS52
Panasonic Model # TH-42PX6OU
Toshiba Model # 42HP66

I also like to throw in the Pioneer Model: PDP-4361HD to this
comparison. However the Pioneer only has 10 bit processing opposed to the other three which has 16 bit processing (I think)

Does the processing matter?
Also...do most plasma tvs have PIP?

of the 4, which has the best picture and which set is just plain overall best?

[Smokey]

Which has the best picture and which set is just plain overall best?

ConsumerReport evaluated/rated ten 42 inch plasma HDTVs (Mar '06 issue), and Panasonic (42PX50U, 42PX500U) came in first in term of picture quality. It had the best picture in the group.

Hope that helped :)

[edtyct]

"Best picture" is rarely a single blanket rating across displays, and "overall best" is even harder to determine. I caution you about letting another person, or a magazine, make this decision completely for you. Unless you do a little homework on your own, you're liable to buy something that might not meet all of your needs. I sympathize with how hard it is to navigate the minefield of display technologies and everything that surrounds them, but this board, and the HT board, are absolutely riddled with threads about plasmas. You don't have to go very far to get a little information about parameters, features, and circumstances. Abstract questions just leave everyone cold.