Panasonic 46GT30 vs LG 47LX9500

Profile: we think that the LX9500 is nice to look at it even from the side, although that's a purely subjective impression that has nothing to do with how well it performs.
 

Display: the LX9500 wants to catch your eye, but you might end seeing yourself if you look too closely.  That glossy surface looks great, but in direct sunlight, it's almost a mirror and your own reflection will end up taking the starring role in your favourite films.  The GT30 picks up reflections too, and also suffers from the fact that plasma technology is badly affected by higher ambient light levels, which make blacks look lighter, creating the perception a lower contrast ratio in bright sunlight.

Remote: alongside a perfectly decent ordinary remote, LG provides a second, smaller, 'Wiimote' style controller.  Some apps rely on it and it makes navigating through menus nice and easy.  Panasonic hasn't made much of an effort for the poor old GT30, though, which has the same remote as earlier TVs from the manufacturer.  It falls a long way short of the build quality offered on the rest of the TV, and we were left disappointed by the cheap plastic and confusing button layout.

We use a camera that can capture 1000 frames per second to record how long it takes to display and then remove moving objects against different coloured backgrounds.

We warned you that this was a clash of the titans, so it's no surprise that there's barely a hair's breadth separating the two challengers.  But plasma technology comes out on top with an average ghosting time of 8.5 ms, with LG not far behind with an average value of 10 ms.  Both TVs offer enough responsiveness to please even the most demanding gamers.
 

Panasonic also did well when we switched from two dimensions to three.  That responsive display inside the GT30 helps avoid crosstalk, and objects appear to be leaping out of the screen all of the time with no ghosting to spoil things.  It's without a doubt the best active 3D we've seen on a TV.

Contrast: having Full LED backlighting means the LX9500 can enjoy an infinitely high contrast ratio, and for the time being, it's the only technology capable of such a feat.  It works by having thousands of LEDs behind the display which can be controlled independently, powering off completely to produce perfect black in the darkest areas of the screen.  The only problem is with blooming, where sharply contrasting objects are surrounded by a glowing halo.  The most prominent example features a white a white square against a black background, but that's something that's fortunately very rare in most films.

The GT30 manages a contrast ratio of over 5000:1.  That might not be the infinitely high contrast that the LX9500 can boast, but there's no blooming either.  However, those deep dark blacks look a lot lighter if there's a lot of ambient light.  Another problem is that some viewers perceive a flash of light if they move their eyes across the screen quickly, especially in heavily-contrasted scenes