In other words, bumping up the refresh rates beyond 60 Hz may have eliminated the problem of motion blur, but some complain that the activation of the ME/MC circuit that kicks in when LCD sets achieve these high refresh rates desegregates the picture. As the video put together by HDGuru illustrates, this is a very real problem.

That having been said, LCD buyers have a few options. Most sets offer an option to turn off ME/MC, although that will result in lower motion resolution. You could also opt for a plasma set that doesn't suffer from this issue. It also reinforces a point I made with yesterday's article—you don't need to spend extra money on a LCD just because it advertises 240Hz. You probably won't see any additional benefit with that set than you would with one that tops out at 120 Hz. Check out HDGuru for the full details and results of the test. [HDGuru]

The plasma knives are vaguely similar to tools currently used in radiosurgery, but rather than heating tissue directly and damaging it, they penetrate and cauterize it safely. While tools like this are great because they have the potential to save many lives in situations where proper hospital care is not an option, let's be honest: most of us just plain want some mini lightsabers. [Wired]

Samsung's plasmas are pretty quality (I've got one of their 63 inchers), so you should take a long hard look at your bank account and see if you can afford this. Seriously, free shipping too. And that rotating stand is very handy. [Newegg]

The plama engine was tested on September 30, breaking the 200kW maximum power milestone. According to the company, the design has exceeded the predicted performance by 25%. The VASIMR VX-200 has two electromagnetic stages: The first one runs at 32kW and generates plasma from Argon gas, while the second one uses the plasma to output an additional 168kW.

This plasma engine will cut the need for massive amounts of fuel, taking down the current consumption of 7.5 tons of propellant per year—used in the shuttle and other spaceships—down to 0.3 tons. It will also be extremely fast, cutting down the travel to Mars from six months to just 39 days.

The VASIMR will be tested in late 2013 at the International Space Station. Hopefully those guys will pull the handbrake before they find themselves halfway to Saturn. [Universe Today—Thanks Gonzalo Oxenford]

It should be noted, all designs require glasses. (More technical background on the types of glasses here.)

Panasonic's 3D Plasma Concept
The Tech: Plasma with Active Shutter (alternating left eye, right eye progressive frames)
As a baseline reference to get our bearings, I took yet another look at Panasonic's 103-inch plasma display that we've seen twice before. My original impressions stand. It's decent—and definitely the best technology of the three that we saw at CEDIA. Why? There's virtually no flicker in the image because of plasma's instantaneous response times/ability to push legitimate high frame rates. Plus, it probably helps that we're talking about a 103-inch display (that has its own trailer). The bigger a 3D display, the better the illusion. But glasses aside, it's not what I'd deem a perfect experience. You see ghosting around some objects. And...OK, I still can't ignore the damned glasses. It creates an inherent distance from the image inducing an unintentionally ephemeral viewing experience.

Sony's LCD Concept
The Tech: 240Hz LCD with Active Shutter (alternating left eye, right eye progressive frames)
Even Panasonic will tell you that 240Hz is the baseline speed needed for an LCD to pull off 3D. But you know what? 240Hz isn't enough. Watching Pixar's Up, the color and sharpness are both great, but there's an absurd level of flicker that's nominally better than on old timey crank projector. And on this normal-sized LCD, it's incredibly obvious when 3D objects break the illusion by reaching the TV's frame. Granted, we're not talking about a final product here, but the specs seem pretty much identical to what consumers can expect to see in the high-end display market next year.

JVC's GD-463D10 LCD
The Tech: Polarized filter (two images are interlaced on the screen, each eye sees half the data, glasses don't need power)
Of the three technologies here, JVC's is the only final product that's actually available now. And it costs $9,153. It's also easily the worst of the three—completely unwatchable, in fact. The interlaced 3D means that the resolution takes a huge hit. But it's worse than just a 1080i picture. Your brain can almost make out these lines. I could say more about the tech, but I honestly couldn't stand to look at the screen for more than 10 seconds at once. Oh, and the kicker? For nine thousand bucks, you still only get two pairs of the cheap, polarized glasses. Sorry kids, Mommy and Daddy are watching TV tonight.

There's no doubt that some home theater enthusiasts will go out and plop down $5k or more on a commercially available 3D display when they enter the TV lines of major manufacturers like Sony and Panasonic in 2010. But I'm hoping, really hoping, that the public can resist the gimmick until the technology is perfected. To me, that means when we don't need to deal with these silly glasses at all. But for whatever it's worth, plasma is definitely looking like the clear front runner in execution. [Image]

On the left, the recently announced Toshiba SV670, a locally dimmed LED LCD. On the right, Toshiba's last gen, CCFL LCD display (click image for full size pop-up). Both were promised to be configured with the default "sports" settings—no special engineer tweaking.

Local dimming is one of the catchwords of CEDIA—the US's big home theater trade show. It's basically when a backlit LED display completely turns off backlighting in the dark parts of the image, pretty much making black as black as it can be.

Seeing Toshiba's side-by-side, the TVs produced pretty much identical images in terms of color, sharpness and dark details. But the blacks were way blacker, even when the lights in the room were turned on. And the difference is even more pronounced in person.

In other words, from Toshiba or any other company, this what "local dimming" really means when you read it on a spec sheet. The more you know, kids!

Total plasma sales went up 31% compared to the first quarter, mostly due to the high value attached to them in this economic downturn. In terms of LCDs, Vizio continues its hold as the number 1 maker, and in fact grew their market share, as did Samsung, Toshiba and Panasonic. Sony, unfortunately, lost more than 3% of the market—a huge piece of its share—though the Japanese giant did retain its third place position. Check out HDGuru for more info and analysis of the numbers. [HDGuru]

This according to the guys at HDguru, who proclaimed the new $2,600 set was easily the "New King of HDTVs." In some cases, they said, the Panasonic was able to best the Kuro.

The V10 distinction carries with it the same NEO PDP panel as its cousins in the recently released G10 plasma line, but adds in a bevy of new software and hardware features, including three color modes, a thinner profile (1.1″ deep at top and 3.3″ middle), and a 96Hz refresh rate for 24Hz sources. The V10 line currently comes in 50 and 54-in. models, with larger 58 and 65-inchers due out in August.

And lest you still remain on the fence about this HDTV, know that HDGuru changed their frickin review system from four to five hearts to accommodate all the wonderful new awesomeness provided by Panasonic in this pricey new HDTV. [HDGuru]

Although shooting a stream of plasma into your mouth sounds painful, the blowtorch actually works in small pulses, which lets the flame's gasses ionize and cool down a little before they can burn you. So far, dentists have only used this technology to sterilize teeth during root canals, but have a few other ideas on where else to use it—perhaps, in the future, zapping away diseases on your genitals? [R and D via PopSci]

The full motion resolution and overall excellent performance places the UN46B8000 at the top of all the LCD HDTVs tested....this Samsung is the first HDTV to deliver the dream of a thin, light weight, bright, clear 46″ large screen HDTV that you can easily hang on the wall like a painting.

Interesting factoid: If you're watching 24fps content (like a movie), each frame plays 10 times on a 240Hz display. Read that tidbit and lots more in HD Guru's meticulously detailed review of the world's new bestest LCD. [HD Guru]

Tim Alessi, LG's director of product development stated that his company is still committed to the format claiming that "LG will include some of our newest technology in plasma sets, technology such as advanced design, NetCast Entertainment Access for connection to a wide array of Internet-based content and THX-certified displays" in the coming years. According to their estimates, "plasma will account for more than 40 percent of the 50-inch and larger screen size sales." And this volume should continue for another 3 to 4 years.

(Mind you, LG sells a lot more LCDs than plasmas, and plasma not long ago accounted for a majority of 42-inch and larger screens, so for it to be less than half of screens 50 inches or more suggests a lot of decline here, despite the enthusiasm.)

Bob Perry, an EVP at Panasonic US, agrees. In fact, as the largest maker of plasma, Panasonic is still growing. It announced it will open a new plasma factory that it had put on hold last fall when the market for televisions took a steep nosedive.

We clearly see in the industry numbers that LCD growth, particularly in the US market, has leveled off, and it's growth rate is slower than the growth rate of PDP. PDP, used principally in larger displays, continues to show growth as consumers in the US shift to larger displays (50'+), and as PDP, a fairly immature technology from a cost perspective, continues to show improved cost effectiveness.

That sounds more convincing, but it has to be: Panasonic has no significant LCD business (yet), so it better be running its plasma business well, and with increasing efficiency and lowered cost. Does it mean sub-$1000 50 inchers by Christmas?

John Revie, SVP of visual display marketing at Samsung had this to say:

Plasma is an important part of the Flat Panel industry, representing approximately 30% of the 40"+ market and 50% of the 50"+ market. Plasma TVs provide the consumer great picture performance and value. As such we will remain committed to this technology and continue to make [capital expeditures] and R&D investments to improve our production capability and product design.

This sounds optimistic, like the others, but it doesn't change the fact that if you walk into any store to buy a Samsung TV, you can bet the retailer assumes you're talking about LCD.

There is more from each company spokesperson in the HDGuru story, but you can already see that while plasma isn't yet on its deathbed, it's clear that plasma is being relegated to higher and higher screen sizes as LCDs gobble up the rest of the market. [HD Guru]

The underlying plasma tube (PTA) technology remains the same, and the new set is constructed from component panels identical to those in prior examples, but Shinoda has managed to stitch the panels into an almost seamless 3:2 display, reaching the crucial 720p vertical resolution threshold in a 2-meter-tall display that weighs an incredible 16 pounds.

Best of all, Shinoda is moving closer to production of such panels, announcing business alliances with WAIEISHII and Itochu, a do-it-all, GE-like Japanese megacorporation. So somebody might actually make this thing, someday. [Impress Watch]

The performance and feature packed "Full HD" (1920×1080p resolution) TCP50G10 is the least expensive 2009 Panasonic plasma set to include THX certification. What does that mean to consumers? THX originally created audio standards for movie theaters and later for home theater sound systems. In 2008 THX issued a set of home video display standards for its certification.

In a nutshell, the G10 scored super high marks in categories like HD color accuracy, image brightness, energy efficiency and full 1080 line motion resolution. Plus, it's a pretty good deal at $1800. If that hasn't already convinced you, it's probably a good idea to check out HD Guru's full review if you are in the market for a new HDTV. [HD Guru]

The reason TVs are really cheap right now, he told us, is that typically, new TVs ship in the middle of summer. This year, however, they're coming out in April and May, so they've got to clear out all their inventory—which they have more of than they expected—faster than usual. Meaning you can get 2008 models at steep discounts, especially as the new TVs get closer to hitting store shelves.

You're also probably gonna find better deals on TVs bigger than 46 inches, because they have the largest overstock right now. HD Guru specifically mentioned a glut of 52-inch TVs, so if you're looking for something in that size, now's a sweet time. Before you go, don't forget to check out our complete guide to buying an HDTV. [LA Times]

Besides the fact it's from the B&O, when you turn the monster on, it comes alive, the stand elevating itself to your viewing level as the ten-inch loudspeaker emerges from the bottom the of the frame. It turns and tilts too. Also, every 120 hours it re-calibrates itself. Now that is luxury.

Hoarding your money only makes the recession worse, so as long as you're not an AIG executive, what are you waiting for? Oh yeah, July, when it goes on sale. [Flat Panels HD via CE Pro]

The guru himself, Gary, is calling this baby the "most advanced HDTV" from Panasonic, with a native contrast ratio of 40,000:1, THX certification, a crazy color gamut, 24Hz movie playback and a separate box containing a wireless HDMI receiver, to keep the thinness thin.

At a time when plasma seems to be dying—see Pioneer and Vizio—this is one last gasp that might be worth paying for.

There's more leaked info on the Z1 and all the lesser Panasonic plasmas, over there. [HDGuru]