Until now Kuro were plasma displays, simply because of deep black levels (or extremely low luminance) plasma can achieve, which also means high contrast. These simply cannot be achieved in LCD, unless some new technology was employed. One has to wonder what it is, or had Pioneer simply lowered their standards.

Only for people that can't afford Plasma, but are able to convince themselves they look as good...

Jeez guys... rather than sitting there with the blinkered view try going and having a look.... try the Samsung LE52F96BD LCD that rather than having one single back light uses varying luminescence in clusters and offers a black level of 0, i.e. perfect - something that Plasma will *never* be able to compete with. The Samsung may not be perfect but it's a great indicator of where things are going.

Plasma has a lot of plus points, but also has plenty of drawbacks (try watching your Plasma TV in a brightly lit room... you'll miss quite a lot!).... many are realising that the future lies with LCD as more technology is being poured into it.

Pioneer have realised (just like Fujitsu) that Plasma will disappear so they may aswell get on the LCD bandwagon ASAP.

Plasma isn't better.... it is more suitable in some scenarios, just as LCD is more suitable in others.