Yes, unfortunately it is true.

LCD panel manufacturers marketing strategy has done its job well. Better margins for shops, better incentives to sell. As well as a good deal of "burn in" marketing has made LCD more popular. Most people looking to upgrade that 29in CRT moved to 32in or 37in LCDs.

However, this year saw a slight shift as Panasonic dropped prices of the 42in and 50in entry level plasmas. The cost of manufacturing has also dropped. Armed with >3 Lumens/Watt technology they became brighter and could compete with the LCDs in teh showroom environments. This year, nothing new came out of the LCD camp, LED backlighting that came last year saw some hype over edge lighting but it did not improve anything too much, slightly better black levels and the main improvements were in thickness.

Next year, Panasonic (which is the pushing hard on plasma) is pushing 3D tech and no real news of 5Lumens/Watt implementation. 5Lumens/Watt I believe is the real deal for plasmas to pull thru. However, with Pioneer pulling out of the market, not sure if Panny will soldier on in progress. They have licensed the Kuro patents from Pioneer and we shd see them in full force in 2011 if they start working on them instead of 3D.

Anyway, end the end, there will be something that gives. Let's see.

Some of the tech is already in 2010 Pannys VT/V series.

Next year, hopefully more. But conventional wisdom tells me that it might be only on the higher end models, as it would be more expensive.

G10 in Malaysia does not have THX, so IMHO its not really value for money. They have a low gamma and not too great colour decoding.

where's TBM & how much are the 600Ms going for now?

if i can find a KRP-500A for Rm12,999, should i go for it? I know the price can get lower during the times when stock was available. 13k if a few years ago aint that much for a flat screen but today when prices are so low, i wonder if its prudent to spend so much on one. comments appreciated