I had researched for about a year or so before placing a pre-order for this set. In 2010 I purchased a 55 inch Samsung C8000 LED set, and had bad luck with two units which were unrepairable, and needed to be replaced. Finally I got one without a problem, and it looked pretty great with bright content, but in blacked out scenes, or letterbox content there was a "flashlight" and cloud effect that was just too distracting. This is in a completely dark room by the way. It was at this point that I decided I was going to buy the best TV on the market with little regard to cost, and almost everything I read led to the upcoming VT30. So I placed my order in April, and the set was delivered on May 13th. Immediately I was blown away by the picture quality of this set, but also noticed a "flicker" effect, almost like the picture was fluttering on the high contrast scenes. For about the first month of owning the set I can't tell you how much reading and research I did to see if there was a way to... Read more

I was reluctant to purchase this tv as are/were many secondary to the fluctuating brightness.

My amazon TV is an August 2011 build. A previous amazon customer who wrote a review here mentioned his recently acquired (sept 2011) tv was a July build. amazon, on the phone, could not guarantee me any build date, I guess I got luck of the draw on August, which apparently all August and beyond tv's have a replaced A board from the factory -- there is changing information on this on the 'net forums.

I was also a bit reluctant to purchase from Amazon, as I've never purchased something this expensive online before, but I've purchased from Amazon for years and have ZERO negative to say about Amazon reliability and service -- it's always been impecable.

I received this this tv only 2 days after I purchased it from Amazon, it arrived in great condition, my wife was home and she didn't know to ask the gentlemen who delivered it to put it on the stand, but they did... Read more

This is my first plasma tv and I am pleasantly surprised. I did plenty of research before buying this tv and everything I read about this Panasonic VT30 series was correct. It has wonderful blacks and can get plenty bright in certain modes. I was somewhat concerned about the brightness issue given that my past flat panels have all been LCD. I admit I was a fan of the overblown brightness modes that LCD's allow but it is far from the most accurate picture and affects black levels. I had previously purchased a Samsung D8000 edge lit LED LCD but sent it back to Amazon because of the uneven back-lighting. This TV shows no uniformity issues (as expected with plasma technology). Watching sports on the Panny is great and 3D looks awesome also. Black levels are amazing - there is no black crush that I can discern and I have barely adjusted any settings on the TV.

The styling of the VT30 series is a definite plus. I was considering the cheaper ST series but after I seeing... Read more