December 3rd, 2008
Holiday Gift Guide 2008: High-end home theater setups
Economy be damned, you want to upgrade your home theater—and do it right—for the holidays (and/or in anticipation of the Super Bowl). If you have the means to spend more than two grand on a set and the hundreds and hundreds more to round out your setup with primo components, you won’t lack for superb options.
High-End HDTVs
Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U
Believe it or not, you can get Panasonic’s fantastic 50-inch 1080p plasma for around $2,000, showing how even top-of-the-line sets are free falling in price. As with the best plasmas, the TH-50PZ800U produces deep black levels that most LCDs can’t hold a candle to. But what really sets this HDTV apart is its inclusion of THX Display Certification; the THX mode automatically calibrates the picture according to the content being displayed, so you don’t need to endlessly tweak picture controls manually for the best image quality.
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Sean Portnoy spent several years as an editor at Computer Shopper magazine, most recently serving as online executive editor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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