If you have a large viewing room and deep pockets, the 60-inch LG Electronics 60PY3D makes a good choice for a plasma HDTV. The price is high, but this set delivers an excellent picture and a host of connectivity options.

Th 60PY3D supports true 1,080p HD content, and it includes a 14-bit processor and a 3-D digital comb filter to improve the overall picture quality. This makes for a vibrant picture with rich color details and very dark blacks. LG's Black Stretcher technology further enhances black levels, making for a very lifelike image. The 1,080p panel can easily handle the latest content from Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD players, and it can display every pixel of 1,080i broadcasts. Lower-resolution content is upscaled to fit the pixels, and while many HD sets don't handle standard-definition programming all that well, the 60PY3D has several features to improve the quality of lower-resolution material.

LG's XD Engine uses six processors to upconvert lower-resolution images, as well as tweaking the brightness, contrast, color and overall picture quality. No TV can make a grainy old show look perfect, but the high quality of the 60PY3D is very noticeable thanks to the video noise filter. This set also sports a line doubler, which works well with some content but unfortunately not as well with other sources. The 60PY3D's 3:2 pulldown conversion technology does a great job smoothing out the appearance of most motion-picture content.

The 60PY3D includes multiple color temperature control modes, along with six modes for aspect ratio adjustment and five picture-selection modes for digital content including DVDs and even video games. The set also has three image-sticking minimization modes to address problems with image retention (i.e. "burn in"). These include a white wash that can remove any ghosting, as well as a pixel shift option. While burn-in is less of an issue with the current generation of plasma screens, it is still nice to see that LG includes a few extra features to help make it even less of a problem.

The design of this plasma HDTV is nice, but it is hard to call a 60-inch widescreen set small. The bezel is a bit thicker than we prefer and increases the overall width of the set to a full 63-1/2 inches. However, at just 4-1/2 inches deep, this is one of the thinner large-screen plasma sets out there. This doesn't affect the performance, of course, but it does make for an impressive profile. The 60PY3D can be wall-mounted, but at over 142 pounds, we'd suggest that a professional installer tackle that job.

At 10 watts apiece, the integrated stereo speakers are a bit underpowered for a set of this size. You're likely to connect the 60PY3D to an external home theater surround sound system, but if you must use the internal speakers, this set does offer a Dolby Digital decoder and supports SRS TruSurround XT.

To ensure that this large set won't overheat, LG includes intelligent fan control, with two speeds that automatically adjust to the current room temperature. This is a nice feature to have, and even when the fans run at full blast, they produce very little extra noise.

The 60PY3D features a wide range of connectivity options. There are three HDMI inputs, two digital audio outputs (one optical, one coaxial), an RGB (PC) input with audio and two HD component video inputs, among others. You can also find composite and S-video inputs on the side panel, as well as a handy USB input for viewing digital photos on the big screen. LG enthusiasts will appreciate the LG SimpLink, which allows you to coordinate with and control other LG products connected via HDMI.

The price is high, but with its fine picture and 1,080p resolution, the LG Electronics 60PY3D delivers a lot of performance.


Pros: Three HDMI inputs, handles standard-definition content very well, very thin considering the screen size
Cons: Speakers are a bit underpowered, not the most streamlined design, expensive

Warranty
2 years, parts and labor