First HDTV
First one was this 27" CRT from Panasonic. It's not awful but I had some issues with it. There was always an annoying chirping sound (very high pitch) that annoyed me while using and, while displaying 480i content, there was a very subtle band in the middle of the image (like original SNES systems, really). The picture in 480p, though, was quite nice.
Second one was a 27" Sony (27HS420), I think. It was also 4:3 as most of my content was but this one was capable of 720p input and generally produced a massively superior picture to the Panasonic. I still have this TV in storage.
Third one was a 42" Toshiba plasma which used Panasonic glass. I was introduced to plasma in Japan in 2005 and immediately went to buy one after returning to live in the US. This was 2006, mind you, so a 42" plasma cost me $3500 and it was a good deal. The picture was acceptable but PWM noise was SEVERE and dithering was everywhere with dark content. Black levels weren't great either. Plasma still had a ways to go with this display. On the other hand, it was built like a tank. My parents use this in a spare room at their house now. It's very VERY heavy, the frame is metal and a very thick, sturdy plastic. Also, the number of inputs and options on it far exceed modern flat panels when you get right down to it.
Fourth one was a 42" Pioneer plasma pre-Kuro. It was a lot better than the Tosh and produced less noise in darker areas. Dithering was minimal and picture was clean. Black level was worse than Toshiba, though, but the real problem was burn-in/IR - it was amazing how fast image retention could pop up. I also bought this in 2006 after disappointment with the Toshiba for $3500 as well.
Fifth was the original 50" 768p Kuro. When I saw the Kuro tech at CES I knew it was time to upgrade again in 2007 and, so I did. Picture quality was a HUGE HUGE improvement in every way. Black levels were much better, picture was cleaner, and it finally delivered an image that didn't make me long for a CRT. Of course, this was only the first gen Kuro and only 768p but it was solid.
In 2008, though, I upgraded to the second (and final) generation Kuro which now has an Elite board in it. Black level was actually much darker than original Kuro, IR was a non-issue, and general image quality is still among the best I've seen in any TV to date. The richness of the image is incredible and it's from 2008! It was after this point that low cost HDTVs started to become popular and features, build quality, and performance started dropping. I still use this one and it's the longest I've kept a TV. I will eventually upgrade when OLED becomes more established (or is about to disappear - whichever comes first). I appreciate that the Kuro is more like a monitor than a TV - it's not loaded with software that I don't need.
