The product: The VT60 is an excellent plasma with perhaps the best image quality you'll see this year not powered by light-emitting diodes. It is a shade better than the Kuro we've been using as a reference these long years, it beats the Samsung F8500 in critical dim-room viewing situations, and it's demonstrably better than the ST60. It boasts industry-leading black levels, illuminating shadow detail, and rich, saturated colors.
There are a couple of problems, however. The first is price: the VT60 is exactly twice the cost of the ST60, and its picture is by no stretch of the imagination twice as good. In other words, this is a TV not just for videophiles, but, like the Kuro and the F8500, it's a TV for relatively wealthy videophiles.
Design has never been Panasonic's strongest point, and the VT60 looks like every other top-of-the-line plasma TV the company has made for the past four years: piano-black bezel, flush glass, silver trim, and a silver stand. You could argue that the stand's new V (for VT! Viera!) shape is distinctive, and you could also convincingly argue that it's somehow lost in time. It's covered in chrome and would look better appointing the hood of a '59 Buick ("Vuick"?) than the base of a '13 television. The stand is also fixed, so it won't swivel, but it does come with plastic clips to hide the cabling.
What it offers:
Panasonic VT60 has one of the best pictures of any TV we've ever reviewed, but it's soon to face some tough competition.
The advantage:
Panasonic VT60 produces the best picture quality of any TV we've ever reviewed, equal to or better than our in-house Pioneer Kuro reference; exceedingly deep black levels and excellent shadow detail; well-saturated colors and excellent skin tones; industry-leading sound quality; extensive features including touch-pad remote, voice control, and onboard camera.
The unfavorable:
Extremely expensive; forthcoming ZT60 might have even better picture quality; worse bright-room picture than that of the Samsung F8500; somewhat humdrum design; camera is limited, and facial recognition is a gimmick.
The price:
$2,200.00 to $2,599.99
