Unlike some of its competitors, who embrace specific technologies and exclude others, Samsung does not play favorites. It produces both plasma and LCD flat-panel TVs, and makes rear-projection sets with either conventional bulb light sources or the new high-output LEDs. Among the many dozens of TVs the company produces, the very best is probably its latest 63-inch 1080p plasma set, the FP-T6374.

The FR-T6374's most interesting features are its 1,920-by-1,080-pixel resolution, which is still somewhat rare for a plasma set, and the fact that it conforms to the latest HDMI 1.3 specification, which means it can take advantage of 1.3's xvYCC and Deep Color capabilities, for better color rendition from soon-to-come xvYCC-encoded high-definition material. What's truly exciting about this set, though, is the picture quality, so I'll focus my remaining words on that.

As I make the initial picture adjustments, I'm impressed with the clear menu layout and control adjustment structure. Sliding bar adjustments feature numerical indicators and a sufficient number of fine steps that allow me to zero in on just the right settings, and jot those settings down for future reference. The menu stays on screen for a full minute, a boon to calibrators who have to juggle with test discs, color filters, calibration software and a color analyzer as they fine-tune the set.

I choose the Warm 2 color tone, as Samsung calls it, which comes closest to the ideal 6,500-degree-Kelvin color temperature (a lower color temperature looks too red, a higher one looks too blue). Using controls in the on-screen menu, the set's gray scale tracking can be adjusted to achieve consistent color over the range between the brightest and darkest images.

Once the set is adjusted, I find that the FP-T6374 has a quite linear gray scale from the brightest whites to the darkest grays. Only in the very darkest areas of the picture does the color balance shift somewhat toward the blue, a typical result and not of much concern. My color analyzer says that the colorimetry—the accuracy of the blues, reds, and greens that compose the image—is practically perfect. To double-check this, I pop in the late, great Roy Orbison's Black & White Night DVD, and find that the picture is indeed properly presented with no unwanted daubs of reddish or bluish tones.

That DVD also lets me check the behavior of the set's internal deinterlacer, as the disc has a mastering problem that usually causes visible combing and tearing artifacts—streaky lines marring edge details, for example. Here the FP-T6374 compensates for the disc's unfortunately poor video quality; test discs confirm that the deinterlacer is more than sufficiently competent. The only thing it lacks is 3:2 pulldown for 1080i high-def video; on these signals, you might notice a few moire patterns in some areas of fine detail.

I'm also pleased to find that the set's Just Scan mode allows for direct pixel addressing—i.e., no overscan. Almost all HDTVs feature overscanning, which clips off the extreme top, bottom and sides of the image to hide picture-edge artifacts that often occur when standard-definition and high-definition content is mixed. Unfortunately, the overscanning process sacrifices five to 10 percent of the original image, and can often cause moire, especially with images having super fine detail. My digital test pattern generator confirms that the set does indeed present a perfect per-pixel rendition of tough alternating pixel tests.

Turning to Casino Royale on Blu-ray, I see a dazzling picture with lush color and great detail in the dark gray and deep black areas—especially in the various poker scenes, in which almost all of the characters wear dark clothing. Here again I find that plasma, with its superior deep black and dark gray reproduction abilities, simply trounces LCD, which invariably crushes these subtleties of shading into great swatches of black, devoid of detail.

In all key metrics save one, the FP-T6374 provides a textbook example of why plasma is still the performance champion in flat-panel TV. Only when it comes to maximum picture brightness does LCD hold the trump card. But with the FP-T6374, I find that after proper adjustment of the contrast control, I'm able to view a bright white test screen that measures at a quite healthy 42 footlamberts. That's not as bright as most LCD sets, but it's more than two-and-a-half times as bright as the image in a movie theater. It's sufficiently bright to allow clear daytime viewing in just about any placement scenario, even those with high ambient light conditions.

The FP-T6374 provides an immense picture, with full 1080p resolution and impeccable technical and visual performance for a price that is entirely reasonable given what smaller-sized and lower-resolution 720p plasma sets sold for just a few years ago. I give the FP-T6374 my most enthusiastic recommendation.

DESCRIPTION
Plasma flat-panel HDTV with integral ATSC/NTSC tuner and digital cable tuner (unencrypted). Tabletop stand included; wall bracket optional.

DISPLAY CAPABILITIES
Widescreen plasma panel operates in 4:3 and 16:9 modes. Accepts 720-line and 1080-line progressive HDTV, 1080-line interlaced HDTV, 480-line progressive and 480-line interlaced signals

RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080 pixels

CONNECTIONS
Rear: Two HDMI digital A/V inputs, two component video inputs, S-video input, composite video input, DB-15 computer video input, three stereo analog audio inputs, 3.5mm stereo audio input, two RF inputs for antenna/cable, optical digital audio output, stereo analog audio output
Side: HDMI input, S-video input, composite video input, stereo analog audio input, 3.5mm stereo headphone output, USB port for thumb drive (pictures, MP3s, etc.)

DIMENSIONS
39 x 60 x 4 inches (hwd, TV only)
43 x 60 x 17 inches (hwd with stand)

PRICE/CONTACT
PRICE: $6,999
CONTACT: 800.SAMSUNG, www.samsung.com