Panasonic made some of the best plasmas.
I have a 55" Hitachi edge-lit LED TV and it's great for bright rooms and the brights are great, but the 120hz "motion flow" still shows ghosting on any action film. My wife and friends don't notice, but I do and I stopped watching blu-rays on it.
About 7 or 8 months ago, I was looking for another 55" TV (under $1,000) to put in my bedroom and the research drove me crazy. I started learning about "native hz" vs. the processors that boost the hz by just cramming frames in and then learned about types of screens used. I even perused websites that grade the different aspects of the TV (darks, brights, sharpness, etc). What I came away with is just about every TV under $1,000 was good at one area but lacking in the other. To get a TV that was well-rounded (picture quality but also great for sports/action) would cost much more.
Now, I've always wanted a plasma because of their reputation for picture quality and ~600hz equivalency. The knock on plasmas were that they were heavy, used a ton of electricity, run hot, didn't do well in bright lit rooms and the dreaded "burn-in" that the earlier models had. That and the TV companies stopped making them. Then it dawned on me. Why not look on craigslist for a used one? Bam! I found one of the last models of the Panasonic Plasmas (54") from a nice St. Louis residence for $250. Score! The owner loved the TV but moved on to one of those $2,500 OLED 4K TVs.
Sure, who knows how many hours this TV will last and what it cost to repair it, but for $250, I don't care! It's been running like a top and I have my computer pig-tailed to it so I can watch Game Pass.
I'd vote for scouring your local craigslist for a used, late model Panasonic or Samsung Plasma. They'll beat the pants off of most of these TVs under $1,500. Sure, they don't have "smart TV" capability, but you can slap on a firestick if you're into that kind stuff.
