LG 60PS80

Display Size & Technology
The LG 60PS80 features a gargantuan 60-inch plasma screen, but the TV is also available in 50-inch versions.

The PS80 series comes in 60-inch and 50-inch sizes.

Format & Resolution
The 60PS80 supports full HD 1080p format, has an aspect ratio of 16:9, and offers a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080.

Brightness, Blacks & Contrast Ratio
According to LG, the 60PS80 features a Super Bright panel with increased brightness. The plasma screen also utilizes pigment coating to reduce reflection by a reported 20% compared to 2008 models. No brightness specs or contrast ratios were released by LG to support this theory, but the TVs definitely looked excellent on the floor at CES. The image on the 60PS80 didn't appear quite as bright as the LG models with LED backlighting (the 55LHX and 55LH90), but it still looked excellent. Once we get a television into our labs we'll be able to run tests and produce hard numbers for comparison.

Refresh Rate & Motion
The 60PS80 features 600Hz sub-field processing, which is standard on high-end plasma televisions. Keep in mind this 600Hz rate is different than the refresh rate on LCD HDTVs (that usually max out at 240Hz). The processing system used on plasma screens is entirely different, so the two numbers shouldn't be used to make comparisons. A sub-field processing system breaks the screen up into various sections and then updates the information in each section in between frames. The 60PS80 features 10 sub-field processing, which means the television should have smoother motion than some of last year's models (that only used 8 sub-fields).

On the display television at CES, the display footage didn't appear perfectly smooth in motion—especially in extremely bright areas. This could have been due to calibration errors or the inadequate lighting at LG's booth, but the motion simply had some problems that we wouldn't expect to see from such a high-end television. We'll have to wait until we actually get a TV into our labs before we reach the final verdict.

Viewing Angle
No specs on viewing angle were provided by LG, but the television looked very good and retained nice colors even at near 90-degree angles. The 60PS80 maintained a better image than LG's LCD models when viewed at small, tight angles.

Color
Colors were generally strong and deep on the 60PS80, but this is likely due to LG setting the TV up to show off its imaging power. As we noticed for the TV's viewing angle, the colors remained solid even when we looked at the screen from the sides.