Mark Fleischmann

Today Pioneer announced that it would stop manufacturing plasma panels. The company will continue marketing plasmas, probably using panels made by Panasonic. So maybe this isn't exactly the end of an era for the fabulous Kuro plasma line. Still, the news sent a chill through Kuro fans. Do you own a Pioneer Kuro? If so, what do you think of it? And while we're at it, which do you like better in general--plasma or LCD?

How does Toshiba plan to move forward in the wake of HD DVD's demise? The company's CEO says improved DVD upconversion is among the strategies to be pursued. Here's a nugget from a Wall Street Journal interview with Atsutoshi Nishida: "If you watch standard DVDs on our players, the images are of very high quality because they include an 'upconverting' feature. And we're going to improve this even more, so that consumers won't be able to tell the difference from HD DVD images. The players would be much cheaper than Blu-ray players too."

At times over the last few years, the flat-panel revolution has appeared to erode the prestige--or at least the market share--of the best-known brands in television. However, last year saw a reversal of the trend, with the traditional brands back on top.

Don't look for Jerry Seinfeld's forthcoming Bee Movie on Blu-ray--at least, not for awhile. DreamWorks Animation can't release anything on Blu-ray yet, having been, ah, stung by an agreement signed with Toshiba. The 18-month exclusivity pact, which began last summer, obligates the studio to release on HD DVD in exchange for millions of promotional dollars.