For a time, there was Kuro, and Kuro was king. Kuro made other TVs envious of its awesomeness. Then. . . there was no Kuro. TV reviewers wept; everyone else bought LCDs. Under-intelligenced “pundits” foretold the end of plasma TVs — but Panasonic, Samsung, and LG quietly coughed and politely said, “Umm, we still make plasmas.”

“Ha!” said the pundits. “You won’t much longer. See, your king is dead.” In reply, feet were shuffled, hands were raised: “Umm, so?” So, indeed. While much attention is paid to the latest LED this and 480-Hz that, plasma TV development hasn’t stopped. Pioneer’s Kuro plasmas may have been a high-water mark in flat-panel TV picture quality, but, as engineers will do, they saw the mark and shrugged. “We can do better.”

But have they? Could this review end with blaspheming against the late, great Kuro? Can I end this paragraph with another question?