Television technology - where are we?

I think it's safe to go with Samsung. I have 3, including a 75" I bought a few months ago. Great picture and reliability. Some say the OLED can't be beat, and they do look very good, but they also have a more limited dynamic range, and they aren't that much better to my eyes for the price difference. 

With the laser mentioned by dweller, check out Next Tech on YouTube for how they work, the latest, and how to save some money by buying direct from China for say, a 100" screen. He saved a bundle on that endeavor.

As for what you can buy stateside, I'd go with an LG OLED TV. Mine is almost two years old and the tech has improved dramatically. They've managed to boost the brightness to almost what a LED TV can reach, which by the way, is way overstated. LED TVs have been tested and found wanting in their brightness specs. 

What I saw at a local Costco (the LG OLED TV) froze me in my tracks. 
The price gave me the shivers too.

All the best,
Nonoise

Man I dread when my pioneer elite kuro plasma bites it!

Too bad Panasonic doesn't sell consumer TV's in the US -  they make a really nice OLED.  You wouldn't miss your Kuro at all. Sony are also very nice apparently and both buy their OLED panels from LG who also make a nice OLED screen.

I find LED screens look phony in comparison lots of brightness and over saturated colour but not nearly as natural.  

As always go out and judge for yourself I've been running an OLED since they became somewhat affordable and I don't miss my plasma one bit.