Having attended Pioneer's press launch in Rome this week, its new 8G plasmas are everybit as good as the spec sheets say they are.

With a plasma TV and an LCD set up side-by-side, Pioneer'sengineers ran through a series of impressive tech demos.

Obviously, the plasma was visibly better than the LCD in thetest footage - this was a Pioneer demo after all. But the demos did highlight some of the disadvantages of LCD. The footage consisted of: number plates on moving cars at a roadjunction (clear on plasma, blurry on LCD); panning up/down a flight of steps(mostly smooth on plasma, juddery on LCD); the stripes on a man's shirt (sharplydefined on plasma, a noticeable moiré effect on LCD).

Time and time again the talents of Pioneeer's new ASIC(Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) video processor hammered home thecompany's 'plasma = good', 'LCD = bad' positioning.

Picture quality iscrucial

What really stood out was the quality of Pioneer's black. Whenthe lights dimmed during another tech demo (footage of fireworks against anight-sky), the LCD's black levels were visibly and horribly paler than theplasma; practically grey, in fact.

LCD (which has a constantly backlit screen) is oftencriticised for the poor depth of its blacks. LCDs have improved in the past fewyears - auto-backlights, for example, can now lower the luminance to increaseblack levels.

But it's only when you see an LCD TV next to a plasma screenthat you really begin appreciate the scale of the difference between the two.Just as it's tempting to say that the HD DVD format is stuffed because seven outof eight Hollywood studios support Blu-ray, soseeing an 8G plasma is enough to make you want to abandon LCD.

On paper, Pioneer claims a massive 20,000:1 contrast ratiofor its 8G panel technology. Compare this to the 5000:1 contrast ratio of aleading LCD like the Sony Bravia KDL-46V2500 .

For Pioneer, the appeal of an HD television isn't about nothow about much it costs, how thin it is, or even the size of the panel. Pioneerbelieves that picture quality is what matters most to a potential TV buyer.

And picture quality is all about the successful reproductionof black.