Pioneer produced by far the best plasma screens, the legendary Kuro series, unfortunately they stopped production many years ago, around 2007 I think. Panasonic hired some of the Pioneer engineers and bought some of the technology, and started production of a range of very good screens at a range of prices. Then they stopped production. If you're lucky you may be able to get one of the better Pannys secondhand, other than that, like you say, you stuck between a rock and a hard place. Large OLED's will come, but at a price. AVForums is a good place to hang out for more info.