Bob, if it makes you feel better, read the extended warranty - that you didn't get - carefully. Mine (which I also didn't get) said something like the following: there would have to be at least 10 defective pixels in the center of the screen, in an area not covering more than 10% of the total surface, for a panel to be eligible for free replacement.
-----Yeah, with all the researches and readings that I did I know the full scoop from all major HDTV manufacturers regarding their warranty details on stuck and dead pixels (LCDs and Plasmas).
They are very specific (each one of them) as to how many stuck or dead pixels you need in order to be eligible for a replacement after a year with an extended warranty. And not only that but they also mention the color they need to be! ...The Green ones being the most offensive of them all, the Blue ones the most peaceful, and the Red ones eventually going to meet their ultimate faith, death (becoming black)!
...And if it's within 30 days it is totally different. So time is very relevant.
But it goes much further than that; it depends too from where you purchased your HDTV.
Amazon being one of the very best place for a quick replacement no question ask.
And depending of where you live; for a service technician to replace your screen promptly and fast.
Anyway, I could write a book or two 'bout it, but I simply won't. :b
The fact is this: no matter if you change your flat panel HDTV five or six times in only one year's span, there is no guaranty that you'll have a TV without faults that is within the margin of error for this type of market.
And even if you're lucky enough to find one without you being aware of few stuck or dead pixels, you'll get some of them eventually.
And who's best? Well, for Plasma flat panels Pioneer Elite Kuros of course, but they just are no more.
Then it's a pretty much a toss between Panasonic and Samsung plasmas.
Sony doesn't do plasma, only LCD LEDs and OLEDs.
LG, a third for plasma.
Sharp Elite; it's an LCD LED and it cost more too.
Sizes? Sharp has a 90" LCD LED, and Sony an 84" one.
By the way, the pixel's size on a 90" flat panel screen is much bigger than on a 50" model size one.
*** The bigger your screen, the bigger and most obvious the defects are. :b
And the closer you sit to those defects, the further they are amplified.
It's like a poison you pick to kill yourself, the closer to pure arsenic you are the better.
