I sold tv for three years and I would definately say Samsung. Samsung series 6 and above. I have three samsung LED in my house in all perfect condition and I love them all. Honestly, I would not mind a plasma either.
Series 4 is their walmart level models
Series 5 is their entry level models
Series 6 is their upper tier models with the best picture (warning: series 6 usually have glossy screens)
Series 7+ are typically a waste of money, because they only offer better design or internet features
If you have a bright room, you want to go for LED/LCD. 120hz + is a must.
However, Plasma's are very good.
Avantages of Plasma is a true deep black and more realistic coloring. If you want your colors to pop out more vibrantly, you will want to go for an LED/LCD. Plasma are also cheaper for the size and money because they have been in the market longer. The only thing that I really hate about my LED is when I watch basketball games and the court is overly bright and unnatural looking, regardless of how much you try to change the settings. Sport games look 10000X better on a plasma, but I like watching movies and regular tv shows on my LED. If you have wild children and are afraid of them running into things, plasma's are built like a brick wall and have a very durable glass. Panasonic plasmas are the top of the LINE in plasma brands. In fact, panasonic hired many Pioneer Elite engineers when PE stopped making plasmas. Pioneer Elite models are still considered the BEST plasma's even to this day. 1080p is a must if you are planning to get a 50'' screen or larger, but remember you must have a source that can output 1080p! (such as blu-ray, most cable boxes output 1080i/720p)
Don't be mislead by 600hz plasma vs. 120/240 hz LED, they are completely different technologies. For plasma's, every tv is running at 60hz and the frames are duplicated 10X. WIthout going into nerdy detail, the plasma technique is more natural. This allows for a smoother transition in frames = smoother picture during sports for plasmas. LED's can create a "soap opera" or home movie effect, which I personally like.
Downsides of plasmas:
glare - if there is a window on the other side of the tv, glare will be a huge problem. However, keep in mind most people watch tv, past 7 pm which is dark outside anyways.
energy - sometimes considered energy hogs compared to LED technology
burn out - I don't care what anyone says, I've seen store displays suffer from image burn ins. There is anti-in out technology, like the when the tv recognizes when an image is sitting on the screen too long and will automatically shift pixels for you, but I've seen these fail many times.
You must very careful when selecting plasmas. DO NOT buy a Zenith, I never had so many returns in my life. Sony, Sharp, Toshiba do not make plasmas. Please for the love of god do not buy your TV from Walmart or a Vizio. Vizio uses second hard parts discarded by other tv manufactures.
IF you go for LED go for Samsung. Sharp is terrible brand, there is usually severe color bleeding and inaccuracies. I've also received many returns on Sharp. Sony usually suffers from bland color, and Toshiba is a big MEH. Ironically, many brands buy their LED panels from Sharp, but their processors are much more superior than Sharp.
IF you go for Plasma go for Panasonic.
Keep in mind that TV settings in stores are set to "extreme" values. THese store settings are not reccommended for home use. IF you go to Sears you can use the remotes to play with the settings. I miss selling TVs, I truly loved my job for a while.
