That's another thing I love about my Samsung LCD..... the side-viewing is almost perfect. I can watch it standing almost directly beside the TV from the other side of the room and it still looks good.
Yep. Right now I'd say that if you can afford a Pioneer or especially a Pioneer Elite Plasma, you have the best TV period. Panasonic is a rung down and by no means a slouch. Pioneers just use the best components possible.
If you're going LCD, the best is Samsung. Mitsubishi got very lazy about 4 years ago and they will never top Samsung. Samsung took their experience in PC Monitors and kicked the HDTV door open.
Heck, if some remember the Loewe Aconda 38"s a few year back, they had the best picture. The funny thing was, that you could get a ProScan 38" (RCA) and have the 38" tube glass which Loewe rejected (and the picture was damn good for $1,000 less). I almost convinced the wife to let me get a Fujitsu plasma though. It's a shame they bowed out, they used to be #2 in Plasmas.