We have to admit that besides photo gear, our favorite gadgets are probably high-definition TVs. There's something about playing an HD movie or displaying one of our images on a giant high-def screen that makes us all weak in the knees.

Along with watching sports or viewing Blu-ray discs, photographers are starting to understand the benefits of having an HDTV in the studio. Though these high-def sets are still a serious investment even with recent price drops, they're a great way to show your work to clients on the big screen; or just something to keep them entertained while they wait.

For the last several years, the high-def king had been the coveted "Kuro" line of HDTVs from Pioneer. Sadly, Pioneer pulled the plug on its Kuro line last year, leaving HD buffs in a state of near depression.

But according to HDGuru.com, a site we trust for in-depth, unbiased HDTV reviews, one of Panasonic's recent plasma sets, the 54-inch TC-P54V10, rivals and even surpasses the defunct Kuro line. (Yes, we prefer the model name "Kuro" to the gibberish of letter and numbers that Panasonic uses, but that's a minor quibble.)

We saw Panasonic's "V10" series HDTVs at a press event months ago and were also impressed by the image quality in these 1080p TVs, particularly the extremely deep black levels which are the key to capturing good contrast on a plasma set. Meanwhile, color was exceptional with one of the widest gamuts we've seen. (Interestingly, the V10 isn't even Panasonic's top line of plasma sets; that goes to the ultra-thin Z1 series.)

Panasonic also does a good job handling photos with their sets thanks to their user-friendly Viera Image Viewer feature. The set comes with a built in SD-card slot—sorry no CF card slot—which lets you pop your memory card right into the TV to start viewing your shots at full HD.

There are also a couple of slideshow effects with music but the real show-stopper is displaying them on the TC-P54V10 at 1920 x 1080-pixel resolution at 16:9 widescreen. HD video from digital SLR combo cams such as the Canon 5D Mark II and Nikon D90 also should look great.

Cost: $2,599 Further information: www.panasonic.com