Whatever the case, we're sure that potential plasma buyers wouldn't mind the added competition, but until this gets beyond the rumor mill, we're not looking over our shoulder in anticipation.

ENGADGET: Sony looking to jump back into the plasma market? HD

While the Smart VIERA ZT Series introduces a new level of Plasma picture quality, we believe there is still room for further improvement and intend to continue to research ways to take our Plasma technology to even higher levels where it also has the potential to be applied in our other Plasma series in the future.

ENGADGET: Panasonic buries rumors of plasma TV's death HD