Thanks for the responses. I am a bit surprised that no owner has responded yet. I got it from a dealer in Bangalore who imported from Singapore and supplied to me.
I also own a Panasonic plasma, have seen several others including the latest LCDs and LEDs. Nothing ever comes close to the Kuro on black level. It is wonderful to watch, especially with Oppo blu-ray player with full HD.
The nearest that comes to Kuro is a Philips 22:9 LCD TV I happened to see till a year ago bit it looks to have vanished from the market. The Philips I saw was far superior to all those Sony and Samsung LCDs. Some recent Sharp LCDs also look great.
Anyway I hope my Pioneer will last for a few years though there are still some coming around asking for a resale which I don't think I will do.
cheers.
murali