I do see the "pops", its more like floating blacks. Prior year panasonics had them so I was kinda broken in on them. I dont watch movies in complete darkness, they are really a moot issue for me.
Since 2009 Ive owned a 50" Panny plasma, a 55" Toshiba LED LCD, a 58" Panny plasma, a 73" Dlp, a 55" Samsung LED LCD and this 64" Plasma. By far, this plasma is the best tv Ive ever owned, reason i know this, is I quit nitpicking things and mounted it on the wall. Every set out there has issues, while the panny has better blacks and no more fluctuations, it does not produce as good of color as the Samsung, and IMO, the Samsung image is more sharp. Panny's have always had a bit of a soft/natural image to me, which is fine, but I do like how the Samsung appears sharper. In this model year, it also seems the Samsung is better at resisting IR.
I have not personally seen the VT, but I know it's a great set too, you really cant go wrong with either because they all have issues. The big thing for Panny right now is the green blob, or what Id call uniformity issues. I had a green blob on my 50", but it never showed in real viewing, so once again, I think people over-hype these issues. As far as screen peeling, it was a real issue in the summer, but it seems mostly corrected. Samsung never said much but implemented a very good in home fix, so they did a good job IMO. Most people would have you think Samsung has horrible customer service, but Ive not seen it.