I never had any issues regarding black levels. I bought my 46" 9705 on mid-September 2010 (I was the first 46" 9705 own in Greece), and despite reading various rumors on the forums (about newer panels & board replacements), I was never tempted to send my TV to the service.
Regarding black levels, I had measured (with a special instrument called ColourMunki from Spectracal) the black level on an image provided by a plasma fan, and measured these:
http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/a...asurements.png
Of course I would like better blacks near black objects, but the blacks are satisfactory, and what I expected from a direct local dimming TV with 224 zones.

