One thing surely to notice here is that these ratings are for US and although the PQ, Feature & Design ratings might hold true for India but the pricing (value) might be entirely a different ball game.
Different websites will give different ratings. These can be considered but should not be taken as THE FINAL word.
In the "Value" column, I suppose that "Value" means "Value for Money". The ST50 is actually a mid-level plasma but in India it is sold as a near-premium brand. Much like Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas. So what you said is true - the value can be taken in different context in India.
When I was hunting for the TV, I considered the following models:
Price range: Around 100,000
Plasma: Panasonic 50UT50/50ST50 and Samsung 51E550
LED: Sony 46HX850/46HX750, Samsung UA46ES6800R/UA46ES6200R, LG 46LM6700/6690
I demo'ed all of them. Sadly, Panasonic 50UT50 was not available anywhere at that time.
I liked the Sony models, particularly the HX850 but the price was too high. Same was the case with LG. Almost all preferred LED TVs were basically costing more per square inch. In the showroom, there is no way one can test the light bleeding. I researched considerably on this factor and wondered whether that it would affect me. Also, room brightness, power consumption, and other such factors were also considered. In the end, I arrived at my own conclusion that only the following mattered to me most:
(with due apologies to the dialogue writer of
The Dirty Picture)
Picture Quality. Picture Quality. Picture Quality.
And when "Picture Quality" is considered, the black levels, shadow details, colour accuracy, and all other associated factors gain importance. I watch a lot of BDs and that was a very big factor. So final decision was between ST50 and E550. I felt that the E550 had more reflective surface and although it was lot cheaper (with BD package to boot), I finally settled for ST50.
