 Great new offering from Panasonic |
| Review Date: March 30, 2008 |
| Reviewer: R. Reuben, San Francisco Bay Area, CA United States |
If you are anything like me when trying to decide on which flat screen TV to buy, let me just say that you will not go wrong by choosing this 46" Panasonic plasma TV. I spent several days and multiple trips to electronic stores before getting this one. I have had the TV for nearly a month now and here's what I think:
Pros:
1. Fantastic contrast ratio - sometimes can even get too dark for my liking! (level of contrast can be adjusted via menu options)
2. Very handy 15 pin PC connection (I use this very often to view online movies and documentaries)
3. Very good color rendering. False contouring is minimal and typically only with weaker/lower res. signals
4. Sound is awesome! There appears to be 3 channels/speakers at the bottom of the piece. You have the ability to have surround capability (I do not have a home theater sound system connected).
5. Pixelation during fast motion very minimal (typical for the plasma)
6. Very good inbuilt tuner. I use it to get the off-the-air HD channels, great quality
7. Very good form factor - looks that will please most
8. Wide sturdy base
There are a lot of other features that I have not used as yet but overall, I am really very pleased with what I have seen so far. Note that I have not tried a blu-ray disc with the TV but seeing the quality with the 1080-i quality NCAA games this month has been phenomenal.
Cons:
1. It is my belief that the anti-reflective screen not quite as good as compared to the anti-glare coating the 2007 models had. My experience is based on comparison of bright warehouse lighting reflecting from the 2007 screens and the bright living room I currently have place the 2008 model in. With the anti-reflective screen on the 2008 model, I can see a reflection of myself when the picture is dark or dull and background lighting is moderate. For e.g. even in the nights, when I have a small average intensity lamp burning, I can see a reflection of myself in the screen.
Hard to think of other cons.
I definitely do not regret the PC input option for the $90 extra it cost me! Will add more as the weeks go by but overall a fantastic choice. |
Amazing tv
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| Review Date: April 10, 2008 |
| Reviewer: G. Laymon, Atlanta, GA |
I have been researching tv's for the past 6 months, and finally decided on the 46PZ85U. Prior to purchasing this tv, I bought a Samsung 5084 on clearance. I returned it as it did not perform as I expected, and decided to go with my original choice.
First, the 46 inch screen is perfect. When I began shopping for a tv I was planning to go with a 46 inch lcd because of the size and where I planned to put it, but further research led me to the plasma technology. The 50 inch was a little larger than I wanted and the 42 was too small.
I am extremely satisfied with my purchase as this tv has a picture second to none. I too was concerned about the reflections, but I have this tv in my family room with a lot of windows and it is not an issue.
I have only had it for two days now, so I will list the things I've noticed and will post an update after a while.
1. As stated before, the picture quality is amazing. It even looks good on sd channels...but HD channels blow me away. I can't wait to watch the Masters this weekend.
2. The sound quality is excellent. One of the reasons I returned the Samsung is because its sound quality was horrible. While I have a stereo with surround sound set up, I do not want to turn on the stereo for day to day viewing...only when watching movies.
3. The additional inputs are hidden on the sides...but easily accessable. One reason I opted for the 85U instead of the 80U is the location of these inputs. They are behind a hidden door on the 80U in the front of the tv...I have two small children and imagined this door being broken off within a week.
4. The layout and the clean looking bezel make this a very attractive tv. My wife liked that since it is in our family room.
I will post an update to this review once I enjoy the tv a little longer. For now, I am completely satisfied with my purchase.
Update (6/1/08)...after owning this tv for a few months, I am completely happy with this purchase. The picture is amazing, sounds great, and it is everything I expected. |
Great Experience
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| Review Date: May 21, 2008 |
| Reviewer: WWII Buff, Boston, MA |
I ordered this TV after doing a lot of online research and a little in-store research (to look at the picture quality in person). I basically followed the advice of many different reviews and decided to buy a Samsung LCD or a Panasonic Plasma. I finally picked a plasma because of the black colouration advantage of Panasonic as well as the fast action. My room is about normal in terms of lighting.
After doing price research, Amazon had the best price as it included white glove delivery. I found you need to be careful with the delivery issue as you can find lower price TV's online, but then the delivery services are very different in terms of service level and price.
The delivery was great. However, the TV comes with a stand (it slides into the back of the TV) but the delivery guys won't put the TV on the stand for you. Attaching the stand to the TV was easy and then subsequent set up to my DVD and cable boxes was very easy.
The picture quality is awesome. With digital HD cable service, it blows me away. (Even the service guy from the cable company was impressed the TV - so that must be a good sign!) I have had it for about a month, and everything is working fine.
The one thing that is disappointing is the remote. My whole set up is JVC, and the Panasonic remote will not control any of my components. The Owner's Manual lists a ton of codes to try, but none of them work, and unfortunately my JVC remotes won't work the Panasonic TV. However, my Tivo remote does control the TV so the multiple-remote issue only comes into play with my DVD player.
Make sure you buy the right cables. The HDMI is by far the best picture (for my Tivo). I use the component cables (Y, Pb, Pr) for my DVD - and they perform better than the other audio/video/S video option. You can get cables cheap here at Amazon, so buy them with the TV, then you won't need to run around and pay through the nose at your local store when the TV shows up!
I hope this helps someone. This is a great TV. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
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Expert gives reasons why this plasma was chosen over LCD
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| Review Date: December 26, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Ronald Epstein, NJ |
I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert in being able to pick and choose television displays. I run a Home Theater website, have gone to numerous consumer electronic shows, and have been very critical in the type of display I choose for myself, family and friends.
For the past few years I have owned a 1080p DLP display.
This year my brothers and I wanted to buy our Mother her very first flat panel display. It was a very difficult choice as to what we should pick. Her living room is surrounded by windows and for that reason, I felt that an LCD display would be the better choice. LCD screens do not reflect light in the manner that plasma does.
So, we went out and bought the Sony KDL-40V4100 40" LCD television (see my review on Amazon). Unfortunately, the display was defective out of the box and it had to be returned. I did have the opportunity to do a bit of viewing with the LCD and I was not particularly happy with what I saw. The LCD picture exhibited jagged motion and decreased quality when viewing from an angle. These are all problems inherent with LCD technology.
We knew we had to exchange the defective set, and made the choice to go plasma instead, despite knowing there were a few drawbacks with that technology.
It was my decision to go with Panasonic. Having attended consumer electronic shows year after year, I have had the opportunity to measure Panasonic plasma quality against other manufacturers. The best plasma displays come from Pioneer, Panasonic and Samsung. If you factor in price, Panasonic gives you best bang for the buck. Their plasma displays offer superior quality at a price that will not break your pocketbook.
We went with a 46" this time around, and picked up the TH46PZ85U.
Setup of the the display took the efforts of two people. Weighing in at about 82 pounds, it's nearly impossible for one person to assemble the stand, slide it into the bottom of the display and then place it on a stand or wall.
The display is very attractive with its black piano finish. Within a day we noticed that this baby is a dust magnet. It will be necessary to continually clean it in order for it to keep its sheen. A small cleaning cloth is included in the box.
The TH46PZ85U offers 3 HDMI inputs which is more than enough to hook up a cable box, DVD/Blu-ray player and whatever else you wish to add.
By far, plasma displays are the best choice for overall picture quality. They offer better color reproduction and saturation as well as deep blacks, which give the picture texture. LCD displays don't come quite as close. If this purchase was for me, I would have immediately picked a plasma. The big reason we decided not to pick plasma as our choice of display for our Mother, was the fact that plasma displays have to babied. You need to take careful steps in order to prevent any long-term damage.
For the first 100 hours of use you need to bring down the picture and brightness levels considerably. Put the display in CINEMA MODE with PICTURE and BRIGHTNESS at 50 or less. You also need to mix up your television watching not letting the display sit for hours on material with black bars on the top and bottom or sides. Doing this will prevent any possibility of "burn-in." After the initial 100 hour break-in you can bring up your picture levels again.
Television manufacturers claim that "burn-in" is no longer a problem with plasmas, but it does pay to stay on the side of caution. You can do a GOOGLE search to learn more about plasma "burn-in."
So, let me get to the meat of this review and talk about the picture quality of the TH46PZ85U.
In a word, the picture is REMARKABLE. We are breaking in the television at the moment so its settings are turned down below normal. Though I was not viewing the Panasonic in optimal calibrated settings, I was still impressed with the improved picture quality over LCD. The image was morefilm-like, with natural and relaxed colors. Though I was surprised by the quality of the black levels on the LCD display, they were noticeably better on this plasma. Looking at a picture on a plasma is very much looking at a deeply
detailed painting. I never got that feeling watching LCD.
Since we were not hooking the TH46PZ85U to a surround system, we relied on the built-in speakers which offered remarkably full audio. The advanced sound settings allows you to tweak the treble and bass levels, with an optional bass booster setting. Sound was quite good, though as I applied more bass the audio became distorted at louder levels.
Reflection on a plasma display can be a problem. I did find when watching the Panasonic at night that all lights in the living room needed to be off if we didn't want to catch a distracting reflection. During the day, sitting in a room surrounded by windows, we did get get lines on the television from sunlight creeping in through open blinds.
These are factors you should consider when picking plasma over LCD. The Panasonic display does have an anti-reflective screen which works fairly well for daytime viewing. Honestly, I suppose the reflections we saw could have been far worse. We were easily able to watch television during the day without being distracted.
Having the ability to view LCD and PLASMA in my home was a huge learning experience. I learned that LCD is perfect for those that don't want the hassle of having to baby their display, and having a hugely bright picture in their sunny room without the fear of reflection. The only downsides to LCD is its ability to handle fast moving motion and decreased quality at certain viewing angles.
If you want the very best quality that these type of flat panel displays offer, you want to go PLASMA. Hands down, they offer rich, natural colors with deep black levels. The only downsides are reflection and the fact that caution must be taken in the way you watch television.
The Panasonic TH46PZ85U exhibits picture quality that is nothing short of nirvana. You will be amazed by its ability to deliver uncompromising picture quality to your home. |
I finally made the right choice
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| Review Date: August 21, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Candy Graff, Yakima, WA USA |
So, after being completely dissapointed, and overcharged with a 42" Dell plasma (Phillips tv packaged in a Dell skin) that suddenly stopped working after a mere 3 years, I finally got the Panasonic plasma that I had wanted in the first place. The 46" Panasonic Viera is a great plasma, period! The colors are sharp, the blacks are deep, the packaging (skin) is pleasing, and the setup and remote are comp
Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at
3:57 am
They want to show your photos on your HDTV back? Good idea, but it is not easy as it seems – Your digital camera does not store files way to view HDTV. Here are tips and tools to optimize the process of HD slideshow.
Most 6-12-megapixel camera captures images that contain many more pixels and detail you need, even for high-definition televisions that most colossal 1920 1080-pixel resolution (approximately 2 megapixels). These images also have a different form: the most compact and digital SLR Olympus and Panasonic, take pictures with 4:3 aspect ratio; other digital SLR cameras to capture images of 3:2. But HDTV screens have a ratio of 16:9 and see the photos are not retouched with bars of width on each side. Start to crop images in 16:9 format with a resolution of about 2m.
Another problem? Most HDTVs are optimized for color and image quality of video and television signals from HD-enabled cable and satellite boxes and DVD players. (The Blu-ray and HD-DVD can still view images in true high definition.) These signals usually look better with more color saturation, contrast and sharpness – all of which you will find that the default parameters HDTV .
Unless you change the settings of the TV menu, optimized for printing photos from digital cameras appear too light or contrast. Fortunately, you can alter the settings once and save presentations newcomers. Save images in the sRGB color space to minimize the difference in color.
Only a few have integrated card readers HDTV – and are slow, take only SD or Memory Stick, and not to optimize the image size and color. Most cameras have a video output, but is generally limited to VGA (640 480 pixels), which seems awful on an HDTV.
Fortunately, several cheap devices, such as the Kodak EasyShare HDTV station ($ 100 street) and Sony Cyber-shot Station CSS-HD1 ($ 70 street) may be connected to your HDTV and allow slide 720p, 1080i or 1080p. These banks also charge compatible cameras and include remote controls, but does not provide transitions or parts sophisticated multimedia slide show with music.
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 at
2:58 pm
Amazon.com Price: Too low to display (as of 2010-07-30 01:25:51 GMT) Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
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User Reviews
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| Panasonic VIERA G10 Series TC-P46G10 46-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV |
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| Manufacturer: Panasonic |
| Customer Rating: |
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| List Price: $1,499.95 |
| Sale Price: Too low to display |
| Availibility: Usually ships in 24 hours |
 Free Shipping Available |
| Buy Now |
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Product Description |
| 46" Plasma, 1080p, THX, Viera Cast, H.264, IP Camera Ready, PC Input, NEO PDP Panel which is brighter, Full-time 1080p TV lines of moving picture resolution, 3 HDMI, Native contrast ratio 40,000:1, Dynamic contrast infinite black 2,000,000:1, Game Mode, Anti Reflective Filter, 600 Hz Subfield Drive |
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Product Details |
- 1920 x 1080 resolution
- Native contrast 40,000:1, Dynamic contrast 2,000,000:1 Infinite black for the brightest whites and darkest blacks
- 46" Inch Plasma
- THX Certified display
- PC Input; 3 HDMI
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Video Reviews |
 No video reviews found for this product.
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Customer Reviews |
Panasonic G10--Excellent Picture Quality and Price Combination
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| Review Date: May 16, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Feng Zhou, Washington, DC |
This is based on my experience with the TC-P50G10, which is identical to P46 but with a larger screen. I bought it three weeks ago, and am very happy with it. I did a lot of research and tried out a number of TVs before settling down on this one, so I thought I would share some of the information and my experience with the TV, and hopefully make your decision in choosing the TV a bit easier.
First thing first. According to my research, the Panasonic G10 probably has the best picture quality among all TVs in mass production as of the time of this review (May, 2009). Most importantly it has pitch dark black level, scorching brightness, high color accuracy, and good motion processing.
I chose the Panasonic plasma over Sony and Samsung LCD for a few reasons. (1) Compared to 120Hz LCDs, Panasonic is significantly cheaper than Sony and Samsung. (2) I think the G10 is better in handling motion than the 120HZ LCDs. (3) The colors on the plasma are more appealing to me than those on the LCDs. (4) It has superior viewing angle. It looks perfect from any angle you will actually watch the TV without washing out the color, prserving the quality of the color.
The third point on color appeal is subjective and calls for description of subjective experience. There are lots of technical comparison of the colors on different displays on the internet, but my perceptual experience is that the colors on the panasonic plasma is very vibrant, punchy, tantalizing, and mesmerizing. The colors look like things in real life, but they are more intense than real life. A friend said "it's prettier than real, but not distorted. It is just like an enhanced colorful world." If you prefer high fedelity to real life colors, you can use the THX mode to tune it down to be very faithful to studio color measures. LCD in comparison is also very vibrant, but it doesn't look as realistic. It's more like computer graphics and less like colors of living things. Technically, this may have to do with the deeper black level on the plasma than the LCD.
Before the G10, I had the Panasonic Viera TH-46PZ80U 46-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV. Both TVs have very appealing colors, but I returned the PZ80U and got the G10 because the G10 has a number of important improvements over the PZ80U: it has a brighter plasma display, has a VGA PC input, lower energy consumption, and more accurate color. Also, its frame is more compact, so I can fit a 50" G10 into the space that would only hold a 46" PZ80U. In fact, the G10 is brighter and more contrasty than last year's top model Panasonic TH-50PZ850U 50-inch Viera 1080p Plasma HDTV.
What else do I like about the TV? It is very bright for a Plasam TV. According to tech specs and online reviews, it is the bightest plasma ever made. In Custom Mode, it is more than bright enough to watch in my room with direct sun light (sun light in the room not on the TV). In Vivid Mode, "you should prepare to put on your ski googles". In fact, it's too bright and overly constrasty and saturated for regular viewing. However, it is quite useful in displaying low resolution and low quality online video such as YouTube or Netflix Instant Watch. The extra boost in brightness, contrast, and saturation make the low quality online video look much more appealing and lively.
VieraCast is kinda cool. Not a deal maker but certainly not a drawback. I used third party firmware DD-WRT to set up a Linksys WRT54G2 Wireless-G Broadband Router as a wireless bridge. So the TV can get online without running a cable to my main router.
I find this TV fits my needs perfectly. But no TV is perfect, at least not for the technically savvy.
So here are the cons:
(1) The sound is mediocre. It is fine to watch a TV show, but lackluster to watch a good movie or music show.
(1.2) True Cinema 24-frame mode flickering is perceptually disturbing because the refresh rate is set to 48 Hz in the mode. It is a pitty because motion does look much more life like and less video like in True-Cinema mode. Wish the TV could run at 72 Hz.
(2) My PC only has VGA out but no DVI out. (This point does not matter for those with DVI out on their computer. A DVI to VGA cable will work fine) The VGA input on the TV does not support 1080 HD. It only supports up to 1280x768. Panny should not cut corner here. Although this problem doesn't really matter for video contents because most computer video resolution is less than 1280x768. And the pixel interpolation effect on the Plasma is more like a CRT and less like an LCD. So the set is reasonably good at displaying contents with resolution lower than its native res.
(3) VieraCast needs improvement. The content is still limited. The search function of Youtube on VieraCast is not as easy to use as on a computer. The Amazon video on demand price is way too high (but this is not really Panny's problem). I would kill for a firmware upgrade that enables Netflix streaming.
(4) The remote is not as well laid out as the one on PZ80. The 3 big buttons above the directional keys are occupied by the rarely used VieraLink, VieraCast and VieraTool. The commonly used Menu key is moved to a small key. Totally wrong choice of ergonomics.
(5) VGA PC input is paired with RCA audio input. I wish it is a 3.5mm (1/8 ") mini jack instead, which will allow a single cable cable integrating VGA video and mini jack audio. Now I have to use two cables.
(6) The stand does not swivel.
Regardless of the above drawbacks, overall I find this TV to have the best picture quality and price combination. The pros by far outweigh the cons. The picture quality of this TV is truly amazing, as such some calls it "The New King of Plasma." Anyone seriously considering an HDTV should take a look at this one, now that the Pioneer Kuro exited the market.
I highly recommend it. |
Panasonic Plamsas: The Hidden Secret in TV value
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| Review Date: July 29, 2009 |
| Reviewer: B. Wendell, Dallas, TX |
There has to be something wrong with plasmas, right?
That's what I kept telling myself as I searched for the perfect TV for my needs and budget.
I mean, this TCP46G10 I was looking at was hundreds of dollars less than comparably sized LCD TVs, got better reviews from CNET and Consumer Reports, and had better motion handling and viewing angles.
But I went to my local Best Buy or Fry's and only saw a few dusty plasmas in the corner of their showrooms. I got funny looks as I gave them some interest.
I saw several other customers basking in the fluorescent glow of the inaccurately bright colors of the LCD screens and realized that these people were essentially moths drawn to a flame. That must be why LCDs are selling so well.
What's more: It seemed like the LCDs (and even the LED-based LCDs) were touting all of these advancements that made their TVs more like plasmas. Plasma-like motion handling. Black levels like a plasma TV. Near-plasma viewing angles.
Well if they're selling themselves as almost like plasmas, why don't I just GET a plasma and save $500?
That settled it. I drove home and fired off an order for the TCP46G10 right away. (Amazon's prices were the lowest, and their shipping was fast and free.) The colors are natural (and plenty bright, thank you), and the motion is crisp.
In fact, there's nothing wrong with my plasma at all. |
Great picture, good sound, great value!
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| Review Date: May 7, 2009 |
| Reviewer: C. Barbarito, |
I've had the TV for a few weeks to evaluate it before writing a review and I can say that overall I'm very happy. Normally on a purchase like this I would tend to have some kind of buyer's remorse but so far I haven't.
The picture is great but as others have said, a bit dim on Standard. I've been using a customized Game setting for regular viewing which brightens things up a bit. The THX setting with Blu-Ray is great in a darkened room. I'm still playing with the picture settings, and while the experts seem to think there aren't enough to 'perfect' the picture quality I think there seem to be more than enough to adjust the TV to your preference.
The sound is very good considering it has downward facing speakers. I've listened to other TVs with that configuration that sound downright terrible; the Panasonic is way better. For watching regular TV, sports, etc. where you don't want to turn on the whole surround system, you will be very happy with the sound quality. My wife, who hates turning on more than one gizmo to watch and listen to TV, is very happy she can just use one remote.
A complaint that I have is some of the labels aren't very intuitive. For instance, if you want full 1920x1080 you have to select Size 2 to get no overscan. Why not just say 1920x1080 or 100%? There should be better explanations for the various choices. Another complaint is that the optical audio out only sends a 5.1 signal for the TV setting (over the air/cable settings); for all other devices it sends a digital stereo signal. I was hoping to eliminate some cables but alas the optical out doesn't make that happen. Panasonic confirmed that this is the case and there is no plan to change it.
The VieraCast is a very interesting function albeit a little slow. I have my TV connected via an ethernet bridge and it's been fun toying with YouTube videos on the screen. Amazon on Demand is also available but I haven't used that function yet. Rumor has it that Netflix on demand will be coming soon and that would be a great option.
Even with the complaints I have this is a great TV. The picture is great, the sound is very good, and the price was right. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new TV.
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You may never leave your TV room!
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| Review Date: September 29, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Top Dawg, |
I got this model from Amazon about a month ago. Delivery service was excellent. They arrived within the time window and carefully set everything up and waited until I confirmed everything was working.
For the first 100 hours, I used the Standard picture mode with contrast and brightness at 50. After that I used the Spears & Munsil disk to tune. The picture is outstanding. Very detailed, bright and realistic. No one who buys this tv will be sorry.
I found the THX mode too dim and washed out. None of the out of the box modes looked good to me for live sports. The professional reviewers like CNET recommend brightness at a level too high for my tastes (it produces a haze over the picture). They also recommend the Warm2 color temperature which makes the picture look too yellow too me. I thought I would share my settings for those who aren't quite happy with the picture they are getting.
For live sports:
Picture mode: Game
Contrast: 100
Brightness: 60
Color: 58
Tint: -3
Sharpness: 50
Color temp: Cool1
HDsize2
Turn off all the other video processing filters
For movies and general tv watching:
Picture mode: Custom
Contrast: 75
Brightness: 41
Color: 46
Tint: -2
Sharpness: 50
Color temp: Normal
HDsize2
Turn off all the other video processing filters
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Awesome, so far!
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| Review Date: May 19, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Goofy Jessie, |
| First of all, if you're considering buying this monitor, buy it through Amazon. Great price. Free delivery. They set it up for you (White glove delivery included). Secondly, inspect it before you sign the delivery paperwork. No one is perfect. The delivery company that Amazon uses to deliver their HDTV monitors is very good in my limited experience (three HDTV purchases online.) Now, this Panasonic monitor itself delivers amazing picture quality. The THX mode is best for watching movies right out of the box. Yes, it can be calibrated in the custom mode, and believe it or not, the picture can be even better. For the price, this model can't be beat. If you're still not sure, go to CNET and read their professional review of this model or visit a forum like AVS. By the way, some people are reporting a loud buzzing sound in some of the units they purchased. I, however, am happy to report that no such problem exists with my unit. |
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Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 at
6:31 am
Amazon.com Price: $739.99 (as of 2010-07-30 01:52:39 GMT) Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
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User Reviews
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| Panasonic VIERA X1 Series TC-P42X1 42-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV |
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| Manufacturer: Panasonic |
| Customer Rating: |
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| List Price: $749.95 |
| Sale Price: $739.99 |
| Availibility: Usually ships in 24 hours |
| Free Shipping Available |
| Buy Now |
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Product Description |
| 42" Plasma, 720p, 3 HDMI, Native contrast ratio 30,000:1, Dynamic contrast infinite black 2,000,000:1, Game Mode, Anti Reflective Filter, 600 Hz Subfield Drive |
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Product Details |
- 42-inch plasma 720p HDTV with three HDMI inputs
- 600Hz Sub-field Drive produces crisp, focused images for sports, dramatic action, and all other fast-moving scenes
- VIERA Image Viewer lets you share your digital photos with friends and family directly from SD cards
- Lets you control your compatible Panasonic DVD recorder, Blu-ray Disc player, home theater sound system and HD camcorder, with a single remote
- Contrast Ratio: 30,000:1 Native, Infinite Black Panel
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Video Reviews |
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No video reviews found for this product.
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Customer Reviews |
Awesome TV and Delivery Service
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| Review Date: April 26, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Mehmet, Seattle, WA USA |
I purchased this from Amazon.com, with the scheduled delivery from CEVA. Ordered last sunday, delivery was one week later. Having the option of sunday delivery was great, and the delivery was very professional and definitely white glove.
Two people brought the TV in (carrying properly as this is a plasma), opened the box, put the TV on the stand, powered the TV on and waited for me to check whether there is any problem with the TV. They also offered to remove packaging if I wanted to get rid of it. Sometimes you cannot even get such good service when you pay $100+ for shipping. Given that shipping was free, I was thrilled.
TV is awesome, right out of the box. It looks great, works great. Picture is top notch. I put in an HD-DVD version of Transformers and was amazed at the picture quality. This is my first plasma TV and I believe it is much better than LCD. I had a Samsung 4061F before, and this TV has better picture than that one, despite the Samsung being 1080P and this being 720P. There's no motion blur whatsoever on this TV.
Checking on the web a little, I made the settings to be: pic mode custom, contrast +78, brightness +57, color +53, tint -9, sharpness +29, everything else off, black levels light and temp normal. These settings turned out to be perfect for the TV.
Five stars for the TV, purchasing experience and the delivery service. |
Much better than LCD!
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| Review Date: April 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: B. WEI, Texas |
Currently, I have 4 HDTVs in my house. Sony Bravia LCD (less than 1 year old and it is a 1080P), Sony HD Cineza (1080i) in my theater room, Panasonic Plasma EDTV (about 9 years old which I pay a lot of money for it when Plasma first came out) and the newly purchased Panasonic VIERA X1 Series TC-P42X1 (720P). I can tell you that this Plasma is much better than the $1499 Sony Bravia LCD 1080P. The picture is super clear even just connect it with cable and Satellite. DVD is incredible and you do not need a Blue-Ray player becasue regular DVD is just as good as Blue-Ray on this one. I have all the technologies, cable/DirecTV, Toshiba HD-DVD player, Sony PS3 Blue-Ray, DVD recorder all connected to this set. So far this is the best $800 plasma you can buy. My old Panasonic Plasma which just was an Enhanced Definition and it is about 10 years now and the picture is still looking good. I never had any problem with Panasonic TV and it is a better brand in Japan than Sony. Go get one, you will be pleased!
P.S. The sound quality on this set is also above what other brands can offer. You have to hear and see it! |
I made the right choice! Love this TV!
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| Review Date: May 13, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Joe Miller, CT, USA |
So I wont write a book about this TV, but I'll share my experience best I can.
I spent months deciding on a TV. Did I want LCD or Plasma? 50" or 40"? Panasonic, Sony, or Samsung? Etc etc. I even went to a couple stores and looked at them, that only helped to further confuse the situation.
So after lots of reading online and researching specifics like 720p vs 1080p and LCD vs Plasma, I decided to go with this one. Between the customer reviews, the specs, and the price....I couldn't find anything better.
The color is absolutely perfect! The 42" screen is exactly the right size for my room (couch is about 8-10ft away and its mounted above the fireplace). I mainly watch movies or play xbox 360, and I really had a hard time finding reviews on TV's from people with 360's. I just want to clarify that all my games look awesome! COD4, COD5, Assassin's creed, Fallout 3, all of them look incredible. The only issue is that some times it judders the picture. Not often, and not enough for me to worry, but it does happen once and awhile.
I hooked this TV up to a Onkyo 7.1 surround sound system, and mounted it on the wall with a mount from monoprice ($50 mount that swivels, tilts, and moves away from the wall). Everyone that has come over and seen it loves it. I finally have the perfect setup for myself!
And ordering from Amazon was a pleasure as always. The box did come with a big rip in it, but I wrote the info down on the delivery guys paper and took a chance. TV has zero problems and is packed well from the factory to take abuse.
Ease of install - 10
Aesthetics - 10
Picture quality - 10
Price - 10 |
Can't beat this value/price point for a 42
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| Review Date: June 9, 2009 |
| Reviewer: John, Newton, MA USA |
I already have a Sharp Aquos 46" and a Panasonic 42" Plasma--both 2 years old--and I love them both. I bought the Panasonic Viera 42" X1 about two weeks ago for $[...], and you can now get it for $[...] at a couple of places (like one of the other reviewers, I was able to use the [...]). The new X1 is definitely better than either of the other TVs I own in terms of black levels, lack of blurring, and power consumption. Connectivity is excellent, with 3 HDMI inputs. The SD card slots are nice, too, although I consider the SD card stuff to be a fringe benefit and not a core reason to buy this set. I had read a couple of expert reviews stating that it's not possible to tell the difference between 720p and 1080p on sets less than 46", and my own experience bears this out. Since I look at high resolution images for a living, I am probably as picky as you can get about image quality and resolution. For me, the Panasonic X1 is definitely the best 720p unit out there, and you don't need to waste money on a 1080p unit that is only 42" or less. I spent many weeks comparing picture quality side-by side on Panasonic, Samsung, Vizio, Sharp, and Toshiba, among others, at several different stores and in every case the Panasonic was clearly superior.
The picture quality right out of the box is excellent, but I used the settings described elsewhere in these reviews and in on-line columns and the picture is even better. It took less than 5 minutes to do this because the Panasonic menu is clear and intuitive to follow. Picture quality on non-HD channels is also excellent.
Sound quality is noticeably better than on any of the other brands in the same price range, though if you're going to connect it to a surround-sound system this feature won't make a difference to you. The hum mentioned in a previous review is clearly a one-off thing, and probably due to non-TV electrical interference issues in the reviewer's apartment.
I love the richness of colors on an LCD set, but when you are watching fast-action stuff like sports, the 600Hz X1 is far less blurry than any LCD TV within $[..]of this set--just look at a baseball or hockey game and try watching the ball or puck on an LCD (even the new 240Hz ones) vs. the Panasonic X1 plasma and you'll see what I mean. Glare, even in daylight in a room with lots of windows, is minimal although I would give the edge to my Sharp Aquos LCD in this regard.
If there is a drawback to the Panasonic X1 it is the lack of PC connectivity, but with a cable and adaptor available from most good electronics stores (like You-Do-It Electronics in my area) you can overcome this issue as well. Another potential drawback is that the response time is rated at 8ms, which some gamers would find slower than ideal, but since I don't use the TV for games I could care less. Again, to find a set with a 4ms response time requires spending a lot more $$.
I agree with other reviews that the remote is relatively basic and could use a backlight, but this is par for the course in TVs in this price range, and I found the response time of the remote was excellent (ie, pressing a button resulted in an immediate effect with no lag). Since like most people I use my cable remote to handle everything, the TV remote just sits near the set unused once I set the TV up and adjusted the picture settings.
For me, this is by far the best value in a 42" HDTV. |
I's a poppin
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| Review Date: June 25, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Guy J. Sherr, Washington, DC |
I did a pretty large amount of research into HDTV before I chose this unit. I have been in the IT business for about 30 years now, and I have seen everything from CRT to LCD for small/medium/large/incomprehensible stuff. One thing about LCD screens is that no matter how one tunes the output, many of them produce obvious ghost lines (look carefully -- the straight lines usually stand out, and ghostly seam is about 3 millimeters to the right of the picture). I decided to go with plasma because they are brilliant emitters, and because the picture itself never has the ghostly seams.
The VIERA I got does things that are amazing. Black on this unit is black -- any blacker and there would be a singularity involved. I waited until 6/24 to activate HD programming, and made a quick comparison of Spongebob Squarepants. In standard definition, the picture has artifacts in it, but you have to work to find them because of the 600hz subfield processing of the picture. Anyway, in high definition, the picture has no artifacts at all, every line in the cartoon looks like it was drawn right there on your screen! I really could go on and on.
Color is no more brilliant, but the overall quality of the picture is much, much higher than on older sets. With this unit, watching HD is like watching Kodachrome move. You really have to see it. Sound is not bad. Only 720p native; but it does an accurate job of down-converting 1080p. Even so, this thing is like a geyser of cool mountain water in the Sahara.
Despite its bulk, it can be single-handedly mounted on a VESA mount. Use as many extenders as possible -- otherwise the cord yard is unmanageable without taking the unit off the wall. Also, with the picture on full brightness, the screen is only as warm as a handshake (back in the 80's, touch sensitive plasma terminals usually got uncomfortably hot to the touch). Picture has excellent visibility from about 12 feet at nearly any angle. A trio of 100W equivalent compact about 4 feet away interferes with the picture, however, the anti-glare coating works. The bulbs reflect as bulbs on the screen, but only about an eighth of the screen is overwhelmed by their light, and the rest of the screen is not reflecting back much, if any at all. |
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Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 at
2:54 am
720-line HD
The 720-line is the most common format for the launch of HD television. The 720-line system is 1280 pixels wide, if the resolution is 1280 x 720, giving a little ‘more than twice the resolution of 625 line standard definition picture.
1080-line HD
1080-The online system is another common HD format.
An online system in 1080 has 1080 vertical pixels and 1920 horizontal pixels, with up to five times the resolution of an image in standard definition.
Aspect Ratio
This is the ratio between the width of photos on his height. The aspect ratio of a standard TV is 4:3, while HDTV has an aspect ratio of 16:9, for a more intense viewing experience. The most common names for the aspect ratio is widescreen or letterbox.
AC-3
Also known as Dolby Digital is the 5.1 channel sound system specified in the standard for digital HDTV, offering CD quality digital audio from six speakers, front left, right and center (where most voice comes from), rear left and right plus a subwoofer for deep, to produce his films! True 5.1 channel is available only through a home theater system
Bit Rate
Bits per second or bps, expresses the rate at which data is transmitted. In general, the higher the bitrate, the better quality picture and sound.
Brightness
Expressed in candelas per square meter of brightness (cd/m2) simply indicates the amount of light emitted from the screen. A candle, an image clearer.
Component Video
Three jack connectors (usually red, green and blue RCA) for transmission and reception of signals from component video. The combination of these signals to transmit all picture information.
Contrast Ratio
In essence, the contrast ratio is a comparison of a black screen, such as contrast ratio of black and white white.A higher indicates that the screen colors will be richer.
DVI
Digital Video Interface. DVI is a type of connector cable that has a high bandwidth connection between a video source and display device.
EPG
Electronic Programmer’s Guide. A screen display of channels and data programmer.
HDMI
High Definition Multimedia Interface is a digital connection for video / audio data. It provides a high quality video signal is delivered to the display via a single cable.
HDCP
This is a system of copyright protection is embodied in receivers and HD displays. Stands out for its high-definition digital content protection and prevent unauthorized use of protected content.
LCD TV
LCD flat screen televisions are designed to provide superior images. A solution of liquid crystal is sandwiched between two panels and electrified. This causes the crystals to act as components, allowing for some ‘light through the other light blocking. Taxes on electrified crystal form the image on the LCD TV.
Pixels
A pixel is literally a single point on the screen and the pixel forming the image on the screen. The more pixels, the better the image. With HDTV, there are many more pixels (typically 1920 x 1080 or 1280 x 720), standard definition TV (720 x 576) or a tank, an image clearer and sharper.
Plasma Display
A plasma television is a consistent way to view HDTV. The image is created by hundreds of thousands of tiny cells filled with ionized gas in a plasma state.
Resolution
Measure the amount of detail that the image can show. HD has a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080, which equates to 2,073,000 pixels whereas the standard definition has a resolution of 720 x 576. The higher the resolution better the resulting image.
Standard Definition (SDTV)
This is the traditional definition television, currently in use. A standard definition image is 720 x 576 pixels.
Viewing Angle
LCD were originally designed as computer monitors, and as such have been designed for the head on display. Viewed from another angle of the screens at the beginning lost much of their contrast and brightness. In response to that manufacturers are increasingly viewing angles for LCD, whose quality is maintained. Viewing angles as high as 176 degrees, are now met.
Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at
4:35 pm
Amazon.com Price: $968.20 (as of 2010-07-30 01:42:23 GMT) Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
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User Reviews
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| Panasonic VIERA S1 Series TC-L32S1 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV |
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Product Description |
Panasonic's new VIERA S1 Series LCDs HDTVs feature impressive improvements in picture quality, and are just right for gaming and enjoying your favorite hi-def TV shows.  Ideal for gaming and enjoying your favorite
high-definition TV shows
Click to enlarge |  With VIERA Tools, just press a button and access photos or movies from the menu screen |  In Game mode, quicker image response increases the enjoyment of video games |  Remote included, with VIERA Link capability | Motion Focus Technology
Even fast-moving scenes are displayed sharply and clearly. With a 60Hz video signal input, 120Hz Motion Picture Pro 3 makes 120 frames/sec from 60 frames/sec. This increases the frame count to allow natural frame-to-frame transitions, for smooth motion images with high resolution. VIERA also uses motion focus technology that greatly enhances resolution. Wide Viewing Angle
The wide 178 viewing angle ensures clear images even when viewed from an angle. The backlight's wide transmission aperture enhances the contrast between light and dark, and improves motion-image response. VIERA Image Viewer
It's easy to view full-HD images with the SD card slot. Watch and show your photos right after you take them. Simply insert an SD card into VIERA to display photos on the large screen. You can also choose from among 3 types of background music and 4 display effects. It's much more fun when you can view them on a large-screen HDTV with family and friends in 1920 x 1080-pixel high definition and a wide 16:9 aspect ratio. Fine Black Panel
Panel reflections have been reduced to half those of conventional panels, to sharpen images and reduce glare. This also helps to unify the panel design with that of the VIERA lineup. VIERA Link
VIERA Link allows interconnected operation of various AV devices using only the VIERA remote control, by simply connecting the devices to each other by an HDMI cable. VIERA Tools
With the new VIERA Tools user interface, simply press a button on the remote control and icons such as the photos or movies from the menu screen appear. Now you can just select the one you want. This kind of easy operation means you have more fun and less hassle. Game Mode
In Game mode, quicker image response increases the enjoyment of video games when a game console is connected to the TV. What's more VIERA produces the dark images in video games more clearly. This mode works anti-image retention (wobbling) too. Connections
- SD Memory Card Slot (SDHC Compatible): 1 (JPEG playback)
- HDMI Input: 3 (1 side)
- Analog Audio Input (for HDMI): Yes
- Composite Video Input: 2 (1 side)
- S-Video Input: 1 (side)
- Audio Input (for Video): 2 (1 side)
- PC Input: 1
- Component Video Inputs (Y, PB, PR): 1
- Audio Input (for Component Video): 1
- Digital Audio Output: 1 (5.1 ch)
- Headphone Jack: 1
What's in the Box
Panasonic VIERA S1 Series TC-L32S1 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV, Remote Control and Batteries, Cleaning Cloth, Pedestal, Operating Instructions, Quick Start Gude, Product Registration Card, Customer Care Plan Card Which Size HDTV is Right for My Room? 
| With standard-definition TVs, the rule used to be that viewers would feel comfortable watching a set from a distance of 3 to 6 times the screen size in inches. With HDTV, the resolution is so much better that you can sit closer to a larger TV without noticing the pixels. So with HDTVs, the rule tends to be you can sit anywhere from 1.5 to 3 times the screen size (in inches) for the best experience. If you know the size of the room you have already, where you want to sit, and where your new HDTV should go once you get it, you can figure out the size HDTV you should get. - Minimum size = Viewing distance/3
- Maximum size=Viewing distance/1.5
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Product Details |
- 31.5-inch LCD HDTV panel with full 1080p HD resolution
- Motion Focus Technology reduces motion blur and improves resolution
- Wide 178-degree viewing angle ensures clear images even when viewed off-angle
- SD card slot and Viera Image Viewer make photo sharing easy
- Four HD inputs: three HDMI, one component
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Video Reviews |
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No video reviews found for this product.
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Customer Reviews |
Excellent TV
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| Review Date: December 30, 2009 |
| Reviewer: M. Beverley, San Francisco |
Bottom line, this TV is currently ranked the 3rd best 32inch TV according to consumer reports, only behind the much more costly Samsungs, but ahead of the more costly Sonys. Tier one brand, great price, buy with confidence.
My TV situation: stood in the corner of formal living room, designed not to dominate room, used a few hours a day.
My TV viewing: general TV, casual films (no gaming or surround sound serious cinema).
My TV source: digital antenna/OTA/ATSC (no cable or sat) via Tivo HD, plus Netflix and Amazon video on demand.
I was shopping to replace my old 27inch CRT TV and a 32inch LCD is a perfect size for that. There is a bewildering choice out there. In a big box store I honestly could not tell the difference between the many manufacturers. Reading user reviews on line was ultimately a waste of time as someone always has a complaint or some unique need or set up.
I made my choice for this TV because of 1) the excellent professional reviews by consumer reports 2) brand quality reputation, 3) great amazon price, 4) clean case design 5) good number of inputs.
The picture by the way is excellent without modifications, bright, clear, viewing angle is not an issue.
Considerations: I technically probably didn't need a 1080p TV, 720p would have been fine as most TV signals are that, and I would not see the benefit at my viewing distance at 10+ ft, but this TV gives me flexibility to use with higher quality sources like HD downloads, gaming consoles or as a PC monitor in future. This 1080p model was also not much more expensive than a 720p model.
I wasn't sold on on the added cost for 120Hz for my needs: 120Hz does not seem to matter for TV signals, only 24fps movies, and if you're into serious cinema you're probably not looking at 32inch :-)
Sound on this TV, like most 32inch TVs, is from 2x10w speakers, and is absolutely fine for a living room and casual viewing, I have not had to go above 50/100 on the volume level. |
Overall the best 32 inch set for games and computer usage
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| Review Date: January 29, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Miles Jacob, Laguna Beach, CA United States |
Pros
-good quality IPS panel, a superior LCD technology generally used in just a few premium computer monitors. Panasonic, NEC, and Apple are among the only manufacturers who guarantee IPS panels. Few other TV makers use them and even when they do, companies such as Samsung, Dell, LG have been known to swap them for inferior cheaper panels after initial positive reviews are published.
-less than a single frame of input lag with progressive sources, and a good quality de-interlacer which adds merely a single frame of lag, making this one of the best gaming TVs for ANY price.
-horizontal and vertical viewing angles are nearly as good as CRT and plasma, no color shifting
-saturated and accurate color (when calibrated), crisp and bright, no banding of gradients, no loss of detail in shadows or highlights, extremely rare for an affordable television
-S-Video, Component, Composite, and 3 HDMI inputs, both digital and analog audio outputs
-1920x1080 signal can be displayed 1:1 with no cutting off of the edges, such as from a PC with a DVI-HDMI cable
-a wide variety of VGA input timings are supported
Cons
-VGA input resolution limited to 1280x1024
-diagonal viewing turns blacks gray (just make sure the TV is placed at eye level to get the ideal wide viewing angles)
-the speakers are somewhat weaker than other similar TVs
-only Cinema mode (with brightness at 50 and Contrast at 100) has reasonably accurate color, the other modes make color changes that are not user accessible.
-fluorescent backlight gives slightly bluish "Normal" color temp, "Warm" looks best
-the black levels are good enough, but not remarkable
-colored text is slightly fuzzy even at 1:1 pixel resolution due to subpixel font rendering techniques of OSX and Windows (still readable and better than turning subpixel smoothing off, but this TV is not ideal for use as a full time web/productivity computer monitor, it is perfect for a media PC however) |
Great Gaming TV
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| Review Date: December 18, 2009 |
| Reviewer: J. West, |
I started out on my venture to purchase a new gaming TV (mainly for my PS3). My old set was a 27" Samsung CRT that had some really bad coloring and geometry issues. I finally got fed up and decided to start looking around for a 1080p LCD that would fit into my existing entertainment cabinet. After reading a bunch of reviews online, I discovered this horrible affliction that all LCD TVs experience - Input Lag. Generally, if a TV has a good/great picture (Sony and Samsung), it has more input lag. If you want a TV with low input lag, the picture won't be as good. As mainly a gaming TV, I decided to try to find a TV set with great input lag numbers with a good picture. After hearing how well previous Panasonic models were for gaming, I decided to get this TV.
Well, I couldn't be more satisfied with my purchase! Not only is the input lag very low but the picture quality is quite good. The colors are very good, but the blacks aren't as good as a Samsung or Sony. Mind you, I haven't had much time to go diving into the color/service menus to fine tune the display. Also, I cannot rate how well it handles SD signals as everything I've used it for have been 1080i/p native. Yes, the sound volume from the TV is pretty bad, as most reviewers have mentioned. But this is a non-issue if you have a receiver to hook it up to.
PROs
Excellent input lag
Good picture quality
Great price (Thanks Amazon!)
Great input select menu (press input and then hit 1-8 to immediately go to the input you want)
Very attractive design with a non-gloss screen
Lots of input options including 3 HDMI
CONs
Weak speakers
Only 1 component input*
*I had my PS2 and TiVo HD hooked up through component on my old TV. On this TV I had to go buy another HDMI cable just to have them both hooked up at the same time.
Overall, I am extremely pleased with this TV. If you are reading this and are looking for a great 32" gaming TV, do not hesitate to buy this TV! |
Great Picture
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| Review Date: November 2, 2009 |
| Reviewer: NF, NY |
| I removed my CRT 32" Toshiba from it's TV cabinet while I was doing some flooring in my home. I forgot just how darn heavy and bulky these old school TVs can be. I decided at that moment that I would replace it with something more modern, and lighter. This 32" tv out of the box looked so much smaller, in height, than the previous one that I was concerned it was too small for my needs, it turns out it wasn't. The picture on the other hand, was absolutely brilliant in HD mode. Rich, vibrant colors that makes my bedroom Element HD TV look poor in comparison. Audio quality is pretty good, very clear. Not very good low frequency sound but very good nonetheless. No probs with the connections and a good intuitive menu. The only prob., and it's not really a prob, is running an audio cable to my surround sound audio system. It requires a single digital optical audio cable. Last time I tried one of those cables on a different system, I wasn't pleased with the audio quality (ie tinny sound) so we will see how this one sounds once connected. |
Panasonic TC-32S1
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| Review Date: June 26, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Daniel T. Light, |
| This is a fine television. Yes the audio seems a little low but I'm getting older so that maybe the problem with that. The picture is outstanding and the colors are beautiful. The value for the dollar speaks for itself on Panasonic TV's. I'm happy with this TV. |
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Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at
2:23 am
You probably have heard of HDTV, but you may be confused by all the new terminology. The maximum resolution on a standard analog TV is 720 x 480 pixels, which is about 337,000 pixels in total. HDTV is a specification for digital television has many video resolutions. The two main resolutions of concern are 720p and 1080i. The “P” means progressive and “i” means interlaced, in both resolutions, every second has 60 frames of video.
Progressive resolution puts 60 full frames on the screen every second. Interlaced resolution puts 30 frames of only odd lines and lines only up to 30 frames per second. Some people believe that the interlaced video causes flicker.
The 720p video resolution is 1280 x 720 pixels, for a total of 921,600 pixels and the 1080i resolution is 1920 x 1080, which gives a huge 2,073,000 pixel.
This is a personal choice on what resolution you prefer, the best way to learn is to go down to the local dealer, and yourself.
The sound will be heard on HDTV better than it did on your analog TV, some HDTV programs include Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, but will require stakeholders to be able to take advantage of that.
You must purchase a new HDTV. Some HDTVs come with built-in tuner, while others do not. The tuner converts the signal into something your television can recognize. HDTV does not come from a tuner are commonly called “HDTV Ready”. Without an HDTV tuner is useless.
And ‘can display HDTV images on your PC, you can do with ATI HDTV Wonder, which comes with its own antenna to receive HDTV plane, but also has inputs for cable and satellite signals. One advantage of this is that you can play and record any program you want on your computer.
Friday, November 20th, 2009 at
4:41 pm
Amazon.com Price: $2,126.13 (as of 2010-07-30 01:52:43 GMT) Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
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User Reviews
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| Panasonic VIERA X1 Series TC-P50X1 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV |
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Product Description |
| 50" Plasma, 720p, 3 HDMI, Native contrast ratio 30,000:1, Dynamic contrast infinite black 2,000,000:1, Game Mode, Anti Reflective Filter, 600 Hz Subfield Drive |
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Product Details |
- 50-inch plasma 720p HDTV with three HDMI inputs
- 600Hz Sub-field Drive produces crisp, focused images for sports
- VIERA Image Viewer lets share digital photos
- VIERA Link Panasonic DVD recorder, Blu-ray Disc player, home theater sound system and HD camcorder
- Contrast Ratio: 30,000:1 Native; Infinite Black Panel
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Video Reviews |
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No video reviews found for this product.
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Customer Reviews |
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Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at
7:55 pm
Amazon.com Price: Too low to display (as of 2010-07-30 01:28:27 GMT) Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
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User Reviews
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| Panasonic VIERA G10 Series TC-P42G10 42-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV |
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| Manufacturer: Panasonic |
| Customer Rating: |
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| List Price: $1,199.95 |
| Sale Price: Too low to display |
| Availibility: Usually ships in 1-2 business days |
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| Buy Now |
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Product Description |
| 42" Plasma, 1080p, THX, Viera Cast, H.264, IP Camera Ready, PC Input, NEO PDP Panel which is brighter, Full-time 1080p TV lines of moving picture resolution, 3 HDMI, Native contrast ratio 40,000:1, Dynamic contrast infinite black 2,000,000:1, Game Mode, Anti Reflective Filter, 600 Hz Subfield Drive |
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Product Details |
- 42-inch plasma flatscreen HDTV with full 1080p HD resolution
- Enjoy online content like Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube videos, Picasa Web Albums, stock information, weather
- Share your digital photos and AVCHD camcorder videos on the big screen using VIERA Image Viewer
- Three HDMI inputs and a wealth of additional connectivity options
- THX-certified for faithful movie image reproduction
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Video Reviews |
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No video reviews found for this product.
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Customer Reviews |
Panasonic G10--Excellent Picture Quality and Price Combination
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| Review Date: May 16, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Feng Zhou, Washington, DC |
This is based on my experience with the TC-P50G10, which is identical to P42 but with a larger screen. I bought it three weeks ago, and am very happy with it. I did a lot of research and tried out a number of TVs before settling down on this one, so I thought I would share some of the information and my experience with the TV, and hopefully make your decision in choosing the TV a bit easier.
First thing first. According to my research, the Panasonic G10 probably has the best picture quality among all TVs in mass production as of the time of this review (May, 2009). Most importantly it has pitch dark black level, scorching brightness, high color accuracy, and good motion processing.
I chose the Panasonic plasma over Sony and Samsung LCD for a few reasons. (1) Compared to 120Hz LCDs, Panasonic is significantly cheaper than Sony and Samsung. (2) I think the G10 is better in handling motion than the 120HZ LCDs. (3) The colors on the plasma are more appealing to me than those on the LCDs. (4) It has superior viewing angle. It looks perfect from any angle you will actually watch the TV without washing out the color, prserving the quality of the color.
The third point on color appeal is subjective and calls for description of subjective experience. There are lots of technical comparison of the colors on different displays on the internet, but my perceptual experience is that the colors on the panasonic plasma is very vibrant, punchy, tantalizing, and mesmerizing. The colors look like things in real life, but they are more intense than real life. A friend said "it's prettier than real, but not distorted. It is just like an enhanced colorful world." If you prefer high fedelity to real life colors, you can use the THX mode to tune it down to be very faithful to studio color measures. LCD in comparison is also very vibrant, but it doesn't look as realistic. It's more like computer graphics and less like colors of living things. Technically, this may have to do with the deeper black level on the plasma than the LCD.
Before the G10, I had the Panasonic Viera TH-46PZ80U 46-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV. Both TVs have very appealing colors, but I returned the PZ80U and got the G10 because the G10 has a number of important improvements over the PZ80U: it has a brighter plasma display, has a VGA PC input, lower energy consumption, and more accurate color. Also, its frame is more compact, so I can fit a 50" G10 into the space that would only hold a 46" PZ80U. In fact, the G10 is brighter and more contrasty than last year's top model Panasonic TH-50PZ850U 50-inch Viera 1080p Plasma HDTV.
What else do I like about the TV? It is very bright for a Plasam TV. According to tech specs and online reviews, it is the bightest plasma ever made. In Custom Mode, it is more than bright enough to watch in my room with direct sun light (sun light in the room not on the TV). In Vivid Mode, "you should prepare to put on your ski googles". In fact, it's too bright and overly constrasty and saturated for regular viewing. However, it is quite useful in displaying low resolution and low quality online video such as YouTube or Netflix Instant Watch. The extra boost in brightness, contrast, and saturation make the low quality online video look much more appealing and lively.
VieraCast is kinda cool. Not a deal maker but certainly not a drawback. I used third party firmware DD-WRT to set up a Linksys WRT54G2 Wireless-G Broadband Router as a wireless bridge. So the TV can get online without running a cable to my main router.
I find this TV fits my needs perfectly. But no TV is perfect, at least not for the technically savvy.
So here are the cons:
(1) The sound is mediocre. It is fine to watch a TV show, but lackluster to watch a good movie or music show.
(1.2) True Cinema 24-frame mode flickering is perceptually disturbing because the refresh rate is set to 48 Hz in the mode. It is a pitty because motion does look much more life like and less video like in True-Cinema mode. Wish the TV could run at 72 Hz.
(2) My PC only has VGA out but no DVI out. (This point does not matter for those with DVI out on their computers. A DVI to VGA cable will work fine) The VGA input on this TV does not support 1080 HD. It only supports up to 1280x768. Panny should not cut corner here. Although this problem doesn't really matter for video contents because most computer video resolution is less than 1280x768. And the pixel interpolation effect on the Plasma is more like a CRT and less like an LCD. So the set is reasonably good at displaying contents with resolution lower than its native res.
(3) VieraCast needs improvement. The content is still limited. The search function of Youtube on VieraCast is not as easy to use as on a computer. The Amazon video on demand price is way too high (but this is not really Panny's problem). I would kill for a firmware upgrade that enables Netflix streaming.
(4) The remote is not as well laid out as the one on PZ80. The 3 big buttons above the directional keys are occupied by the rarely used VieraLink, VieraCast and VieraTool. The commonly used Menu key is moved to a small key. Totally wrong choice of ergonomics.
(5) VGA PC input is paired with RCA audio input. I wish it is a 3.5mm (1/8 ") mini jack instead, which will allow a single cable cable integrating VGA video and mini jack audio. Now I have to use two cables.
(6) The stand does not swivel.
Regardless of the above drawbacks, overall I find this TV to have the best picture quality and price combination. The pros by far outweigh the cons. The picture quality of this TV is truly amazing, as such some calls it "The New King of Plasma." Anyone seriously considering an HDTV should take a look at this one, now that the Pioneer Kuro exited the market.
I highly recommend it. |
Great Plasma at a great Price
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| Review Date: April 7, 2009 |
| Reviewer: A. Lea, |
I have just received my new 42 inch G10 in the mail, and I must say, I am very pleased. I researched the living crap out of this set, so my expectations were pretty high. Upon opening the box my first impression was that the overall look of the TV is amazing. Just a solid design, without a whole lot of extraneous stuff. After removing all the stickers it really looks nice in my living room. Also pleased to notice the only light on this TV is a very small dim red light when it is on (I can't stand bright lights on my electronics).
Once I turned it on and started messing around with the settings, I was pleased at how smooth, and natural all the menus are. Very easy to understand, but there is plenty of advanced control for the more hightech custy. Personally I like to tweak my settings, and the Panasonic remembers each input and preset, so its pretty painless. I found THX to have the most accurate colors, although I did tweak the settings a bit for a little more light. Custom allows you to get a very decent preset for TV viewing or daytime viewing in my case. Some say you can actually achieve a better picture through custom than through THX, but in my opinion THX was very good looking when watching a DVD.
Most noteworthy are the blacks. Simply stunning. I haven't seen anything quite like it. I usually say Film is the best viewing experience, and I still do, but these Plasmas really put off that soft color that is very easy on the eyes (unlike LCDs). So far I haven't seen any noise, or jaggies which is good. While gaming I noticed a slight (very slight) yellowish trail when following a white dot across a black screen. This is pretty minimal, but its there. However scrolling text showing no trailing.
24P doesn't work as well as it could, which is to me the biggest draw back. There is flicker, causing it to be pretty much unwatchable unless you pump up the refresh rate.
This is a stunning television, that I hope will last for many years to come. Anyone considering it, should feel comfortable knowing that it really lives up to the hype. Check out the Cnet review for yourself. They have all the geeky details. But from a common customer (although I work in the video field), I can honestly say this TV is top of the line. Probably one of the best Plasmas out there.
*Update - It seems my set died today! It turned off, and the power light started to blink 5 times. I contacted Panasonic Concierge, and they are sending a technician out to my house. Luckily I was within a week of my warranty expiring! Very lucky! Be advised, it seems about 2-3% of Panasonic Plasma TVs may have this same problem (google: panasonic plasma blinking light of death). I will update once I get it fixed. Panasonic responded very well so far, and it seems I will not be paying anything out of pocket for the repairs. I will say Panasonic has a good track record with these sort of things, and its not uncommon for electronics to malfunction. The most important thing is how well they respond. So far so good. I recommend getting an extended warranty from Mack. |
Great TV. Great Value
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| Review Date: August 21, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Dad and Mom in NC, |
I've been researching HDTVs for the past couple of years, and I finally took the plunge when I found a great deal on a 42" Westinghouse LCD back in May. I thought it was a great set... for about 2 weeks. The color would shift noticeably when you moved more than 30 degrees off center. Then the digital tuner started to go.
Since then I've been through 3 more LCDs and one Plasma before I decided that the Panasonic G10 was the way to go. My problem with the LCDs is I am just not happy with the off-angle shift in the black level. When you're sitting head on, LCDs can look great, but as soon as you move off center, you can see the black is not consistent across the screen. This is especially apparent when you are watching a movie with the black bars across the top and bottom. Plasmas are not subject to this issue and plasmas have deeper blacks. This makes a HUGE difference (to me) when watching movies.
The other plasma I had was the Panasonic 42px14 ([...]). I returned it, however, as it had a few issues that kept it from being great (overscan, slow channel editing, etc), and I wanted a 1080p set.
The G10 was a great fit, because I needed a 42" or 46" set and the 1080p as well as the great review on CNET. I bought the G10 through the Amazon Warehouse Deals, and got a screaming good deal (saved about $200) and got a better deal than the S1 (the set just below the G10). The only downside I can see to taking this route is that since I purchased the set, the prices have risen significantly (almost by $200) through the same Amazon Warehouse Deals. I guess you just need to be patient and wait for them to drop again. I don't feel like the prices should fluctuate that wildly. It just feels too opportunistic. Yeah, yeah, I'm well aware of supply and demand, but at some point it just becomes an excuse to abuse trust.
But that has nothing to do with the quality of this set. And back to that point, I am extremely satisfied with this tv set. The image really looks sharp and even standard definition is watchable. People complain about the speakers on all flat panel tvs, but I've found these ones to work great for casual viewing. Just nudge up the bass to about +5.
My recommended settings are going to be in more of a range, since this completely depends on your viewing environment. But here's what I think looks great.
Use Custom setting
Drop the Contrast to somewhere between 55 and 65.
Raise Brightness up to between 56 and 64. Really, just raise it until you notice the black level start to lighten up, then drop it back a notch or two.
Drop the Color back to about 40-46.
Reduce Tint to about -5.
I just left Sharpness as is (75, since I don't see any bothersome artifacts on the screen).
Everything else I pretty much left at default.
Ok, what else do you need to know?
Burn-in / Image retention? Not an issue with these sets. Temporary Image Retention can happen, but it's easy to remove, and if you keep the contrast where I mentioned (lower than 75 at least), it shouldn't really ever be an issue. I've never seen it in the 2+ weeks I've had this set.
Plasma Gases Leaking? Come on, you aren't really going to buy into that myth are you? Nothing but urban legend junk, guaranteed... even if you do claim you have a friend who had to get his plasma set recharged (psst... you're friend got taken).
High Energy Usage? If you tame the contrast to around where I've mentioned above, you'll see energy usage that is very similar, if only a tiny bit higher than the same size LCDs. Seriously, we're only talking a difference of maybe a couple bucks a month (at most) in energy costs.
So... if you're still on the fence, then get off it! Prolonged fence sitting is going to hurt your posterior and make it hard to walk straight. |
Beautiful plasma picture
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| Review Date: May 4, 2009 |
| Reviewer: L. Stanford, |
This TV is simply wonderful. I can't imagine a better TV for the price. I replaced a CRT HDTV with this, and this TV beats it in every single way. Simply can't compare this to LCD's in the same price range. To get similar quality on an LCD you're going to spend almost twice as much.
I watch cable TV, DVD, Blu-Ray, and play PS3 games. All look amazing.
The only very small complaint I have is that the TV can be a little dim if I watch it during the brightest part of the day. My condo is very bright (skylights) so it's probably more the fault of my place rather than the TV. |
Hands Down The Best
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| Review Date: September 19, 2009 |
| Reviewer: J. Ripp, |
| Being the typical engineer, I researched and compared tvs for at least three years prior to taking the plunge and buying my 42" G10 - and boy am I glad that I did. I must admit, plasmas weren't my first choice. They're power hogs right? LCDs are so much more prevalent, right? LEDs are the wave of the future, right? First off, for the average tv viewer, the power consumption difference and cost of a KW*hr of electricity doesn't even add up to $30/year. Second, LCDs may be more prevalent, but that doesn't make them better. I also own a 30" Samsung LN32A450 LCD and between the two there is absolutely no comparison. I know I'm comparing a 720p set to a 1080 but given the screen size difference it shouldn't matter. The color intensity and depth of the Panasonic blows it away. The LCD is bigger than the old CRT you used to have but it's probably not as bright or true to color. With the Panasonic plasma it's bigger, sharper and has all the color definition to boot. Lastly LEDs may be the wave of the future but as all the reviews will tell you, there's still room to go to catch up even with the better LCDs today. In short, when you can get the highest rated tv made today (sorry Pioneer fans) for the bargain basement prices of around $1K for a 42", stop looking and take the plunge. You won't be sorry you did! |
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Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at
4:22 pm
Amazon.com Price: Too low to display (as of 2010-07-30 01:23:53 GMT) Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
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User Reviews
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| Panasonic VIERA G10 Series TC-P50G10 50-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV |
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| Manufacturer: Panasonic |
| Customer Rating: |
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| List Price: $1,599.95 |
| Sale Price: Too low to display |
| Availibility: Usually ships in 1-2 business days |
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| Buy Now |
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Product Description |
| 50" Plasma, 1080p, THX, Viera Cast, H.264, IP Camera Ready, PC Input, NEO PDP Panel which is brighter, Full-time 1080p TV lines of moving picture resolution, 3 HDMI, Native contrast ratio 40,000:1, Dynamic contrast infinite black 2,000,000:1, Game Mode, Anti Reflective Filter, 600 Hz Subfield Drive |
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Product Details |
- 1920 x 1080
- Native contrast 40,000:1, Dynamic contrast 2,000,000:1 Infinite black for the brightest whites and darkest blacks
- THX Certified display
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Video Reviews |
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No video reviews found for this product.
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Customer Reviews |
P50G10 Delivers a quality HD experience with extras
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| Review Date: April 14, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Daniel Delena, West Milford, NJ USA |
The P50G10 is my second HD Plasma experience, the first being a 2004 Panasonic, which still looks and works quite well. It has found another spot in our home to make room for the new G10 in our family room. When searching for and finally selecting the new Panasonic G10, I was comparing choices against this first experience considering both the manufacturer and the plasma technology. While I have a few smaller sized LCD's, mostly in the 20-32" range, I have never been overly impressed with the picture. The seem a bit cartoonish, even in HD mode, so I quickly settled on a plasma as my technology choice. Having made that decision the alternatives in terms of manufacturers narrowed quickly. Wh Pioneer exiting the Plasma business, and considering my experience with my original Panasonic plasma the brand decision was made. Selecting which model from Panasonic boiled down to scouring the 2009 product announcements and available reviews (CNET), and making the trade-offs on size, cost and availability. This all led me to the P50G10, which was a good fit on all points.
I have had the unit installed and working for 4 weeks now, and must say its been an extremely satisfying time. The G10 is a major step up, from my previous plasma, in terms of picture, inputs i.e. 3 HDMI vs 1, and ability to control each picture setting independently. I have tweaked the picture setting on the Standard and THX settings a bit to sharpen and brighten the picture a bit, but most of the other settings are very good out of the box. As the unit is stand mounted, and in a room with mostly indirect and overhead lighting there are no issues with glare or light reflection, from the main glass or its glossy black bezel.
In the process I also moved up to a Panasonic BMP-BD60 (will write a separate review on it) Blu Ray player and the 1080P picture is nothing short of amazing. As these are both Panasonic units they inter-operate with VieraLink which simplifies and automates the way the two units operate together, a nice but not essential feature. I setup a Wireless ethernet bridge (Linksys WET54G) to feed the VieraCast function on the G10, and it works flawlessly. At this time the amount of content available is limited, but one can see the potential, if Panasonic can bring more content services to this function. The G10 does employ a set of power consumption controls. There are both Input Idle and In-Activity based auto-power off modes to save on power consumption, which is good as plasma's are a bit power hungry.
To be balanced the G10 does have a few shortcomings. The sound from the onboard speakers is a bit thin. You can mitigate this some by pumping up the Bass control and turning on the Bass Boost, but its just not a rich sound experience. I think Panasonic can do better with some higher quality speakers and a small sub-woofer. I, and I suspect most others, have a surround system connected and utilize it for a better sound experience.
I also preferred when Panasonic placed the additional inputs into a trap door on the front of the plasma, the G10 has these on the left (facing) edge. To me it was more convenient and accessible to have these set of inputs up-front.
All in all, the G10 is a high quality Plasma with terrific features and future expandability. If offers a near perfect picture across multiple inputs and types of content.
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Best picture quality and price combination
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| Review Date: May 8, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Feng Zhou, Washington, DC |
I bought the TC-P50G10 three weeks ago, and am very happy with it. I did a lot of research and tried out a number of TVs before settling down on this one, so I thought I would share some of the information and my experience with the TV, and hopefully make your decision in choosing the TV a bit easier.
First thing first. According to my research, the Panasonic G10 probably has the best picture quality among all TVs in mass production as of the time of this review (May, 2009). Most importantly it has pitch dark black level, scorching brightness, high color accuracy, and good motion processing.
I chose the Panasonic plasma over Sony and Samsung LCD for a few reasons. (1) Compared to 120Hz LCDs, Panasonic is significantly cheaper than Sony and Samsung. (2) I think the G10 is better in handling motion than the 120HZ LCDs. (3) The colors on the plasma are more appealing to me than those on the LCDs. (4) It has superior viewing angle. It looks perfect from any angle you will actually watch the TV without washing out the color, prserving the quality of the color.
The third point on color appeal is subjective and calls for description of subjective experience. There are lots of technical comparison of the colors on different displays on the internet, but my perceptual experience is that the colors on the panasonic plasma is very vibrant, punchy, tantalizing, and mesmerizing. The colors look like things in real life, but they are more intense than real life. A friend said "it's prettier than real, but not distorted. It is just like an enhanced colorful world." If you prefer high fedelity to real life colors, you can use the THX mode to tune it down to be very faithful to studio color measures. LCD in comparison is also very vibrant, but it doesn't look as realistic. It's more like computer graphics and less like colors of living things. Technically, this may have to do with the deeper black level on the plasma than the LCD.
Before the G10, I had the Panasonic Viera TH-46PZ80U 46-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV. Both TVs have very appealing colors, but I returned the PZ80U and got the G10 because the G10 has a number of important improvements over the PZ80U: it has a brighter plasma display, has a VGA PC input, lower energy consumption, and more accurate color. Also, its frame is more compact, so I can fit a 50" G10 into the space that would only hold a 46" PZ80U. In fact, the G10 is brighter and more contrasty than last year's top model Panasonic TH-50PZ850U 50-inch Viera 1080p Plasma HDTV.
What else do I like about the TV? It is very bright for a Plasam TV. According to tech specs and online reviews, it is the bightest plasma ever made. In Custom Mode, it is more than bright enough to watch in my room with direct sun light (sun light in the room not on the TV). In Vivid Mode, "you should prepare to put on your ski googles". In fact, it's too bright and overly constrasty and saturated for regular viewing. However, it is quite useful in displaying low resolution and low quality online video such as YouTube or Netflix Instant Watch. The extra boost in brightness, contrast, and saturation make the low quality online video look much more appealing and lively.
VieraCast is kinda cool. Not a deal maker but certainly not a drawback. I used third party firmware DD-WRT to set up a Linksys WRT54G2 Wireless-G Broadband Router as a wireless bridge. So the TV can get online without running a cable to my main router.
I find this TV fits my needs perfectly. But no TV is perfect, at least not for the technically savvy.
So here are the cons:
(1) The sound is mediocre. It is fine to watch a TV show, but lackluster to watch a good movie or music show.
(1.2) True Cinema 24-frame mode flickering is perceptually disturbing because the refresh rate is set to 48 Hz in the mode. It is a pitty because motion does look much more life like and less video like in True-Cinema mode. Wish the TV could run at 72 Hz.
(2) My PC only has VGA out but no DVI out. (This point does not matter for those with DVI out on their computers. A DVI to VGA cable will work fine) The VGA input on the TV does not support 1080 HD. It only supports up to 1280x768. Panny should not cut corner here. Although this problem doesn't really matter for video contents because most computer video resolution is less than 1280x768. And the pixel interpolation effect on the Plasma is more like a CRT and less like an LCD. So the set is reasonably good at displaying contents with resolution lower than its native res.
(3) VieraCast needs improvement. The content is still limited. The search function of Youtube on VieraCast is not as easy to use as on a computer. The Amazon video on demand price is way too high (but this is not really Panny's problem). I wish a firmware upgrade would enables Netflix streaming.
(4) The remote is not as well laid out as the one on PZ80. The 3 big buttons above the directional keys are occupied by the rarely used VieraLink, VieraCast and VieraTool. The commonly used Menu key is moved to a small key. Totally wrong choice of ergonomics.
(5) VGA PC input is paired with RCA audio input. I wish it is a 3.5mm (1/8 ") mini jack instead, which will allow a single cable cable integrating VGA video and mini jack audio. Now I have to use two cables.
(6) The stand does not swivel.
Regardless of the above drawbacks, overall I find this TV to have the best picture quality and price combination. The pros by far outweigh the cons. The picture quality of this TV is truly amazing, as such some calls it "The New King of Plasma." Anyone seriously considering an HDTV should take a look at this one, now that the Pioneer Kuro exited the market. I use it with a PS3, the Energy 5.1 Take Classic Home Entertainment System (Set of Six, Black), Denon AVR 589 receiver, and an Antennas Direct DB2 Multi Directional HDTV Antenna for HDTV over the air reception. It's a lot of fun to watch BD movies, play some games, and watch some TVS, stream some video on Netflix via my laptop.
I highly recommend it. |
Great picture, amazing value
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| Review Date: May 22, 2009 |
| Reviewer: F. Hensley, |
After searching for a suitable 1080p replacement for my older 720p Philips plasma, I first tried the massive Samsung PN-58B550 because it seemed like a great value, but--and since this isn't a review of that TV I won't go more into other than to say that for all I could do the colors were either flat or the blacks were grey and there was a constant buzz that is common with some plasmas that I just couldn't stomach for such an expensive and supposedly great device--given its shortcomings, I decided to have a second stab at a replacement. I selected the P50G10 for this and I must say that I am immensely pleased with that decision.
I first saw the P50G10 as a display at a local big blue electronics retailer and was instantly drawn to its look, even when powered off (and this is an important thing to me since most of the time that's how the TV is). I powered it on and was impressed at the dark blacks, vivid colors and smooth motion. As I compared it to one of the newest 1080p 240Hz LCDs hanging near it I realized that it was--even as mucked up as the controls had been--hands and feet above the other TV in terms of raw performance.
One feature I was certain I wanted in my next TV was network connectivity, whether for DLNA or straight internet feeds. The VieraCAST built into this TV is a little lacking in raw ability, but having YouTube, Picasa and weather close at hand is pretty handy; I'm hoping that the extra slot on the main screen that reads "coming soon" is filled with Netflix bringing Panasonic's offerings up to the LG & Vizio playing field. Fortunately, the TV is able to use this network connection to apply its updates without having to fiddle with USB drives and finding/downloading the right files... a huge time saver.
Many reviewers of this TV comment that the THX mode just makes the screen darker, and that is certainly one of the things it does, but in so doing the contrast is also popped to the max and a few other settings really make the colors more lifelike and vivid. I watched Wall-E as the first test of the new TV and I was amazed at how crisp and bright the colors were on THX mode; they looked great on standard and custom modes, but I felt that the specialized mode was the closest reproduction to when I saw the movie in DLP on the silver screen.
The only two complaints I have with the television are both relatively minor; first, it uses a non-standard power plug which was a bit of a pain for me as I like all of my cables neatly concealed on my TV stand and I've got enough cables running around that it's hard to add/remove them. Second--because my TV stand actually hangs the TV, I had to be very careful about the positioning of the brackets so I didn't block any of the necessary ports. Panasonic's having chose the 400mm mounting holes as a place to align video and audio connections proved a bit of a challenge and I ultimately had to mount the TV a little lower than I really wanted to be able to make the connections I needed.
Overall, I am incredibly impressed with this TV. While it would be great if it were a few inches larger, I have found that for all of its rich features (internet, THX, great color production, near-silent operation) this is the best TV I have found, and I'm sure I'll be happy with it for years to come. |
Mesmerized
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| Review Date: April 23, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Andy M, Cape Cod, MA |
| I received the 50 inch G10 about a weak ago. Setup was a simple procedure and I have been able to view the tv in a variety of lighting situations and video source formats. The set is in a brightly lit room (ambient) and I have utilized the THX setting as well as the custom settings outlined in CNET. I do get some glare but it is from a bay window directly opposite the tv and is resolved by shutting the curtains. The picture is bright enough (I use the custom setting during the day) and the noise complaints I have read on other posts is non-existent. In fact, the Comcast cable box is far louder. Heat build up is not an issue either. Speakers? I have been pleasantly surprised. There have been a couple of times where I had to look and see if the surround system was on (amp was off). Picture in HD, blue-ray is jaw dropping. My wife and I both comment on the quality of both the detail and color. This TV replaced a 7 year old Sony HD set (34" XBR) that failed and I am stunned how much the quality has improved and the costs have dropped in the intervening years [...]. |
Simply gorgeous!
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| Review Date: May 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Shopper 397, Boston, MA, USA |
This is my first HD set, although I have watched a lot of HDTV at friends' homes over the years.
The picture of this TV is simply amazing. The color in THX mode is truely mesmerizing (to borrow a perfectly apt description from a previous reviewer). It is so good that I try to use it most of the time unless the room is very bright (I have large windows on two walls in the room, so if it's sunny outside and the curtains are up, it gets too bright for THX mode). Yes, THX mode is dark, but if it's trying to reproduce the authentic colors of a movie, which you'd watch in a really dark movie theater, I don't have a problem with it not being suitable for a very brightly-lit room.
Speaking of the bright room, I have had no problems with glare. This is so much so that I don't know what people are talking about when complaining about plasma and glare. The anti-reflective coating on this screen seems to be very effective.
The first day I set up this TV, a friend and I watched parts of Live Free or Die Hard and Casino off of Dish Network in HD (1080i). We were both simply in awe of the picture quality and colors, and he is someone who is on his third plasma TV and has been riding the wave from the beginning. He thought this is the best picture quality (for non-blu-ray) and color he has seen on an HD set, period.
Upconverted DVDs look good, but Dish Network's HD 1080i movies look better. I can't wait to receive my Blu-ray player and try a real 1080p source. I will update my review then.
The delivery took place on the promised day. The guy unpacked the TV, installed it on its pedestal (with my help, since it requires two people) and we placed it on the table. Pretty impressive for free delivery. This "white glove" service costs $200 on top of delivery charges on other sites.
All in all, I am very impressed with this set and with Amazon's delivery. I would certainly recommend it and encourage buying it from Amazon. |
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