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Archive for December, 2009

It is point your HDTV?

According to sources, the movement of the Top 24 of the nation’s 25 newspapers is significantly diminished. In this age of Internet instant transmission of news when you want and on the topics you want to know, and with Craig’s List offering free ads in every state, it is not surprising that subscriptions are down Newpaper. But the Internet can keep for themselves the seeds for the survival of newspapers. The Group of dissemination, 76% of respondents would like to have their TV connected to the Internet. And now, Sharp has demonstrated a system that allows viewers to Japan to get their morning paper on the big screen.

According to a Tech-On, Sharp showed a service that allows subscribers to obtain the Mainichi Shimbun (Japan), patterns of Internet capable of Sharp LCD HDTV in water. You get only the first five pages of material, and advertising in the electronic version are different from those published, but the pages have the same format and you can zoom in to enlarge the text.

The press began as an experiment, and will be available free for the next six months. Sharp will demonstrate the system at the CEATEC exhibition next October 6 to 10, in Japan.

It ‘an interesting project because it could lead to a new source of revenue for the existing text. Presents the information as a family newspaper, rather than the presentation of type Helter Skelter of a web page. And going directly to an HDTV connected to the Internet without needing a separate computer, which makes it easily accessible to readers. I believe that the editors of newspapers across the United States experience demonstrates Sharp in Japan very closely and if it shows signs of success, we will probably see signs of here in a short time.

Fiber HDMI to your HDTV

How big is your room? Probably not too big for his Gefen DVI-1600HD. This device is the professional level is excessive for most residential installations, but can perform an HDMI connection more than is normally possible. As up to two kilometers from her? The system is based on four lines of fiber optic cable. If you need to include compliance with a resolution of 1080p HDCP, then you will be limited to a mere 1000 feet.

The system is designed for digital signage and optical fiber transmission has the advantage of not being affected by electromagnetic interference. The same cable also carry audio and control as well.

So, unless your living room is the length of three football fields, you probably do not need this. But it is nice to know that there, in the case?

Consumers still buy HDTV

A new survey research firm NPD indicates that one of four U.S. households intend to buy a new TV in the next six months. Size and high resolution were the most important factors, according to the survey.

For those considering buying a new game, the average size for the proposed purchase of 40 “to 42″. According to NPD, the average price of this size, was $ 838 for the first three quarters of 2009. Is down 27% compared to the average of 1,150 dollars for the same period in 2008. While these lower prices are encouraging for the consumer, this means that even with unit sales growth, manufacturers of flat screen televisions can see their incomes stagnate or even decline.

New Wireless Option on HDTV

You have your ve beautiful, large, flat screen TV hanging on the wall. Now, how do you get reception there? You can buy an expensive HDMI cable to cover long-term, or you can spend more to get a professional to install your child through the floor, wall or ceiling. Now there, aos door number 3, thanks to Philips. The company started to distribute its wireless connection for HDTV, which provides wireless connections with support for HDMI up to 1080p transmission.

The pair of devices, the transmitter and receiver AI have a list of 799 dollars, and are now available at Amazon and Dell (but doesn, AOT seems to be on the Dell website yet), while Sam, aos Club and Costco will begin l ‘execution in November. The transmitter has two HDMI and two component video connections. Aod While I like to see another HDMI or two, this is a reasonable configuration.

I like the idea of this class of product for a number of reasons, least of which is that means that only need a power socket on your TV. Even if you can put it disappears behind the TV. The wireless connection will take care of the child bulky. The main reason that I like, though, is that you abandon the traditional concept of stacking all the components around the base of the TV. He has a lot more sense to put them on the opposite side of the room where you sit Aore, so you have easy access to disk drives and switches and settings.

A problem to do with this deal is that it does not provide a network connection to NetV (who is a friend and colleague Peter Putman term recently invented the television network capable, and I like the term), but a faster Wi – Fi 802.11n, which should handle. I urge all TVs go wireless, you have nothing to lose, but the cables!

Alfred Poor
HDTV Professor

Elements of Image Quality

The image quality is an untouchable subject for the average consumer, but if you put two video images of similar, with significant differences in quality, your eyes instinctively guide the best image. So how can we define the image quality to some extent and in what way can your source material and equipment ultimately be responsible for the images to watch TV every day?

In general, the most important aspect of picture quality is contrast ratio, followed by color saturation and accuracy. So the resolution is considered, but it is the greatest technological advance to leave the video sector in recent years, which is targeted at consumers in general. For example, if you have been watching the CRT TV in recent years, it is likely that there have been enjoying decent contrast ratio and color in movies.

I will begin to break down and discuss the sub-components of the color, contrast ratio, resolution, and any other aspects that may have a direct impact on PQ. I hope this will help you decide what is important to you before making the leap into the world in high definition. I will confine the discussion especially for plasma and LCD technologies.
Contrast Ratio

This defined as the ratio between the brightness of the brightest and the darkest color the system can produce. An HDTV with a high contrast ratio is a desirable aspect in any system. Poor contrast ratio due to the loss of detail (it is there, but you can not see when you’re supposed to) and washed pictures. The colors seem trivial, and the images look dull.
Fortunately, the industry is wonderful to constantly pushing the technology to improve this aspect, so that this is not a significant problem with today’s consumers. The best contrast ratios are available to industrial, commercial and high-end consumer pro, leading to higher prices, but the technology is trickling down to consumers.

A CRT or plasma display has a theoretically infinite contrast ratio because the light does not emit its pixels when not activated, giving 0 for blacks luminance. However, no measurements in real life, this is possible (especially with different standards), but continue to produce very good contrast ratios. LCD on the other suffers from a technological limit that prevents it from reaching the deeper blacks. The constant source of backlight behind the LCD matrix means little ‘light is always through. Despite this setback, modern LCD monitors still enjoy very good contrast ratios, thanks to its excellent brightness.

There are generally two types of contrast ratios for the video. Producers tend to report higher dynamics (sequential), contrast ratio of their shows, but rarely show their performance in the real world. Dynamic contrast ratio depends largely on how and when measurements are made and in our experience, is generally lower than the specifications mentioned. Static (simultaneous) contrast ratios are better indicators of performance. Which measures the ratio between the luminance of white to black in the same image is not at different times. Unfortunately, the measurement can be difficult and depends to a large extent by external factors. For our purposes, simply use dynamic contrast ratio until the display is calibrated correctly.
Black Levels

CRT and plasma are acknowledged to have the darker blacks for the display of consumers in general. This is important because there’s nothing more annoying than having to see the grayish blacks (or any other color of the blacks) when it is expected that at all, true black in an image. This is particularly important in terms of Sun’s light as our eyes are particularly sensitive to dark images. HDTV with poor black levels are dark scenes that seem uncomfortably bright. LCD still lose out to the plasmas in this regard Despite recent advances have reduced the gap.

You can change the brightness controls to set the black level, preferably using a calibration disc. You want to make sure not to set too low because, in addition to having deep blacks, it is equally important to keep the details in dark shadow. Setting the brightness too low (the blacks entrapment) can eliminate this detail makes the scene darker look completely flat. Do the opposite color will wash the low end.

Black-level retention describes another problem with displays capable of consumption, in which the black level remains float upwards or downwards depending on the brightness of the picture. This is a common problem with CRT view is much less than the current flat panel displays.
White Level

High levels white is a very good modern LCD televisions. I feel attracted to this unique feature important in LCD TVs while watching nature shows where the images are bright and vivid. Addition, the daytime display is more pleasant to be able to show high levels of white. CRT and plasma have the same brightness and need a lower light environment. Should refrain from pushing the contrast control to its limits, as evidenced by bright or details may be lost. (more televisions reducing the life cycle)
Color

With contrast ratio, color is one of the most abused the quality of images on the showroom floor (which is usually very bright). To maximize the ability of a display to attract crowds, the producers do one or all of these things, the white crush to skip the contrast, blacks had a crush on lowering the brightness (and thus maximizing the contrast ratio) , setting a bluish color temperature, and increase color saturation to create artificial. What is worse is that some consumers get their HDTV a few months later and leave the settings of the manufacturer or not changed very little. Out of the Box, two of the most common errors are of a bluish color temperature (which causes poor flesh tones to brighten the image) and a push for decoding red color TV. You’ll push red in the video when the reds are more saturated than other primary colors and tones that look reddish.

The color temperature, saturation and accuracy are important features for the final production of the images on the display. The standard for the color temperature of 6500K, corresponding to daylight illumination. This is the most natural color temperature is used and film production, the whites above this tends to have a bluish and kept below this, a yellow, reddist detainees. You can think of color temperature, like the canvas of a painting. If white is the predominant bluish or reddish color, other colors painted on the canvas will be ‘contaminated’ with that statement, causing colors inaacurate.

Color saturation can usually be adjusted to a resonable level Eyeballing using colors or patterns that come with discs calibration or television channels.

Accuracy of color depends on how the Responsible TV `decode ‘the image data. The use of standards for decoding improved color tend to create images that differ from the original movie. This is a complex area, but just know that the color coding system used in film production should correspond to the decoder to your TV for playback accuracy. Unfortunately, the more color decoder to your TV can not be easily adjusted.

Other factors that may influence the reproduction of color is gray scale and the characteristic display (gamma) of the TV. If all this is important to you, you can enter the kingdom of calibration amateur or take a specialist to do this.
Details

The best HD resolution there can provide 5 times the amount of pixels than the old standard definition. Is not 5 times clearer, but there is a difference of night and day. Imagine actually seeing the grass and dirt on the football field, or the drawing up someone in the distance you could not before. Vanessa Williams (star of Ugly Betty), also went to say that she hated living in HD because it showed the imperfections of his face. Why is everyone raving about Planet Earth, when there have been countless nature documentaries like? This is the main reason why the video industry has been getting everyone to jump on the wagon and with good reason.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of confusion in the consumer market now, especially when there are two `types’ of HD material (I mean 720 vs 1080) and the big boys take sides on the BluRay vs. HD DVD format war. Your only hope is that with a bit ‘of information, you can avoid being the victim. So to achieve the particular more out there, go for 1080 capable TVs. Make sure you understand the entries Why 1080p and optimal viewing distance to point out some cases where you may not need high-resolution televisions. For fans Home Theater PC, be sure to get 1:1 pixel mapping function (dot-to-Dot) on TV for clear and detailed images.
Sharpness

Perceived sharpness of a photo is linked to the concept of good resolution and sharp contrast that describes the Edge in photography. Edge Contrast is simply the difference in brightness compared to the space. Most flat panels today have the possibility of artificially `sharpening ‘the video image, maintaining the same resolution. This creates an image crisp edge along the border, giving the impression of increased image quality. This works in general, the SD material as its resolution is so low compared HD sources. But oversharpening gold edge enhancement, create ugly artifacts halo around images. To resolve this problem, you can calibrate your TV using some sharpness test patterns found in the popular calibration discs.

High-resolution sources such as HD movie tends to give sharper pictures than SD. This is especially true when 720 or 1080 coded films are shown on their HDTV resolutions without scaling.
Motion

When LCD first came out, lag motion was a hassle thanks to its technological limitations. Moving images, it cast a shadow, making fast action scenes unwatchable. Well, I am pleased to report with the overdrive and the backlight improvements in LCD technology currently used in many, this has become a minor problem. There are some people who are still seeing this motion artifacts, but I’m glad I’m not one of them. LCD companies have done very well, to overcome the limits and make their TVs a real competitor in the arena HDTV.
Viewing Angles

Another poison of LCD televisions. The newer models have improved viewing angles on LCD TVs, but I do not think its anywhere near a plasma television. Companies that include 176 degree viewing angles neglecting the significant decrease of contrast and image quality as you move off center. I have not found one LCD TV that has solved this, but when I do, Ill let you know.
Video Processing Artifacts

In a typical video system, where the MPEG decoding, deinterlacing and scaling is subject of a number of artifacts can appear that may alter the image quality. There are generally seen by the average Joe guy, but once you see it again and again, can be distracting.

An example of artifacts you can see:

* Twitter Line
* Brushing
* JUDD
* Jaggies
* Moire
* Blurring
* Ringer
Mosquito Noise *
* Macroblocking
* Posterize
* Bug Chroma
* Digital Noise

Ignorance is bliss.

Well that’s it for now. I hope that you can use some of the information here as a rough guide for evaluating PQ for the next HDTV purchase. Good hunting! Elements of image quality

The image quality is an intangible object for the average consumer, but if you put two video images similar with significant differences in terms of quality, your eyes instinctively guide to the best picture quality. So how can we define the image quality to some extent and in what way can your source device and, finally, for the images to watch television every day?

In general, the most important aspect of picture quality is contrast ratio, followed by color saturation and accuracy. Then, the resolution is considered, but it is the greatest technological advances of video sector in recent years, aimed at consumers in general. For example, if you have been watching the TV tube in recent years, it is likely that you have enjoyed decent contrast ratio and color in movies.

I will begin by the breaking and discuss sub-elements of color, high contrast, resolution and any other aspects that may have a direct impact on PQ. I hope this will help you decide what is important to you before making the leap into the HD universe. I will confine the discussion, mainly for plasma and LCD technologies.
Contrast Ratio

This defined as the ratio between the brightness of the color brighter and darker, the system can produce. An HDTV with a high contrast ratio is a desirable feature in any system. Poor contrast ratio results in a loss of detail (that is, but you can not see when you should do) and faded photographs. Colors seem dull and opaque images.
Fortunately, the industry is big on pushing the technology to improve the situation, so this is not a big problem with today’s consumers. The best contrast ratios are available for industrial, commercial and consumer high-end pro, leading to higher prices, but the technology is trickling down to consumers.

A CRT or plasma has a contrast ratio of theoretically infinite, because its pixels emit light when it is activated, which gives 0 for luminance black. However, in measurements of real life, it is not possible (especially with different standards), but continue to produce very good contrast ratios. LCD on the other suffers a technical limitation that prevents him from reaching the deeper blacks. The constant source of backlight behind the LCD matrix, a little ‘light still comes through. Despite this setback, LCD contrast ratio still enjoy modern very good, with excellent brightness.

There are generally two types of contrast ratios for the video. Producers tend to report more dynamic (sequential), contrast ratio of the respective authors, but rarely indicate actual performance. Dynamic contrast ratio depends significantly on how and when measurements are made and in our experience, is generally lower than the specifications mentioned. Contrast ratio static (simultaneous) are better indicators of performance. Which measures the ratio of luminance from white to black and not in the same image at different times. Unfortunately, the measures can be difficult and highly dependent on external factors. For our purposes it is sufficient to use dynamic contrast ratio until the display is properly calibrated.
Black Levels

CRT and plasma are known to have darker blacks for the display of consumers in general. This is important because there’s nothing more annoying than having to see the dark gray (or any shade of black), when we expect black absolute true picture. This is particularly important in low light conditions, when our eyes are particularly sensitive to dark images. HDTV with poor black levels and dark scenes that seem to light uncomfortable. LCD does not still lose the plasmas in this regard, despite recent advances have reduced the gap.

You can change the brightness control to set the black level, preferably using a calibration disc. You want to be sure not to put too low, because, in addition to having deep blacks, it is also important to keep the way black shadows. Setting the brightness too low (black crush) to eliminate the details of this scene make your dark side is completely flat. To do otherwise wash the colors inverted.

Black-level retention describes another problem with the display quality consumers what keeps the black level float upwards or downwards depending on the brightness. This is a common problem with CRT, but is much less with the current flat panels.
White Level

White is up a good modern LCD televisions. Are attracted to this important feature unique to the LCD TV where you can watch shows a nature where the images are alive and vibrant. Also, comments of the day is more pleasant on display in a high degree of whiteness. Plasma and CRT do not have the same brightness and need an environment of low light. Should refrain from pushing the contrast to its limit, such as highlights or details may be lost. (more to reduce your life TV)
Color

With contrast ratio, color is one of the most abused image quality in the showroom (which is usually very bright). To maximize the ability of a display to attract a crowd, producers make one or all of the following, white, crushed by the blast, however, Blacks crush reducing the brightness (and thus maximize the value of contrast), which provides a color temperature bluish color saturation, and increasingly artificial level. The worst thing is that some consumers get their HDTV a few weeks later and left to the factory settings or make changes very little. Out of the box, two of the uncertainties of the most common color is a bluish color temperature (which causes skin tone poor, but lightens the image) and a boost in TV decoder red. You’ll see red push in the video, when the reds are more saturated than other primary colors and skin tones looking bright.

Color temperature, saturation and accuracy are important features for the final production of the images on the screen. The standard for the color temperature of 6500K, corresponding to the light of day. And ‘the color temperature most natural and is used in film production; white above this tend to have a bluish tint and below, a reddist yellow. You can think of the color temperature, like the canvas of a painting. If the white is a dominant color blue or red, other colors painted on the canvas will be “contaminated” by the color, causing colors inaacurate.

The color saturation can generally be increased to a level to be admired resonable or using color models that come with calibration discs or television channels.

Color accuracy will mainly depend on how your TV `decode ‘the image data. Using default encoding to improve the colors tend to create images that differ from the original movie. This is a complex area, but just know that the color coding system used in the film should match the decoder to the TV for an accurate reproduction. Unfortunately, most of the color decoder for the TV can not be easily adjusted.

Other factors that may affect the color reproduction of gray scale and include display functions (gamma), the TV. If all this is important to you, you can enter the field of calibration amateur or hire a specialist to do this.
Details

The best HD out there can provide 5 times the amount of pixels than the old standard definition. This is 5 times lighter, but there is a difference of night and day. Imagine you see real grass and dirt on the football field, the permanent establishment or someone in the distance you could not before. Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty star) went even live to say that he hated HD because she showed her face imperfections. Because everyone is raving on Planet Earth, when there have been countless documentaries on nature like? This is the main reason for the video market was getting everyone to jump on the wagon and with good reason.

Unfortunately, the confusion, there is great in the consumer market today, especially when there are two “types” of HD material (I mean 720 vs 1080) and the big boys to take advantage of Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD format war. Your only hope is that with a bit ‘of information, you can avoid being the victim. So to get the details here, go for 1080 capable TVs. Make sure you understand the articles because the optimal distance for 1080p and highlight some cases where you may not need more resolution televisions. For fans of home theater PC, be sure to get 1:1 pixel mapping feature (point-by-DOT) on the TV for sharp, detailed images.
Sharpness

Perception of sharpness of an image is related to the resolution and the concept of profit acute describe the contrast of the photograph advanced. The edge contrast is simply the difference in brightness compared to space. Most flat panels today have the possibility of “artificially increase the contrast of the video, maintaining the same resolution. This creates a crisp edge along the edge of the image, giving the impression of a higher quality image. This works in general on SD equipment that its resolution is so low compared to other HD sources. But too great refinement or improvement of contours creates annoying artifacts halo around images. To resolve this problem, you can calibrate your TV using some test patterns found in the sharpness of the popular calibration discs.

Source of high-resolution HD movies as they tend to give sharper images from SD. This is particularly true when 720 or 1080 coded films appear at the same resolution on your HDTV without scaling.
Motion

When first-out LCD screen, the head movement was mainly a nuisance because of its technological limits. Moving images are projected shadow of fast action scenes intolerable. Well, I am pleased to announce with overdrive and improved backlight technology currently used in many liquid crystal display has become a minor problem. There are some people who still see this motion artifacts, but I’m glad I’m not one of them. LCDs are very good companies to overcome their limitations and their TV a serious competitor in the arena HDTV.
Viewing Angles

Another scourge of LCD televisions. The new models have been improved viewing angles on LCD TVs, but I do not think its anywhere near a plasma television. Listed companies viewing angles of 176 degrees, neglecting to mention the considerable decrease of contrast and image quality as you move off center. I have not found an LCD TV that has solved this, but when I do, Ill let you know.
Video Processing Artifacts

In a typical video system, where the MPEG decoding, scaling and deinterlacing is used, a number of artifacts can be displayed on the image that can affect image quality. There is generally perceived by the boy Average Joe, but once you see again and again, can be distracting.

An example of artifacts you can see:

* Twitter Line
* Brushing
* Vibration
* Jaggies
* Moire
* Blurring
* Buzzer
Mosquito Noise *
* Macroblocking
* Posterize
* Bug Chroma
* Digital Noise

Ignorance is bliss.

Well that’s all for today. I hope that you will use part of the information presented here as a guide for the evaluation of PQ to buy HDTV later. Good hunting!

HDTV is still haunted by many questions that are still evolving as the digital connectivity, protection against copying, the recording capacity, the specifications are increasing, updates that require hardware replacement rather than the last day of the firmware etc., which have the potential to make your buying process and evolution more confusing and frustrating.

Some people replace their TVs after the deadline, others like to update often able to experiment with new versions, usually have their portfolios regularly dominated by small changes in technology. The cost of HDTV reason / s in a period of 10 years would have been different in each case, indicate what is your case and how it affects your budget and / or selection now and in the long term.

HDTV technology is constantly changing and you must be tolerant, if there are many surprises of products discontinued two months after buying the set. Some manufacturers replace the lines 2 to 3 times a year just to add some minor features.

If you plan to upgrade your new HDTV in two years is in any case, perhaps so important to choose before it is absolutely all feature of the evidence for long-term performance and compatibility or wait for these features are available in all desires, such as the digital connection HDMI 1.3 for example (a set with other versions of HDMI, DVI, or just maybe all you need for now). Evaluating your habits of consumer electronics and long-term costs of ownership can confirm the selection and characteristics with greater clarity.

HDTV for your goals Viewing

Once you understand the differences and capabilities of digital TV technologies, it should focus on how they might apply to your goals in sight. Assess whether you need a 42 “plasma screen suitable for a studio or a 120″ screen for front projection home theater in the basement.

Your room observation windows open all the time? This light can be too much for a front projection TV or plasma screen. Do you have sufficient depth to enable environment for about 1-2 meters deep into a television cabinet rear projection, and still enough distance between the screen and adjusts the display position?

Assess your “remote” and the size of the display screen to view your favorite objectives (SD or HD). Also identify the minimum range and maximum viewing distance that your room would be physically possible and give you a pleasant viewing experience. You would need to use these limits while testing the display position of the warehouse, but many electronics stores nationally demo panel television DTV narrow passages with stalls on both sides, not giving sufficient depth to display everything in practice.

Because of the higher resolution of HDTV images were seated close to the screen than you’re used to traditional analogue television, but remember that it may be necessary to use the same game to see a lot of non-HDTV, which has enough resolution to sit as close as HD image would allow.

Identify the cable / satellite / over-the-air HD reception services available in your area. Ask about their plans for HD in the near future, the adoption of HDTV by the cable industry is growing every year, but may not be the case for your region.

Consider some factors that may not be able to check, for example, the line of the parable of view may be blocked by rows of trees that can not be cut, UHF antennas could be a problem for the field / location / house / surrounding the buildings of the city, etc.

Learning the rules of the antenna of the FCC on their website if your Home Owners Association (HOA) refuses to install your outdoor antenna, the FCC is on your side and has authority over regulations Hoa district, such as the regulation little apartment few years ago.

Anticipating as many non-HDTV 4×3 content you want when watching HDTV on a new set, in the coming years. Although many of the new cable and satellite HDTV, many are, and might remain for a long time in digital 480th 4×3. Assess whether the display will be mainly for 4×3 or SD or HD content pre-recorded HDTV Hi-Def DVD movies.

Revise the terms of the material that you identified. Confirm whether HDTV will be used both as stand-alone set or as the centerpiece of a home theater audio / video multi-channel system. If yes, confirm the need for any changes or updates to your existing audio setup, such as replacing a limited A / V with a multichannel audio for movies and additional speakers, and possibly hi-bit audio decoder Hi -Def DVD soundtracks, such as DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD and HDMI 1.3 to allow, etc.

HDTV Review Concepts at Online Forum

HDTV Review concepts and business contexts and journals on-line and be patient while learning terminology that seems confusing first (progressive, 720p, 1080i, 1080p, scaling, DVI, HDMI, etc.).

HDTV Tour Information vendors and do not be surprised if you get more confused with verbal explanations that seem to contradict what you’ve read from reliable sources, many HDTV salespeople are still in training, take your time to combine the inputs.

Many early adopters have the advantage of all the information available today HDTV. If you have time, now you have your feet from various sources to inform yourself and research to make an intelligent purchase. Do not make the mistake of using the approach of buying a TV 13”pour the kitchen.

Learning to identify differences in technology (DLP, Plasma, LCD, LCoS, etc..) Confirm your understanding of differences of seeing some set of representatives of each of these technologies in different sizes, distances, angles, and the conditions’ lighting. Not all technologies would also be effective for all conditions of the room, some are perfect for an apartment on the beach, but they emit too much light in a dark room, some require a completely dark room.

Amazon.com Price: View Sale Price (as of 2010-09-04 14:31:01 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.

User Reviews Send this to a friend
Panasonic TC P50V10 - 50" plasma TV - widescreen - 1080p (FullHD) - HDTV
 
Manufacturer: Panasonic
Customer Rating:
 
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Product Description

The V10 Series Plasma takes advantage of newly-developed NeoPDP technology, featuring a sleek thin profile and superb levels of brightness and contrast for industry-leading image quality. Designed for the discerning home viewer, the V10 Series meets the strict image quality and engineering standards required to receive the prestigious THX certification, and reproduces the maximum 1080 lines of moving image resolution with accurate color and luminance levels.

Product Details

  • Designed to network, your plasma is internet-capable with VIERA Cast
  • Smooth images and brilliant colors are a given.
  • The V10-series boasts a 1080p Neo PDP infinite black panel with a 40,000:1

Video Reviews

No video reviews found for this product.

Customer Reviews

Outstanding TV
 
Review Date: September 6, 2009
Reviewer: Tom D., Chicago, IL USA
Before making my purchase I had narrowed down my choices to the Sony 52XBR9 LCD, the Samsung LN52B750 LCD, the Samsung PN50B860 plasma, and the Panasonic TC-P50V10 plasma. All had a superior picture, but I chose the Panasonic because:

1. The Sony & the Samsung LCDs' both had viewing angle issues. The pictures were superb from head-on, but definitely deteriorated as you moved to the side. The Sony was worse than the Samsung in this respect.
2. The LCDs' both had some motion artifact to my eye even with 240 Hz. The 240 Hz feature is after all an attempt to catch up to the plasmas, which have no motion problem at all.
3. Several online owner reviews on the Samsung plasma mentioned problems with buzzing and problems with Samsung's customer service. Also, several reviewers complained of the Samsung sound quality. There were no similar complaints with Panasonic. This steered me away from the Samsung plasma.
4. [..] and [...] both rated the Panasonic #1.

Now that I have the TV in my home, I can say that I am completely blown away by the picture quality. It is stunning. The sound is more than adequate. The TV itself looks great. You can see some reflection from the glass screen from certain angles, but only if you're looking for it. Panasonic's anti-glare screen seems to work fine. There is no motion artifact even with fast-moving sports like baseball and tennis. If you watch from an angle, there is no deterioration in the picture. I might mention that I put the TV on a BDI #9634 table, and the two look great together. I did a lot of shopping for tables too, and I thought the BDI tables were the best-looking and the best quality.
The hype is right - this is Panasonic's best plasma yet!
 
Review Date: July 31, 2009
Reviewer: D. Bouley, Hartford, CT
I'm writing this as the former owner of Panasonic's 46" 800U plasma.

This tv is fantastic. The picture quality is nothing short of amazing; [post break-in] image retention has been decreased significantly from last year's models; 96Hz 1080p/24 mode has eliminated flicker, and 48Hz mode is still selectable for those who prefer the cinematic look; MANY more settings to be adjusted (even though some whine about what they're called); energy-star compliant. I am surprised at just how much better the picture quality got from the 800u to the V10 series. My only complaint is that the speakers are not as good as the 800u...not that it matters, as I have other equipment to handle my audio.

The software is fine. The picture is the best you'll get now that the Kuro is dead. Unless you can afford Panasonic's Z1, buy THIS TV!!

ETA: HD Guru has just deemed the V10 the King of HDTVs. Long live the King!
Phenomenal Picture out of the Box, Wish it had Netflix and wasn't so ugly . . .
 
Review Date: October 31, 2009
Reviewer: Nick da Scholar, The Middle of Nowhere, NY
I've owned the TV for about a week and a half now and I can't wait any longer to write a review. The bottom line is that the picture quality looks absolutely amazing out of the box. HD content looks absolutely incredible. I'd give it six stars if it streamed Netflix (or maybe even if VieraCast had another interesting option) and if it looked a little sharper on Standard Definition content (oh, yeah, and if Amazon let me give it six stars :-). But at the end of the day, if you're dropping this kind of money on a TV, you probably have a Blu Ray player and HD cable and you're going to be blown away by the experience. And I do mean experience -- because watching high definition content on this TV is tantamount to a religious experience.

Let me first mention that this is not the TV that I wanted. I wanted the Samsung PN50B860. It is less expensive, it has better streaming options (important for me because I only have Internet service, no cable TV) and it looks a hell of a lot cooler. But I couldn't get past one review after another that lamented the horrible buzz of the Samsungs and the fact that every independent comparison that I read more or less said that the Samsung's picture quality was not quite awesome and that this TV was more or less the 2009 king of HDTV. After spending a good deal of time sifting through reviews and staring at screens in the electronics stores, I couldn't get away from the fact that the picture on the Panasonic TC-P50V10 was not disputed. No one claimed it was less than the best. I should say that I think the styling on this TV is almost downright ugly. It doesn't hold a candle to the way the Samsung looks. The "one sheet of glass" thing doesn't do it for me at all. But, my girlfriend gave me the push I needed when she asked me one rhetorical question: Which is going to matter more -- the way it looks when it is turned off, or the way it looks when it's turned on? Sold.

As I don't have cable television or a Blu-Ray player, my first move was to use VieraCast to watch an HD movie or two (or 7 or 8) via Amazon on Demand. Contrary to the one negative review on here, I found the content to load quickly and the menus to be simple to navigate. I may suggest some changes on Amazon's end -- but nothing I would change on Panasonic's end. I take that back -- there are TWO things I would change on Panasonic's end. The reason I just decided to change "ease of use" to 4 stars is because of the fact that they grey out some menu options in some playback modes. Why is there not a timer available when the TV is in VieraCast mode?!?? I really want to speed up this first 100 or 200 hour break-in period and it would be really helpful if I could rent a movie and leave it to play and use a timer so it will go off. I'd also like to be able to fall asleep watching a movie now and then as this TV is currently in my bedroom. That is probably my only major complaint about this TV. But that problem is likely not something that will concern most people thinking about buying this set. The other small grievance I have is that when you spend almost seveteen hundred smackers on a TV, can't it just come wireless out of the box? I still haven't picked up a wireless access point, so I'm running a stupid ethernet cable up the wall and upstairs to where the TV is. Dumb. But in no way a dealbreaker.

More importantly -- picture quality is absolutely superb. I don't know if I can say enough about it. When I first looked at TVs in a store, the pop of the colors on an LED screen looked really cool to me. Once someone pointed out the terrible exaggeration of the colors (blue smoke coming from a volcano....and pink lava), I realized that the constant brightness might get old after a while. Now that I have this TV, I absolutely realize that this was a correct analysis. I like looking at a bright LCD in the store....but you absolutely can not beat the cinematic quality of the picture on this screen. The colors are rich and deep and it gives a depth to the picture that you just won't get if the screen is blinding you with light. I actually feel like I'm in a movie theater when I watch this television....and personally, I don't think you can beat having a movie theater experience at home. I literally order snowcaps by the case here in Amazon and I can sit at home and feel like a king watching this set. And that is keeping it on low settings to break it in -- I can't wait until I am a couple hundred hours in and I tweak the settings. My only picture quality complaint is a small amount of blotchiness in the blacks that I've noticed in some dark backgrounds (Gothika and Law & Order). I've chalked it up to not being broken in and not being on the top settings (and to the fact that I was streaming those things on the Internet). We'll see if that improves - and I'll be sure to come back and update either way. But by and large, you can't beat the way that the colors in general seem to pop into your lap and make you feel like you are actually inside the movie.

All that said, I have been a little unimpressed with the picture quality when watching some standard-definition content (from Amazon on Demand and from a laptop via HDMI connection). I still haven't hooked up my regular old DVD player, but my hopes aren't real high for my old DVDs until I get a good Blu-Ray player that will upconvert them nicely. I look forward to that day . . . because I own more than 500 movies on DVD and a lot of seasons. I definitely do want to enjoy them on my new big screen, and I hope that works out well when I decide on a Blu-Ray player. When I do, I'll be back to update this.

A note on value -- do some shopping around. As I write this on 10/31/09, I can say that I got this TV at a more than twenty-one percent discount from the Amazon price or the price of other big name brick and motar stores. Take a look at some of the retailers who sell on Amazon.....they have their own sites and their own deals. The TV arrived via UPS (sure, no white glove delivery service....but my girlfriend and I were able to carry the TV in and set it up ourselves...it wasn't worth the extra cost....and even if I had chosen the white-glove service, it still would have been significantly cheaper). Don't be afraid to call a dealer and ask how much better they can do.....most of them have price-match programs and so on. I did very very little haggling to get the price into the range I wanted. In fact, I really just named the price I wanted to pay and I paid it. Keep that in mind.

Changing gears, I have read a number of complaints about the sound quality of this television. My first thought every time I read this type of comment is "Who drops anywhere near two G's on a TV and doesn't either already have or plan to buy a home theater setup? Do these people honestly use the TV's speakers? Do they expect a TV that is 3 or 4 inches thick to sound like the IMAX?" That said, I don't have mine hooked up to any type of sound system right now and I have to report that it sounds awesome. As a former DJ who owns a surround system for both home theater and one for a computer (and the necessary pieces to run my computer through the home theater), I have to say that the TV speakers sound pretty darn good to me. Granted, I have the TV in a bedroom at the moment (and not a huge bedroom at that) and my expectations were not IMAX sound. This TV's built-in sound exceeds my expectations....but I don't plan to use it for very long -- and seriously, neither should you. Buy some sound equipment.

Last, but not least, burn-in/image retention. So far, it's nonexistent. My girlfriend has driven me a little batty a couple of times by watching YouTube videos without fullscreening them (thereby keeping a static menu on the left for a while). We have slid through hundreds of movies on the Amazon on Demand menus with static images on the top and bottom. We rented one movie from Amazon that was in High Def but was letterboxed (why?!?!? -- and why can't I change the setting and zoom it to get rid of the letterbox when I'm using VieraCast?!?!?). Neither has caused even a HINT of a problem. I'm still being overly cautious whenever I can be.....but I have not had the slightest hint of image retention/burn-in. This seems to be the quality product that one would expect when one spends this kind of money.

All in all, I give the Panasonic TC-P50V10 an emphatic stamp of approval. I'm thrilled with my purchase. I went to the mall last night and cheated on my baby a bit looking at how pretty the Samsungs look....but at the end of the day, my girlfriend was right - I want the TV that knocks my socks off when it's on. I have heard ZERO sound from the V10 (no buzz) and I have noticed no heat (supposedly all plasmas produce it?). The picture is gorgeous and VieraCast is OK. I look forward to VierCast updates -- and if they don't come, I'll get a Netflix-enabled Blu-Ray player. You should buy this TV, just don't pay full price. I know I won't regret it any time soon.
Excellent
 
Review Date: September 8, 2009
Reviewer: K. Mir, Toronto, Canada
I have been looking around for a tv for a long time and googled best tv. This brought me to Cnet's review of tv's where this tv was an editors choice. I will be honest with you, I would have been happy and impressed with pretty much any of the sony's or samsungs as well, but I am very happy with this tv for the last 2 months. The picture quality, as expected, is phenomenal.

I live in a one bedroom apt and the tv and its sound is perfect for the living room despite some people worrying about it. I tried listening for the fans, I couldnt hear them. The ability to purchase amazon dvd's and bluerays online from the tv and access to youtube is cool although I use the latter rarely.

I also just bought a ps3 slim and you can control it using this tv's controller using the viera link button and allowing for the link in the slim. That for me is probably the best thing about either the slim or this tv...not having to worry about that awful ps3 remote. I bought from wholesale av and they were good without any complaints, but any of the online sites are probably comprable. I wouldnt buy from best buy or any bricks and mortar store as you pay so much for nothing extra.

I was worried about spending [...] bucks on this but I am glad I did. I am not a tech junkie so I will likely have this for another 5 years or so and right now I am very happy with that. My only worry is that my electricity bill went from [...] dollars a month to [...]. Small price to pay for this excellent tv.
Just awesome
 
Review Date: November 7, 2009
Reviewer: Benjamin Keselowsky,
The Panasonic V10 50" is just awesome. This was my first HD tv so maybe I'm easy to impress, but all the reviews ([...] and Amazon) agreed that this is an incredible plasma tv. My concern about everyone's advice saying that LCD's may be better for a bright room had me a little worried about choosing a plasma. But after having it for a little over a month now, it's been great. Glare has not been a problem at all. I have it set up next to a wall with windows - only slight glare if trying to watch with full sun through the window. I purchased through Electronics Experience (~$1,700), for a great price and they proved very reliable sellers.

It’s time for HDTV now. Are you ready?

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