| | | |  - 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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| | | |  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 | | | | |
Average Rating : 
Rating :  - Money well spent
Let me preface this by telling you that I was a Broadcast Television Engineer for over 21 years and have been related electronic fields for over 40 years total. I know picky!
My first prerequisite was a Plasma Screen, the lag in even the finest LCD/LED TVs drive me mad. Many people can't see this phenomenon and I'm fine with that. A bonus with the plasma screen is the large off-axis viewing, meaning that the picture looks as good from seats to the side as it does in my direct view comfy chair.
A second prerequisite was 1080p, or so I thought. My preferred viewing position is 12 feet from screen to eyes. At 3 feet, real 1080p Blu-ray did look better on a Sony GXDL52H1 1080p screen than it did on the TC-P50X1 720p. But, at 10 feet the differences were not so apparent and at 12 feet, I could live with the difference. When you factor in that the Sony is $4200 vs. $700 for the Panasonic, the choice became a no brainer. It is only TV folks!
You will find that TV broadcast is 1080i, if not 720i. It will be a while before you can get the full benefit of 1080p. I figure when that time comes, I'll move this one to the den and buy into 1080p. Maybe by then the price will have come down, too.
A few reviews have complained of compressed blacks. The picture controls fix that problem handily. Early reviews found a moiré effect in the bright whites caused by the screen overlay glass interacting with the plasma screen. I did not find this to be so with the present production. I have found later reviews pointing out the same problem, but under closer scrutiny, I found them to be parroting the old reviews, to the point that errors were repeated.
The Good: A great picture at a bargain price. Sure, there are better TVs, but expect to pay at least twice as much for a discernable difference. The screen is non-glare, a real plus in our viewing environment. Standard TV does not have the weird artifacts that I have seen on other HDTVs.
The Bad: I miss PIP. Also, I hate having to go to menu choose the input. I would prefer direct access from the remote. The audio is on par with almost any other HDTV, which is to say, not great but bearable. I would have liked TV remote controllable RCA outputs so I could hook up my (cheap) little surround system. I don't really want to run regular TV through the `big' surround system all the time to get better audio.
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