A truly exceptional plasma television

I've owned this for 3 days now and wanted to wait until I fully tested it to write a review. After seeing how it performs with videogames blu-ray movies and basic cable I feel I know the television enough to offer my thoughts.



Picture quality: Incredible. Blacks are as deep as the bezel surrounding the TV. Colors are bold - everything you'd expect from a top of the line plasma. I own a 62" DLP a 26" LCD a 50" panasonic 720p plasma and this plasma and the plasmas are the only sets that really "pop." This model is head and shoulders above even the 50" 3-year-old model I own.



Video game play: There's a game mode which bumps up the brightness and sharpness. It's great for PS3 games. I've played Demon's Souls and Wolfenstein on it so far and both look amazing. The system touts "1080 lines of moving picture resolution" to help with motion blur. Honestly I never felt plasmas had an issue with motion blur to begin with so I'm not sure how much of a difference this feature is making but from what I understand in doing research it helps to have it.



Cable: HD looks good - even the reds aren't blown out. Basic cable is standard definition - a thing on it's way out anyway lol.



Aesthetics/connections: The TV is very sharp looking and the anti-glare feature on the S model (as opposed to the U model) actually makes a difference. I rolled my eyes when I read the feature but I'm watching it in the daytime in a well-lit room and the glare is really minimal. The only minor dissapointment is no VGA connection but I'll figure out a way around that. Was going to use VGA to hook up my 360 (since I'm using computer speakers for audio at the moment) but will go the component route now. By the way a TON of controls and an HDMI input are on the side of the tv making it very easy to get to.



Burn-in/image retention/ghosting: Haven't experienced any signs of even ghosting yet. Had my game on pause for a few minutes a couple times to test it.



Audio: Haven't tested the TV's speakers just using an external set of logitech speakers with subwoofer at the moment.



Overall: For the price I highly recommend the set. Like I said I own 4 televisions of 3 different technologies and this one shows off the best picture. I have a collection of almost 800 blu-rays and stay up to date on all the high-def news etc... I do extensive research before purchasing a product and actually went into this thinking I was going to give in and get an LED. I don't want to get into an LED vs. Plasma thing here but the LED's are simply LCD with different lighting and it brings all the inherent LCD problems with it. They make catch your eye in the store but once you get home and get into your environment it's a different story. That said this plasma in game mode gets the picture as close to LED as I've seen but with much better blacks.



Update 5/2/10: Just thought I'd add to this that I've had a videogame on pause for more than an hour a few times and while I wouldn't make a habit out of it there hasn't even been a hint of ghosting and certainly no issue with burn-in. Even so the TV seems to have an auto shut-off function after 5 minutes or so of complete inactivity. There will be a message prompting you that it will shut off in 3 minutes and it counts down from there.More detail ...

It came today...

From reading AVS forum I was ready to pull the trigger on a Panasonic G10. Then went to Best Buy to see them in person and this thing was just so much nicer in every way. I'm sorry Panny fanboys but the picture on the current models just looks dingy. The older ones were much nicer. Maybe they made too many compromises for the "eco" thing. And WAY reflective. Anyway the Samsung came today no more calibration that setting it to "movie" mode (will wait til after break-in for that). Watching a show about quasars & pulsars on DirecTV HD Channel (720p) and we are saying "whoo" and "wow" just like watching fireworks. The colors are vivid but not harsh (like LCD's can be). No banding jaggies. Incredibly detailed but smooooth. It's just amazing. Flesh tones so natural it's like you're looking at a real person. This replaced a calibrated Samsung 56" DLP which I preferred to anything I'd ever seen before (had it's caveats but LCD RPTVs were positively hazy at that time so I went with DLP since the rainbow thing was rare and didn't bother me - kind of pretty actually.) But this just blows it away. It's like the fog has lifted. Hot? Yes it's putting off some heat; but I live in a cold climate (SF) so no big deal. Buzzing? If you put your ear right next to it (the hard drive in my DVR is way louder) but then I'm essentially at sea level supposedly higher altitudes worsen that. Reflections? Yes but nowhere as bad as CRT or (ahem) the current generation of MacBooks. It's glossy but subdued. For the first time I have an in-home viewing experience superior to a movie theatre. Just can't emphasize how natural the picture is. I hope Samsung & Panasonic will continue this technology. I love LCD TV for the kitchen it's fine for watching the news and great on the computer for static images but this is a true videophile experience. Like MP3's (which sound great) vs full uncompressed quality digital sound. I can see how (especially sports oriented viewers) might prefer LCD - it's bright sharp vivid (especially if you're looking straight on - not so great off center). But if you want to see subtlety in light shadow cinematography - this new tech plasma is the way to go. Maybe the key is you need a technology where the pixels are producing their own light. The last time a picture was so smooth natural detailed to my eye were the last generation of Sony CRT Trinitron Wega sets. Perhaps OLED will be the next step up but I'm very happy with this. And Amazon's price white-glove delivery return policy can't be beat.The guys from Pilot unboxed it and made sure it was working before they left. Hauled it up 2 flights of stairs. I can't believe this marvel of technology was cheaper than a decent laptop.More detail ...

Best value on the market

I looked at this set and the TC-P65V10 in Best Buy before I purchased it here. Using the same input I could not tell more that a tiny marginal difference in the V10's 96hz 24p feature and this set without. I also looked at the 60" KURO and while it did look better calibrated it was not worth the more than "double the price" premium. I could tell a difference in the price though and back in my in home all I can say is "WOW what a picture". This performance available at this Amazon price point is the value of the year in television IMHO.



I bought the new TC-P54G10 in early September and also have a 720P 50" TH-50PX80U model. While the TC-P65S1 Panasonic does not have THX I was not as impressed with the THX settings as I thought I would be and prefer to use the custom settings. In my opinion this is still by far the best picture of the three sets I own. It shares the same Neo-PDP glass as the 54G10 but at 65" the 1080 ability really shows through. Even at the 54" size I cannot tell the difference with the 720 sets but this 65S1 shines like a star. I watched the Thursday night college football game on ESPNHD and spent more time being amazed at the picture than at the game and it was a darn good game.



This set is in a big room 19' x 26' 12" ceiling with lots of glass windows behind it and sliding doors. The anti glare works well really great.

They need to add the ability to use Netflix right from the set and add more picture control ability for fine tuning and calibration of the picture.



Panasonic really knows their stuff. I can't wait until they come out with a 100" or better Plasma that folks who are not a Rap-Star can afford.



Don't hesitate to purchase through Amazon!More detail ...

Excellent TV from Panasonic

I bought this plasma from a local electronics store [...]. This is the second flat screen I have purchased in as many days.



I first bought a Samsung LN40C650 LCD but returned it the next day because of a few issues that I couldn't get past. It had very light vertical banding in some spots (It's possible that I just got a bad one on this count) the image washed out when viewing from anywhere other than straight on and I didn't like the way the tv dealt with motion (whether the auto-motion was turned on or not). Also the colors didn't seem very natural although it's possible that after adjustment this would have improved.



So I decided to try the Panasonic TC-P42G25 a Plasma tv which supposedly has none of these issues (but maybe its own inherent issue read on). I brought it home unboxed it attached the stand and hooked everything up. I was able to accomplish this myself but I would recommend getting some help to do this step. The stand does swivel which is a nice feature to have. I turned it on and after a short setup wizard everything was ready to go. I live in Chicago and the tv had no problem finding all the digital channels from my indoor/outdoor antenna which you can see here - [...]



At first this tv looks a bit dim but this is because by default the tv is set to standard brightness mode which is the least vibrant of the settings. I flipped through some of the other picture modes and THX seems to be bright and accurate though I decided to leave it in standard mode for the first few days during the plasma "break in" period.



I popped the dvd Ashes of American Flags (concert film rock band Wilco) into a bluray player that I borrowed from someone. This film has a lot dark areas in the concert scenes which allowed me to check out the black levels. The tv automatically recognized that I was playing something and switched the source to receive video from the bluray player.



If I had to describe the picture quality on this tv in one word it would be "amazing". Screen uniformity is perfect no light or dark places anywhere. Colors appear natural and realistic to me. The black levels are very deep on this tv when you dim the lights a bit or close the shades in the room. Motion appears fine to me (I found the motion looked better with the blur reduction in settings turned off).



The default setting for this tv is to have C.A.T.S. turned on in the settings. This adjusts the brightness of the picture depending on how much ambient light is in the room. Some people may like this feature but I turned it off.



The sound is good for normal tv viewing. It sounded better to me when I turned on bass boost in the sound settings; It is possible to adjust the treble and bass also.



One issue that this tv has (as well as Plasma's in general from what I've read) that LCD's don't is that the black levels don't look their best in a brightly lit room. This is not a problem for me as I prefer watching in a dim but not pitch black environment. To my eyes the black levels look deeper than I've ever seen on an LCD.



I have not tried the network feature on this tv yet. An earlier reviewer said some of the network features may not be available yet. It won't really matter to me if this is still the case. I just want a flatscreen that does what it is supposed to do and does it very well; This plasma delivers that.



This is a polished product from Panasonic. Please Panasonic don't ever stop making Plasma's!



****Quick update**** 4/26. When I said that the TV automatically switched the source to receive video from the bluray player It may have done this because the bluray player that I borrowed also happened to be a Panasonic product. As to whether or not it will automatically switch the source for another brand of bluray player you'll have to find that out for yourself.More detail ...

Excellent choice if you are on a Budget AND if you are not a videophile

This is one of the Best TVs available on the market especially considering it's price. I've had this TV for about a week now and have nothing major to complain. I was nervous getting a plasma TV due issues like glare buzz weight form factor ghosting burn-in etc. But this TV proved to live out most of the disadvantages of plasmas.



Pros:



1. Color Accuracy - Color accuracy great without even tweaking any calibration settings. I like the THX cinema mode the best.



2. Slick - The TV has a slim form factor and the uniform glass top (Bezel does not pop out of the screen). We absolutely love it's looks.



3. DLNA - This is the first TV I owned with DLNA capability. I installed the Nero Home media essentials that came with this TV on my laptop and I was able to watch photos and videos that are on my laptop in no time. The video quality also feels upscaled and close to HD.



4. Plug and Play USB - I connected my USB hard drive and instantly there is a prompt on the TV to play videos music and photos.



5. Netcast and Widgets - The TV comes with Netflix Youtube Vudu Picasa widgets and it also supports the Yahoo widget gallery. I haven't yet tried Netflix or Vudu. But Youtube and Picasa were really good. The picture quality of the youtube videos was not great but it really is a matter of the video itself but not the TV. Yahoo widgets were good too. I especially use the Twitter widget a lot.



6. Games - The TV came with some games pre-installed. I haven't explored this feature much. But I tried Sudoku and it was simple to use.



7. No Buzz - Since I read in one of the earlier reviews about the buzz sound I tried hard to hear it from my typical viewing distance (about 10ft) and I heard nothing.



8. Ease of use - The menus and features are very easy to navigate and operate.



9. Remote - The remote is really slick and with big keys and very easy to operate. Also has decent short cuts to most of the frequently used features.



Cons:



1. Black Levels - Black levels are not as dark as I'd hoped for in a Plasma. In fact in some cases I tend to think they are not even on par with some of the latest better performing Sony and Samsung LCDs. I was a little disappointed with this. But hey you get what you pay for..!



2. Glare - Like any other plasma TV this TV produces a bit of glare. But this is much better compared to a lot of other plasmas I've seen and in most cases you wouldn't really notice it unless you are looking for it.



3. PIP/POP - I'd hoped that a 2010 TV comes with the basic PIP/POP features. But seems like this TV does not have it. It's not a deal breaker for me though.



4. Zoom - The picture zoom feature is a little cumbersome.



5. Typing - Netcast widgets use the number pad for typing. But Yahoo widgets (twitter) rely on the visual keyboard and entering each alphabet takes a lot of strokes. I wish LG offered a remote with QWERTY keyboard something similar to the one that comes with Vizio VF552XVT.



6. Video format compatibility - I tried playing several videos of different formats - divx divx HD mpeg mp4 wmv avi etc. It was able to handle all formats. But within a given format some videos were not recognized (videos that I have are even though of the same format are different in bit rate compression resolution etc). Sometimes it does not recognize the audio. I wish LG comes up with a firmware update to expand it's support.



One feature I haven't tried is the wireless connectivity. This TV is both WiFi ready and Wireless 1080p ready. But both of these optional accessories which I do not currently have.



I haven't played around with a lot of picture settings yet (Mostly because I didn't need to). But as I explore more I shall come back to update this post.



This may not be the best TV on market. But for a little over 1000 bucks you can not go wrong with this TV especially if you are not a videophile and picky about deep black levels.More detail ...

I love this TV # SETTINGS UPDATE #

I have had this TV for nearly a month. After I got the basic picture settings where I like them I am continually amazed at what a terrific picture I get. For me the the CINEMA setting seems to be the best overall setting for both DVDs and broadcast/cable TV and I adjust the the other picture settings as needed for individual DVDs or TV programs.

I wanted to keep this brief so I won't go into any further detail. I am completely happy with this TV. You can never really be sure what a TV is going to be like once you get into your home. In this case I can't imagine how it could be any better.



AVERAGE USER PICTURE SETUP GUIDE



I have had this TV about 3 months now and still Love it. Over that time I have fine tuned the picture settings to the point where I am happy with them in almost every viewing situation and video format without having to make any changes. I watch my TV at ambient light levels from fairly bright to completely dark.

I thought a list of my settings might be a helpful starting point for new owners wanting to get the best from this awesome TV as quickly as possible. I didn't use any test patterns or fancy equipment to arrive at these settings. They were developed using real world viewing. You super techies can scoff and move on now and hopefully this will be a help to the rest of you.



SETTINGS



Picture Mode = Cinema (always)

Contrast 36

Brightness 36

Color 29 (you will probably use this

Tint +1 and the tint control most often)

Sharpness 50

Color Temp = warm

CATS off

Video NR on

Blur Reduction on



ASPECT:

Screen Format = full

HD Size 1



ADVANCED PICTURE



Mpeg NR = on

Black level = light (This is an important setting. On My TV it was defaulted to DARK. On very dark scenes like in

Theaters during concerts there is much useful detail that is lost with the Dark setting.

Another good example is the opening scene of "Master and Commander" The movie opens with a

long distance shot of the HMS Surprise alone at sea just before the sun comes up. The camera

slowly pans closer to the deck of the ship until we can see the black rigging silhouetted

against the grayish blue predawn with sailors climbing up and down the rigging for the

changing of the watch. The next scene is of the ships cook reaching into the on deck chicken

coop to grab a chicken. With the setting in DARK the cook's face clothing and the chicken

are all dark shadows with no detail. With the light setting the cooks features his ginger

colored beard and the soft blue and gray stripes of his shirt are now visible along with

the individual reddish brown feathers of the chicken he selected.



I hope this helps you get started. Everyone's tastes are different but this should be a good starting point.

I suspect that these settings should also be good for the other size sets in the S2 line

This review refers to the 2010 model TC-P54S2More detail ...

Panasonic G10--Excellent Picture Quality and Price Combination

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.More detail ...

Value performance quality - this LG TV delivers

Let me start by saying that I am not a videophile but when it comes to purchasing a television I can be very picky. I went through the whole LCD vs. Plasma dilemma 3 years ago when I bought my Samsung 5084 (one of the best non-Pioneer plasmas at the time). That said I was ready to supplement that unit this year with a 'smaller' LCD for the bedroom (didn't want to sweat IR horizontal line bleed etc). Needless to say LCD options in the 'budget' range lack features that alleviate some of their drawbacks forcing you to suffer through motion blur clouding and terrible black levels if you choose a set for ~$800).



Enter the 42" plasmas. For the sake of comparison I decided to investigate the plasma alternative once again. This essentially brought me to the Samsung C450 due to my positive experience with the 5084 and glowing reviews for the C450. Unfortunately users reported an audible buzzing noise from the Samsung (a noise I know full well from the 5084 and did not want to deal with on a bedroom set).



Enter the PJ350. I only became aware of this set after seeing it next to the Samsung at the store. From a design perspective it tops the Samsung with an ultra thin bezel very thin chassis and no 'touch of red'. Furthermore I heard no buzzing from the LG floor model while the Samsung sounded like someone was digging honey out of a beehive. Since it is a brand new model I had no reviews to rely on but I took the plunge.



Picture quality from this unit is superb for any sub-$1k TV much less one at this price point. This 720p set rivals my 1080p plasma in most respects most notably black levels. I have only had it for a few days now but setting the TV on 'cinema' mode at 70 contrast and 50 brightness is really impressive (I recommend switching those two numbers for several weeks to break in the unit). If you place your head behind the unit you can hear the typical plasma 'buzz' but this is completely inaudible at any reasonable viewing distance. While this goes without saying all the benefits of plasma are apparent with this TV: cinematic quality motion (none of that chincy 120hz movement) 24p bluray playback consistent backlighting etc. I have noticed a tiny amount of false contouring but less than my Samsung - hardly an annoyance. OTA video quality is of course superb. The reviewer who stated that colors are not as vivid clearly didn't recognize that picture settings are independently adjustable for each input. This TV does offer a settings wizard to help set the picture based on your unit and environment but I prefer manual adjustment to suit my personal tastes.



If you're worried about not having 1080p don't be. At this size you will not detect a difference anywhere outside 4' from the unit. The screen is quite reflective but if glare is your primary concern then you surely can settle for the inferior picture quality of a cheap LCD. While I have limited experience with my LG I can honestly say that I am very pleased thus far.More detail ...

great tv for the money

I got this tv on sale the day after it arrived in stores for only $720 and I could not be happier with it. The picture is fantastic right out of the box. As with all plasmas make sure you take the break in period seriously by turning down the contrast and brightness a bit for the first 100-200 hours. I've also been running the anti-burn in scrolling feature for about an hour a night when I go to bed and have yet to notice any sort of image retention although I haven't played any video games on it yet.



There's a lot of chatter about these Samsung plasmas having an annoying buzzing sound coming from them but I have yet to notice it. Maybe I just got lucky with mine but it runs very quietly.More detail ...

Blows LCD away

This pannasonic G25 is amazing. Clear Crisp Picture. Colors are amazing unlike an LCD. You never would know the difference unless you saw a plasma. Unfortunatly plasmas got a bad rap years ago and people shy away from them. This model (as do others including samsung) have built in image retention elimination devices. Follow the break in for the first 100 hours and you have nothing to worry about. The sound levels arent bad you probably have a surround system anyways so it dont matter. This picture gets better and better as it breaks in. All store demos are pretty crappy and usually the plasmas are off to the side. If stores used a good setup and dialed in the sets its unbelievable how many they would sell but most people drift to the big bright LCD or LED. This tv is bright and colors are unmatched. Hockey games and fast paced sports are crap on lcd but on plasma when the hockey players stop you can see every sliver of ice fly through the air. Plasmas are less money and better picture the an lcd why buy an lcd? I looked at the samsung however they have a realllly bad rep for buzzing. Get it dial in your settings and you too will be blown away.



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