The new Panasonic Plasma's look phenomenal

[aphex]

Had a chance to see the new Panasonic 50" panels at my local best buy yesterday and was amazed how good they look. Its a nearly new Best Buy store so they did a good job of keeping the lights down in the TV area, but far from an ideal testing environment. That being said, with all the remotes within reach, its nice to be able to change the settings the best you can.

They had both the 50" X1 (720p) and the S1 (1080p), both looked amazing. The NeoPDP really does seem to make a difference as in their "torch" mode, they seemed to be nearly as bright as the LCD's sitting next to it. I was reading a bit about them and it seems you can turn them down to half the brightness now and its just as bright as last years model at 100%, really helps save energy compared to the older models.

Black levels looked really good, it was too high to do a cupped hand test, but it looked noticeably better than another of the other panels on the wall (short of the Kuro, but not nearly as much of a difference as it used to be IMO). Color saturation looked better than the Samsung 510 sitting below it, and I usually prefer the Samsung colors over the Panasonic.

I like the new styling, the bezel seems to have shrunk a bit much to my delight, but I don't care for the red power led on the bezel, I wonder if that could be turned off.

I think I may have picked out my new TV, just need to wait for a good sale as they are both at MSRP still ($1099/$1799 respectively)

Panasonic 50" X1
Panasonic 50" S1

 

[erwos]

Eh, who knows how badly the other panels were calibrated. I wouldn't rely on any relative tests like that.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Hopefully Panny doesn't drop out of the plasma market.

Plasma>LCD in the HT realm

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
Hopefully Panny doesn't drop out of the plasma market.

Plasma>LCD in the HT realm

I agree. As much as LCD has improved over the years, I still prefer the PQ of a Plasma.
This article (from Panasonic) has a good picture to show the brightness difference.

 

[CharlesChauvi]

The 42" widescreen picture quality is wonderful due to the high contrast ratio, great color depth and dimension. It provides a theater-like experience.

 

[squirrel dog]

I just got and setup a p50xt for my bedroom.I have it sitting on top of what we call a chiffer robe,with the sat box and dvd player in the top most opening.The picture quality is stunning for me.While watching an old black and white movie(back then nearly everyone smoked)I got alarmed as one actor went lower left with his cig holding hand.Laying in bed,I jumped up thinking the sat box was smoking.True story,now thats a really good picture.At 720p it has no trouble going to 1080i.We love movies and for me the plasma is the choice for movies.

 

[mchammer187]

had a TC-P50S1 delivered last week and am quite pleased so far

 

[QueBert]

I might actually buy a TV this year, this would be the one. I own a Panny head unit in my car, one of their self cleaning shavers and a microwave all are sweeet. Panasonic makes constantly great products.

 

[montypythizzle]

I work at Wal-Mart (not the best of showrooms with the best models) and of all the TVs there is a 50" Panny Plasma that you can clearly tell is the best. If only it was 1k last year when I bought my LG.

 

[s44]

Interesting thread at AVSforum comparing the second-from top lines of Samsung LED (B7100) LCD and Panasonic (G10) plasma.

Lots of people seem to prefer the Samsung (and even over the Kuros), but the Panny price advantage is huge. The plasma dead-enders are funny though. 😛

 

[CRXican]

pretty good pricing

Dad just enlisted me to find a TV to replace a super ghetto 4:3 CRT. The room is more suited for LCD due to a large doors with windows on one side but I do love the plasma in my room.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: s44
Interesting thread at AVSforum comparing the second-from top lines of Samsung LED (B7100) LCD and Panasonic (G10) plasma.

Lots of people seem to prefer the Samsung (and even over the Kuros), but the Panny price advantage is huge. The plasma dead-enders are funny though. 😛

Some people are just not too bright, to take a Samsung LCD over a Kuros is pretty wild. I believe it, but only because there are tons of people on the internet who have told me their LCD monitors have far superior IQ than my 22" Trintron CRT. Some people don't know what IQ is I guess. I mean if you show a person the Samsung and a Kuros side by side and they're both fully tuned. And that person still picks the Samsung, they should get their eyes checked. The difference is decent, and uhh it's not going to lean towards the Samsung.

I'd take the Panny over any Samsung, I have seen a Panny Plasma properly calibrated and the picture made my jaw drop. Only picture I've seen better was a Kuros and a Fujitsu Plasma. Fujitsu hasn't made a Plasma in years though.

 

[bruceb]

Those models linked to are not too bad, but neither has digital ready tuner or a Cable Card Slot, which I would want since I am on Cablevision digital cable. I know most sets with Cable Card can't do Pay Per View unless the card slot is two way (most are not), but I do not use pay per view and would want the slot so I don't need the cable box taking up space and the extra rental fee (yes they do charge rent on the cable card, but it is less than renting the entire cable box)

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: s44
Interesting thread at AVSforum comparing the second-from top lines of Samsung LED (B7100) LCD and Panasonic (G10) plasma.

Lots of people seem to prefer the Samsung (and even over the Kuros), but the Panny price advantage is huge. The plasma dead-enders are funny though. 😛

I like Samsung's new models, but their pricing is way out of whack IMO. They're priced pretty much the same as the Samsung 950 and i doesn't even have local dimming. I think what you are paying for with those models is the thinness (when compared to the 950). It does look beautiful though.