8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
Stunning Color, Deep Blacks, Wonderful HDTV
Date of Review: Aug 6, 2008
The Bottom Line: If you have the scratch and really care about picture quality I highly recommend this TV.
I wouldn't call myself an HDTV expert, but I have been around the block a few times. I've owned a Sony XBR HDTV tube (2004-2006), a Westinghouse 1080p LCD (2006-2008) and now the Panasonic 50pz800u (2008. Let me start by saying HDTV's have come a long way in quality and price. You can pick up a inexpensive flat panel screen for about $500 that matches the picture quality of some of the best sets a few years back. Honestly, they all look pretty darn good, but as with everything in life, you do get what you pay for. It's like a new girlfriend. She seems GREAT at first but a few months in you start picking out the flaws in each other! The Panasonic 50pz800u costs a lot more than your $500 HDTV "starter" set, but you you'll have to strain pretty hard to find many flaws with this set. This set is worthy of matrimony.
Let's start with the package design. TV's have really progressed in quality in the last few years and the packaging has followed suit. My TV came complete with a shock sensor which alerts the recipient of any jarring during shipment. The box itself is easily removed by separating four tabs and lifting the box upwards.
The TV comes with a lazy susan type stand so you can swivel it easily. The stand has two vertical bars that slide easily into the back of the television and are secured by several screws. Definitely have someone there to assist you with this. Worried about damaging the screen while lifting the set? The Panasonic features two hand holds on either sides so you can lift it easily into place. The TV comes with a locking power cable that securely affixes to the back of the set. This cord will not come loose accidentally. Simply plug in your HDMI cable from your cable box and you are off and running.
Using the calibration settings from the CNet website (they rated this the best TV out there by the way) and activating the THX mode, you have a perfectly calibrated set in a matter of minutes. I LOVED this as it took a lot of guess work out of the process. I own the AVIA calibration DVD but it takes at least an hour to go through and even then you aren't sure if you did it right. Hats of to CNet for this, they should do it with all their TV reviews.
Style-wise the TV is very slick looking with a jet black bezel and a sold piece of glass covering the front. This was particularly good for me because the TV is at waist level and I have three kids. While I keep them away from the TV, I'm not afraid they are going to run the TV by touching the front occassionally. My worry with the LCD was they'd take a pair of scissors or poke the screen because it made pretty colors! The glass does have it's downsides though because it's very reflective. If you have a light on in the room, be sure you'll see the reflection. This is a non-issue though if you can control the lighting in your viewing room.
This is the biggest TV I've ever owned, 32" & 37" previously, so it's a bit overbearing at first. You QUICKLY get used to it though. If you have a forgiving spouse, I highly recommend going a little bigger so you don't have to sell your smaller ones and upgrade (me!). Because of the size, what I noticed is the differences in HDTV signals. Either the bit rate or compression differs by station and broadcast, and it's very apparent when watching it at 50". You see a little more pixelation and some signals are softer than others. It's not distracting but I didn't notice it as much with my smaller sets. Another positive to the size is watching letterbox movies. Letterbox annoy you? It's a non-issue with a 50" set. You still have the bars on top and bottom but the picture is large enough that you can truly appreciate the filmakers vision.
The main reason I switched to a plasma is I wanted the deep black levels achievable inherent in the sets. I was tired of watching a movie with dark scenes only to see swatches of gray instead of the finer details. If you're new to HDTV's this probably won't be an issue for you. After someone points it out to you however, it will bug you to no end! I enjoyed these deep blacks with my Sony XBR HDTV and it's nice to have them back. A fine example of the Panasonic 50pz800u's performance can be seen in "No Country for Old Men" the Oscar winner for best picture in 2007. I watched this movie in 1080p through my PS3 in letterbox. In a word, STUNNING. The blacks were so black that while watching in a dark room, the picture literally floated in air. The letter box meshed with the bezel and you couldn't tell the difference. The TV handled darker scenes with ease and the color reproduction was nothing short of awesome. I'm not sure if it's the size of the TV or because it's a plasma, but whether I'm watching tv or a movie, the picture comes across a little 3d. Not like watching a 3d movie, but you can really get a sense of depth on an otherwise 2D surface. I was not anticipating this so it was a BIG bonus.
This TV has 1080p resolution, which means it can display broadcast HD signals at 720p & 1080i in full resolution. It can also handle a True HD or 1080p signal from a blu-ray disk. I also made sure the TV had a version 1.3 compatible HDMI connection. This was important to me because my last HDTV had some "handshake" issues which caused the copy protection function inherent in HDMI to go a little crazy. For instance if I used On Demand with my cable box and switched back to cable, the screen would start to blink on and off. This blinking would also happen if I was watching a black and white movie! Why the blinking? The HDMI thought I was trying to illegally a movie. That was version 1.1. The annoying thing about new technology is, you REALLY have to do your homework as the manufacturers aren't going to tell you these things. They'll sell you on the sizzle and slap you with the steak...that's not quite done.
I've watched the TV using several different signals, including standard def, HD and blu-ray. While I make it a point NOT to watch standard def programming (you'll understand if you have an HDTV) it nonetheless looks very nice. I think this has a lot to do with my cable box scaling the picture.
Audio... if you're buying this TV, you need a surround sound system with a quality receiver. If you're using the speakers on this TV it's like buying a Lexus and using a tape deck. I'm sure the speakers are adequate but I haven't spent much time with them.
The 50PZ800U features a THX picture mode. THX is a standard for picture and sound created by Lucas films some years ago. You'll see the THX designation on both hardware and media (DVDs). In the case of both, they've gone through a rigorous set of standards to achieve the designation. There's a little bit of cachet involved with the THX label but it's nice to know there's a high standard that manufacturers can strive towards. In the case of the 50PZ800U this standard has been achieved on the color accuracy. As you can tell from my comments above, it's well worth the up-charge.
If I had any complaint about this TV it's the price tag. I found the best price online at the time of $2200 with free shipping and no tax, but it's still a chunk of change, especially in this economy. If you are looking to splurge though and want a high end TV without plunking $4000 down on a Pioneer Kuro, this is the TV for you. Coming from someone that's owned a HDTV tube & LCD HDTV, it trumps them both with some bonus features to boot.
