Panasonic ST50 (TX-P65ST50B) 65 Inch 3D Plasma TV Review

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Reviewed by Mark Hodgkinson, 18th May 2012. The Panasonic TX-P65ST50B is a tremendous amount of screen real estate for the asking price but, not only that, it delivers big in all the areas in which Panasonic’s typically excel – deep black levels, excellent contrast and accurate colours.
Read the full review...
 
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regular forums stalker here! im in work at the mo so cant read in depth until later. thanks something to look forward to for the weekend!
 
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You mention that it can't earn BB status. Is that pending the review of the Samsung, or do you mean that the Samsung is better value?
 
Nice review, thanks Mark!
Is it only me or is ST a better looker than GT series?

I know wit is very subjective, but I would expect better looks from better range naturally.
 
mark,

am i right in assuming that the 50 htz bug is caused by how the screen processes movement and how the screen uses the framerate and the fact that it doesnt allign quick enough when processing that movement?

so two questions

1. can it be solved by firmware upgrade

2. what would need to happen (without using the ifc function) min/mid/max for panasonic to eradicate the bug forever. would it need a complete screen rebuild and a better way of processing movement?
 
The problems is, nobody outside Panasonic really knows what the cause is.

Personally, I think it's because the TV is designed for 60Hz and then botched as cheaply as possible for Europe.

They can fix it though, the VX300 doesn't suffer it so you wonder if it's software or a more powerful processor that's required.
 
The problems is, nobody outside Panasonic really knows what the cause is.

Personally, I think it's because the TV is designed for 60Hz and then botched as cheaply as possible for Europe.

This really.

The 600Hz subfield drive would logically work most optimally for 60Hz. They also seem to have done an excellent job with 24p@96Hz. 50hz definitely suffers the most but is showing improvements with FFD. I don't want to blow it out of proportion, though, the fact is most won't notice, even when pointed to it.

It will take a change to the deep lying drive software to make improvements, not a simple software update.
 
Thank you for your review, Mark Hodgkinson.
Can you tell me, if this TV (65ST50B) is buzzing?
 
Thanks for the thorough review guys. Are you also posting your calibrated settings for the 65st50?
 
What Samsung might that be? It's not listed in the coming soon section of the review page.

its mentioned in the review the samsung E8000 series, the natural rival to the ST/GT/VT range ...
 
How does a tv this size compare to a projector?
What are the pros and cons?
 
First of all Mark, thanks for reviewing this television for us all out here. Please would you help me with one question that is nagging away though? In the penultimate paragraph of the section: Styling, Connections and Menus, the recommendation is to set the aspect ratio to 16:9 and the question is why not dot to dot or equivalent?

Once again thanks for your Sterling service.
 
First of all Mark, thanks for reviewing this television for us all out here. Please would you help me with one question that is nagging away though? In the penultimate paragraph of the section: Styling, Connections and Menus, the recommendation is to set the aspect ratio to 16:9 and the question is why not dot to dot or equivalent?

Once again thanks for your Sterling service.

Quite simply, there is no dot to dot mode. Somewhere in the review I will have mentioned to switch of 16:9 overscan (in the advanced picture menu) for quality HD sources though, which enables pixel mapping:)
 
So if you had the choice of buying the 65ST50 or the 55VT50 which would you buy?

Would I really notice that much difference in PQ by getting the VT over the ST?

Nearly all my viewing is late evening.
 
So if you had the choice of buying the 65ST50 or the 55VT50 which would you buy?

Would I really notice that much difference in PQ by getting the VT over the ST?

Nearly all my viewing is late evening.

Me?

Hmm, tough call. I would probably get the 55VT and pull the chair closer when all the family are in bed, which is when I do my 'critical viewing' but you might not want to do that...

There's no big gulf at all, in fact it's very small, and if you can accommodate a 65inch (you don't really appreciate how big they are until you get one in the living room) you'll be getting that bit more immersion. If you don't need more than one accurate picture mode, which it sounds like you don't really, then a 65ST will serve you very well:)
 
Thanks for the reply Mark.

It's a tough one is this I must admit. Although all Pannys get glowing reviews, it would appear each model is getting problems reported. But this is normally the case no matter what the TV these days.

Going to pay my local Panasonic store a visit next month to see them in the flesh 1st. Sick to death of packing TV's up now. Just want a TV that works well enough and be able to finally through the packaging away.
 
Thanks Mark, very interesting review.

For someone who only wants to watch Sky hd/3d with a great picture, are there any real benefits with the 65vt50 over the 65st50?
 
Similar to my above post really.

£1,100 is quite a lot of money, for which you get a better filter which will give a sense of more impressive contrast, the touch pad controller, dual core processing, 2 pairs of 3D glasses and more flexible picture options.

I could certainly live with out the touch pad and dual core processing and of course you can pick up two pairs of glasses for considerably less than £1,100. Which leaves, for me, the filter and better picture options costing about £1,000...

Of course there may be retailer specific benefits in getting the VT50, free glasses, 3D Blu-ray player thrown in etc so that could change the numbers somewhat.

We'll never tell you what to buy but hopefully you have enough info on which to base your decision.
 
Hi Mark, could you post your calibrated settings for the 65ST50 for us to play around with and test on our own sets?

It would be a great starting point for further adjustments.
 
alef1971 said:
Hi Mark, could you post your calibrated settings for the 65ST50 for us to play around with and test on our own sets?

It would be a great starting point for further adjustments.

You'll probably have better luck starting from the out of box settings. Calibrated settings relate to that specific panel and room conditions and could actually be a worse initial start point for your panel and room then the out of box settings.
 
You'll probably have better luck starting from the out of box settings. Calibrated settings relate to that specific panel and room conditions and could actually be a worse initial start point for your panel and room then the out of box settings.

...plus I haven't got them any more, sorry.
 

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