Panasonic VT50 TX-P65VT50 65 Inch Flagship 3D Plasma TV Review

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Reviewed by Stephen Withers, 16th August 2012. The Panasonic P65VT50 certainly makes for a tempting package, combining a large screen size with attractive looks and a reference performance. So if you're looking for some big screen TV action, it should definitely be at the top of your list.
Read the full review...
 
"Very subtle instances of 50Hz break-up with fast pans"

Panasonic still having issues with 50Hz, come on panasonic, I think it's about time you address this ongoing problem.

Great review btw :smashin:
 
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I included that for the sake of completeness but I really wouldn't concern yourself about the 50Hz bug anymore, it's just a non-issue these days. As I said you would have to look for it and I doubt most people would ever notice it. In the three weeks I spent with the P65VT50 I was never aware of the 50Hz bug and I watched an insane amount of sport on it!
 
Does THX Bright Room raise the black levels? Obviously I appreciate that these levels are perceived less in a bright room, but I'm wondering if one would need to flick back to another setting when the sun sets to see some nice blacks...
 
Yes it does and in my opinion THX Bright Room is way too bright from a light output perspective, I measured it at over 150cd/m2 when out target is 120cd/m2. Personally THX Cinema is plenty bright at 106cd/m2 and it had the best blacks at 0.009cd/m2 but as I mentioned in the review, there appeared to be more noise in the dark parts of the image in THX Cinema mode.
 
hi,

thanks a lot for this greatly detailed review!

could you guys share your main settings at least colour, contrast, gamma, activated or non activated featurs, at least the main ones as this would help when you can't afford calibration to try tweaking it

cheers
 
I would suggest that initially you choose the THX Cinema mode which as you can see from the review is quite accurate. I'd leave the Brightness and Colour settings where they are, move the Contrast to about 70% and set Sharpness to zero. Leave Clear Cinema on and also leave 1080p Pure Direct on. Ensure that the IFC or 24p Smooth Film (depending on what you're watching) is turned off and make sure the Aspect Ratio is set to 16:9. Also check that C.A.T.S. and Vivid Colour are turned off.

If you use one of the Pro modes then leave Brightness and Colour as they are, set Contrast to about 70% and Sharpness to zero and select a Gamma of 2.2 and a Colour Gamut of Rec.709. Again, leave Clear Cinema on and also leave 1080p Pure Direct on. Ensure that the IFC or 24p Smooth Film (depending on what you're watching) is turned off and make sure the Aspect Ratio is set to 16:9 and that 16:9 Overscan is turned off. Also check that C.A.T.S. and Vivid Colour are turned off and Pixel Orbiter is set to Auto.

However if you've spent all that money on a P65VT50, I'd strongly recommend you have it professionally calibrated to get the best out of it.
 
hi steve

thanks a lot for your quick answer! i'll test those settings and try it with the disney WOW calibration disk.

of course in intend to calibrate it, but as the house is beeing build, i'll wait a little more than a year to have it done in the house light condition, not the appartment, excepti if you tell me this won't change a lot of things?

Do you have particular settings recommandation for the 3D THX mode? or any other mode to watch bluray 3D?

cheers man you're the best!
 
You're welcome. My advice is to go with THX Cinema and the settings I gave you and then you can tweak Brightness and Contrast with your WOW disc.

As for 3D, the THX 3D setting is pretty good too but you might want to boost the Contrast a bit as when it comes to 3D, the brightness of the image is important due to the dimming nature of the glasses.

If you follow Steps 1 and 2 of PicturePerfect (PicturePerfect : AVForums campaign to improve television pictures | AVForums.com - UK Online) you'll be off to a good start and when Step 3 launches it'll take you through Brightness, Contrast etc.
 
Thanks Steve, the recommended settings you have cited above will be the starting point when my 65VT50 arrives on Tuesday. Can't wait!

An excellent review by the way. :thumbsup:
 
Steve when you say put sharpness on zero do you mean leave it in the middle for all modes except pro where its numbered 5 out the box or wind them down to "zero":smashin:
Tony
 
I mean wind sharpness down to zero (far left hand side) on all modes because otherwise I can see ringing on a sharpness test.
 
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Hi Steve great review and thanks for calibrating my 65vt50 last week it looks stunning so much more detail and correct colours superb job
 
Thanks Kevin, it's good to hear that you're happy.

I mentioned the fan noise in the review but perhaps you'd care to share your clever solution with the other members?
 
I see this is priced at c.£3,800.

What price are the smaller versions?

Sorry, can't check easily myself as my only Internet access is this pesky phone.

Steve W

The 65inch is priced at around £3400
The 55inch is priced at around £2100
The 50inch is priced at around £1700

Or as an alternative 65ST50 is around £2400
 
reddevil74 said:
The 65inch is priced at around £3400
The 55inch is priced at around £2100
The 50inch is priced at around £1700

Or as an alternative 65ST50 is around £2400

Cheers.

Steve W
 
Steve, I had a good look at one of these in a darkened environment and was therefore able to do some proper testing.

I watched some olympic coverage via freeview HD and was surprised to see a fair bit of noise on the picture.

I watched some BMX bikes and some swimming. With the bikes, whenever the bikes moved in the opposite direction to the camera pan, the edges of the bikes and riders blurred. With the swimming, the area around the swimmers (where there was lots of splashing), went blurred and lost definition.
It didn't look like normal interlace mushing, the areas were quite grainy, it looked like dither noise. It was the same on THX cinema and normal, didn't try the pro modes.

I was a bit disappointed with the picture watching sport and anything that wasn't p24.

Did you see anything like the above and was it a freeview HD only issue?
 
what is the score with panasonic plasma tvs and banding having an awfull time with my samsung 51in d8000 plasma and banding dispite having had a new screen panasonic will be my next tv pick regardless of what happens to my samsung at the moment samsung are playing hard ball dispite the tv still being in warrenty they are refusing to do anything else unless i pay for it .
 
Steve, I had a good look at one of these in a darkened environment and was therefore able to do some proper testing.

I watched some olympic coverage via freeview HD and was surprised to see a fair bit of noise on the picture.

I watched some BMX bikes and some swimming. With the bikes, whenever the bikes moved in the opposite direction to the camera pan, the edges of the bikes and riders blurred. With the swimming, the area around the swimmers (where there was lots of splashing), went blurred and lost definition.
It didn't look like normal interlace mushing, the areas were quite grainy, it looked like dither noise. It was the same on THX cinema and normal, didn't try the pro modes.

I was a bit disappointed with the picture watching sport and anything that wasn't p24.

Did you see anything like the above and was it a freeview HD only issue?

I spent two weeks watching the Olympics via Freeview HD on the P65VT50 and apart from occasional DFC and a bit of noise in the dark areas in THX mode (which you can't see at any reasonable viewing distance) I didn't experience any of the problems you describe. In fact I found a lot of the BBC coverage of the Olympics to be breathtaking on the P65VT50.
 
what is the score with panasonic plasma tvs and banding having an awfull time with my samsung 51in d8000 plasma and banding dispite having had a new screen panasonic will be my next tv pick regardless of what happens to my samsung at the moment samsung are playing hard ball dispite the tv still being in warrenty they are refusing to do anything else unless i pay for it .

I have experienced line bleed very occasionally on Panasonic plasmas and almost always with the same content (the MPAA rating at the start of US discs is a regular offender) but never to the point of it being distracting or annoying.
 
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I spent two weeks watching the Olympics via Freeview HD on the P65VT50 and apart from occasional DFC and a bit of noise in the dark areas in THX mode (which you can't see at any reasonable viewing distance) I didn't experience any of the problems you describe. In fact I found a lot of the BBC coverage of the Olympics to be breathtaking on the P65VT50.

What was your source, Freeview HD or Sky?
 
What is this solution?;)

Kevin stuck rectangular pieces of felt at the bottom of vents where the fans are, just over the bottom two rows of holes. There are still enough holes for ventilation but the sound of the fans is much reduced. I saw his handiwork and heard the results for myself, so I can vouch for the fact that this tweak works.
 

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