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Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK 50-Inch Plasma HDTV
 
Manufacturer: Panasonic
Customer Rating:
 
List Price: $3,299.99
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Product Description
This 16:9 widescreen plasma set a bright display that will look good in any room, on any wall or on any surface. It comes standard with both basic video and PC inputs and is easily expandable to accommodate a variety of different sources.

Image
Panasonic's Multi-Facet Asymmetrical Configuration Hyper-Pixel (MACH) panel features new materials and technology that improves the light-emitting efficiency and intensity of their plasma screens. The result is a deeper contrast ratio (up to 3,000:1 in dark areas), 2,048 shades of gradation (4,096 shades via HDMI or DVI connection and optional accessory board),3.62 billion full-time displayable colors. It boasts a 1,366 x 768 resolution and is compatible with a whole host of HD signals, from 1080i to 480p.

The TH-50PHD8UK also uses a host of Panasonic image improving features. Adaptive Gain Control raises contrast while suppressing noise by detecting and boosting only the image edges. Motion Picture Noise Disturbance Reduction detects motion patterns that tend to generate noise and makes adjustments to maximize image quality without diminishing the quality of stationary background objects. The Active Interlace/Progressive Conversion System reduces interlace to progressive conversion noise that often occurs when reproducing tiny movements, resulting in better vertical resolution.

Connections
The TH-50PHD8UK features both flexible A/V and IT system configurations. Built-in video connections include S-video, BNC, and component. Accessory boards expand your possibilities to include SDI, HD-SDI, HDMI, DVI-D w/HDCP, Twisted-Pair cable, and IEEE 802.11b. Have the set do double duty as your PC monitor, too, since it supports VGA, SVGA, XGA, SXGA, and UXGA PC signals and comes with a common PC monitor port. The Remotes System Monitoring Command feature allows users to control their TH-50PHD8UK via RS-232C interface. If you really want to get fancy, a built-in wall processor allows you to array TH-50PHD8UKs in 2x2, 3x3, or even 4x4 multi-screen video walls.

50-inch Wide Screen
A general rule of thumb for selecting the right size television screen is that the screen width--not its 37-inch diagonal measurement--should be between three and five times the optimum viewing distance, such as the distance from the TV screen to where your eyes are while sitting on the couch. Less than that and you may be distracted by the scan lines of the picture. More than that, and you may lose the detail of your TV. Based on this guide, the TH-50PHD8UK is ideal for viewing distances of 11 to 18 feet.

Other Features
Panasonic's new Advanced Dual Picture Mode simultaneously displays images from two different video sources or a video and PC source. 4x Digital Zoom allows you to divide the screen into zones and enlarge images up to 400%. The set also features enhanced screen saver and energy-saving functions.

What's in the Box
TH-50PHD8UK plasma TV, remote control unit, battery, band, power cord, warranty, and operating instructions bookEND

Product Details
  • PC and Mac compatible
  • 1366 x 768 (Native) Resolution
  • 3000 to 1 Contrast Ratio
  • ?Analog VGA 15 pin D-Sub Digital DVI D , Component, Composite, S-Video

Video Reviews
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Customer Reviews
Long term SATISFACTION...!!!
 
Review Date: April 10, 2010
Reviewer: Pocketchange, Not in front of a TV!
I'd like to understand those of us that have no idea what a monitor is, but so be it. I've enjoyed my 508UK going on 5 years with no problems, nothing to complain about... period.
Friends invite me over to see there new flat panels and to date, I have yet to see anything that is a better viewing experience.
When I asked Panasonic if they were going to come up with a 1080P driver, they of course, fed me a line of pablum. If you are interested and have enough spare change, check out the new (07'?)TY-FB9HD driver, I think you will find for $1,200 you can have a 1080P monitor. But... I'll have to see it first to believe the picture can be much better or worth $1,200 than what's standard viewing on the 8UK.
A friend volunteer to come by and plug his set-up equipment (when I brought mine home) and calibrate it, but after looking at it, smiled and had a drink instead. Next thing, I go over for a visit and guess what hanging on his wall?
For the money, if you can locate a 8UK, I suggest you pony up and get one.
It puts on a heck of a show.







Shopping for a plasma? Stop here.
 
Review Date: January 12, 2008
Reviewer: L. Ekker, Hollywoood, California: Screenland
I work in Visual Effects at a top shop. We have ten "Flame" compositing systems, and we use this screen in every suite. The reason? They are THE BEST. Period. End of story. I am in teh Motion Picture Academy (the "Oscars" folks) and so I get movies from the studios to watch before I vote. This means I need what I call a "critical viewing" setup at home. When the time came two years ago for us to go big and flat at home, the coice of a screen was a no-brainer. Not only did our Vid Techs choose this after extensive research, but Consumer Reports chose it as the top pic for three years now. It is great. I do suggest you tape over the Panasonic logo with black tape to reduce visual distraction.

Here's the BEST thing about this screen. It is a MONITOR, meaning it has no video tuner or audion amplifier. Most folks feed their TV from a cable or satellite box, so a tuner is unneccessary. They also often use a home theater audio amp, so the speakers and audio amp in most plasmas (and other types of screens) is a waste. That means you will eb spending around $1.000 for stuff YOU WILL NEVER USE! Get a MONITOR, not a television. Besides the already mentioned quality, and ruggedness, you will save enough to upgrade the rest of the system... While you're at it, check out the OPPO brand DVD players. They embarrass players costing 5 times as much and up-res to HiDef BEAUTIFULLY!!! (for about $150!)

Hope you like the screen. We do!
Incredible
 
Review Date: October 23, 2006
Reviewer: W. Kaye,
I purchased this model based on the other reviews and haven't regreted my decision at all. The monitor works perfectly adjusting the picture when the HD locals drop out of the HD format, sports have regained my interest, although now I can see the replays and judge how accurate the NFL refs have
the call (they have a lot of improvement ahead). For anyone buying a HD TV check out the internet sites as to what to expect from content providers (DBS talk is good for sat.) and for me the best HD is being provided by Dicovery HD channel, simply stunning..
Compared all this one is the Best!
 
Review Date: August 12, 2006
Reviewer: Richard D. Jamison, Fontana, CA
This plasma is awesome! I compared all the 50" plasma out there and the picture on the Panasonic is by far superior. The blacks are true black, no green or red haze as on some models. Keep in mind there is no tuner or speakers, but if you cannot get over the air reception or are always going to use cable or satellite and have surround sound, who cares! I recommend purchasing the optional HDMI input card for the ultimate picture. You can't go wrong with this one!!!
The best plasma for the money
 
Review Date: August 12, 2006
Reviewer: G. Clayton,
I've had experience with several HDTVs and this one is the best especially at this price. This is actually a commercial model TV which is a good thing. You don't have to pay for extra speakers and a tuner you won't use and its a generation ahead of consumer models in display tech.

Forget having to tweak the settings all day using a setup DVD to get the best picture, this thing looked amazing out of the box. I barely had to change anything to get a perfect picture. My old Sony HDTV required hours of tweaking to get anywhere near the image quality.

I've never seen a better picture than this TV displaying from an HD-DVD. Its simply like you are looking through a window.

In regards to the person saying you have to buy an add-on board for 'consumer' component inputs, he is wrong. This TV comes with the component input board and you just have to buy BNC->RCA adaptors to connect up to it. Whoever made him buy a consumer component input board just robbed him of 120 bucks when he could of just bought the BNC adaptors for 5 bucks.

However you DO have to buy an HDMI input board if you want HDMI. It is recommended with this set because of this (from Panasonics info page): "Up to 2,048 shades of gradation (4,096 shades via HDMI or DVI connection)". I'm not sure why that is.