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Panasonic TH-50PX60U 50-Inch Plasma HDTV
 
Manufacturer: Panasonic
Customer Rating:
 
List Price: $2,799.99
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Product Description
Featuring Panasonic's 9th generation gas-plasma screen, the 50-inch TH-50PX60U features a width-to-height 16:9 aspect ratio similar to movie theater screens, providing a theater-like experience at home. Its maximum of 29 billion colors and over 3,000 shades of gradation provide exceptionally fine detail for outstanding HDTV reproduction. The set's built-in ATSC (DTV) tuner pulls HD signals (480p/720p/1080i) right from the airwaves, and its QAM tuner is fully compatible with unscrambled HDTV cable reception. A standard analog NTSC tuner receives standard-definition (SD) programming. It also includes a Secure Digital (SD) memory card slot, enabling you to take an SD card directly from a digital still camera or camcorder and insert it directly into the TV for quick and colorful photo slideshows.

A plasma screen renders vivid colors like you've never seen before (as in, up to 29 billion in this case), extremely wide viewing angles (wider, even, than those of most LCD screens), and easy placement due to a plasma monitor's slim profile--the TH-42PX60U is a mere 3.7 inches deep, one of the slimmest plasmas around--perfect for desk or wall mounting. Brightness tends to be extremely uniform across plasma screens, which are also impervious to the picture distortion and negative color balances that afflict CRT monitors when placed near lighting or sound systems.

The TH-50PX60U features a 1366 x 768-pixel resolution and an amazing contrast ratio of 10000:1. (The higher the contrast ratio, the greater a TV's ability to display subtle color details and not get washed out by ambient room light.) The 3D Y/C digital comb filter constantly analyzes the three dimensions of picture height, picture width, and picture changes-over-time, to reduce dramatically edge image artifacts while improving transition detail. Other features include V-Chip parental controls, on/off sleep timers, closed-caption decoding, aspect ratio control, and video input labeling.

The TV's internal stereo speakers are powered by 10 watts per channel (for 20 watts of total power). It features the following connection options:

  • Component (Y/Pb/Pr): 2 inputs (with 2 audio inputs)
  • HDMI: 2 inputs
  • Composite (RCA audio/video): 3 inputs (1 on the front), 1 output
  • S-Video: 3 inputs (1 on the front)

HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a lossless, uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface to link any AV source with an audio and/or video monitor, such as a digital television (DTV). HDMI supports standard-definition (SD), enhanced definition (ED), or high-definition (HD) video, plus multi-channel digital audio--all using a single cable.

If a component doesn't have an HDMI connection, you'll also get great picture reproduction using the three-jack component video (Y/Pb/Pr) input, which provides separate connections for luminance (Y), blue color difference (PB) and red color difference (PR). This results in increased bandwidth for color information, resulting in a more accurate picture with clearer color reproduction and less bleeding than you would get with S-Video or composite (RCA yellow video plug) connections. Component video output is available only for DVD playback.

What's in the Box
Plasma TV, remote control (with batteries), pedestal base, power cord, printed operating instructions

Product Details
  • 52-inch HD-ready plasma TV; measures 47.6 x 32.2 x 3.7 inches (WxHxD)
  • Integrated NTSC, ATSC tuners; QAM tuner compatible with unscrambled HDTV cable reception
  • 1366 x 768-pixel resolution; 10000:1 contrast ratio; motion adaptive 3D Y/C comb filter
  • Connections: 3 composite A/V (1 front), 3 S-Video (1 front), 2 component (Y/Pb/Pr), 2 HDMI, 1 SD memory card slot
  • Two stereo speakers, 10 watts apiece (20 watts total); BBE ViVA HD3D virtual surround sound

Video Reviews
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Customer Reviews
Don't Buy Panasonic TVs
 
Review Date: November 28, 2009
Reviewer: S. Saigol, USA
Had TV for 3 years and each year the I had to have it repaired. The power button would blink 7 times and the screen would go black. Are you kidding me? $1,500 TV that can't even last a year without breaking! Now it's happened a 4th time and I've decided to cut my losses and trash the TV. Never Panasonic again!
Anyone else have green lines?
 
Review Date: May 17, 2009
Reviewer: Robert R. Duncan, Bellevue, WA
I love my Panasonic. Hell, I love all my Panasonic products from my vacuum to my juicer.

I have a 50" viera plasma, and it has vertical green lines spaced about an inch apart on the screen. I see them more on non Hidef input. I have an extended warrenty, so I feel I can get it fixed, but I can't find any info about them on the interwebs.
Quality picture but it did malfunction
 
Review Date: May 15, 2009
Reviewer: Jim Peschke, Harvard, IL
To see the Panasonic 50" plasma in person it becomes immediately apparent why one would want it. The numerical specifications, impressive in their own right, do not tell the whole story. Facial whiskers that appear as a blur on other sets appear as individual lines on the Panasonic. The color matching is also more consistent, although it can be difficult to choose the best settings should you want to be picky.

The onscreen menu could be improved. As my wife likes closed-captions and I do not, we frequently switch between the two. This takes far too many menu levels to accomplish, and settings are not always where they should be.

Like all plasma TVs, you could get a suntan sitting too close. The heat from the unit is quite apparent, but the built-in fans are impressively quiet.

My unit failed about two months after purchase, producing a solid black horizontal line. This was disappointing, but I was very impressed by the professionalism with which Panasonic addressed the issue. When I called, they simply asked me to read the serial number on the set, after which they sent a repair person to my house at no cost.

No receipts, no sales orders, no double-talk, no B.S. The no-nonsense approach to customer satisfaction is one reason this TV got four stars instead of three.
Don't buy this product!
 
Review Date: September 25, 2008
Reviewer: Steve O, NY
Good - The picture is fantastic.

Bad - I had to have it repaired 32 days after I bought it. Good thing it was still under warranty. 18 months after I bought it and now out of warranty,it developed a thin black horizontal line all the way across the screen about 8" up from the bottom. Cost to repair - $1600 !!!! This is more than I paid for it. Poor quality like this for a product that is this expensive is absolutely inexcusable.
Stunning
 
Review Date: June 16, 2008
Reviewer: T. A. McCaffrey, Washington, DC
I have other plasmas, but this is the best picture I've seen. Excellent value. If you spend twice as much you can probably get a 1080p that has a better picture, but that will only have value with bluray because cable and satellite won't give you enough resolution now to push this TV.