Customer Reviews

Panasonic TC-P50V10 50-inch VIERA 1080p Plasma HDTV

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Before making my purchase I had narrowed down my choices to the Sony 52XBR9 LCD, the Samsung LN52B750 LCD, the Samsung PN50B860 plasma, and the Panasonic TC-P50V10 plasma. All had a superior picture, but I chose the Panasonic because:

1. The Sony & the Samsung LCDs' both had viewing angle issues. The pictures were superb from head-on, but definitely deteriorated as you moved to the side. The Sony was worse than the Samsung in this respect.
2. The LCDs' both had some motion artifact to my eye even with 240 Hz. The 240 Hz feature is after all an attempt to catch up to the plasmas, which have no motion problem at all.
3. Several online owner reviews on the Samsung plasma mentioned problems with buzzing and problems with Samsung's customer service. Also, several reviewers complained of the Samsung sound quality. There were no similar complaints with Panasonic. This steered me away from the Samsung plasma.
4. [..] and [...] both rated the Panasonic #1.

Now that I have the TV in my home, I can say that I am completely blown away by the picture quality. It is stunning. The sound is more than adequate. The TV itself looks great. You can see some reflection from the glass screen from certain angles, but only if you're looking for it. Panasonic's anti-glare screen seems to work fine. There is no motion artifact even with fast-moving sports like baseball and tennis. If you watch from an angle, there is no deterioration in the picture. I might mention that I put the TV on a BDI #9634 table, and the two look great together. I did a lot of shopping for tables too, and I thought the BDI tables were the best-looking and the best quality.

We purchased this television after looking at other Sony LCD and Panasonic plasma models (G10, S10). Even this higher end V10 is less money than a comparably sized LCD by several hundred dollars. I chose this model over the S series for its networking capabilites and the G series for its 96Hz 24p film mode.

Picture quality is superior to my Sony LCD, with deeper blacks, vivid colors, and great off-axis viewing. I generally stick with the "standard" and "game" picture settings. The display seems more responsive than my LCD using my PS3 for games, however it isn't a good choice for gaming (due to image retention, see below). THX mode also looks good with Blu-ray movies - not too dim, but perhaps a bit too green.

The 4 cooling fans mounted on top of the unit are fairly quiet, I don't notice them. Our LCD does better in rooms with more sunlight and sound quality also seems better on the Sony overall, but the Panasonic may be more detailed.

Unfortunately, there are two important negatives I've discovered. I am now having issues with "image retention". Video games with static images, e.g. health icons, leave faint shadows weeks after playing! This is most noticeable displaying a blank screen, e.g. selecting an unused input. Hopefully they will go away over time, but I am disappointed and in hindsight wish I had known this could be more of an issue with today's plasmas. Also, the Viera Cast Amazon Video on Demand feature is sluggish at times - I've read Panasonic may be having trouble keeping up with the server load. Perhaps the TV needs a larger memory buffer.

I'm writing this as the former owner of Panasonic's 46" 800U plasma.

This tv is fantastic. The picture quality is nothing short of amazing; [post break-in] image retention has been decreased significantly from last year's models; 96Hz 1080p/24 mode has eliminated flicker, and 48Hz mode is still selectable for those who prefer the cinematic look; MANY more settings to be adjusted (even though some whine about what they're called); energy-star compliant. I am surprised at just how much better the picture quality got from the 800u to the V10 series. My only complaint is that the speakers are not as good as the 800u...not that it matters, as I have other equipment to handle my audio.

The software is fine. The picture is the best you'll get now that the Kuro is dead. Unless you can afford Panasonic's Z1, buy THIS TV!!

ETA: HD Guru has just deemed the V10 the King of HDTVs. Long live the King!

I've owned the TV for about a week and a half now and I can't wait any longer to write a review. The bottom line is that the picture quality looks absolutely amazing out of the box. HD content looks absolutely incredible. I'd give it six stars if it streamed Netflix (or maybe even if VieraCast had another interesting option) and if it looked a little sharper on Standard Definition content (oh, yeah, and if Amazon let me give it six stars :-). But at the end of the day, if you're dropping this kind of money on a TV, you probably have a Blu Ray player and HD cable and you're going to be blown away by the experience. And I do mean experience -- because watching high definition content on this TV is tantamount to a religious experience.

Let me first mention that this is not the TV that I wanted. I wanted the Samsung PN50B860. It is less expensive, it has better streaming options (important for me because I only have Internet service, no cable TV) and it looks a hell of a lot cooler. But I couldn't get past one review after another that lamented the horrible buzz of the Samsungs and the fact that every independent comparison that I read more or less said that the Samsung's picture quality was not quite awesome and that this TV was more or less the 2009 king of HDTV. After spending a good deal of time sifting through reviews and staring at screens in the electronics stores, I couldn't get away from the fact that the picture on the Panasonic TC-P50V10 was not disputed. No one claimed it was less than the best. I should say that I think the styling on this TV is almost downright ugly. It doesn't hold a candle to the way the Samsung looks. The "one sheet of glass" thing doesn't do it for me at all. But, my girlfriend gave me the push I needed when she asked me one rhetorical question: Which is going to matter more -- the way it looks when it is turned off, or the way it looks when it's turned on? Sold.

As I don't have cable television or a Blu-Ray player, my first move was to use VieraCast to watch an HD movie or two (or 7 or 8) via Amazon on Demand. Contrary to the one negative review on here, I found the content to load quickly and the menus to be simple to navigate. I may suggest some changes on Amazon's end -- but nothing I would change on Panasonic's end. I take that back -- there are TWO things I would change on Panasonic's end. The reason I just decided to change "ease of use" to 4 stars is because of the fact that they grey out some menu options in some playback modes. Why is there not a timer available when the TV is in VieraCast mode?!?? I really want to speed up this first 100 or 200 hour break-in period and it would be really helpful if I could rent a movie and leave it to play and use a timer so it will go off. I'd also like to be able to fall asleep watching a movie now and then as this TV is currently in my bedroom. That is probably my only major complaint about this TV. But that problem is likely not something that will concern most people thinking about buying this set. The other small grievance I have is that when you spend almost seveteen hundred smackers on a TV, can't it just come wireless out of the box? I still haven't picked up a wireless access point, so I'm running a stupid ethernet cable up the wall and upstairs to where the TV is. Dumb. But in no way a dealbreaker.

More importantly -- picture quality is absolutely superb. I don't know if I can say enough about it. When I first looked at TVs in a store, the pop of the colors on an LED screen looked really cool to me. Once someone pointed out the terrible exaggeration of the colors (blue smoke coming from a volcano....and pink lava), I realized that the constant brightness might get old after a while. Now that I have this TV, I absolutely realize that this was a correct analysis. I like looking at a bright LCD in the store....but you absolutely can not beat the cinematic quality of the picture on this screen. The colors are rich and deep and it gives a depth to the picture that you just won't get if the screen is blinding you with light. I actually feel like I'm in a movie theater when I watch this television....and personally, I don't think you can beat having a movie theater experience at home. I literally order snowcaps by the case here in Amazon and I can sit at home and feel like a king watching this set. And that is keeping it on low settings to break it in -- I can't wait until I am a couple hundred hours in and I tweak the settings. My only picture quality complaint is a small amount of blotchiness in the blacks that I've noticed in some dark backgrounds (Gothika and Law & Order). I've chalked it up to not being broken in and not being on the top settings (and to the fact that I was streaming those things on the Internet). We'll see if that improves - and I'll be sure to come back and update either way. But by and large, you can't beat the way that the colors in general seem to pop into your lap and make you feel like you are actually inside the movie.

All that said, I have been a little unimpressed with the picture quality when watching some standard-definition content (from Amazon on Demand and from a laptop via HDMI connection). I still haven't hooked up my regular old DVD player, but my hopes aren't real high for my old DVDs until I get a good Blu-Ray player that will upconvert them nicely. I look forward to that day . . . because I own more than 500 movies on DVD and a lot of seasons. I definitely do want to enjoy them on my new big screen, and I hope that works out well when I decide on a Blu-Ray player. When I do, I'll be back to update this.

A note on value -- do some shopping around. As I write this on 10/31/09, I can say that I got this TV at a more than twenty-one percent discount from the Amazon price or the price of other big name brick and motar stores. Take a look at some of the retailers who sell on Amazon.....they have their own sites and their own deals. The TV arrived via UPS (sure, no white glove delivery service....but my girlfriend and I were able to carry the TV in and set it up ourselves...it wasn't worth the extra cost....and even if I had chosen the white-glove service, it still would have been significantly cheaper). Don't be afraid to call a dealer and ask how much better they can do.....most of them have price-match programs and so on. I did very very little haggling to get the price into the range I wanted. In fact, I really just named the price I wanted to pay and I paid it. Keep that in mind.

Changing gears, I have read a number of complaints about the sound quality of this television. My first thought every time I read this type of comment is "Who drops anywhere near two G's on a TV and doesn't either already have or plan to buy a home theater setup? Do these people honestly use the TV's speakers? Do they expect a TV that is 3 or 4 inches thick to sound like the IMAX?" That said, I don't have mine hooked up to any type of sound system right now and I have to report that it sounds awesome. As a former DJ who owns a surround system for both home theater and one for a computer (and the necessary pieces to run my computer through the home theater), I have to say that the TV speakers sound pretty darn good to me. Granted, I have the TV in a bedroom at the moment (and not a huge bedroom at that) and my expectations were not IMAX sound. This TV's built-in sound exceeds my expectations....but I don't plan to use it for very long -- and seriously, neither should you. Buy some sound equipment.

Last, but not least, burn-in/image retention. So far, it's nonexistent. My girlfriend has driven me a little batty a couple of times by watching YouTube videos without fullscreening them (thereby keeping a static menu on the left for a while). We have slid through hundreds of movies on the Amazon on Demand menus with static images on the top and bottom. We rented one movie from Amazon that was in High Def but was letterboxed (why?!?!? -- and why can't I change the setting and zoom it to get rid of the letterbox when I'm using VieraCast?!?!?). Neither has caused even a HINT of a problem. I'm still being overly cautious whenever I can be.....but I have not had the slightest hint of image retention/burn-in. This seems to be the quality product that one would expect when one spends this kind of money.

All in all, I give the Panasonic TC-P50V10 an emphatic stamp of approval. I'm thrilled with my purchase. I went to the mall last night and cheated on my baby a bit looking at how pretty the Samsungs look....but at the end of the day, my girlfriend was right - I want the TV that knocks my socks off when it's on. I have heard ZERO sound from the V10 (no buzz) and I have noticed no heat (supposedly all plasmas produce it?). The picture is gorgeous and VieraCast is OK. I look forward to VierCast updates -- and if they don't come, I'll get a Netflix-enabled Blu-Ray player. You should buy this TV, just don't pay full price. I know I won't regret it any time soon.

I have been looking around for a tv for a long time and googled best tv. This brought me to Cnet's review of tv's where this tv was an editors choice. I will be honest with you, I would have been happy and impressed with pretty much any of the sony's or samsungs as well, but I am very happy with this tv for the last 2 months. The picture quality, as expected, is phenomenal.

I live in a one bedroom apt and the tv and its sound is perfect for the living room despite some people worrying about it. I tried listening for the fans, I couldnt hear them. The ability to purchase amazon dvd's and bluerays online from the tv and access to youtube is cool although I use the latter rarely.

I also just bought a ps3 slim and you can control it using this tv's controller using the viera link button and allowing for the link in the slim. That for me is probably the best thing about either the slim or this tv...not having to worry about that awful ps3 remote. I bought from wholesale av and they were good without any complaints, but any of the online sites are probably comprable. I wouldnt buy from best buy or any bricks and mortar store as you pay so much for nothing extra.

I was worried about spending [...] bucks on this but I am glad I did. I am not a tech junkie so I will likely have this for another 5 years or so and right now I am very happy with that. My only worry is that my electricity bill went from [...] dollars a month to [...]. Small price to pay for this excellent tv.

After almost a year of indecision I finally pulled the trigger and bought the 50 inch panasonic V10. Purchased online from 6th Ave Electronics. UPS killed the first one sent to me. Never even made it to the house, just a tracking message saying it was damaged in transit and could not be delivered.A replacement was shipped out the following week without problems.(Didn't use UPS this time) After about a month of use I feel the picture is great. Football in HD is truly fantastic. The sound is only so-so. But as most have said if you spend this kind of money on a HDTV you will surely have a being audio system to go with it. My only complaint is the reflections on the screen. I use the TV in a darkened basement but with any lights on at all the reflections are noticeable with a dark background scene. For me this is a minor annoyance but in a room with large windows or natural light I think it would prove bothersome. I would recommend this TV to anyone who wants the best they can get for the money. Just be sure you have the right viewing area for the set.

I spent forever researching my first big screen TV. I finally settled on this one because, first, I really wanted a plasma because motion blur really drives me nuts. At 240 Hz refresh, I'm sure the newer LCDs are better but I still like the plasma. Secondly, I bought this one for its ability to process all the latest and greatest video and audio and interface with my computer and 'net. In other-words, I thought this on had the best shot of keeping up with technology as long as possible.

The picture quality is fine. I do not necessarily notice the color distortion spoken of in the reviews although I have not yet viewed a BluRay but I have downloaded HD movies and played them. I am somewhere between an casual viewer and a videophile. The connectivity is great; I am using all HDMI and Digital Optical (buy these through Amazon - the local stores charge and arm and a leg!) The menus are easy to use and the set up was pretty easy. The antireflection coating works quite well IMO. I have only one complaint but this is probably universal with antireflection coated screens; that coating is DELICATE. I managed to scratch mine and a replacement glass is $930 + shipping and install and its not currently available anyway. So Be Careful! The audio through the TV is OK for internal speakers.

Overall I am very happy with this TV and recommend it highly.

Finally took the jump to plasma, and finally chose (after much research) to do it with a 50-inch V10 from Panasonic.

So far this TV is absolutely amazing with an incredible picture. It really delivers amazing color and incredibly dark inky blacks. It is a joy to watch and play video games on (PS3). No problems experienced at all whatsoever with image retention.

Unfortunately, however, I was shocked (a mere two weeks after receiving my TV) to find that an editor from the reputable CNET added a disclaimer to his previously glowing V10 review that there have been widespread reports that certain Panasonic plasma models (2008 & 2009 S1, G10, G15, & V10 to be specific) lose their dark inky black levels somewhere between 500 and 1000 hours of use. The speculation is that this is caused by too aggressive voltage adjustments that have caused the black levels of some owners to lighten by double or even triple the initial level seemingly overnight.

The jury is still out as to whether this is only an issue that affects a small percentage of the sets or if it is an inherent flaw in the technology of these models, and more so, whether or not Panasonic will issue a fix for it.

I wish I was armed with this knowledge prior to making my purchase, as I certainly would have some reservations over choosing the most expensive model they offer. Now, I can only pass this information on to anyone else poised and ready to take the plunge as I just was.

Amazon doesn't allow me to include links to other sites, but a Google of "CNET Panasonic Black Levels" will get you to the relevant discussions so that you can arm yourself with the right facts for your decision.

I hate to knock what has otherwise been an incredible TV set for me up until this point without having experienced the issue myself, but people should be "in the know". Now whenever I gaze into that beautiful plasma picture I can only wonder if it will still remain that way a few short months into the future.

Best of luck to you in your purchases!

Out of the box picture is O.K., but after 200 hours at lower settings and after adjusting settings the picture is breath taking. While watching a program about sharks on Nat. Geo., I felt like I was in the water with them - so realistic. During football games not only can you see that the field is green but you can make out the blades of grass. It's unbelievable.

Well I researched and researched HDTV's from Samsung, Pioneer and Panasonic. Every review kept me coming back to look at the TC-P50V10 from Panasonic. At the big retailers the TV was beautiful in person as far as the build and overall appearance, but was not setup to display the best possible picture. Even not being able to view it in person on optimal settings, I knew this TV was going to display a glorious picture.

I have owned this TV for 3 weeks now and my jaw drops at the HD picture every time I view something on it. Using the settings from Cnet in a darkened room produce a movie theater experience. The sound from the built in speakers is ok, but I have them turned off and use my Home theater sound setup. My home theater consists of a Denon 3808CI HDMI switching receiver, an OPPO BDP-83 Blu-Ray a Monster Clean Power Stage 2 HDP 1800 Power Center (8 Outlet) and Klipsch Reference Series Speakers in a 5.1 configuration. Everything is Connected via HDMI using Monster 700 Series cables.

I know the Monster products are way overpriced and produce the same quality as cheaper alternatives, but I can't spend $2000 + on a TV and $500 on a stand and use $10 cables to connect it all. The Monster cables are made of high quality material and make me feel better, which is important to me.

In conclusion as many reviews have said this is the best TV of 2009 and rivals the Pioneer at half the price. The blacks are phenomenal and the overall colors are sparkling. I watch a lot of sports on this TV including Football and Hockey and I am stunned at the HD quality of these sporting events. Just read the reviews here and you will find that review after review reflect all that I am saying about this great TV. If you are drawn back by the reviews that mention the poor speakers try and get your self a home theater setup. Doesn't have to be a $1000 + system, just something to give you that movie theater experience.