Customer Reviews

Panasonic TH-50PZ700U 50-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

We just bought this product a few weeks ago from Amazon for $2139 plus $199 shipping. Finally after weeks of comprehensive evaluation, and several returns we found the best 50" 1080p. We first got persuaded by a Best Buy sales person on the Samsung LN-T5263F 52" LCD - turned out the glass screen showed off too much glare from our windows. And the non-high-def channels were not that great. Plus it showed off too much snow on deep /dark colors(video noise). Then we tried the Toshiba Regza 52" LCD. While the glare was mostly gone, the noise (snow) was worse. So that went back too. Then we thought about the Sony 52" LCD - beautiful TV but it would not fit our space (too much frame width) and the blacks were just not black enough. So I came to the conclusion that even the 1080p LCDs were just not ready for my very particular video requirements. The black levels are just not there yet and the snow on large LCDs is still quite pronounced.

So I went back to Plasma. Evaluated the Samsung 1080p 50" vs. this Panasonic. Although very nice and bright, the Samsung showed more picture noise and the non-high def channels would show shadows. Then we saw the Panasonic and fell in love with that. I must say this is the best it gets today. And for $2139 bucks it is a steal compared to what you got for that 4 years ago. We also bought the latest Panasonic Blu-Ray player from Amazon. Just WOW WOW WOW. The picture on the 1080p and the uncompressed audio puts anything else to shame. We watched the latest James Bond movie in total amazement. As to the glare from the windows - we settled to darken the room with room darkening shades as opposed to losing out on brightness and contrast with LCDs. And the audio on the Panasonic when you use the HDMI cable is superb - much better than the Samsung.

Bottom line - if you really care about the picture and you are an early adopter like me - don't worry about ambient lighting. Fix that problem with room darkening shades instead of compromising with an LCD. The days of Plasma are definitely not over - they have become much better now at overall life and do not have any burn-in. And how many of us have time to watch TV during the daylight hours anyway to worry about that glare ?

Atul Gupta, Huntington Woods, Michigan

Have had the 50PZ700U for one month now. Fantastic TV that delivers vibrant real life pictures when paired with HD programming. I watched Jay Leno's Tonight Show in HD and was blown away by the picture clarity and color reproduction. The built-in speakers deliver superb audio and I watch most shows without turning on my receiver.

I am a perfectionist for looks, picture clarity and an audiophile. I think the TV scores exceedingly well on all three grounds in my books. The look with the black piano finish is stunning. The remote is very user friendly and very comfy to hold.

The only thing buyers should consider is, plasma tv's in general are not good handlers of glare caused by light sources. This is becuase of their glossy screens. This is true for any plasma. The anti reflective coating in this TV is not very effective - I had to draw my blinds and curtains to watch glare free during the day. Again, this is an issue only of you have a window directly opposite to your TV. If glare is a challenge for you, go for an LCD TV. I also own a Samsung 40"LCD (Samsung-LNT4065F-1080p-LCD-HDTV) in our Dining room that has a lot of light coming in. It handles the glare with ease and delivers equally good picture quality.

I think this 50PZ700U TV was well worth the investment and I am extremely pleased with my purchase. If you are looking to buy a 50" plasma, this is your best bet on all counts!

This is an absolutely gorgeous display.

It's hard to tell from the photos, but the black plastic bezel is actually glossy, not matte. Black gloss on electronics has high class swank written all over it. Yes, I said swank. And yes, it gave you goosebumps.

The built-in speakers are located on either side of the screen, not below it like they used to be on earlier models. They sound great if you choose to use them, and if not they're basically invisible and blend in naturally.

Out of the box the picture looks phenomenal. Standard definition looks as good as you could hope, but HD content is where it really shines. Take the time to calibrate your display settings using some kind of HD calibration disc like the Digital Video Essentials HD (HD DVD + DVD Combo Disc) or just search Google for one of the many free HD calibration images that'll help you tweak your color, sharpness, and everything else to get the best picture. If you skip this step and just try to eyeball it, you'll be missing out on the deep colors that this display has to offer.

This IS a 1080p TV, but it will ONLY display 1080p over an HDMI connection. It will not display 1080p picture over VGA, so if you're an Xbox 360 owner and don't have HDMI, 1080i is as good as it's going to get for you with this TV.

This is a good TV! You should totally get it. Make me proud.

I just received this TV and what can I say except that it is a beautifully designed product from the inside out. The picture is fantastic (especially HD), the built in speakers sound great, the remote is easy to use, the programming is very well layed out, and the menus are fairly easy to navigate without cracking the book.

The unit has every kind of input you could want (two HDMI inputs). I highly reommend this product. I waited years to purchase one and did my homework. This TV is the best balance of dollars versus performance.

I bought this TV a month ago from 6AVE directly. I wont mention the price as people might just wait for that price and I doubt if its going to go lower. Anyways, the TV itself is just superb. Picture quality is mindblowing and I got the philips dvd player, dvp5982 and the picture is just amazing with that one on this TV. I cant comment about the speakers as I am using polk speakers for my audio. If anyone is looking for a 1080P, dont look any further...the value and the quality benefit is tough to match with this one

I agree with most of the reviewers here who rave about the picture quality. I chose this panasonic model over the similar TH-50PZ77U because the antiglare filter on the latter created a more "washed out" picture, whereas this model is sharp and bright with lots of contrast.

My HD comcast cable (1080i) picture quality is superb on this set. As with all HDTVs that I've seen, the standard def signals look better on a standard def tube TV than on this HDTV. That said, the picture quality from non-HD sources is equal to or better on this panasonic than other 50" HDTV sets that I've seen. My standard cable viewed in normal 4:3 aspect (without stretching to fit the screen) looks better on this 50" panasonic than the 26" Sharp LCD HDTV in my bedroom. I have the noise reduction setting turned On, but don't know if that makes any difference.

Another reviewer mentioned that this TV seems dim. My living room in Miami is fairly bright, and I've had no problems with brightness or contrast that would require me to darken the room in order to see the TV.

The remote is functional (controls 3 devices -- say TV, DVD and cable box), though it's odd that the code to control my panasonic DVD player had to be programmed and wasn't the default.

The main drawback is that this TV only has 2 HDMI inputs. So I have my cable box on one HDMI input, and ran my upconverting DVD player thru the component inputs. I don't yet have an HD/Blu Ray DVD player, but I'm reserving the 2nd HDMI input for a high def player. If I need more HDMI inputs, I'll just get a good home theater receiver with switching and run the other sources thru the receiver.... Honestly, I tried running the cablebox thru the component input, and did not see any difference versus using the HDMI input. From what I've read, component video (although analog) is just as capable of running a 1080p video signal as HDMI (depending on the signal output of the source), so the lack of additional HDMI inputs are not a major drawback. It just means that I have 5 component cables instead of 1 HDMI cable running from my DVD player to the TV.

I'm not a big fan of the glossy piano-black finish, mainly because the pedestal stand shows up every speck of dust that falls on it. But this is a minor quibble that's hardly worth noting.

Altogether, well done Panasonic.

This is my first plasma TV. My prior TV was a 1080i rear-projection TV that has served me well over the past 4 years, but with the new 1080P technology, I decided it was time to upgrade. I did plenty of research, including the reviews by Consumer Reports, and CNET, and read lots of user feedback from [...]. I decided to go with the Panasonic because of the rave reviews. I was not disappointed.

I did not purchase this item through Amazon, because I just can't make a purchase like this without seeing it with my own eyes. I went to a local video store and compared it with many other sets, including Hitachi, Samsung, Pioneer, and LG. I had them show me their demo broadcast, a cable HD channel broadcast (the Army/Navy football game was on that day), and then a Blu-Ray DVD. To be honest, in the video store, I was a bit concerned with the quality of the HD cable broadcast. The picture actually looked too sharp in my option, which hurt the quality. There was a Hitachi next to it that had a softer image that looked very nice. However, when it came to the Blu-Ray demo, there was no comparison. I was blow away by the clarity, deep blacks, and vivid color of the Panasonic. I watch about 50/50 HD television and DVD movies at home, so it was a tough choice between the two, but my gut told me to go with the Panasonic, so I did.

I couldn't wait to get it home to see how it looked on my cable at home. It was so much better than what I saw in the store. I honestly don't know why it looked so bad at the video store, but I watched NFL football all day today and just couldn't believe how good it looked. Motion blur...none at all. And no pixelation on fast motion sports action (which was a problem on my old HDTV). I also purchased a Playstation 3 as my Blu-Ray player. It came bundled with Spiderman 3, and all I can say is WOW! I don't know if I'll ever go to the movies again! Why bother with this TV at home.

My only drawback is that I wish it had 1 more HDMI connection, but I can live with 2. Plus, the built in speakers really don't impress me. They're pretty tinny, and just sound like low quality speakers. But since I run everything through my home theater system, that's not a problem for me at all.

If you're looking for a 50" plasma, I can easily say you can't go wrong with this TV.

This HDTV is for those who know what to expect from the best in class. This is an expensive TV, but delivers perfection.

Before buying this TV, I had 27" CRT SONY.

Before deciding to buy this I did a lot of research on the web & CNET about HDTVs and here is my evaluation. There are plenty of HDTVs in the market, the most preferred ones for those looking for the ultimate quality, products from SONY, Philips, Samsung, Panasonic and other manufacturers.

Unless you are considering buying an LCD HDTV, I strongly recommend buying Panasonic brand. Ofcourse, you will probably get a better pricing from Samsung but in my opinion Samsung delivers slight imperfections to the human eye. Samsung picture is 'contrast' rich, meaning that the color delivery is not natural. I tested many Samsung TVs in various stores - Walmart, Sears, Best Buy etc. I also looked at SONY HDTVs - I agree SONY picture quality is probably the ultimate, but SONY is more expensive than Panasonic.

Why go with Panasonic 50"?
- If your living room is 15' long, and you expect to see picture 12' or more far away
- Price is not a factor for you to spare
- This TV delivers the best with HDMI cable, even standard definition channels are very clear
- This TV supports all known input modes (HDMI, Component Video, S-Video, Regular Video, PC
- Supports 480i, 720i, 1080i, 1080p
- Natural color delivery
- Supports progressive scan DVD
- The black frame for the TV looks really impressive
- Supports Video Noise Reduciton
- Supports Mosquito Noise Reduction
- Surround sound audio for HD channels (I already had 5.1 system)

Minor drawbacks:
- Only 2 HDMI inputs, Samsung etc. offer 3 HDMI

I bought from Amazon after checking prices everywhere. Got the best offer. The delivery people do not install the TV, but I got hold of a handy man (too heavy for one person to lift and handle) and got it installed for $50!

I upgraded from from a 42 inch non-hd plasma to this unit a few days ago and what a massive improvement. The TV was well packaged, delivered 6 days ahead of schedule and fit on my existing universal wall bracket. I didn't need the pedestal base but it was quite heavy and well made but will have to go into storage.

HD channels came in crystal clear with excellent color duplication and the TV automatically selected the screen fit for the particular channel and non-HD channels were crisp. The blue led lit (when in use) SD card slot was very easy to use and I was immediately looking at my digital photos using the slide show feature.

The sound from the hidden edge speakers is supurb at any level and the bass and treble can be adjusted.

BEST PURCHASE I MADE ALL YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOTE: Purchased directly through Amazon LLC - Not authorized seller.

I bought this television when it first hit the stores late this summer (2007). I upgraded my Sony XBR 36" tube television. I waited for a 1080p plasma that could match the screen resolution of a my tube television. I'm pleased to say that I am very happy with the purchase. It has a great picture and the setup was no problem. In HD, I don't think there is a better pricture on the market. It is so life-like and the colors are so vivid! I'm very hard tom please when it comes to electronics and I have every gadget known to man, before it's generally available. I highly recommend this TV. A great decision.