Customer Reviews

Panasonic VIERA TC-P54VT25 54-inch 1080p 3D Plasma HDTV, Black

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

First of all, I'm not a technical expert on any of LCD/LED/Plasma TVs. I'm planning to buy a LED 3D TV/Plasma 3D TV on the Black Friday. I read very good reviews on Panasonic Plasma 3D TV than an equivalent LED 3D TV. I've not seen a 3D TV yet myself, so myself and my wife decided to go to BestBuy(BB) to check out practically. Even before we went ot BB, I checked couple of my friends and they said I should go for LED and that is the only way and that Plasma is dead and gone soon. We reached BB and went into the 3D center and saw a Sony 60-inch 3D LED TV(don't remember the model # but the cost is close to 4 grand) and Panasonic 54-inch 3d Plasma TV(model # TC-P54VT25 54" 1080p Plasma 3D TV). I told the technician that I wanted to see a 3D demo of the Panasonic Plasma 3D TV. He said the fixed mount 3d glasses are already attached in front of the Panasonic 3d Plasma TV and that I can go and watch the Avatar movie. I watched the movie in 3D and it's exactly like what we watched in the movie theaters and the colors are crisp and the picture quality is superb. My wife then watched it from the fixed mount and she said the 3D quality is superb. I then asked the technician to put the same Avatar 3D movie in the Sony 3D Bluray player attached to the 60-inch Sony 3D TV and asked for 2 pairs of Sony 3D glasses for the Sony 60-inch tv as there was no fixed mount 3D glass in front of the Sony TV. I watched by sitting in the front couch of the Sony TV and found the 3D tv reasonable. The tech asked me to stand up and move sidewards(any side) couple of feet and then there is the ghost image and the loss of the color and 3D effect. I did the same thing on the other side and the same problem existed. Then the tech asked to sit in the middle of the couch(my initial position). He asked me to bend my head any side, again there is the ghost image and the loss of the color and 3D effect. I bent my head the other side and the same problem persisted. Also the 3D quality of Sony is not as good as the Panasonic Plasma TV.
At this point I realized that the Pansonic 3D tv has a fixed mount 3D eye glasses in front of it and we are not moving any side and that probably might be the reason for the Pansonic's better 3D picture quality. I immediately asked the tech to bring a pair of Panasonic 3D glasses. He brought them and I wore it now in front of the Panasonic 3D TV with the same Avatar movie playing again. I moved sidewards either side and bent my head either side. The picture was perfect, no ghosting and no change in colors and absolutely the same picture quality as it was when I was standing in front of the fixed mount eye glasess. My wife did exactly what I did and she said she saw the 3D picture without any negative effects. Also the 3D depth in Plasma TV is very natural and the colors are very crisp and this is not the case with Sony LED TV and 3D in Sony looked somewhat artificial.
As a last thing, I asked the tech to remove the 3D features and saw the Avatar in 2D mode and it has still superb picture quality with crisp colors.
Coming to the price, Plasma 3D TVs are relatively inexpensive compared to comparable LED 3D TVs. The only reason most people are interested in LED TV is it is new technoogy, LED TV is sleek looking whereas Plasma TVs are little bulkier and that's my guess. As I've not seen all the features of this TV, I would give atleast 4 stars to this TV
So, my advice to you guys, first go to a store like BestBuy and do some research before deciding which TV is good for you and just do not strike off Plasma in the first place.

Before I make any large purchase I make sure to try and do my homework. I had an 8 year old panasonic lcd projection tv that worked fine but it was time for an upgrade. After looking at CNET, Consumer Reports, avs forums and others there was a consensus that this TV was the best TV of 2010. This TV has the best 3d and among the best 2d with some of the best black levels this side of the pioneer kuros series.

After bringing it home and setting it up I am blown away. The 3d picture is fantastic to a point while watching Avatar with my son he said "Is this real!" The 2d picture is also spectacular with excellent black levels. I set this tv up with my PS3, xbox 360, and Wii and they all look fantastic. 3d gaming on the ps3 is an immersive experience.

Overall, the only thing is that it is not as thin or flashy as the LED's but they can't touch the picture quality this tv gets. Great product!

First, let me state my wife and I work on TV & motion pictures and consequently very particular when it comes to having a good picture and sound. I've studied a variety of large format (50"+) LED LCD & Plasma Flat screens for my living room. I can only equate it to car purchasing experiencing. Like most, I'm a true value shopper. High quality @ a super low price. I researched tons of consumer magazines and online experts including customer comments. It didn't really reconcile the dilemma of too many choices. The old saying, "the more you know, the more you know you don't know" holds true. I'm not as TV Tech savvy as a Best Buy TV salesperson and still felt overwhelmed. That said, I understand LED LCD Edge Lit is the "new rage" and Plasma is "fading fast," but I didn't want to get suckered into purchasing a screen just because thin is in or some "expert" told me this is for you. I was foolish and did just that. I went to Fry's, to buy an LG 55" 9500 3/D for $1,500. A steal considering msrp is $4,999. Of course, it was "limited to stock on hand" and they were completely sold out. I met a very nice Samsung Rep, who was very helpful understanding my needs and came home with a 55" LCD/LED Edge Lit Samsung 7000. My wife took one look and said, "I don't like it." Nuff said.

The "value electronics 2010 Shootout" was the most helpful. The judging and review by engineering experts & motion picture professionals backed up their top selections and rated them #1-6 with the specific technical reasons why. The comprehensive coverage of all the major brands will surprise you. Most people, including myself assume #1 would be priced way up there and not really a "consumer value." It's not true. I was leary of an purchasing on-line but Amazon addressed ALL of my concerns and offered a price that was too good to pass up. The TV + 2 pair rechargeable 3D Glasses bundle and new Denon 5.1 amp and along with 4 HDMI4.1 cables savings was ~ $1000.00 from the Samsung (which didn't even make the ratings!) and got the best screen per shootout results!
The only issue I have is the TV only has ONE AUDIO OUTPUT. It's not a standard RCA type connector. It's a DIGITAL or OPTICAL AUDIO OUTPUT. For those not familiar with new audio technology, a special light emitting fiber optic audio cable is needed to carry the audio signal to the amplifier. If your amp is far away, it may be a serious issue for because I think digital optical cables stop @~ 20 Ft.

We are very happy with our choice. Good Luck!

If Picture Quality (pq) means the most to you, then read on...

[...]

Here are the results; pre is out of the box in THX or movie mode/post is after ISF calibration
We exposed for the first time the following developments:

Joe Kane lent us his personally developed new test disc that has some test patterns that expose flaws never before seen. We had a way to diagnose errors in the color decoding and bit rate limitations of the 8 bit panels as well as incorrect processing to the 8 bit panel. Not only do these anomalies limit the professional calibrator, they also limit the out of box image quality.

Bill Schindler demonstrated how plasma technology enjoys the benefit over LCD in 3D of being able to see an additional dimension the consumer can view from any side and enjoy a richer 3D experience, even while laying down.

One of Joel Silver's and Kevin Miller's call to action was for higher bit rate panels. Currently all panels are no more than 8 bit and some don't process the full or proper 8 bit signal. Joel was Skyped in on Panasonic 58" VT25 while Kevin and Joel reviewed the .pdf presentation displayed on the other shoot-out panels. Joel showed and explained that Sharp owns 75% and Sony holds the remaining 25% stake in their LCD plant and then discussed Panasonic's new glass manufacturing facilities. Literally almost 1/2 trillion dollars of financial investments in the future of flat panels and great advancements in R&D and the manufacturing processes.

DeWayne, aka D-Nice, Kevin Miller and Ed Johnson reviewed and taught us what they look for in various test patterns.

Robert Zohn called for a standards to be established, likely by CEA or another standards organization to establish a method of measuring contrast ratio and have all manufacturer's publish only the approved contrast ratio standard. This way consumers can relay on this statistic when shopping. After all, this is the single most important attribute to deliver the best pq
1. Panasonic TC-P58VT25 3D plasma pre/post ISF calibration report

Don't select your next flat panel strictly based on who's in 2nd, 3rd and 4th place as they all almost tied for 2nd

Sony has a better picture straight on, but quality goes down rapidly when you move off-angle, some judges rated it #2, but the audiences voted in this order

2. Samsung PN58C8000 3D plasma pre/post ISF calibration report

3. LG 55LX9500 3D LCD/LED Edge Lit pre/post ISF calibration report

4. Sony KDL-55NX810 3D LCD/LED Edge Lit pre/post ISF calibration report

Don't count out the 5th and 6th place as they all almost tied for 3rd and in a few ways had superior attributes

When the audiences voted on the best picture quality Panasonic was the unimous winner. Voting on LCD's split the votes between Sony and LG

5. Samsung UN58C8000 3D LCD/LED Precision Edge Lit pre/post ISF calibration

6. Sharp LC-60LE925UN 3D LCD/LED pre/post ISF calibration report

We had been planning on getting a 3D TV to replace our 2D 42" Panasonic plasma (now moved to the bedroom) We initially looked at the Samsung 58" and the Sony 55". When Panasonic made theirs available, we looked at it and preferred it. Recent sale offers from Amazon caused us to get it now.

First, the appearance of the set is superb. Sleek, glossy black exterior with a touch of silver and a stand that looks good but doesn't distract you from looking at the screen will fit many decors. OK, it isn't as "skinny" (front to back) as LCD/LED sets, but we've always preferred the color and contrast of a plasma set. Also, 3D appears more natural in plasma.

The initial setup is fairly straight forward, but there were items I encountered that I felt required more than a 0ne line on screen description or short sentence in the manual. There are many options for both video and audio, so you should find that things can be adjusted to your liking. I particularly like the THX setting.

I tested the set using the Avatar disc in 3D. The quality of the picture was outstanding. In some respects, it was even better than what I'd seen in theaters. There were some scenes that had a slightly layered look in the theater, but didn't appear so with the Panasonic. Now, if they will only release more good 3D content.

The only negative in this whole experience is the firm Amazon uses to ship TVs, Home direct USA and the trucking firm used from the nearest terminal to my home. The TV was picked up in Goodyear, AZ on 12/30 and arrived in Santa Fe Springs, CA on 1/3. Its projected delivery date was 1/5. When I'd heard nothing by 1/4, I decided to speak to a "customer care" person. I really don't know if she was a bit on the slow side or was trained to treat everyone like a 4-year old. After putting me on hold for a couple of minutes to call the terminal of American Relocation and Logistics, the trucker in CA, she came back on the line to tell me they disconnected her and would I like her to try again. Then she came back and told me the people to speak with were both on the phone and gave me their phone number to call. If she'd done that originally, I'd have spent 5 less minutes getting nowhere. I called that number and spoke to a woman who looked up the waybill number and told me that though she hadn't received the information in their usual manner, she would schedule it for the earliest slot she had available, 1/6. When I protested it was supposed to be delivered 1/5, I got the usual meaningless apology. I provided each person I spoke with, an additional phone number I could be reached at if I was outside my home. They all took it down, but the papers the driver had only had the original. The driver and his assistant were quite professional and unpacked the set and tested it, while still standing in part of the packing box, telling me that for liability reasons, they were not permitted to attach the set to its stand. Now, either that is buried in some of Amazon's fine print or it was a condition not included in the product description. Attaching the set to its base requires two people or Arnold Schwarzenegger.

To sum it all up, the TV rates 5 stars, the shipper, minus 10.

UPDATE: Almost a month later, and I am still in love with this set. I have found one very minor flaw in the design that is so limited, most people won't be effected. You can stream Pandora Radio from the Internet with this TV, and while there is a screen saver function, there is no way (at least, that I can find) to turn the display off while listenting to Pandora. As I said, it is a very minor issue that won't effect many folks.

Did lots of research, spoke to a bunch of salesman... after I returned my impulsive purchase of a Vizio 55" 480hz LCD. (feel free to read why I returned the Vizio) VIZIO XVT3D554SV 55-inch 1080p 480Hz 3D LED HDTV with Full Array TruLED, Smart Dimming and VIZIO Internet Apps http://www.amazon.com/review/R3JVPXUY0A7E10/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R3JVPXUY0A7E10

I thought Plasma was dying technology due to the overwhelming number of LCD's at the store for the bad rap it gets for not being as bright, being too hot, poor energy rating, and image retention. Problems which have been fixed on the newer models. The brightness difference you're seeing at the store between LCD and Plasma is the reason for the consumer movement to LCD (IMO). Though, once you get the TV into your home, LCD is much too bright. Even on a sunny day, it wasn't needed.

This TV has a perfect/amazing picture. I've owned it now for 3 weeks and have seen zero noticeable defects. Judder, ghosting etc.. Watched some content in 3d and I'm hooked. Basketball, football, Xbox Black Ops, and Avatar has been it so far. (lack of cheap 3d content out there, had to upgrade to new cable box (no cost) for the 3d channels) The movie and sporting events were amazing and makes watching in 2d lame. I didn't care for the 1st person shooter in 3d though. 2d gaming is perfect with no delay. I am perfectly satisfied that I purchased the right technology, Plasma.
I sometimes wonder how the Samsung plasma compares due to the following:
1) amount of online menu items seems to be lacking when compared to other brands. When I was shopping for the TV, I was mainly concerned that it would have Netflix. I've used YouTube and I now wish it had a browser as well.
2) The Samsung remote looks much more professional than the Panasonic.
3) When the TV is turned off, it's not nearly as modern looking as some of the other brands.

Can't wait for Netflix to start renting out 3d Blue-Ray movies!

This is very awesome TV. Watch over the air HD and movies. Picture is sharp, nothing like it with blue-ray. 3D is fantastic, from 2ft to 20ft, I set about 6ft and just amazed. It has less heat than my 26in LCD. Highly recommend this 54in plasma 3D.Have not had any reflection problems. Set perpendicular to a 8ft sliding patio door only have to pull curtain when sun is shinning directly on screen.First plasma TV and very pleased with purchase and Amazon shipped faster than site said, guy help me care down stairs and very polite, very good experience!

The VT25 has an incredible picture and will sooth whatever traces of buyer's remorse you might have after buying one. Sorry to say, that remorse will kick in again once your set sees the other side of 500 hours or so. My VT25 went completely dead in just under five months. I told myself that these things happen and felt confident Panasonic would bend over backwards to remedy the situation.

Calling the "Concierge Service" number (reserved for Viera owners) was a remarkably unpleasant experience and a portend of things to come. While I did not have to dismantle my installation or deliver it to their repair shop, it turns out that Panasonic does not carry an inventory of VT25 repair parts anywhere in North America. That's right, repair components for the VT25 are shipped from Japan. What's more, to save on freight, Panasonic ships them BY BOAT.

Bottom line, when the VT25 fails, which it does with alarming frequency, it takes four weeks and more to repair. The on-line service rep for Panasonic assured me that a four week repair time is normal for the VT25. When I objected to that as unreasonable, the Panasonic rep said that amount of time was completely in line with Panasonic's warranty terms.

Wow, had I known how likely a complete outage would be and how lackadaisacal Panasonic would be in repairing the VT25, I would definitely have bought the Samsung C8000. I really thought Panasonic had a brand reputaton worth protecting. I stand corrected.

If you buy one of these lemons, better hurry up, as the line for repair parts is about 8,000 miles long...

Had a Sony Bravia top rated LCD TV and this Plasma blows it away.... The colors are so vibrant , blurring effect found on fast action sports is gone....highly recommended

I have done a LOT of research - both reading and viewing TV's and had decided to trade up from my 3 year old 50" Sharp Aquos LCD. A lot of experts recommended this model but I was totally uninterested in 3D and worried about plasma. A lesser worry was reflections on the glossy glass screen common to plasma TV's.
So I was very interested to read that this highly-rated "25" series is to be replaced with the "30" series this Spring. The initial reports are that the upgrades will be relatively minor and not really effect the picture quality which is, after all, what is the big issue. So I raced off to my local video store and sure enough they had this model on close-out pricing $1799. This is a great value for this excellent picture.
So I got it home and all the surprises have been positive:
1. The 3D is really quite good. Buy your HDMI cable and glasses from Amazon ( there is only one set included with the TV), as dealers always try to nick you on the accessories and cables. Panasonic TY-EW3D2MMK2 Ultimate 3D Starter Kit (Avatar 3D + 2 Rechargeable Glasses)AmazonBasics High Speed HDMI Cable (6.5 Feet / 2.0 Meters) - Supports Ethernet, 3D, and Audio Return [NEW MODEL]
2. This whole Viera Cast capability is very impressive; my Panny DVD player talks to my TV and vice versa. I am so impressed I ordered a Panny home theater set-up.
3. Netflix streaming is excellent.... I had been using my Samsung Blu-Ray player as a Netflix source before, but now I have the ethernet plugged right into the TV.
4. The 2D picture is amazing.... while in the store I was able to do a side-by-side comparison with a new Sony XBR series LED with local dimming - - supposedly the best tech for non-plasma TV's. It DID have a great picture, but no better than this set AND it was $4k for a 42" set!!
5. The salesman did a demo for me of fast-moving scenes... exactly the same picture source on LCD's and LEDs ranging from 60 to 240Hz and then this Panny, which is rated at 600Hz. This is the hands-down champ.
6. The screen glare is no different than my Aquos had in the exact location.
7. The off-center viewing experience is dramatically better than any LCD TV... the picture is sharp and clear and colors are excellent well past 45 degrees off-center.
So my advice is to go look at this TV and if you like what you see, go for close-out pricing.

Update Dec 8, 2011:

All of the above comments are still true; we are very happy with this set.
We actually have not used it for 3D since the first month; that's because we aren't interested in most of the 3D movies available.... not Panasonic's fault. But when I mentioned to the salesman (Video Only) that we were mostly 2D viewers he explained to me that this set, being 1080p AND 3D has a much more powerful signal processor than a typical 2D set. Be that as it may we just liked what we saw. So I guess we are future-proofed if 3D grows in importance, but we're very happy with the 2D performance and that's what we bought it for.
My only regret is in rushing to buy the extra 3D glasses. I should have waited.
I bought and used a calibration disk Digital Video Essentials Basic Blu-Ray Dvd Audio With Calibration Test Signals Descriptive Text which guided me through tweaking the picture to an even better level. And stopped my wife from using the "Vivid" setting, which is truly awful. [I was surprised I ended up with slightly different settings than the "THX" setting, which is certainly very good out of the box.]

Well I wanted to wait a month before saying anything about the TV. Before purchasing the TV I looked at Samsungs, Sony, and Panasonics. I started out looking at LCDs, then LEDs, and ended up with the Plazma. I will say that after viewing them at the store, all OFF "Vivid", it was a very CLOSE toss up. The vivid settings are truly an overpowering eye strain that looks great in the store, but at home it is just to much. When I was in the store I asked them to take the same HD CD and play them in the same TVs. My personal taste was the Panasonic.

I have read many professional reviews along with many non professional reviews that all swayed me to my desicion. It was a VERY difficult decision on which TV to buy. It actually took me half a year ro make up my mind..... lol...... I am sure if you bought any of the higher end models, I am sure you will be satisfied.

My personal results are that Panasonic TV is awesome with HD content and decent on SD. I can't stress enough that this TV's stongest trait is its HD 1080 quality....... It looks very pristine. I don't watch much of anything else so it was a perfect match for me.

The THX setting on the TV seems to be the best setting FOR ME. Maybe not you. This setting seems to be the most accurate (go figure) and yet lets me play around with them a bit.

I seriously can't say anything bad about the TV so far. I have pretty sensitive hearing and I haven't heard any of this buzzing noise that others have mentioned. I do agree that the LCD's and LED's are brighter, but I have had no regrets with the brightness capability of this TV. During the day I turn on the C.A.T.S and it brightens it right up. At night I turn it off cause it seems to dimn it a bit to much for my taste. For those that don't know, C.A.T.S adjusts the picture to its surrounding light.

3D? To me it was an added bonus. I have watched a few movies with it and is pretty cool. I am sure future televisions and glasses will get better, but for now it is pretty darn cool.

Burn in? What is that?...... lol...... I haven't had any problems with even IR (Image Retention). No loggo problems or anything like that. So Far so good.

If you purchase this TV I can't see you not liking it. I would recommend it to anyone.