Not to be outdone by Pioneer and their procession of 1080p televisions, Panasonic has introduced its own range of HD plasmas. The TH-50PZ700A sits in the middle of the company's offerings and offers a significant discount on their competitor, and since we first previewed it four months ago it has dropped over AU$1,000. But does it have the performance and features?
Design
Not too much to comment on here -- what you get is a fairly stylish TV. And of course it's in a piano black finish. Looks-wise, all that spoils the view is the strange diamond-shaped stand. But it's not the bezel that's worth remarking about here, it's the screen itself ...
Given that a plasma screen is reflective by virtue of its design -- it features a glass outer layer, after all -- Panasonic have attempted to combat this by covering the TH-50PZ700A panel with an anti-reflective coating. The effect is diffuse enough, and while you wouldn't be able to shave with it, LCDs are still better at minimising reflections.
Features
Considering HD is the buzz word of the year, it's fortuitous that the TH-50PZ700A complies by featuring a native 1080p resolution. It also includes a gadget called the Digital Re-mastering Processor -- which automatically converts SD sources to high definition.
In addition the Panasonic features a high-def tuner, a front-mounted SD-card reader (for photo viewing), and a massive 100,000 hour life. Three HDMI inputs come as standard, including a front-mounted port for connecting a compatible camera or console.
One of the only features missing from this TV is one that has proved to be incredibly useful in real-world testing -- 100Hz capability. Most manufacturers now offer this feature on their premium TVs and its sole function is to remove the judder that occurs when you convert film or overseas broadcasts to PAL.
Plasma panels of old used to have some real problems with subtle colour gradations, but the Panasonic claims to have 4,096 gradations of colour -- which means no more "banding". The claimed total number of visible colours is a whopping 68.7 billion where most screens count less than 20 million. Of course this is much higher than the number of colours you'll see through your average HD broadcast, but good to know the capability is there. Especially as far as Blu-ray, HD DVD and the new Deep Colour capabilities of HDMI 1.3 are concerned.
One downside to the new TV is actually one of its advertised strengths: Viera Link. The HDMI standard allows for two-way communication between components such as a TV and a DVD player. This means you can press a single button and turn off all compatible components -- like the new Panasonic camcorders --or play a DVD without switching remotes or inputs, for example. But, like most iterations from other manufacturers we've seen, this only works with Panasonic products. Maybe one day your different branded HDMI components will play nice with each other, but not currently.
Performance
While the Digital Re-mastering Processor did what it said on the tin -- that is, upscaled SD sources to 1080p -- we found it carried this out with a little too much enthusiasm. As a result, some sources could become so processed that they sacrificed detail.
Testing the analog tuner of the Samsung DVD-HR755 DVD recorder we found that the Panasonic made the images a little too soft to be believable. Skin became a monotone, and details such as hair and scenery were treated to a heavy dollop of Vasoline. Admittedly, we wouldn't be buying an analog recorder to partner with a TV like this, but it was symptomatic of the combination of both Samsung and Panasonic's processing.
Using the Panasonic's own tuners we found that noisy signals were reined in on analog broadcasts, and digital signals were relatively free of noise and artefacts. In fact, the digital tuner on board the Pana is one of the better ones we've seen in a while. Set-up is quick, and the set grades each channel by the signal strength -- which is a nice touch. We also found that both Channel 9 and 10's EPGs were displayed for a full week (as per the new agreement), though strangely SBS and ABC were erratic.
However, the inconsistencies of the scaler only became apparent when we connected the Sony BDPS500B Blu-ray player. Using our King Kong DVD we found markedly different results when relying on the Panasonic's upscaling capabilities. Fed a 576i image and the results were clean and very watchable. When we tried upscaling through the player the Panasonic didn't know what to do, and the results were some of the worst DVD replay we've seen in a while. There was a lot of noise around contrasting edges -- such as during the long-shot of King Kong on top of the Empire State -- and plenty of jaggies. As we found, the processing will only work when fed an SD image, and this is to the detriment of a high definition source.
But when fed an actual HD signal, the results were happily better. Mission Impossible III was detailed, and the Panasonic delicately handled the disk's balance between grainy realism and any outright noise. It's in native high definition that this television really shines.
Conclusion
2007 has been a big year for plasma, and not only because it's the year that Panasonic and others released their 1080p panels. No, it's because Pioneer's Kuro has changed everything. It is the benchmark against which all other high-def plasmas must now be judged.
While the Panasonic is a relatively good plasma, its lack of user customisation, picture processing that is unable to be turned off, and lack of features mean that it's now an also-ran.
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TRAVIXARAMA
19/08/2008, 12:50 AM
rating
9/10
Don't always trust reviews. This set has a fantastic image and it's 100hz.
Sent this set in error. Should have recieved the 800 instead.
I have best buys review and this one and am amazed at the negative reviews this set has got in both instances.
The 800 will be arriving soon but I can say that this set not only looks aesthetically very handsome it performs extremely well with all dvd sources I have fed it through my pioneer 989.
We watched Finding Nemo and i can honestly say that it left my previous pv60's image for dead. The picture was
the sharpest i have ever seen and the colours were do vibrant.
The trick with this set is to set the brightness levels(Blacks) below 50% say 35-40 (need to estimate it as no numerical indicators exist). contrast can be set at 50% or above. Colour and sharpness around 50% and you have got yourself a great picture with black
shaded in varying graduations in the darker scenes.
Blu ray through the bd30 looks great however 60hz 3:2 pulldown does cause slight judder in slow pans. However this isn't that noticable unless you are looking for it. The 24p processer in the 800 should rectify this.
FTA HD TV looks splendid.
Pros: Aesthetically a very handsome display.
Calibrated it gives you a great pq.
Sound sytem is good if set to music and trs surround.
Cons: Slight judder with slow paning scenes in Bluray.
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kevin_watters
10/07/2008, 02:53 PM
rating
8/10
Great TV so far !
Pros: Great picture and colour
Nice blacks with no ghosting.
Excellent price !
Cons: Computer connection via HDMI BAD... lose all four edges with no timing adjustment on this TV :(
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macka29
04/06/2008, 07:41 PM
rating
10/10
I have researched all hd plasmas for about 6 months now and have been waiting for them to drop, I finally got the TH-50PZ700A for $2665.00 from David Jones Parramatta, which was a price match with Bing Lee and got it on 18 months interest free.
Pros: From what Im reading its all good! I did wonder about the 100htz? When I was looking at this panel everyone stated it had 100htz?
Cons: Cant pick any yet, but I dont get it delivered for another 2 days!
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Phil Coop
29/05/2008, 02:07 PM
rating
9/10
what a great tv, I just love it
Pros: all good what is wrong with it?
Cons: can't find any
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westpap
29/05/2008, 10:31 AM
rating
8/10
for price theres nothing better go component input with foxtel ,picture quality improves heaps ,paid $2800 knoxs retravision
Pros: very user friendly plenty inputs best value for money
Cons: could use less power 640 watt abit high and a swivel stand would be nice
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jas
23/05/2008, 03:14 PM
rating
9/10
no 100hz ? what do you mean? i thought you were pro. hehe. it is definitely there in the settings and can be switched on or off.
Pros: looks awesome with sharp blu-ray with hdmi. sd looks extremely close to hd on live broadcast. better than lcd any day. exellent colours.
Cons: only has a 100,000 hour half life. longer than an lcd. yes it gets reflection on outer casing, so do all the new piano black tv's.
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anonymous
16/04/2008, 10:16 AM
rating
8/10
Great television - awesome HD picture. Does have 100Hz despite reveiwer's comments. Good number of inputs, HD tuner easy to use, plenty of picture adjustment options. Everything will be digital soon anyway, so this is more a short term annoyance as far as I'm concerned.
Recently paired the TV up with a Sony DVPNS78H DVD player that has 1080p upscaling via HDMI and you'd have a hard time distinguishing between the upscaled image and that from a Blu-ray player.
The only significant gripe I have is that picture quality from analog input sources eg. Foxtel can be a bit flabby, however, I don't think Foxtel is a good quality source to start with. I've also not played around with the range of settings on the TV and may have missed something obvious.
Also, if you're into connecting a computer to your TV, bear in mind that via the standard analog VGA input, the best the plasma will do is 1366x768, but if you have a DVI output, and use a HDMI - DVI-D cable, you can get the full native 1920x1080 resolution of the panel.
Overall it's a great TV and I'm happy with my purchase.
Pros: Excellent HD perfomance, good range of input choices. Simple to set up and use.
Cons: Anti-reflective coating could be a bit better, but is accepable nonetheless.
The high-gloss bezel is quite reflective as others have pointed out.
Power consumption according to the user manual is around 640W (a Sony 52" Bravia LCD is about 350W) - plasmas obviously use more power. I haven't had the TV long enough to see the impact on the power bill, but this is something that people might overlook when considering the whole 'LCD vs Plasma' dilemma.
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chris manuel
15/04/2008, 05:25 PM
rating
9/10
In the settings you can choose between 100 Hz or 50 Hz, So whats with the no 100 Hz technology??
Pros: Great Picture, Blu - Ray looks amazing. Great paired up with my PS3, I have a Panasonic dvd sound system with it via Viera Link and this works a treat
Cons: Not much maybe, it is too prone to fingerprints on the outer black surrounding the screen
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jlcallag
26/02/2008, 01:34 AM
rating
10/10
I am pretty fussy but to date I am extremely happy with this unit plus great value (paid $3200). I agree with other opinions in that reviewer seems well off the mark ie its a great unit. Why would you pay twice the cost for reviewers choice of competitor with a 768unit.
Pros: Fast tuner, value for money for 1080P, good picture across all signal sources, 1080p makes it more future proof than most other units.
Cons: None so far
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dave
25/02/2008, 12:50 PM
rating
10/10
Yes it has 100hz technology, whoever rated this first obviously has a thing for Pioneer, and yes Pioneer is great too, Panasonic has done really well with the PZ series. Watching Full HD from a PS3 is fantastic, but again, the better the movie, the cleaner it looks.
Pros: Fantastic picture from HDMI
Still great from DVD
Great on board HD tuner
Cons: a better stand perhaps
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