Panasonic TC-P65V10 65-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV

Review by Morgan Higham for Panasonic TC-P65V10 65-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV
Rating:
Pros: 65″ is a great size for my living room, and the picture quality allows you to feel that you’re there. A seated newscaster looks the same size as if they were on the other side of a window. The custom pro pic adjustments make any source look great!

Cons: As with all plasmas, the light reflection can be annoying. It is certainly watchable in the daytime with the shades open, but a bit distracting. The THX mode default is “HD Size 2” 100% scan, which introduces some edge noise with some sources (cable)

Summary: I’ve been waiting for months for the 65 inch V10 to become available. Almost pre-ordered it online several times, but was leary of ordering before it was in stock. Happened into Best Buy on Fri Aug 21 and saw the 58″ on display. Asked about the 65″ and found out the store had just received one that day and intended to set it up for display the next day. After a short negotiation I had secured this first set for $3899 ($100 off MSRP) and had it delivered free on the following Tuesday. First thing I did after setting it up was to switch the picture setting from Vivid to THX and the picture was amazing. Flipped through a few channels and watched some dark scenes from shows on my DVR that I had been saving just for this purpose. The clarity in low light scenes better than I had imagined. I have played with the custom pro picture settings some, but haven’t spent enough time to get it looking better than THX yet. I have enjoyed the Viera Cast features, especially the weather and YouTube. I was watching a movie on cable and started wondering what other movies had the same director. I paused the show, switched to YouTube and looked up the director’s name and watched a few clips of him taling about the movie I was watching and a few others he had directed, then went back and watched the rest of the movie. It was nice to be able to do this without having to pull out my laptop. I was also impressed with the picture quality from YouTube, even when I put it on full screen (I don’t think most YT videos are prepared to be displayed at 65″, but it still looked pretty clear!) I haven’t rented a movie from the Amazon download service yet, but I’ll have to try it. I can’t believe that the picture will equal BluRay though- which reminds me… For some reason it was nearly three days of watching this set before I remembered that I hadn’t see a BluRay disk on it. I had been too caught up playing with the settings and Viera Cast and setting up my Harmony report (which is a little tricky to get set up for Viera Cast because I wanted the direction pad to control the DRV when watching cable and to control the TV when using VC, but I figured it out.) Anyway, I finally got around to putting in a BluRay disc and the picture went to a whole other level – like nothing I’d seen before. Going back to Comcast compressed 1080i HD signal after BluRay was like looking through a mist. Now I can’t rent BR movies fast enough. I almost want to stop watching my favorite shows on TV and wait for the season to come out on BluRay.

Well, if you’re still reading- I love this TV -I want to stop writing now, go close the shades and start watching.

Review by Sharok Hafizi for Panasonic TC-P65V10 65-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV
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This is a wonderful TV. I used to have a 65″ LCD (LC-65D93U) for the past two years and 10 days ago I upgraded to TC-P65V10. I used a set of break-in slides for 180 hours (to age the color phosphors and get it ready for professional calibration). Finally, it was calibrated today and WOW!!!! The picture quality is unbelievable. Maybe the best A/V purchase I’ve ever made.

Review by Mortisha for Panasonic TC-P65V10 65-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV
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I just got this TV today so I want to write a 1st impression review. I had bought a 60″ LCD from BB and they gave me 30dy return. Well needless to say I returned it for this plasma, my old 55″ Sony LCD rear projection had a WAY better pic than the LCD I returned . Right out the box I put in studio mode(does not have cinema mode)all I did was bring brightness and contrast down to 50% as instructed by various forums and HDTV site for break-in(100 or so hrs). OMG what a gorgeous picture, I was shocked at the difference in the pq it is like night and day, and the panny is a dulled down pic for the break-in period. I have read as many reviews and article’s that I can find about black level rise and I found there to be a lot of conflicting opinions(some have seen it, some have not, some have seen dramatic rise, some have seen little to none). They are saying that 2008/2009 models are being affected. My friend has a 2008 and has seen no change. Yes Panasonic has said it was designed that way but still has excellent picture, but like I said the reviews and article’s are conflicting, so I took a chance, as with any TV you buy these days. I am a firm believer in extended warranties if you need repairs it can pay for its self. I found that out the hard way so now I don’t hesitate. I can not comment on sound I run all my components thru Pioneer AVR via HDMI then out to TV via HDMI. I use my surround sound for all audio. Some think plasma’s run hot I don’t feel it runs any hotter than LCD. It sits on a stand that is angled in a corner, I put my hand back there and it felt like the ambient room temp. I had my Sony rear projection sitting on that same stand and it put out more heat. There are no off angle pic washout at all. I was sitting in floor right in front of TV dusting off the shelves and looked up the picture look the same as if I was sitting in my chair across the room. My Sony was like that, great off angle viewing. It was something I never really thought about until I got that 60″ LCD and boy did I miss it, the only way to compensate was to put it in vivid mode but WOW it felt like my eyeballs were going to melt. OK back to the panny, I am watching all the shows I normally watch. Panny tech said to do so, he did advise me if I come across any HD channels in 4:3 with side bars adjust aspect ratio to “Just” so it will fill screen. All my SD channels are set to do this thru cable box. For the most part all HD is full screen a few shows from local broadcast still are 4:3. Panny tech assured me unless you leave channel logos, ticker bars, BDP menus, etc.. on for over an hour or more there is little to no chance to do irreversible damage. One thing I found a bit annoying the little red led ON light is located on the frame to the left of the Panasonic logo it can be a bit much while watching TV in the dark so I moved my center channel speaker over a bit to block it. If you do not have center channel take a small square of static cling window tint and cover it to dull it down. I have TV hooked up via ethernet cable to router I have not had a chance to try Viera Cast yet. I will update my review periodically as time goes by, but for now I am VERY VERY VERY HAPPY! OH did I mention how VERY HAPPY I am? LOL

****UPDATE***

7/14/10

I am so totally in LOVE with this TV. I am so glad I made the choice to return the LCD and buy this Panny. IMO plasma does have better pq than LCD, we had a 4th of July party and everyone that came in said OMG look at that picture. Blue-Ray looks out of this world I re-watched Avatar on THX mode and saw things I did not see the first time I watched it on the LCD I returned.

Review by Donald A. Fischer for Panasonic TC-P65V10 65-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV
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I received my 65V10 about 2 weeks ago and am very satisfied with the picture set on THX mode. I was able to find this review on the 50V10 which is very thorough […].

Perhaps one of the best features is the THX mode. By selecting this setting I can pretty much rest assured the TV is at near peak settings. This means no calibration necessary which appeals to a low Video tech guy like me. My engineering degree is not in that field.

Also, if one Googles WHITE PAPER PLASMA one finds an excellent independent comparison of plasma, LCD and DLPs funded by Pioneer. I am moving up from a seven year old 57″ Hatachi DLP. There is a significant step change in clarity, detail and color. I believe a LCD or even a DLP is brighter than the plasma but the plasma is sufficiently bright for my interior room. As they say the blacks are indeed very black.

With my DLP upgrade, I actually found the 65V10 used less space when one considers that all components can be placed under the TV while some components require side placement with my old DLP. The 65″ does not look particularly big for my nominal 15′ by 20′ room with corner installation.

I am a little miffed with the TV’s internet capability since I can get there anyway with the PS3 I purchased specifically for Blu-Ray, a choice I do not regret for a primarily non-gamer family. The PS3 has wireless capability right out of the box. Suspect I will understand the 65V10’s capability better as time goes on and I have a chance to add a wireless receiver to the TV (it requires a hard connection to tap the internet connection)

The colors and detail are extraordinary are amazing and as I say I am very satisfied.

Based on the reviews and blogs I believe the burnin concern is a non issue. I am treating the TV like I normally would, a little running of games, watching programs including bars (to a point on this one, can’t miss World Series and FOX News) and generally not babying it. No ghosts to date. I believe some people have lttle to do, sorry guys.

I almost went with the 77UM sharp LCD but am not looking back. I’m sure it is a good TV also.

Review by Louis F. Detulleo for Samsung UN65C6500 65-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV, Black
Rating:
This TV needs more reviews! I would give the tv 4.5 stars, not 5. I got it a couple weeks ago now. Overall it is an awesome TV, beautifully designed. Picture quality in HD and Blu-ray is amazing. SD is perfectly acceptable. The streaming movie internet apps are cool. Inputting text is a bit clunky however. Can’t seem to get the facebook to work. Speakers are kinda sucky but you have to expect that on such a thin TV–got to get a home theater set up. There is a bit of light leak at the 4 corners of the TV, but again I think you kind of have to expect this on such a large LED edge lit tv. It can definitely be minimized with adjusting the picture settings.

If you want the biggest TV you can get without being really rich, this is the one to get. 🙂

Cheers.