Panasonic VIERA TC-L55E50 55-Inch 1080p 120Hz Full HD IPS LED-LCD TV

2 things:IPS Picture quality, and Motion Picture Setting…, April 22, 2012

As a programmer and a gamer, I have my share of expensive monitors (just ask my wife!). And the regular LCD TV never satisfy my quality standard; colors are either too cartonish, black is not black, and white is tinted blue. So I have only used plasma as TV. It’s warm, have rich real color, it’s perfect for movie night, there is no argument there.

So for my second TV, which in my study and music room, I want to try something else, since I keep hearing the LED LCD are the bomb nowaday (even most of them still do not look as life like as good plasma to me), the energy usage is low, thin and light. So I try my first LED LCD with this model after researching the latest 2012 models within my “2nd tv” price range.

Sales person kept pushing LG (got magic wand, apps, thin bezel…..), but for me, IPS is the magic word. For people who do not know what it is just google “IPS panel”, if no time, just know this, IPS is supposedly the best panel you can get as LCD panel (I believe all big Apple monitors are IPS, no exception), color is more vivid and the view angle should be a perfect 178.

Got the baby home, set it up, hook up to my 15TB home server w/ HDMI, play some 1080p clips. Wow, it’s so clear and real looking, this is some great monitor/TV I told myself. Flipped to the movies folder, open Avatar, wow, so this is 120hz, looking real smooth, real clear.

IN FACT, it’s so real and clear, I double check my refresh rate (at 60hz from source) all the codecs. The images looks like a pre-rendered animation, totally flawless. But after the first 5 minutes, it feels kind of weird to me as the movie somehow look much smoother, but “cheaper” at the same time. Then I remember the stuff I heard….soap opera effect.

I never consider my eyes to be sensitive in any case (if anything, years of looking at multi 27″ monitor should have desensitized me…), so whenever I heard SOE, I’d just brush it off as some people’s sensitive eyes. IT’S NOT, it’s very much noticeable to anyone, albeit some people just don’t care about it when watching movies in the first place. In 300, all the grains are gone! Now it’s really looking like animation, watching them fighting the monsters.

By now, 2 hours after I unpacked it, I’m panicking and start looking at all the menu items. After much google, some site suggested to use Game mode, so the TV wouldn’t add additional frames by itself to smooth out the frames. BINGO, the movies are looking absolutely stunning, got the good colors, no bleeding, black is pretty black (not as black as the best plasma…but blacker than most mid price monitors out there, which is a tall order for this size and price). So I open up some calibration graphic test for monitor and tune it abit, I’m pretty much set — happy.

BTW I have not try any apps in there, but I tested the iphone app remote, works great.

So to sum it up, if you just want picture quality with a good price in a LED LCD, not gimmicks like 3D, apps, hair thin bezel, this is it.

Make sure you understand the usage of GAME MODE, tune the brightness/contrast/color to watch movie, and use all the other ones for TV, personal videos, then it’s good. OTOH, if the SOE do not bother you, doesn’t matter then. The color and contrast will win you over in no time.

Edit:
Thanks to helpful reply, the setting to turn off the SOE is under Advance Picture->Motion Picture Setting. Good stuff.

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All I had hoped for in an LED/LCD, May 30, 2012

I bought this from a big box retailer, but have always found the Amazon community to offer great non-pro reviews of mid-level products often skipped by online review sites. Panasonic has picked up the mantle of plasma king since the demise of Pioneer and I hoped the TC-l42E50 would have close to the same impact on LED/LCD market. I have tried LED displays from other major brand names with a 3rd the performance quality of the Panasonic. Let’s get this out of the way right now if you are expecting plasma level PQ (picture quality) namely black level performance out of this TV then pack it up and ship it back, because it is not happening. Panasonic has taken the Samsung/Sony approach to this television and offer a screen that pops with intensity, one of the sacrifices being black level performance. You gain a plethora of features that with the right adjustments can make this display outshine it’s competitor’s. Panasonic has taken great measures to ensure great motion performance with the addition of the 360 backlight scanning feature. This feature breaks the screen into 3 section in which a smart dimming function on the LED’s switch them on/off very quickly (120hz frequency) to improve pixel response time and alleviate motion artifacts such as judder, trailing and ghosting/streaking. The math breaks down like this 3 sections x 120hz = 360hz (simulated) for the 360 backlight scanning. They offer an additional motion smoothing technology when set to weak offers no artifacting or Soap Opera Effect (SOE) often seen with this technology, but if gaming on this TV recommend turning off or set to weak due to potential controller lag. Speaking of gaming if you are a gamer than I cannot recommend this TV enough from racing games too first person shooters(FPS)this set can handle anything you can throw at it. I have tried everything from 120hz-480hz televisions and none can perform a third as well as the Panasonic at a about 50% less to the of the main competitors equivalent. Don’t let all the fancy jargon confuse you it is all marketing speak. All TV’s including plasmas are 60hz with scene interpolation of some kind that inserts frames in between existing frames to give the illusion of a higher refresh rate whether it is Panasonic’s:600hz sub-field drive or Samsung’s:Auto motion plus they are still a native 60hz. While shopping for a television let that be the last deciding factor, but let your eye’s be your guide. Visit a big box store ask for a remote and immediately take it off the Vivid picture settings and set it for Cinema,movie or natural setting in the user menu to get a better idea how the set will function in the real world. This will turn all the post processing nonsense off in most case and let you see the true performance of the display, so you can make an educated decision. If you prefer the look though the Panasonic E50 can still deliver that performance, although adjustments aren’t as robust as it’s competitor’s they are sufficient. Let’s break it down.

Picture: While not as deep as a plasma display still impressive for an LED/LCD. Black levels are good, but not great colors are natural and accurate making movies and games really pop. Could use a few more adjustment option like a THX or pro mode for better white balance control, but certainly not the worse I have seen.

Sound: Like a few of the review have said nothing to write home about, but again not the worse I have heard. If you are in the market for home a theater and gaming set-up most likely a quality surround sound is already a consideration. Since I have a pair of wireless surround sound headphones TV audio quality is not a concern for me.

Connectivity: While wi-fi ready this display is not wireless out of the box, an additional dongle is needed for internet connectivity.

Build Quality: While this TV doesn’t have the paper thin bezel made popular by LG & Samsung it would be right at home on a wall mount or traditional stand. It sports a 1 inch glossy black bezel with a quarter inch clear boarder around that for an all around attractive frame. Panasonic has manage to also avoid some of the pitfalls associated with Edge Lit LED technology namely light bleed and flashlighting. In a completely dark room the screen is solid black or really dark blue through the entirety of the screen with no areas of backlight bleed on any of the sides. There is also no pooling of light where the LED’s are unable to reach certain areas of the screen. I have seen $4000.00+ LED TV’s not be able to achieve this feat, so very impressive.

I hope I was able to give an overall impression of the Panasonic TC-L42E50 television.

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So Far, So Good!, April 9, 2012

I picked this TV up earlier this month to take the place of a disappointing LED set from another brand, and I couldn’t be happier that I made the switch. This Panasonic model is the sharpest I’ve ever had and a few quick adjustments to the picture settings were all I needed to ensure a consistently solid (if not better) picture. In a TV, I wanted something that would be especially reliable when it came to sports, but also worked well with movies and other everyday programming plus the occasional video game session, and this TV has certainly delivered on all counts. I’m able to see the picture clearly from just about every angle imaginable, with no blurring and only a negligible amount of artifacts.

I didn’t set out to buy a TV equipped with Internet capability, but it’s definitely a nice feature to have. The setup in the room is such that I don’t need the wireless capability and the added expense of an adapter, because I’m able to simply connect an ethernet cable to my router from the TV and I’m good to go. So far, I haven’t had any connectivity problems or real lag. While all the subscription services included in the Viera Cast have their own advantages and uses, the Twitter software is what may give me the most utility. I’m still trying to figure out how to tweet efficiently, but that’s secondary to following my feed by the hashtag of whatever event or show I’m watching. I’ve tried out a few Netflix movies to test the functionality and didn’t experience any problems. It includes a pretty simple interface, even for beginners.

Setting up the TV was very easy, and I especially like that there’s a fitting that the TV slides onto while you secure it to the base with the included screws.

4 HDMI ports may be a little much for some people, especially if the VieraCast software takes the place of a Roku or other streaming media device, but it’s nice to know that I have ports to spare in case I end up needing them later. I’d much rather have extras than find myself switching out a device every time I want to use something different. The stock speakers are just fine (no tinny sound, as can be the case with other LED TV’s, including the one I had before this one), but if you’re an audiophile, I wouldn’t blame you for hooking up something a little nicer, be it a soundbar or a multichannel surround system.

While I didn’t pick it up on Amazon, the price was in the same neighborhood as it was new on Amazon and its affiliated retailers – a great buy for an LED TV with streaming media capability from one of the best brands out there. As for the 42″ size, it’s ideal if you want something substantial but still small enough that it won’t dominate the room if you don’t want it to.

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