Panasonic Viera TH-50PX80U 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV Reviews

Review by B. Greer for Panasonic Viera TH-50PX80U 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV
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This is my first HD TV purchase ever, so I made sure to do my homework. I spent days researching brands, plasmas v. LCDs, 720p v. 1080p resolutions, and 42″ v. 50″ screens. Friends and family kept telling me, “Get a LCD. Get a 1080p.”

The fact is after combing through review after review from consumers and professional critics alike, it became evident that Panasonic is leading the way with plasma technology, and the years-old issues with these TVs (burn-in, heat, glare) are all but resolved. In fact, plasmas offer smoother motion, deeper blacks and wider viewing angles than their LCD rivals.

Screen size and resolution, I found, go hand-in-hand. The rule of thumb: 50″ or less in screen size is not worth the extra $$ for 1080p. The increase in resolution only really becomes appreciable with screen sizes over 50″. Too, one can only truly take advantage of 1080p with a Blu-ray DVD player. HD channels are sent at lower resolutions, though obviously much better than standard 480i.

Armed with this knowledge, I set out to find the best 50″ plasma 720p I could find that fit within my budget. Sony and Pioneer were out. The next tier included Samsung, Toshiba, and Panasonic. The latter won hands down.

Whether I am watching DirectTV HD or my standard DVD player, the picture quality is nothing short of amazing. I love the anti-reflective coating on the screen; works beautifully in our well-lit room and does not mute the colors. It took a minute for my two year-old to get over Scooby-Doo outsizing him, but he’s hooked now.

The one minor complaint I see in other reviews is bass distortion with the speakers. I do not use the “bass boost” function and have not noticed anything but clean sound. In fact, speech, music, and effects sound quite good and balanced. Most will use surround sound for movies anyway, I suspect. The only thing that peeves me is the digital audio out. It only supports 2 channel stereo to a receiver.

In closing, I believe this is the best value you will find for a top quality product in this category. Get one, and you won’t just watch TV, you’ll experience it.

Review by Antonio S. Abayon for Panasonic Viera TH-50PX80U 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV
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This is the 3rd plasma that I ordered from Panasonic, and this technology never let me down. I love this product! I have it hooked up to my DirecTV satellite and tested the picture quality with the regular signal and HD signal. With both signals, the pictures is crisp and clear from watching about 4 feet away from the screen and everything is the same at 8 feet away. This plasma is 720p native resolution and it is great. So unless you have a small room where you need a 1080p native resolution, that is if you are watching very close and ruin your eyes at the same time, you really don’t need a 1080p resolution. So save yourself some big bucks by getting the 720p instead of 1080p. Buy yourself some good recliners and of course the flat panel tv stand or wall mount instead, because you gonna need them.

Review by tfoltz for Panasonic Viera TH-50PX80U 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV
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I was initially was going to get a 42″ or 46″ 1080p tv, but after a couple tv returns I decided to go for the bigger set, even if it was “only” 768p (720p), and I am extremely happy I did. I watch blu-ray, hd cable, and xbox 360 and PS3 from 9 feet away and don’t notice the detail difference between 1080p and 720p at my viewing distance. I was also worried about green fringing while gaming but it turns out this really isn’t an issue at all (only notice it once in a blue moon, and it doesn’t bother me at all), so for anyone who’s heard of fringing, don’t worry about it. The blacks and shading are top in it’s class; if you need absolute black go for a Pioneer or the pz85u, but for a modestly priced set you won’t get better blacks. The colors are great too; the most accurate mode with no video noise is “cinema”. My settings are as follows: Picture: 85, Brightness: 49, Color: 39, Tint: +1, Sharpness 50, Color Management: Off, Black Level: light, Video NR: off, MPEG NR: off, Picture Mode: warm. Highly recommend this tv.

Review by K. Bolduan for Panasonic Viera TH-50PX80U 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV
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I’ve had this TV for a little over a week and it’s been great. I replaced an HD CRT (Sony 36″ XBR) and was nervous that I wouldn’t see the same picture quality. I chose plasma over LCD b/c I believe it provides a better picture (not so harsh or sterile – more lifelike) and I haven’t been disappointed. DVDs and HD content are stunning, and, surprisingly, the SD content I watch (from Dish Network) ain’t too bad, either.

I decided to save money by going 720p instead of 1080p and, at least until I have a Blu-Ray player, I am 100% satisfied with that decision: the 720p looks just great over a wide variety of sources (Dish, DVD, OTA HD).

The anti-reflective coating works, at least for me in my family room, as promised. In fact, we have a white ottoman about 8 feet from the TV and I noticed I could see its reflection in the bezel *around* the TV (shiny black plastic) but not on the TV itself.

Availability on this TV from Amazon comes and goes – I made sure to buy from them and wasn’t disappointed. The free delivery was professional and on-time and they took it out of the box, plugged it in, made sure it worked, and offered to take the box.

If you buy from Amazon, be sure to keep an eye out on the price for a full 30 days after you buy it. I got mine on 3/31/08 for $1496 and it has dropped in price twice since then (now $1436). Amazon promptly refunded me both times – the second time within *five* minutes of my request.