Working Title: Panasonic TH-50PX60U Lite Review

Friday, January 05, 2007

Panasonic TH-50PX60U Lite Review

For Christmas-slash-my-birthday, Annie bought the Panny 50" Plasma TV for me as I mentioned in a previous post. Now that I've been enjoying the television for a couple of weeks, I'd like to share a few first impressions.

1) The picture is very clear. On both SD broadcasts and HD broadcasts, the colors are vibrant and accurate. The screen, though it is made of a huge sheet of glass, is coated in such a way that does not give off much glare. Considering the fact that our family room/kitchen is joined together and that directly behind the television seating is the bright lights of the kitches, I was really impressed by how little glare the screen displayed.

2) HD Broadcasts are stunning. I spend most of my tv surfing time going through HD channels for things to look at. Notice I didn't say "shows to watch" but "things to look at". The clarity and sharpness of the images broadcast in 720p and 1080i are so stunning - especially at that size - that I can sit and marvel at scenes of city scapes and stubble on people's faces for hours on end. Luckily for me, there are plenty of movies, serials, and sports that are broadcast in HD so I don't have to spend my television time staring at sunsets and waterfalls all the time.

3) The TV is huge. Even when SD shows are displayed at 4:3 aspect with pillar boxes on either side of the picture, the image is still bigger than my old 36" Sony WEGA HDTV at full frame. And that's nothing compared to the difference in picture sizes between my old 16:9 HD broadcasts versus my new 16:9 HD broadcasts!

4) The TV is huge. If this TV fell on Zach, Zach would disappear.

6) This TV is light. At 90 lbs, it's not exactly a chiuaua, but as compared to my trusty old Sony HDTV tube (230 lbs), the Panny is like that blowing feather from Forrest Gump. In HD.

7) Check the rump. Like a Mercedes S-Class that passes a boy in the street where the boy's first reaction will be to check the badge on the tail to see what size engine the S-Class is touting, the back panel of the Panny is where a lot of its pedigree is determined. Two HDMI ins, two component ins, and two s-video/RCA ins...