Customer Reviews:
 Fantastic 50 inch value for money plasma with inky black level July 3, 2008
M. C. Crawley (Northern Ireland)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
As an owner of this stylish plasma I would highly recommend it for anyone wanting a quality big screen plasma with reliability attached...The standard definition through sky+ is breathtaking on this plasma as it has exceptional contrast and black levels..Attach a Blu-ray player and the high definition picture is absolutely sublime with crisp blacks high contrast ( 10,000:1)and fantastic shadow detail (sometimes lacking on lcd). The picture frame glossy black surround is classy and stylish with a matt black pedestal stand toning in well, of course both the wall bracket and full stand options are also available. Even though this plasma has a 1366x768 hd ready resolution it really is unbeliveable when you look at the HD picture through Blu-ray...Happy Feet on Blu-ray is so bright ,almost 3 dimensional with motion handling on this plasma being superb...a big plus for football fans. The build quality is very solid and with a screen size to die for the images are nothing short of cinematic. Having both a digital and analogue tuner option freeview is at hand if needed. Connection wise there is 2 hdmi's for connection of possibly a blu-ray player and or Sky HD. Two scarts are RGB enabled giving the best picture quality from that source. Component video output with DSub PC Input and stereo audio ouputs are available with headphone jack/cam slot. If you are considering sound the pseudo mode does a decent job but for a tv of this size it is probable there would be a seperate surround system. The picture presets are Dynamic (not normally used as it is very bright)....Normal and Cinema...Cinema is probably the one kindest to the eyes for night-time viewing. The remote has big buttons easy to navigate even though there is no backlighting for night-time viewing. The advantage of the remote is that the tv's menu system is very well laid out making it easy to use for plasma beginners. By running the plasma in for the recommended first 200 hours at less than 50% brightness with contrast the same you automatically see the picture quality get gradually better as the plasma settles after this time. My viewing distance varies between 9 to 12 ft from the screen and I have no problem with this. My screen is on an av-unit with the middle of the screen about 12 inches above eye level whilst sitting. The gloss frame surround together with the plama screen only has light reflections if placed opposite direct sunlight but is not an issue if placed opposite to this in your viewing area. One feature I would have liked was a button preset to change the picture modes with one touch but this is only a minor quibble.The Colour Management system seems to boost green levels in particular which makes watching football or golf a joy to behold. With a recommended retail price of £1800 only a year ago this plasma has got to be one of the best bargains I have bought in quite some time. I would have no hesitation in very Highly recommending this to anyone who cares for this size of screen ....buy with confidence, you'll be absolutely amazed at the quality....
Excellent value and quality October 14, 2008
P. Carter
I bought this from the Warehouse at amazon, as the box had been opened, and got it for an amazing deal of less than £700. Considering John Lewis sell them for £1400 I was very pleased with the deal.
I think Pioneer are the best TVs, but for "non-luxury" TVs, the only brands I trust are Sony and Panasonic.
The picture quality is fantastic. I linked the sound to my stereo, but the TV's own sound is very good anyway. I have it wall mounted and view it from 12ft. I previously had a 32" sony LCD but it seemed too small so I put that in my bedroom and view that from 7ft.
I use the Panasonic for XBox mostly, at 1080 with the HDMI cable. It's awesome! And I use an HDMI cable for my 1080 upscaler DVD player. It makes movies at home great fun! I have no complaints at all.
Colour, movement, darkness, contrast is all perfect, if you play with the settings to suit yourself.
I would not recommend viewing analog signals on this, nor using an SD or 720 DVD player as you will see the flaws on such a large screen.
Also, my DVD player runs NTSC discs and I do not recommend this either as I noticed some interlacing at certain points which was annoying. I would only play PAL on it from now on.
For games I use the dynamic setting, adjusted down slightly, and for movies I use the cinema setting, pushed up a little. It's as close to a home cinema as I could want. I recommend this TV unless you have the money to get a Pioneer. Watch out for sale bargains from amazon, it was worth my waiting for!
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