Over the years I've had some pretty nice views out my windows - including a view down Broadway from a Manhattan high rise. But now I live in the boring ‘burbs and the front window normaly has the shades drawn. Nothing to see here folks, move along.
But that's OK, because when Panasonic's Viera TC-P55ST50 plasma set showed up I certainly didn't want competition from the outside world. And now that I've spent some quality time with it, the truth is that the greatest view in the world would have a hard time competing with this set. It offers outstanding picture quality, fantastic black levels, accurate colors and excellent off-angle viewing.
And, even though it's a plasma, it could even have endured life up high in that New York City apartment, with its copius amounts of direct sunlight. I'm not complaining about the current view or the (lack of) sun by any means but the latter made viewing of most TVs difficult, which is why LCD was the de facto choice five years ago. Today the TC-P55ST50 could easily stand up to the ambient light - within reason. This set still sports glass screen and even in my living room there was some annoying reflections if certain lights were on - a problem easily resolved with the off-switch (of the light not the TV).
Big and Beautiful
As I've used an LCD set as my main TV for the last few years (including a recent cross country move), the first thing I noticed getting the ST50 out of the box was that plasma is heavy, or at least heavier than LCD. But then I noticed something else. The TC-P55ST50 features an extremely narrow frame (bezel) and this 55-inch set is actually slimmer in depth and narrower in overall width than the 52-inch LCD that preceeded it. Thus the set easily fit in the same space and looked so much better. And that was before I even turned it on.
Panasonic hasn't always been known for a sleek modern design but they're moving in the right direction this year with the ST50 series and others. This set is sleek and modern looking, particularly when compared to earlier sets from the Japanese maker.
After placing the TV in its new "home" (at least for the review period) it was time to do the hooking up. The TC-P55ST50 offers three HDMI ports, which was more than enough for me as I use an A/V receiver to switch most of my inputs, although I did use a second input to test a home theater in a box Blu-ray system. Those who don't route their components through a receiver may find three HDMI jacks to be a little light and I could see this as a minor limitation, but the solution is easily remedied by just upgrading to a new receiver or using a switch. Problem solved, time to move on.
And while there is no VGA input, most modern computers feature DVI, DisplayPort or HDMI digital outputs and there are inexpensive cables to connect any of these to a standard HDMI input on the ST50. Also, there are still analog composite and component video inputs for legacy devices. Those could come in hand with some older devices such as a Wii or even a VCR. On the other end of the port spectrum in technology this plasma set offers twin USB ports for connecting accessories such as a Skype video camera and even an SD card slot for viewing photos.
Connection Time
While it used to be just about the physical A/V connections on a set, now in the era of smart TVs it is about connected content. Panasonic's Viera Connect platform offers a solid selection of apps and streaming media options including Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vudu, Pandora, Shoutcast, Hulu Plus and even the Wall Street Journal. DLNA compatibility allows you to view media from a compatible DLNA server device such as a tablet, computer or compatible smart phone. There is also a web browser on board, which can be downloaded and installed for free from the Viera Connect marketplace.
The VIERA Connect menus could be a bit more intuitive at some points, and might have loaded a bit faster but I found it easy enough to navigate through them to find the content and services I was looking for. Smart TV indeed.
And good looking too. This was notable during the Summer Olympics in London this past Summer. While NBC had promised the moon with coverage a lot was missing, but fortunately what was missing in the live broadcasts was available through Viera Cast via YouTube. Having seen YouTube content on a TV in the past made me wish for a smaller screen and faster connection - but this time the video cached quickly and looked surprisingly good, even at full screen. Events that I missed - such as the track bike racing in the velodrome, if you must know - were quite watchable.
In addition to the standard one-way streaming options this TV also offers interactive video connectivity through Skype. The camera isn't included but fortunately I had one on hand. Sitting on the couch and chatting with a friend on the other side of the world on a 55-inch TV is a little strange - sort of makes one feel like a movie super villain. Yeah, I suppose I could have gone with a super hero or Captain Kirk thing, but I guess I'm more of a villain type of guy.
If you're a control freak, you'll be happy to hear that there's a remote control app for iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) and for Android that will turn your device into a TV remote control. Misplace your remote? No problem... there's an app for that.
Picture Perfect
To say that picture is fantastic is an understatement. Who needs a window at all when you have this set in the room? No one, that's who, as the picture is simply that good. While Panasonic doesn't provide as many fine picture adjustments on this set (vs. the top of the line VT50), this set looks mighty fine as it is with just a few tweaks. First tip: take it out of "Standard" mode as it's just too dark and dull. But we found the "Cinema" mode to be much more accurate and bright enough out of the box for most viewing conditions.
The color is excellent and the black levels are especially deep, even with a bit of light in the room. This is actually one of the best looking plasmas I've seen in a bright room. With the lights turned down the picture really will pull you in.
The TV originally arrived in time for the Olympic Games and it wasn't just the next best thing to being in London - it was better. The city and events simply came to life: the crystal clear blues of the water in the pool, the verdant greens of the countryside during the bike races and the gritty sand of the beach volleyball courts (congrats Missy and Carrie!) all looked absolutely true to life.
On the movie front I checked out a number of films on Blu-ray including Das Boot and it was just like heading out to sea (and under it). The shadowy submarine interiors and dark ocean scenes were suitably dark, yet detailed, and the skin tones had that pasty look from being out of the sun for weeks on end - just as they should. Other viewing material included David Fincher's The Fall, which brought to life fairytale stories in truly vivid colors and The Simpson's Movie, which brought the dysfunctional animated family from their living room into my own in glorious high definition.
Enter the Third Dimension
For 3D content, I opted to check out the 3D coverage of the Olympics, courtesy of my local cable provider, and found it a tad bit middling. The side by side and top/bottom broadcasts of 3D content lose some detail so they don't make for the most impressive 3D demo. But then I opted to check out the Blu-ray 3D Disc of Avatar, and the results were extremely impressive visually. The film itself left me wishing for a line from another James Cameron film, "nuke the entire site from orbit--it's the only way to be sure." But while the film left me flat the native 3D picture pulled me in.
For more from the third dimension I headed to Paris by way of Martin Scorcese's Hugo (also on Blu-ray 3D), which felt like a trip to the "City of Lights." The TV takes great advantage of the depth in this 3D presentation and at points it was enough to put a smile on my face - which is notable as I'm personally not much of a fan of stereoscopic 3D. But this movie -- and more importantly this TV -- proved that some movies simply do make for an interesting, and more immersive experience when viewed in 3D.
There seemed to be a bit of crosstalk (line doubling) at times with some of the 3D content, but changing the set's "24p Direct In" setting from 60 Hz to 48 Hz cleared this up significantly.
Finally in the 3D department I popped in a few scenes of Toy Story 3, a film I had seen in the theater and reviewed when it came out. I actually found it more immersive in my living room, and have to agree with Chris Chiarella's review of the Blu-ray version that it is hard to get tired of watching this movie. The TV was like looking out the window into some fantastic technicolor dreamland.
Power Play
Panasonic has promised a 100,000 hour life span before the plasma panel reaches half brightness, and try as I might, I couldn't come anywhere near this. In fact, it would take about 40 years watching TV seven hours a day to reach 100,000 hours so the lifetime of the panel shouldn't be a concern. More importantly to the ecologically conscious consumer, the panel lacks any lead or mercury. So whenever the set does make it into a landfill, presumably some time in the far future, it won't leach any harmful chemicals into the soil
For those who want to conserve electricity, Panasonic has included an Eco mode that allows users to adjust the brightness to reduce power consumption. According to the FTC's Energy Guide the set has an estimated yearly energy cost of $24, based on five hours of use per day. And while that may be a bit more power usage than a comparably sized LED/LCD set, it's significantly less power usage than the old CRT sets, and even better than last year's plasma models. And really, for $2/month, you'll get a whole lot of enjoyment out of this TV.
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Final Thoughts
Whether you want 3D at all or think you don't need all the smart TV connectivity isn't really the issue here. The TC-P55ST50 offers picture quality that is so good at such a reasonable price that the 3D and Smart TV features come along for the ride. It has excellent black levels, good color accuracy and also offfers WiFi connectivity to the home network and beyond. What's not to love?
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