Panasonic TC-P55VT50 Review

55" 3D Plasma TV, Infinite Black Ultra, Viera Connect Smart TV

by Jack Burden

Picture and Viewing Feaures

There is a lot more picture quality performance in the higher end lines of Panasonic Plasma starting with the TC-P65VT50. So do not let 3D compatibility be your guiding source to the quality of the picture. For example you get much better processing with this TV through the sub pixel controller which controls the three phosphor elements in every pixel separately. It also has a louver filter in the panel which allow better contrast in bright room conditions. All this translates to a much better picture than the lower end lineup.

3D Performance

The 3D performance on the VT50 is very strong, an improvement over last year's already excellent performance. The active 3D in Panasonic's plasma televisions has great color, picture depth and clarity. There was no blurring in the corners and overall the 3D was veru immersive.

Black Level And Contrast

The black levels in the TC-P55VT50 are excellent and deeply saturated thanks to the Infinite Black Ultra panel which was previous placed in the VT30 series – Panasonics top model in 2011. Blacks should be around 50% more saturated in this model than in the next model series down (with the Infinite Black 2 Panel). This panel also contains more louvered filtering to allow light in from ambient in room sources, but not allow it to escape.

Infinite Black Ultra with 24,000 steps of grayscale gradation as opposed to around 7,000 before. This provided us with with excellent blacks and an exceptional amount of color detail throughout images. To get the best black levels imaginable Panasonic has lowered the pre-discharge to bring in the lowest voltage possible and still excite the phosphors. This process creates the exceptional black levels.

When we viewed the screen in a very dark room we could barely see any difference in the on-screen black color and the black curtain in the background.

Panasonic has long been a leader in dark shadow detail and the VT50 is no exception to this rule. We could see excellent gray scale rendition in dark areas which enable us and any viewer to see fine details in clothing, or shadows of buildings. It all lends a more theater like experience to your viewing when you have this kind of detail in dark areas.

ISFccc Calibration Mode

Advanced Calibration. This mode allows ISF or other Calibrators to adjust the detailed picture setting with the calibration software (CALMAN™)provided by SpectraCal Inc.

Side Angle Viewing

Side angle viewing on the VT50 is of course excellent and perfect as with most plasma TVs. Plasma TVs still dominate the very important and little talked about aspect of picture quality. The is an area the LED TV manufacturers are still trying to quash.

Internet Applications and Connectivity

Viera Connect is Panasonic's online suite and it sees a significant expansion in 2012. In addition to the standard apps like Netflix, Hulu, Facebook and Twitter Panasonic has partnered with social media network MySpace and its thousands of licensed music artists for MySpace TV, a new feature that is exclusive to Panasonic televisions. Panasonic is also partnering with Disney for a Disney app and they have added a full web browser to the Viera Connect suite in 2012.

Panasonic has also partnered with Ooyala to provide one touch syndication of network programming direct to your TV. One of the first partners is TCN (The Country Network) providing on demand access to programming from a large number of country music artists as well as content from the networks TV channels.

Cloud Based Storage

Viera Connect is now based on a cloud architecture to provide access to limitless apps with faster connection speeds and faster downloads of content. Apps and content are not stored in your TV's memory, they are stored on the Viera Connect Cloud.

Social Networking & Skype

The touch pad remote included
with the TC-P55VT50

In the VT50 you can multitask your social networking or Skype while you watch TV. With the new split screen feature you can have Facebook, Twitter or even a Skype Video call on one half of the TV while your programming continues on the other. In televisions equipped with a web browser you can also surf the internet while watching TV.

Sound Quality

Panasonic TVs are producing some of the best sound output in both realism and volume on the market and the TC-P55VT50 is in line with this expectation. This is one of the biggest upgrades in Panasonic TVs in the past couple of years. The sound quality is full and has surprisingly good base and clearer voice quality than most on the market.

The newly developed speaker system(3D Real Sound) for 2012 in the TC-P65VT50 uses special technology to make the sound seem like its coming from the middle of the screen rather than below the screen where the speakers are located. The feature works surprisingly well and we were impressed with the difference.

-Jack Burden, Contributor