After a lot of research...

I was going to get an LCD.

They were the new thing. Plasma had burn-in, dead pixels, etc.

After doing a bit of digging, it turns out that most of the Plasma problems were 1st and 2nd generation issues. And according to Consumer Reports (plug!), this was one of the best. This was reinforced by talking to friends who had bought LCD and Plasma displays.

The display has deep, rich colors, very good viewing angles, and detail in the blacks that an LCD can't touch. All in all, if you're going to spend nearly $2,000 for a TV, this is hard to beat.

Faulty Product

Within a month of purchase screen would get very light after about 10 minutes of the TV being on. After about 5 more minutes the unit would power off entirely and the power LED would just blink seven times. Would have to unplug the TV from the wall to get it to power back on. After doing some google searching for power issues this appears to be an issue with many Panasonic TV's (didn't see this while researching the product pre-purchase). The Panasonic help line was friendly and helpful and tech was out within 4 business days to repair so I give them some credit for that. Tech has to replace one of the system boards to fix. Talking to the repair guy he confirmed this to be a common issue he has seen with Panasonic brand plasmas (appears to not just be this particular model). Luckily mine was under warranty. Beware this product.

Just an awesome TV-even without HD sources

After a lengthy research period, I finally settled on the 50" PZ77U. I'm happy to report that after two weeks of use the experience has been fantastic. First off, the picture is just gorgeous. Of course I expected that with HD cable and a Blu-Ray (PS3) player -- it's jaw-droppingly great -- but I was very impressed with the SD picture of this unit. Sure, it pales in comparison to HD, but the SD channels don't have that processed look that makes everything appear like it's been through a photoshop watercolor filter. I've seen that on a number of LCDs and plasmas before and it drives me nuts. Remember, they never will show a SD signal to you at most stores-- it's always a sharp HD signal. The good SD clarity is even more impressive for a 50" model.

I'm still in the break-in period-- trying to make sure the phosphors burn in easily; I downloaded a burn-in disc from eaprogramming.com, which has been helpful.

Lastly, a few nice words for the purchase experience via Amazon and 6ave: The  more

EXCELLENT TV - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I highly recommend this TV... first of all, why buy LCD for the same size when you can buy plasma for $1000 less? if u are worried about light reflection on the plasma TVs this panasonic has anti-glare in it... and the colors are jaw dropping....
This panasonic in specific I highly recommend because Panasonic is the 2nd best in Plasma after Pioneer (which is way over priced)... the 50PZ700U has better speakers than this one (but who buys a 50 inch TV without seperate speakers anyways) and u can hook your laptop to the TV and use it with the TV, but you would have to pay $300-400 more for it... if u need a 3rd HDMI input then go with the PZ750U nd play $600 more for it (I am sure 2 HDMI is more than u need)... so if u dont need to hook ur laptop to the TV and don't need a side HDMI cable that u probably wont use, then save urself $300-600 by buying this awesome TV right here, because the technology is the same...
I have an LCD Samsung and I have this 50PZ77u and i love my panasonic more..  more

Excellent 50" Plasma

After much research and actaully seeing the 700U, 750U, and 77U in person I settled on the TH-50PZ77U. The anti-glare screen works excellent in my environment. I have a fair amount of indirect light during the day, with light colored walls and hardwood floors there is high possibility of glare. This TV handles it brilliantly and I no longer have any issues watching during the day.

I was able to view all 3 models at a local Best Buy Magnolia so I had pretty much decided on the 77U when CC dropped the price down on sale to 2k after the Super Bowl. It was a no brainer and I do not regret it one bit.

I have an Onkyo TX-SR705 so I did not need the additional HDMI input of the 750U. I ran a break in disc when I wasn't watching it for 150 hrs then had it calibrated and WOW does the picture pop on this thing! I can't believe how good the black levels are either. As good as it looked on the show room floor it looks even better now. Unless you have an extra couple grand to throw at a Pioneer you  more

Pany th-50pz77u, buy it with total confidence, the best so far.

Hey folks, I bought this full hdtv as a christmas gift for my husband, who enjoys spending hours every night in front of tv. Even though we still don't know the potential this beauty offers, because we received it just a few days ago, I can assure you that this is the best tv we have had until now. Standard image is superb and its design is very classy and beautiful, it got slim and invisible speakers on the sides which make it look a little wider than other models, and more sober. Tv image definition is very clear, specially with directv, colors are vibrant and clean, and the most outstanding thing to notice is the depth of the blacks, which you will immediately notice when you turn the tv on, this makes a big difference in comparison with other tvs that aren't full hd. Back connections are plenty, you can connect from component or composite, passing through coaxial, and even hdmi. There is an SD card reader on one of the sides to view digital pictures from your digital camera. The user  more

Great HDTV

I had this set for almost a month. The color rendition and black level contrast is awesome. I looked at LCD and DLP and decided to go with plasma because it looks more cinema than the other two format. The side angle viewing was "Perfect", the black level detail was "Perfect", the contrast ratio was "Perfect". Watching Blue-ray movies on this set was "SCARY Perfect". Happy customer. Plasma HDTV capture the cinema experience; "Like the movies".

Happy watching HD.

steve

GREAT TV FOR THE MONEY!

I had been researching HDTVs for the past 6 months before finally, settling on this model. I decided to go with the Plasma over the LCD mainly, because plasma offers much better PQ and motion for the money and I didn't want to sacrifice size. The new Pioneers are very nice but way too expensive if you ask me. So it came down to the Samsung 5084 or one of the Panasonic 1080p models. For a long time the specs of the Samsung had me leaning that way. However, after seeing one in person I was not that impressed, it looked cheap. Panasonic also has a much better track record for reliability when it comes to Plasmas. No knock on Samsung they make great LCDs check out there 71 or 81 series.

The 3 current Panasonic models are the PZ77U, PZ700U, PZ750U. The 3 models can all be purchased within about $250 of each other (MSRP range from $2800 to $3500). The 77U and 700U are almost identical with the exception the PZ77U has an anti-glare screen and the PZ700U has a bit better speakers (who  more

Highly rated by a leading consumer magazine...

This television was highly rated by a leading consumer magazine. With any 1080p resolution plasma television, the picture is awesome. This one from Panasonic is no exception. However, I was disappointed with the built in speakers. If you're going to be using separate speakers in a home theater installation, it won't matter. This unit is definitely worth $2,200. Plasma television prices are a lot lower than they were five years ago. I'm glad I waited.

Highly rated by a leading consumer magazine...

This television was highly rated by a leading consumer magazine. With any 1080p resolution plasma television, the picture is awesome. This one from Panasonic is no exception. However, I was disappointed with the built in speakers. If you're going to be using separate speakers in a home theater installation, it won't matter. This unit is definitely worth $2,200. Plasma television prices are a lot lower than they were five years ago. I'm glad I waited.