Tagged Products - 50in+hd

Samsung 50" 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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of color is awesome!
Finally, no TV is ever perfect. The only negative I can think of about this TV is that it puts out a lot of heat. Just be aware that if you live somewhere hot and you're going to put it in a smaller room, you will definitely feel the difference.

Pioneer KURO 50" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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of color is awesome!

Finally, no TV is ever perfect. The only negative I can think of about this TV is that it puts out a lot of heat. Just be aware that if you live somewhere hot and you're going to put it in a smaller room, you will definitely feel the difference.

Samsung 50" 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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screen, I'd consider a larger one, to give letterbox movies their full advantage.

Samsung 50" 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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screen, I'd consider a larger one, to give letterbox movies their full advantage.

Samsung 50" 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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screen, I'd consider a larger one, to give letterbox movies their full advantage.

Panasonic 50" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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screen, I'd consider a larger one, to give letterbox movies their full advantage.

Pioneer KURO 50" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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I hadn't even noticed in the details at the movie theater. The ease of setting up this tv was incredible. It essentially worked from the moment I hooked up and looked great. I haven't had time to made adjustments but really haven't felt that I needed to. If your looking for the best at a good price this is it.

Pioneer KURO 50" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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to determine through the naked eye of most viewers. But I can say that Reds appear a little heavy to me. Greens look fairly accurate to me, but again according to CNET they were off a bit too. We are not talking about anything that is a deal breaker here by any stretch. Ask someone with an untrained eye and they'd probably wonder what the heck you're talking about. Anyway these are about the only negatives about this TV that I can find, if you consider them "negatives." Assuming you have it calibrated, then there are NO negatives to this TV.

Positives are many. Outstanding picture quality, and probably the best SD picture you can find or have ever found from an HDTV. Far better than what I've seen on any LCD thats for sure. DVDs scaled to fit this picture look almost HD. HDTV content is outstanding. You cannot find better black levels. The Panasonics have really improved their sets, but still the Pioneers are better, you can see the difference even if it is subtle.

Another thing to note, when I first got this TV, for the first week or so, I was worried that the picture was just a little dark. Plasma is definitely darker than LCD, and I thought hey, you can't have the best blacks and brightness all in one TV right? True, sort of. What you need to do after a break-in period (I have no idea whether break-in is even necesary on plasmas anymore, but some do) is set the TV to Movie Mode, then calibrate from there. Movie mode produces a brighter picture. I think most people are so accustomed to a super-bright set (read: LCDs) that produce very inaccurate pictures and tones that Movie mode might look dull to them at first. Your eyes will adjust, trust me. And you will slowly realize that once calibrated, the Pioneer produces a picture that is about as close to a movie theater screen as you can get.

Once in movie mode, use the following settings:
Contrast: 38
Brightness: -1
Color: -5
Tint: 0
Sharpness: -15

Pure Cinema

Film Mode: Advance
Text Optimization: Off

Power Save Mode: Off

Orbiter: Mode 1 (All screen size modes except Dot-by-Dot)
Mode 2 (Dot-by-Dot screen size mode ONLY)

Feel free to tweak from there as you feel necessary. But that is the so-called reference setting; I assume what a technician would set to produce the most accurate picture.

Once you're set in this, again, give it some time for your eyes to adjust to it, and you will see a truly outstanding real to life image. Film content is about as close to a move screen as you will get in my opinion.

Other cool features are 1)An optical output for audio 2.)Home networking feature to display Videos and Pictures from your PC right on your plasma. This works very well and is pretty intuitive. 3.) Great sound right out of the factory speaker. 4.)A very nice stand that is already attached.

I was recently in a Best Buy and looked at the new Panasonics, which are very good, side by side with the Pioneers. But I still think the Pioneer produces a better picture overall. I haven't seen a calibrated Panny, so not a perfectly fair assessment.

Hope this helps, good luck!

Pioneer KURO 50" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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to determine through the naked eye of most viewers. But I can say that Reds appear a little heavy to me. Greens look fairly accurate to me, but again according to CNET they were off a bit too. We are not talking about anything that is a deal breaker here by any stretch. Ask someone with an untrained eye and they'd probably wonder what the heck you're talking about. Anyway these are about the only negatives about this TV that I can find, if you consider them "negatives." Assuming you have it calibrated, then there are NO negatives to this TV.



Positives are many. Outstanding picture quality, and probably the best SD picture you can find or have ever found from an HDTV. Far better than what I've seen on any LCD thats for sure. DVDs scaled to fit this picture look almost HD. HDTV content is outstanding. You cannot find better black levels. The Panasonics have really improved their sets, but still the Pioneers are better, you can see the difference even if it is subtle.



Another thing to note, when I first got this TV, for the first week or so, I was worried that the picture was just a little dark. Plasma is definitely darker than LCD, and I thought hey, you can't have the best blacks and brightness all in one TV right? True, sort of. What you need to do after a break-in period (I have no idea whether break-in is even necesary on plasmas anymore, but some do) is set the TV to Movie Mode, then calibrate from there. Movie mode produces a brighter picture. I think most people are so accustomed to a super-bright set (read: LCDs) that produce very inaccurate pictures and tones that Movie mode might look dull to them at first. Your eyes will adjust, trust me. And you will slowly realize that once calibrated, the Pioneer produces a picture that is about as close to a movie theater screen as you can get.



Once in movie mode, use the following settings:

Contrast: 38

Brightness: -1

Color: -5

Tint: 0

Sharpness: -15



Pure Cinema



Film Mode: Advance

Text Optimization: Off



Power Save Mode: Off



Orbiter: Mode 1 (All screen size modes except Dot-by-Dot)

Mode 2 (Dot-by-Dot screen size mode ONLY)



Feel free to tweak from there as you feel necessary. But that is the so-called reference setting; I assume what a technician would set to produce the most accurate picture.



Once you're set in this, again, give it some time for your eyes to adjust to it, and you will see a truly outstanding real to life image. Film content is about as close to a move screen as you will get in my opinion.



Other cool features are 1)An optical output for audio 2.)Home networking feature to display Videos and Pictures from your PC right on your plasma. This works very well and is pretty intuitive. 3.) Great sound right out of the factory speaker. 4.)A very nice stand that is already attached.



I was recently in a Best Buy and looked at the new Panasonics, which are very good, side by side with the Pioneers. But I still think the Pioneer produces a better picture overall. I haven't seen a calibrated Panny, so not a perfectly fair assessment.



Hope this helps, good luck!

Panasonic 50" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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it. Order this product with confidence in it, and in Amazon !

Pioneer KURO 50" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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The colors (popped) and the deep contrast made for a spectacular viewing of this movie. Ben Stiller's black shirt was really pitch black and the views of the ocean looked so realistic I was beside myself. I switched between other HD satellite stations and was very pleased with the results.

Next, I hooked up the PDP-5020 to my trusty Panasonic blu-ray BDMP-30 to check out some of my blu-ray movies. Since I was so impressed with the Satellite HD broadcasts, you can now imagine my excitement as I turned my attention to Blu-ray. I wanted to test out a few of the worst looking blu-rays I had: Tomb Raider (read the Amazon reviews), Stargate (the dark scenes), Black Hawk Down ( alot of film grain ), and Big Fish ( alot of film grain).

Believe it or not, the Tomb Raider Blu ray looked fantastic on this plasma. There was hardly any film grain visible on this plasma set at all, as I only sit 8 feet away. I could not believe how good it looked - a solid 8 out of 10 for the blu-ray. The dark scenes in the movie Stargate were also excellent and it was easy to make out small details that were not present before (on my 56 DLP) - again hardly any film grain. My final tests were done on the Black Hawk Down BD, Big Fish BD and the dark, night scene on Rambo BD (2008).....
Would you believe me if I told you that all 3 discs looked fantastic? Black Hawk and Big Fish showed no signs of film grain and the night scene in Rambo was so visible I could not believe my eyes. This is a true testament of how great Pioneer plasma screens are. I now have a hard time believing any negative blu ray reviews from the pros since most of them are not using Pioneer plasmas for their reviews.

Xbox 360 and PS3 games all looked great on this screen. The deep colors and the deep black really make the games a pleasure to look at.

In case you are wondering, I didn't do any type of calibration to this set. I truly believe that no adjustments need to be made to it. It looks that great out of the box. Again, the deep black contrast is the major selling point. The color of grass looks the way it does in your back yard, not the fluorescent green you see on other plasma tv's.

Should you buy a Pioneer plasma set? Absolutely!!! I can guarantee that you will be 100% satisfied with its performance and aesthetic appearance.
Don't be fooled by all the other competitor's displays at the brick and mortar stores.....this plasma set is well worth every penny you spend on it. You will thank me for it!

**UPDATE 7/23/08** I contacted Pioneer Electronics today to ask about a future calibration and was informed that these non-Elite models are already calibrated by Pioneer techs prior to shipment from their facilities. So, there is no need to spend an additional $300+ on calibration services.

Panasonic 50" 720p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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The colors (popped) and the deep contrast made for a spectacular viewing of this movie. Ben Stiller's black shirt was really pitch black and the views of the ocean looked so realistic I was beside myself. I switched between other HD satellite stations and was very pleased with the results.



Next, I hooked up the PDP-5020 to my trusty Panasonic blu-ray BDMP-30 to check out some of my blu-ray movies. Since I was so impressed with the Satellite HD broadcasts, you can now imagine my excitement as I turned my attention to Blu-ray. I wanted to test out a few of the worst looking blu-rays I had: Tomb Raider (read the Amazon reviews), Stargate (the dark scenes), Black Hawk Down ( alot of film grain ), and Big Fish ( alot of film grain).



Believe it or not, the Tomb Raider Blu ray looked fantastic on this plasma. There was hardly any film grain visible on this plasma set at all, as I only sit 8 feet away. I could not believe how good it looked - a solid 8 out of 10 for the blu-ray. The dark scenes in the movie Stargate were also excellent and it was easy to make out small details that were not present before (on my 56 DLP) - again hardly any film grain. My final tests were done on the Black Hawk Down BD, Big Fish BD and the dark, night scene on Rambo BD (2008).....

Would you believe me if I told you that all 3 discs looked fantastic? Black Hawk and Big Fish showed no signs of film grain and the night scene in Rambo was so visible I could not believe my eyes. This is a true testament of how great Pioneer plasma screens are. I now have a hard time believing any negative blu ray reviews from the pros since most of them are not using Pioneer plasmas for their reviews.



Xbox 360 and PS3 games all looked great on this screen. The deep colors and the deep black really make the games a pleasure to look at.



In case you are wondering, I didn't do any type of calibration to this set. I truly believe that no adjustments need to be made to it. It looks that great out of the box. Again, the deep black contrast is the major selling point. The color of grass looks the way it does in your back yard, not the fluorescent green you see on other plasma tv's.



Should you buy a Pioneer plasma set? Absolutely!!! I can guarantee that you will be 100% satisfied with its performance and aesthetic appearance.

Don't be fooled by all the other competitor's displays at the brick and mortar stores.....this plasma set is well worth every penny you spend on it. You will thank me for it!



**UPDATE 7/23/08** I contacted Pioneer Electronics today to ask about a future calibration and was informed that these non-Elite models are already calibrated by Pioneer techs prior to shipment from their facilities. So, there is no need to spend an additional $300+ on calibration services.

Panasonic 50" 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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I also ordered a Sanus VMPL50B tilt bracket (also from Amazon) to mount the display over my fireplace.
I placed the ordered on a Thursday and the product was delivered the following Thursday. Not bad!

The display was delivered by a shipping company called CEVA Logistics. Two persons carried the large box to the second floor of my condo where my living room is and unpacked the television so that I could make sure that it was in good condition, which was the case.


Installation:

I didn't use the stand provided with the television. Instead, I mounted the display on the wall over my fireplace using a Sanus bracket.
Initially, I was going to use the Sanus VMPL50B but, because of the position of the studs behind the wall, I decided to exchange it for a longer, adjustable one. I picked a Sanus VMPL3B which is basically the same, with the difference that the plate is 10 inches longer, when fully extended.
This way, I was able to mount the bracket using 4 studs instead of just 2 studs if I had gone with the VMPL50B. It gives me a peace of mind and I know that I am not going to find my plasma television broken into pieces anytime soon.
The installation was fairly easy and took about one hour total. My wife helped me carrying the display and securing it on the wall bracket since it is pretty heavy (approximately 80lbs).
The display sits only 2.5 inches from the wall but it was actually hard to tilt because of the HDMI connectors in the back. The problem is that the panel in the back where all the connectors go is not recessed enough. I just wish there was an extra 1/2 inch of space.
What I did is that I purchased a couple of HDMI "right-angle" adapters (from an excellent Internet store called MonoPrice). This way, the HDMI cables run along the back of the plasma set and it is way easier to tilt the display.


Operation and Picture Quality:

I am truly impressed by the TH-50PZ85U. Not only it performs well but it looks great on the wall.
The only connectors I have are HMDI. I have one HDMI cable running from my digital cable box (Time Warner - Scientific Atlanta) to the TV and one HDMI cable coming from my SONY DVP-NS3100ES DVD player (up-converting DVD player, not Blu-Ray).
HD channels are simply outstanding, even in Standard mode. It is such a pleasure for the eyes to watch anything. I surprised myself at watching a full hour of an animal documentary on Discovery HD, even though I have never been a fan of animal TV show.
The level of details is amazing.
Standard cable looks very good too but obviously not as good as HD. My only concern is that currently I only have 22 HD channels (and 3 or 4 of those don't even have regular programming). Time Warner can't beat satellite in my area but I am not ready to switch yet. There are some reports that new HD channels will be added soon so I just need to be patient.


The remote control is easy to use and it can also operate other devices such as a cable box, a DVD player and more. With my configuration, this is pretty much the only remote I use now.

I like the fact that there are some extra video inputs (including HDMI) located on the side of the display. I use them to plug my video camera.
Several settings for the sound can be adjusted as well (balance, treble, bass and some other effects I am not really familiar with yet). Overall, the sound is excellent but when watching a DVD movie, I use my home theater system (I have a 5.1 speaker system with a SONY STR-DA3100ES receiver).
The great thing about HDMI is that it only takes one cable for both video and audio signals. I can always use the TV speakers while playing a DVD or watching a cable program. When I switch to the receiver, all I have to do is mute the sound from the TV.


Note on "break-in" period:

I know there are many forums talking about the 100-hour "break-in" period. There is no mention of it anywhere in the user's manual. So I went on the Panasonic website and I found some info. Basically, for the first 100 hours of operation, it is advised to watch television in Full Mode or Zoom Mode only (to avoid black bars on the side) and to avoid prolonged period of time of static image or channel logo.
Since I had read many threads dealing with playing a "Break-in" DVD, I called Panasonic Technical Support direclty. The person told me that it was not necessary as long as the above rules were followed for the first 100 hours of usage and that it wouldn't make any difference in the end.
SO I watched different shows in Full format mode as well as DVDs. Whenever I would watch a channel with a logo on the bottom-right corner for over 30 minutes, I would use the "Anti-Static Retention" feature for a few minutes (accessible with the remote in the Main Menu). What it does is that it displays a scrolling white bar over a black background.


Bottom Line:

The TH-50PZ85U is an incredible set for the price. I have been reading reviews and comparing with other existings sets (including LCD sets) for the past 6 months almost and I think that, for this size, this is the best option in terms of price and quality.
Panasonic is a reputable manufacturer and no one can go wrong with this display.

Panasonic 50" 720p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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plasma TVs. The black level and the sheer clarity for a 720p TV, even up close, seemed superior to the other more expensive and 1080p TVs surrounding it. The color and brightness didn't seem like it was turned up, but the picture was stunning nonetheless.

When I came back home and plugged the model number into Google, I was amazed at the positive reviews about the Th-50PX80U from everyone who had bought it. When I price checked on Froogle, I was amazed to see the price was at around $1,198 at Amazon including shipping (but not white glove service). There were only 2 left at that price so I bit the bullet and bought it. Electronics Expo (the actual seller) was very pleasant to deal with and saw that the TV was delivered within 4-5 days - I upgraded to the white glove service and the delivery men unpacked the TV and installed it on the stand.

To be honest, when I first turned it on, I had it connected to the Std Definition (480p) content, and of course that is always unimpressive on a 50 inch screen (imagine your current TV stretched to that big and that wide) - however when I switched to the HD content from the Comcast DVR, it was like night and day.

I'll say this - the TH-50PX80U looks best when connected to an uncompressed 720p HD source like a DVD player. Most of the content that comes in on cable HD especially Comcast is somewhat compressed to maximize bandwidth and as a result you will see blocky patches and artifacts where the signal has compromised on detail and averaged those pixels. For a plasma screen this size, it also looks best in a fairly dark room and about 8 to 9 feet away - though even if you walk up close, it's incredibly clear and tack sharp. What's amusing about the HD signal is that it's so sharp and detailed that what I thought was patchy skintones is actually the texture of the actual make-up - yes it's that clear!

I would definitely recommend this TV for those who want a large clear plasma TV with great color and picture quality.

Pioneer KURO 50" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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was so dark and the colors so perfect that it looked like he was sitting across the room talking to us. A friend was with me and his reaction was "Super Bowl at your place!"

No one can deny the black levels and contrast on this TV, and that's what makes watching it so great. If it's completely dark in the room, you can still tell that it's on, but when you've got a widescreen movie on and there are black bars on the top and bottom of the screen, you can barely make out where the screen stops and the bezel begins. Colors benefit from the depth and it creates a 3D image, and you don't miss anything because everything is so clear. This screen makes me want to watch all my Blu-rays over again because you really haven't watched high definition until you've watched it on a Pioneer.

For anyone who is feeling gun-shy, just pull the trigger and don't look back. You will surely be satisfied!!

Samsung 50" 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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was so dark and the colors so perfect that it looked like he was sitting across the room talking to us. A friend was with me and his reaction was "Super Bowl at your place!"



No one can deny the black levels and contrast on this TV, and that's what makes watching it so great. If it's completely dark in the room, you can still tell that it's on, but when you've got a widescreen movie on and there are black bars on the top and bottom of the screen, you can barely make out where the screen stops and the bezel begins. Colors benefit from the depth and it creates a 3D image, and you don't miss anything because everything is so clear. This screen makes me want to watch all my Blu-rays over again because you really haven't watched high definition until you've watched it on a Pioneer.



For anyone who is feeling gun-shy, just pull the trigger and don't look back. You will surely be satisfied!!

Pioneer KURO 50" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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years. The blu-ray playback via my PS3 is spectacular. I purchased my unit through beyondplasma.com for a shipped price of $3075

Pioneer KURO 50" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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about rearranging the furniture permanently - it's that nice. It looked like a theater screen - only cleaner...

Panasonic 50" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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about rearranging the furniture permanently - it's that nice. It looked like a theater screen - only cleaner...

Panasonic 50" 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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thru Amazon even though others were slightly lower priced, and sure nuff, Amazon has already credited me for a nifty price decrease. The White Glove delivery was excellent, delivered much quicker than shipping email estimated. I highly recommend this Panny, and the same for the Onkyo.