panasonic viera tc-p50s1 review

When it comes to best image quality in a TV at an affordable range, Plasma screens deliver the best contrast ratio and color depth. This Viera plasma includes the new NEO plasma display panel with improved blacks and native contrast of 40,000:1. Neo PDP combines advances for plasma in cell structure, process technology, and new drive technology. Neo PDP is eco-friendly. It's engineered to save power and double the luminance efficiency. It offers thinner screens than previous plasma flat panels. NEO technology screens are rated to have a lifespan of up to 100,000 hours. This is more than 30 years of viewing when watched for 8 hours a day, before the TV reaches half brightness. It also has 1080p resolution with 600Hz sub-field drive and Gaming Mode. With all these advances, why settle for an average picture when the Viera plasma display offers so much more. Did you know that some HDTVs deliver considerably less than 1080 lines of resolution, when processing fast motion on screen? VIERA S1 Series Plasma HDTVs ensure full-time 1080 TV lines of resolution, even during fast moving scenes in sports and movies. VIERA Image Viewer provides a better way to share your digital photos. Just pop your SD memory card into the handy slot, and instantly display your digital photos for friends and family to enjoy. With VIERA Link, you can control your compatible Panasonic DVD recorder, Blu-ray Disc player, home-theater sound system and HD camcorder, all with a single remote and helpful on-screen menus. VIERA Image Viewer VIERA Link AR (Anti-Reflective) Filter Game Mode 3 HDMI Inputs 100,000-Hour Panel Life

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Shortly after purchasing power button light went into death throes. Blinks 7 times than stops briefly before it starts over again. TV will not power on. Large circuit board replaced one month ago and now back to doing it again. Google "Panasonic 7 blinking lights of death" to see just how widespread the problem is.

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Alot of people complain about the picture quality,but if you go to C-NET & use their recommended settings it looks amazing.I absolutely love this tv!

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I have had this 42" Panasonic Viera Plasma TV for nearly four month's now; I upgraded from a 21" Panasonic CRT. This is a really great TV at a reasonable price. I chose plasma because they got great reviews and seem to have less issues with backlighting and were a bit cheaper than current generation LED/LCD's. I opted for the S version over the X version because I don't have broadband. We get 20 odd channels over the air with an antenna, PBS which has a lot of HD programming comes in beautifully. We joined Netflix about the same time and have really been enjoying the home theatre experience. My TV room is narrow less than 12' so I made cardboard cutouts while deciding between the 42" and the 46", in hind sight I could have gone with the 46". I was worried a 46" from 7 feet away would be too big or grainy, the fact is you could be 12" away with HD before it starts to pixilate, and the picture is so good, bigger is better once you experience the feel of home theatre. I added the Blu-ray DVD player, have yet to try a Blu-ray disc, but we're ready for them. I already had an Onkyo 7.1 surround sound receiver, added a motley collection of speakers, a pair of old KLH's, some home built rear and recently added a BIC 12" sub woofer, now we can get all the sound effects and deep base we can handle. I used the HDMI connections for the Onkyo, Blu-ray and TV; these are a must to get the HD experience. Needed the composite hook up for a somewhat antiquated VCR, and a digital optical input for the best sound from the Home Theatre Amp. The message here is DON'T FORGET TO ORDER CABLES ALONG WITH THE TV. The sound out of the TV itself is OK, not horrible but far from a surround sound experience. I have never adjusted any of the picture settings, colors are rich and accurate, occasionally a bit dark but this can be adjusted by opting for the theatre experience which enhances the picture abit. Controls and adjustments both on the TV and the Onkyo require studying the manuals and carefully selecting from multi-layer menus. Not always clear what you want or how to get it, since we don't do this everyday, adjustments require revisiting the manual. Once you are happy with what you have great, still need 3 remotes, haven't been successful using any one as a universal though all claim it's possible. Overall a huge upgrade from the old TV, enjoying it!

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This review is going to be biased. Info: I live approx. 6 mi from the TV transmitters in my area. Previous TV for comparison: JVC D-series 27" CRT w/ Insignia SD tuner box Other equipment: B&W speakers, Pioneer Elite receiver, Oppo BluRay player Tech level: High. I read AVSForum, listen to tech podcasts, and program computers for a living. Also note, this is my first HDTV purchase, and I made some mistakes in the process, so I'll share them with you so that you can perhaps avoid them. Advantages: -The fact that you get a performance plasma for a low price means this unit is a great value. You'd be hard pressed to find another plasma that has the performance/price ratio this one does. -It *is* a plasma. As such, you get spot-on motion resolution (very natural!), wide viewing angles, and good black levels. It produces a very nice, non-fatiguing picture, which many LCDs simply can't compete with, at or above this price point. -Optical audio output works very well; it can even put out 2-channel audio from HDMI input sources out over optical. -I thought I would hate the glass face (potentially reflective), but I found that if you don't have lights back where you sit, it actually brings the picture out and makes it look better. Disadvantages: -The color performance on this display is so-so. People, in general, tend to look pale and bland (too green), especially with DVD, SDTV material on TV after using a calibration disc. Out of the box it was too yellow. It's kinda boring to look at, perhaps like you're watching a lake with a mild algae infestation. Most of the Panasonic THX plasmas (G10, V10) above this model aren't this bad, so you may want to spend more if you don't like the color on the S1. Note: With truly HD or BluRay material, I've found the color doesn't bother me as much and I'm okay with it. I'm not sure why, maybe its the way the S1 does color conversion. In short, this HDTV cannot provide a picture that's remotely close to reference, even with significant tweaking. It's better than many of it's peers, but it still falls short. -Calibration controls for this set are few. There is no 11-step gray scale adjustment, or any color management system. Because of this, you really can't fix the color decoding issues without expensive external hardware. Even the service menu controls are limited, which means even an ISF calibrator would be hard pressed to fix these problems. -No VGA/PC input. Thought I wouldn't care too much about not having this, but discovered that I do. There are so many times where I wish I could hook up my laptop to my TV (streaming video, playing video games, etc) that I wish I had this. YMMV. I could get a VGA to HDMI adapter, but that actually costs more than moving to a 42" G10 with the VGA input. -The ATSC tuner is very bare-bones. You can't see extended show information, what's coming up next, no guide or anything other than the title of the show from show metadata. The tuner is also not very sensitive, I find I need to tweak the antenna a bit more to keep the station coming in well. (I'm comparing to an Insignia SD tuner box I used previously; LG made it and use a similar ATSC tuner system in their TVs, I believe; much better IMHO). -After I got it, and had it in the room, I realized that yes, I could have gone 50" and it would have made a big positive difference. If your'e hunting for a TV, you may want to think about getting one size bigger than the size you want. Conclusion: while this display met my budget requirements, and while it is a pretty good display for the money, if you are kinda picky about picture quality you may be disappointed. I learned, after this purchase, that I should have saved a bit more and gone for a G10/V10, even if I had to mail-order it. I'll make a better decision next time.

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I bought the Panasonic after much research & comparison. I was waiting for the earlier issues of plasma TV's to be resolved. I knew that the color was more vibrant than any LCD I had ever seen, but was worried about all the things that would sour my eventual purchase. Price, viewing angle, power consumption, screen burn-in, heat, weight, contrast ratio, ease of operation, etc. As time passed one by one every concern I had about plasma was resolved to a more than acceptable level. The TV has the easiest set-up menu I have ever seen and within 20 minutes of dragging the box in the door I had assigned the TV inputs to my SAT HDMI, my Blu-Ray to another input, my outside antenna to but another, and was watching HDTV. If you are someone who isn't real handy with technical babel I highly recommend this TV. The picture is amazing, and I was very surprised to how well the 'on-board' speakers sound. It was a great deal, super fast delivery to my door by UPS, easy to set-up & use, and has been an absolute joy since I got it. If they had a sixth star I would rate it six out of six! My son who has been leaning towards the new LED TV's came by to see mine and after about five minutes of being completely blown-away has since ordered a 58" Panasonic plasma for himself. The 2,000,000 -1 contrast ratio really makes a difference in the sharpness & the blacks etc. For fast moving sporting events this plasma is the best I have ever seen & I have been staring at plasmas for five years waiting for all their quirks to be improved. Amazing TV and better than the Samsung that cost a thousand dollars more.

VIERA S1 Series Plasma HDTVs are perfect for sports and cinema-quality movies. Neo PDP technology delivers sharp, detailed images, deep blacks and remarkable brightness, and all with lower power consumption.1080p HDTVNEO PDP: Full Time 1080 TV Lines - Crisp images even in fast moving scenesViera Image Viewer - Makes photo sharing easy.Viera Link - Control compatible devices with a single remote.600Hz Sub-field Drive*600Hz technology lets you view superb full-HD motion and still images with 1,080 lines of resolution**. For even greater clarity with motion images, Panasonic uses its own unique image-analysis technology. This technology converts the motion in each scene into data. And each frame is practically displayed for a shorter length of time than in previous systems, to reduce aftereffects.* when using cinema mode** Based on APDC measurement method.VIERA Image ViewerIt's easy to view full-HD images with the SD card slot. Watch and show your photos right after you take them. Simply insert an SD card into VIERA to display photos on the large screen. You can also choose from among 3 types of background music and 4 display effects. It's much more fun when you can view them on a large-screen HDTV with family and friends in 1920 x 1080-pixel high definition and a wide 16:9 aspect ratio.VIERA LinkVIERA Link allows interconnected operation of various AV devices using only the VIERA remote control, by simply connecting the devices to each other by an HDMI cable.*VIERA Link is a Panasonic Distinctive name for the function of HDAVI control. Not all VIERA Link features are useable with earlier VIERA Link compatible products.Over 2,000,000:1* High Contrast (Native 40,000:1)New VIERA models incorporate an improved panel production process and the new Real Black Drive system. A pre-discharge control system, the Real Black Drive system combines with NeoPDP technology to achieve next-generation bla

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Bought through 6 Ave Electronics--- they use a freight company for deliverly, ordered on a Monday, received the next Monday. They call when your order arrives and set up a time to bring it to you. The driver helped me get it out of box and put the stand on. We turned it on and made sure it was working. I have had it about 3 weeks. It's huge and has a great picture, Was going to buy the Samsung but kept hearing comments about buzzing sound, decided not to take that chance. The panasonic was about 70 dollars cheaper as well. Very happy with purchase.

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The TV set seems to be everything I thought it would be. I chose this set as the result of my research and the rave reviews of others in this forum. My review of Amazon's touted "White Glove" service is based on the rather unpleasant reality of the delivery process that came with this purchase. The 12 noon to 5pm window for delivery from Pilot Freight was reasonable. The call at 6:00pm to inform me that the delivery man was running late was not necessary. I already knew that someone was tardy. That call ended with a promise to be there at 6:20pm. That was reassuring, but when the gentleman called at 7:00pm for directions to my home my already shaken confidence was crushed. A really nice delivery man, Reggie, showed up at around 8:30pm, by himself. He was sincerely contrite about the 3 1/2 hour delay and I immediately noticed that he was not wearing his white gloves. His instructions for delivery only included bringing the box in the house, taking the TV out of the box, attaching the stand and plugging it in to make sure it powered up. I helped Reggie fulfill his obligations for delivery, sent him on his way and was thankful for some visiting friends who helped me plug in three cables and mount the TV. Perhaps my expectations were too high. Based on this particular delivery experience, Amazon may want to more realistically rename this service, "Plain Old Home Delivery. Sometimes We're Late. Real Late". Not as catchy, but more honest.

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I've had the tv about a month now and I love it. It was a much better price than anywhere else, delivery was prompt, and the television is awesome.The sound could be better but I have a surround sound, a pioneer 5.1 which is great so that's not an issue for me.

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This TV is absolutely gorgeous. We had a 50" Samsung plasma upstairs and decided to put this 58" Panny in our new home theater in the basement. It's just incredible. With a blu-ray player, it will knock your socks off. We hooked it up to an Onkyo system w/ 2 subwoofers. It's really like being in the theater. We've hosted a few movie nights at our place and our friends are impressed.

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The selection was great. I received low bottom price. Delivery was fast and efficent. All and all I rate the whole experience 5 stars.

Our new VIERA S1 Series LCDs HDTVs feature impressive improvements in picture quality, and are just right for gaming and enjoying your favorite hi-def TV shows.Enhanced Resolution During Fast-Moving ScenesFast on-screen motion can challenge an HDTV to maintain high resolution. Our Motion Focus Technology provides improved moving resolution, by concentrating on areas of the screen with significant motion or scrolling text.Beautiful, Clear Images from Virtually Any AngleOur IPS Alpha Panel delivers a 178° wide viewing angle with bright, clear images when viewed from most any location in the room. Wherever youre sitting, youve got the best seat in the house.Share Your Digital Photos on the Big ScreenVIERA Image Viewer provides a better way to share your digital photos. Just pop your SD memory card into the handy slot, and instantly display your digital photos for friends and family to enjoy.1080p Full-HD ResolutionContrast Ratio: 15,000:1IPS Alpha Panel with 178° Wide Viewing AngleMotion Focus TechnologyIntelligent Scene ControllerVIERA Image ViewerVIERA LinkPC InputGame Mode3 HDMI Inputs

Panasonic's new VIERA S1 Series LCDs HDTVs feature impressive improvements in picture quality, and are just right for gaming and enjoying your favorite hi-def TV shows. Ideal for gaming and enjoying your favoritehigh-definition TV showsClick to enlarge With VIERA Tools, just press a button and access photos or movies from the menu screen In Game mode, quicker image response increases the enjoyment of video games Remote included, with VIERA Link capability Motion Focus Technology Even fast-moving scenes are displayed sharply and clearly. With a 60Hz video signal input, 120Hz Motion Picture Pro 3 makes 120 frames/sec from 60 frames/sec. This increases the frame count to allow natural frame-to-frame transitions, for smooth motion images with high resolution. VIERA also uses motion focus technology that greatly enhances resolution. Wide Viewing Angle The wide 178 viewing angle ensures clear images even when viewed from an angle. The backlight's wide transmission aperture enhances the contrast between light and dark, and improves motion-image response. VIERA Image Viewer It's easy to view full-HD images with the SD card slot. Watch and show your photos right after you take them. Simply insert an SD card into VIERA to display photos on the large screen. You can also choose from among 3 types of background music and 4 display effects. It's much more fun when you can view them on a large-screen HDTV with family and friends in 1920 x 1080-pixel high definition and a wide 16:9 aspect ratio. Fine Black Panel Panel reflections have been reduced to half those of conventional panels, to sharpen images and reduce glare. This also helps to unify the panel design with that of the VIERA lineup. VIERA Link VIERA Link allows interconnected operation of various AV devices using only the VIERA remote control, by simply connecting the devices to each other by an HDMI cable. VIERA Tools With the new VIERA Tools user interface, simply press a button on the remote control and icons such as the photos or movies from the menu screen appear. Now you can just select the one you want. This kind of easy operation means you have more fun and less hassle. Game Mode In Game mode, quicker image response increases the enjoyment of video games when a game console is connected to the TV. What's more VIERA produces the dark images in video games more clearly. This mode works anti-image retention (wobbling) too. Connections SD Memory Card Slot (SDHC Compatible): 1 (JPEG playback) HDMI Input: 3 (1 side) Analog Audio Input (for HDMI): Yes Composite Video Input: 2 (1 side) S-Video Input: 1 (side) Audio Input (for Video): 2 (1 side) PC Input: 1 Component Video Inputs (Y, PB, PR): 1 Audio Input (for Component Video): 1 Digital Audio Output: 1 (5.1 ch) Headphone Jack: 1 What's in the Box Panasonic VIERA S1 Series TC-L32S1 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV, Remote Control and Batteries, Cleaning Cloth, Pedestal, Operating Instructions, Quick Start Gude, Product Registration Card, Customer Care Plan Card Which Size HDTV is Right for My Room? With standard-definition TVs, the rule used to be that viewers would feel comfortable watching a set from a distance of 3 to 6 times the screen size in inches. With HDTV, the resolution is so much better that you can sit closer to a larger TV without noticing the pixels. So with HDTVs, the rule tends to be you can sit anywhere from 1.5 to 3 times the screen size (in inches) for the best experience. If you know the size of the room you have already, where you want to sit, and where your new HDTV should go once you get it, you can figure out the size HDTV you should get. Minimum size = Viewing distance/3 Maximum size=Viewing distance/1.5

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I purchased this as an Amazon Gold Box deal for $380 shipped back in February. At that price, I figured there had to be a catch. Four months later, I still can't believe what a great TV this has been! I can certainly understand peoples' complaints about the speakers not projecting well, but I have my TV hooked up to a 25-year-old stereo receiver via headphone-to-RCA cable and so don't even notice. I guess the lack of analog/ RCA audio output is a little annoying, but the headphone jack works perfectly fine. I also have my computer connected via DVI-to-HDMI cable, which allows me to display almost the full 1920x1080 resolution. I also have a Philips DVP3962 1080i upconverting DVD player connected via HDMI, and all of my standard definition movies look great. The glossy, black finish does catch dust pretty easily, but I suppose that's not exactly unique to this TV. Clear QAM would have been a nice feature as well, but for the price and quality, I really cannot complain!

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This is my first experience with not only an HD TV but with a screen having the ratio this one has. When I have a DVD with a wide-screen presentation, especially an opera or foreign film, subtitles are a must. Now subtitles appear in two ways in a wide screen DVD format: (1) all the words are within the picture itself or (2) all or some of the words are in the black area below the picture. When I choose the 4:3 screen size on this Panasonic HD TV, the subtitles are just fine now matter where they are. But when I fill the screen with the picture, where the picture goes from top to bottom, any subtitles under the picture disappear completely. I am told by my dealer that this is a problem with all flat, widescreen TVs now, because they were designed with no thought of DVD subtitles at all. So the advice I need is this: is there any way to get a compromise setting to show the full screen with subtitles; or is this simply a defect in this model--or in all other HD TV sets? I thank in advance anyone who could help me.

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I will admit to not being a pro but I did do my research when buying this product. After seeing positive reviews in Consumer Reports and Amazon I decided to take the plunge. Two big fears in buying a flat screen have not been an issue with this product. Volume and audio quality has not been an issue. Again I am not a crazy audiophile but I notice no tinniness or other signs of crappy sound. The viewing angle was also important us as we have the TV in a room with a wraparound couch. No problems here either, you can see the screen clearly as along as you can see the screen.

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My only regret is not buying 2 of them while they were still in production. This is a great set, picture, features, design. Its light and bright and has all the inputs you need. I dont understand Panasonic, they have such a winner on their hands here, they should have produced this series much longer, the current model does not compare, this is the real deal.

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I was very pleased when my new Panasonic tv was delivered. I had paid a low 379 dollars for it and there were no shipping charges. I like the appearance of the tv. It is shiny and sleek looking. The picture quality is excellent even without HD. The remote is very responsive and easy to use. The sound is fine. I don't have the problem with it that some have stated in their reviews. I would highly recommend a purchase of this tv.