Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U Review:
The Panasonic TH-50PZ800U series meets the THX Certified Display specifications, signifying the highest standards of performance and quality. The Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U Plasma televisions feature an improved native contrast ratio of 30,000:1; Game Mode; VIERA Link; a PC Input, four HDMI connections and an all new one sheet of glass design concept. With its 2008 Panasonic Viera Plasmas, Panasonic brings an astonishing 1,000,000:1 contrast ration to the table. Advanced pixel resolution and image-processing technology with the plasma TV’s natural ability to beautifully reproduce fast moving images, so every detail is rendered with amazing clarity, and all the action is delivered with a high degree of fluidity. THX Certification.

The Panasonic TH-50PZ800U looks so much like every other HDTV set on the market. It is encased in a black rectangle frame and fronted by a big pane of glass that lends the panel a somewhat more sophisticated look than a typical set, where the frame is raised a quarter inch or so from the surface of the screen. When mounted on its stand, the Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U measures 49.9 inches wide by 33.4 inches tall by 15.3 inches deep and weighs 92.6 pounds. Without it, its size shrinks to 49.9 inches wide by 31.2 inches tall by 4.1 inches deep and its weight shrinks to 81.6 pounds.

The Panasonic TH-50PZ800U comes in with a bunch of connectivity options. It has three HDMI inputs found in the back and another one can be found out front. It has a VGA-style PC input with a maximum resolution of 1366 x 760. It also has two component video inputs, an AV input with composite or S-Video, an RF input for antenna or cable, as well as an optical and an analog audio output. In addition to that last HDMI input, the front panel also sports a second AV input with composite and S-Video, as well as an SD card slot for displaying digital photos on the big screen.

The big step-up feature between Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U series and the TH-PZ800U models such as this is THX Display Certification. The certification involves testing in a number of categories such as contrast ratio and color accuracy, according to THX, and the Panasonic TH-50PZ800U has a special THX picture preset that, when engaged, causes the TV’s picture to comply with the certification.

Like most plasmas in Panasonic’s 2008 lineup, the Panasonic TH-50PZ800U has a native resolution of 1920×1080 pixels, or 1080p, which is fast becoming a standard feature on all flat-panel HDTVs. As we’ve said before, however, the difference between 1080p and lower resolutions is difficult to discern, even at this relatively large screen size.

Picture controls on the Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U aren’t as extensive as seen on many higher-end HDTVs. While we appreciated the capability to adjust all of the five picture modes, including THX, and the fact that the Custom mode is independent per input, we couldn’t adjust color temperature beyond the three presets. Advanced picture controls on the Panasonic TH-50PZ800U include a color management control that we left off in THX mode; a “C.A.T.S.” mode that changes contrast on the fly and so should be left turned-off; two species of noise reduction, and a black-level control. In case you’re wondering, the step-up Panasonic TH-50PZ800U series does include adjustable color temperature and a host of other picture tweaks, although it lacks THX certification.

The Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U lacks picture-in-picture, but it does include a thoughtful “Surf Mode” control, which can be set to restrict the TV’s tuning options. You can set it to “all,” “favorite,” “digital only,” or “analog only.”

the Panasonic TH-50PZ800U is one of the best-performing plasmas we’ve ever tested. It can’t quite match the depth of black evinced by Pioneer’s Kuro plasmas, such as the PDP-5080HD, but it most other areas, including color accuracy and uniformity, it’s superior.

We typically go on and on about calibration but with the Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U we didn’t have to do much beyond increasing its contrast control a bit to approach our 40 footlambert baseline light output. Compared with other picture modes and to the company’s own TH-46PZ85U, THX on the PZ800U delivered superior color temperature and especially primary color accuracy, and despite the fact that THX mode didn’t pass blacker-than-black parts of the video signal (while the Custom mode did), we left brightness alone for optimal performance.

The Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U outclassed both of the other plasmas in our comparison in this department, and just about equaled the color accuracy of the Samsung LN52A650 LCD and PN50A550 plasma. The key was in the Panasonic’s fine primary color palette, which rendered accurate greens in the desert shrubs, reds in Llewelyn’s toolbox and especially the cyan in skies and water. As expected from any modern 1080p HDTV, the Panasonic TH-50PZ800U resolved every line of 1080i and 1080p sources. It failed to properly deinterlace film-based 1080i material, according to our HQV test, although as usual that failure was difficult to spot in program material.

With lower-quality sources the Panasonic TH-50PZ800U performed only at an average. The Panasonic, however, did a fine job of removing diagonal lines and its 2:3 pull-down detection kicked in effectively. Its noise reduction performed well with low-quality material too.

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