Panasonic TC-P50VT20 3D Plasma HDTV Review - 3D

3D Summary
Editorial Note: This is a review of the PANASONIC TC-P50VT20. Test results are for this model, but should indicate the general performance of other sizes in the VT20 series. The VT20 series includes the following models: (N/A at time of publication. Sorry.)  Read here for more details on series differences.
• Comes with 1 pair of 3D Glasses: additional pairs cost $150. • Glasses are comfortable, but are a little heavy on the nose. • The 3D effect is convincing most of the time, but does break down occasionally.
	Motion	Page 5 of 18	Viewing Effects

3D Glasses

The Panasonic TC-P50VT20 comes with one pair of TY-EW3D10 3D glasses. Additional pairs will cost you $150. These are active shutter glasses: each lens is an LCD filter that flickers on and off to create the 3D effect.

The 3D glasses, tres chic.

The 3D glasses come in a plastic box, with two nose bridges (one for glasses, one for without) and a neck strap. In use, we found these glasses to be resonably comfortable: you certainly never forget that you are wearing them, but they don't pinch or squeeze the head too much. We did find that the weight of them on the nose got a little uncomfortable, though, making us feel like we had a bit of a cold.

The contents of the 3D glasses box: the glasses, two nose bridges and a neck strap.

There is a small switch on the left arm of the glasses that enables them: hold this down for a couple of seconds and the glasses start looking for the activation signal, which is sent from an IR emitter on the bottom left corner of the TV bezel. When the glasses detect this, they enable the shutter effect, turning the LCD filter on and off 60 times a second, alternating from the left to the right eye. The glasses seem quite particular about getting the activation signal: if you look away from the TV, the shutter effect turns off after a couple of seconds. This is probably a good thing, though, because the shutter effect is rather unpleasant when you are looking at a laptop screen or a flourescent light (or any pulsating light source), as the strobing lights and shuttering glasses interfere with each other in a rather unsettling way.

3D Effect

To test the 3D effect that the glasses produce, we spent some time watching the 3D sample disc that was supplied with the Panasonic DMP-BDT300 3D Blu-ray player that we used as a signal source. This footage included a mix of real life footage and animated content that provided a decent overview of the 3D performance. We found the performance to be a mixed bag: in some of the footage (such as a movie of a coral reef) the 3D effect worked well, producing a subtle 3D look that was very convincing, with a real feeling of depth. On other sample footage (such as a tourist video shot around Rome) the 3D feel felt like it was composed of a couple of layers; objects close to the camera stood out from the rest of the image, producing a fake 3D feel that felt unnatural. The 3D effect also broke down when watching fast-moving content: in a sample 3D movie that included a scene shot from a helicopter flying down the Grand Canyon, the effect broke down somewhat when the rocky outcrops flew by too fast. We also saw the same breakdown during the fast panning scenes of the 3D Astro Boy trailer that was another sample video.

There were also some obvious glitches in the effect: when the display first sends the signal to turn the shutter effect on, it seemed to stutter for a few seconds, which produces an odd flickering blue frame effect, and we also saw this happen occasionally during the playback of 3D content. But overall, the 3D effect worked well, and we found most of the sample footage to produce a convincing 3D effect.  However, it is worth remembering that this footage was chosen by Panasonic to showcase the 3D, so we'll have to reserve our definitive judgement on the 3D effect until we can get more test footage in to view and test. We'll be especially interested to see how well the effect holds up with subjects like action movies that make more use of rapid pans, handheld cameras and other tricks of the filmmakers craft that might cause issues here.

 

3D Motion

On our limited testing of the sample footage available to use initially, we found that the P50VT20 produced smooth, clean motion that looked as good in 3D as it did in 2D. Because of the lack of 3D source material at the moment, we were not able to run our full suite of motion tests, but we did not see any significant difference between 2D and 3D, so it looks like the new 3D feature does not adversely affect the smooth motion that this display produces. That's not a surprise, as the 3D Blu-ray standard allows the display to show a full 60 frames a second to each eye, so the eyes get to see 60 frames a second if you are watching 2D or 3D video. 

3D Modes & Controls

The 3D menu of the TC-P50VT20.

When viewing a 3D blu-ray disc, the TC-P50VT20 only gives you a ahndful of options: you can turn the glasses on or off or swap the fields over. Although this was useful for our Sansing 3D HDTV hack, it probably isn't something you will need to use much. There is also a diagonal line filter, which we didn't find made any difference.

Other 3D modes -  as well as the 3D Blu-ray Full HD format, this display also supports the side-by-side and top and bottom 3D formats, which are used by broadcasters and stadnard definition DVDs that want to squeeze a 3D signal into an existing transmission format.

There is no support on this TV for converting 2D to 3D, unlike the Samsing UN55C7000.

The 3D warning screen that shows up whenever you start the TV up in 3D mode.

How 3D HDTV Works

This HDTV can show 3D video because it includes the 3D glasses, and because we played back a 3D Blu-ray disc from a player that supports the new format. It works by showing two different frames, one for each eye. Your brain them combines them to create a 3D effect. Below are a series of images that show how this works.

What you see without 3D glasses: there are two images superimposed on each other


What the left eye sees when looking through the glasses


What the right eye sees when looking through the glasses

Your brain uses the differences between the images to create depth, and that's what happens with a 3D HDTV: the glasses help the eyes and the brain create the 3D effect. In the example above, the balls in the performers hand appear to be closer, while the performer in red looks further away.

NOTE: our 3D HDTV testing is still under development, which is why these sections have no scores. Please check back for our full tests, scores and more extensive testing in the near future.

Other Models in the TC-PxxVT20 and VT25 Series
This is a review of the Panasonic TC-P50VT20. The other sizes of HDTVs in this series should be similar in terms of performance and usability. For details about any differences, click on the image to jump to the Series Comparison page.
Panasonic TC-P50VT25 50 inches	Panasonic TC-P54VT25 54 inches	Panasonic TC-P58VT25 58 inches	Panasonic TC-P65VT25 65 inches