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Panasonic Viera TC-P50VT20

HDTV Review
March 12, 2010 By Mark Brezinski, David Kender, and Richard Baguley 0 Comments (add your own)

Previous: Page 5

3D

Next: Page 7

Calibration
Page 6

Viewing Effects

Very wide viewing angle. Might have issues with burn-in.

Formats (10.00)

The Panasonic TC-P50VT20 has a native resolution of 1080p, supports 3:2 pulldown and 24p playback, and can also display 3D images (providing you’re wearing the glasses, of course).

Viewing Angle (12.67)

As you move away from sitting dead center in front of the TV, the picture’s contrast ratio will actually start to decrease. Typically our viewing angle test is supposed to find the angle at which the TV’s picture will only appear to have 50% contrast. In the TC-P50VT20’s case, you won’t hit that point until about 80‚ off center. You’re going to get a decent contrast ratio no matter where you’re viewing the TC-P50VT20 from.

Viewing Angle Chart

Reflectance (4.00)

For this test, we shine an array of LEDs at the screen from different angles, to get a sense of how the TV reacts to external light. In our experience, plasmas tend to have a more reflective screen than LCDs, and the TC-P50VT20 isn’t shaking up that paradigm. On a dark screen, pretty much any external light is going to wash out the display (although if the light is hitting the screen at an especially shallow angle, the effect won’t be as noticeable). On a white screen, we could still see the room around us reflected on the screen, but it wasn’t nearly as bad. Overall, we weren’t impressed.

Video Processing (1.50)

The Panasonic TC-P50VT20 has a handful of processing features. The color management feature is like a Vivid picture mode that mainly focuses on blues and greens, which makes sense since the reds are so oversaturated to begin with. The video noise reduction feature works as advertised, for the most part. We’re going to run a few of our tests again with C.A.T.S. mode, to get a sense of how accurately it lets the TV calibrate itself, but our initial impression is: not very.

Setting Claimed Function Our Impression
Color mgmt. Enhances green and blue color reproduction, especially outdoor scenes. Oversaturates green and blue.
C.A.T.S. Adjusts brightness and gradation according to the room's ambient lighting condition. As advertised, though we can't vouch for the picture quality it offers just yet.
Video NR Reduces video Noise (artifacts or 'snow'). Set ON when receiving a weak signal. Reduces noise slightly.
Other Models in the TC-PxxVT25 Series
For more information on other models in this series, check our Series Comparison Page.


Panasonic Viera TC-P50VT25
50 in.


Panasonic Viera TC-P54VT25
54 in.


Panasonic Viera TC-P58VT25
58 in.


Panasonic TC-P65VT25
65 in.
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Panasonic Viera TC-P50VT20
HDTV Review
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Previous: Page 5

3D

Next: Page 7

Calibration