Panasonic TC-P50VT20

Samsung UN55C7000 Summary
• Samsung has a much brighter display, Panasonic has better blacks • Panasonic has wider viewing angle and better connectivity options
	Power Consumption	Page 13 of 18	Vs Sony KDL-46EX700

Value Comparison Summary

The Samsung UN55C7000 is a very good looking TV, in regards to both its aesthetic outer design and its display performance. The Panasonic is, well... just the latter. It's a big, ugly box on the outside. Putting these TVs side by side (which we're doing) is an interesting study in contrasts. The Panasonic is far darker, which made certain types of content, like horror films, look good. But the Samsung showed a lot more detail in the highlights. We imagine that the passing consumer might have a more positive first reaction to the Samsung, based purely on its brightness.

The final verdict is still up for vote, because we're waiting on the glasses for the Samsung to view its 3D content. One thing's for certain, we'd prefer the look of the Samsung in our living room.

	Comparison Specifications
	Panasonic TC-P50VT20	Samsung UN55C7000
Size	50 inches	55 inches
Price	$2499 (MSRP)	$2699
Type	Plasma	LED-backlit LCD
Format	1080p	1080p
Other	3D	3D

Blacks & Whites

The Panasonic TC-P50VT20 had a decidedly uneven performance in blacks & whites. Like the best plasmas, the black level was capable of dropping quite low, certainly better than an LCD television like the Samsung UN55C7000. But the Panasonic's white level was just terrible. We could have tweaked with the settings all day, but having these two TVs side-by-side was illuminating (forgive the godawful pun). The Samsung is so much brighter. The test data bore this out, as well. Because of the disparity between these two tests, the contrast ratio is nearly even, but the Samsung pulls out ahead.

Blacks & Whites Comparison Chart

Color Accuracy

The Panasonic proved to have a more consistent color temperature than the Samsung, but only by a little. As you can see from the charts below, the both TVs warm as the signal intensity decreases, but the Samsung's error is more aggregious. RGB color curves were more closely matched. The important thing to note here is that the Samsung, with its bright backlighting, will show more detail in the highlights. The plasma Panasonic has deeper blacks.

Color Temperature Comparison

Panasonic TC-P50VT20 Score: 7.81

Samsung UN55C7000 Score: 6.39

RGB Comparison

Panasonic TC-P50VT20 Score: 7.7

Samsung UN55C7000 Score: 8.0

Motion

The motion performance on both the Panasonic TC-P50VT20 and the Samsung UN55C7000 was good, which is something you should hope for on TVs this expensive. However, the Panasonic showed virtually no artifacting, at least when we applied a little of the special motion processing features. Even so, the Samsung is still quite good. 

Viewing Effects

The Panasonic TC-P50VT20 is a plasma TV. There's no contest. It completely clobbered the Samsung UN55C7000. 

Viewing Angle Comparison
Panasonic TC-P50VT20 Score: 12.67	Samsung UN55C7000 Score: 4.95

Connectivity

The Panasonic TC-P50VT20 and the Samsung UN55C7000 are both good fits for a home entertainment system, with all the necessary ports. In Panasonic's favor, it has more component and composite inputs, three more analog audio inputs, and an SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot. Also, the ports are easier to access. On the other hand, the Samsung has the ability to interface with hard drives through one of the USB ports. 

Other Comparisons

The 3D video performance is clearly one of the most interesting comparisons about this TV. Unfortunately, we don't have all the information we need at the time of publication. Samsung didn't provide the necessary glasses with the UN55C7000. Panasonic did provide glasses. We'll have more about this soon.