Panasonic TC-P55ST50 3D Plasma HDTV Review

Menu Interface

The main menu looks very typical, like what you see on most televisions. You can select picture, sound, language and other settings from a transparent overlay that appears on the left side when you press the menu button on the remote. These menus open up into further options to select what you need. They are easy to use, but not everything is located in the same place. To get to the more advanced options, like the 3D menu and the online offerings, you have to click on the Viera Tools button to make a smaller menu appear along the bottom.

The Viera Connect front page is a menu collection of the preloaded apps, and the apps you download. There are eight squares on each page, and four total pages that you can scroll through by selecting the More button in the center of the screen.

Each of the four pages is totally customizable. In the settings "app" (we didn't know what else to call it, but it appears in this interface the same as all the other apps) all four pages turn to the side in a three-dimensional array, and you can select apps, swap them with each other, remove or add them from a list. It's very intuitive and easy to customize any of the pages.

Instruction Manual

The instruction manual is frustratingly bare. There is a table of contents, but it brings you to places in the manual that do not really help. For example, the frequently asked questions section only asks questions like, why doesn't the remote work? To which the answer is, put in the batteries. Other than this, there are many specifications missing all together. Which model of 3D glasses works best with the Panasonic TC-P55ST50, you know, because none come with the purchase of this TV? Well, you won't find the answer in the manual. How much internal memory does the TC-P55ST50 have, so when I download a bunch of apps and buy movies from Amazon, I will know when I reach my limit. There is no mention of this in the manual. If a company is going to offer so much with their product, they should be held to the standard of detailing it all as well.

There is also an on-board e-manual. You can search for terms in here as well, but the information mirrors the paper manual, and we could still not find helpful answers to our frequently asked questions.