Panasonic TC-P65VT25

Display Size & Technology

The Panasonic TC-P65VT25 is a 65-inch (64.8 inches diagonally) plasma HDTV. Generally, plasma TVs have better viewing angles than LCDs, and they often have a brighter image.

Yup, the TC-P65VT25 can display a Full HD image in 3D.

But who cares about size and screen technology? Everyone at CES is talking about 3D, which the TC-P65VT25 can do. The television can display a Full HD 3D image using new technology from Panasonic. You still have to wear those silly glasses, of course, but the TV does come with one free pair of 3D spectacles.

If 3D isn't your thing, you should remember the TC-P65VT25 is a fully functional 2D HDTV as well.

You'll have to wear glasses like these to view in 3D.

Formats & Resolution

The TC-P65VT26 can display a full 1920 x 1080 HD image, which makes it a 1080p television. The set also offers Full 1080p HD in 3D. Now you can invite all your friends over to watch Avatar in 3D... of course, you'll have to purchase 3D glasses for everyone, which may be quite pricey.

Brightness, Blacks and Contrast Ratio

The TC-P65VT25 has Panasonic's Infinite Black Pro display, which, according to Panasonic, offers a contrast ratio of 5,000,000 to 1. The TV's actual contrast ratio will probably be much lower, because manufacturers are big fibbers. We'll have to wait until we've brought the television into our labs for a thorough test.

Color

Panasonic doesn't talk about any special color settings with the TC-P65VT25, but on the floor at CES the TV looked rather good. Even when viewing 3D footage we didn't notice much difference with color saturation or anything like that.

Motion & Refresh Rate

The TC-P65VT25 offers a 600Hz Sub-field Drive refresh rate, which is fairly standard for a plasma HDTV (refresh rates mean different things for plasmas than they do for LCDs). The TV also has a 24p cinematic playback setting that is meant to create a more film-like motion when you watch movies. This can be combined with the TV's THX Movie Mode for even more cinematic enhancement.

Panasonic claims its new Phosphor science allows the TV to produce smoother images—particularly with 3D. In our time with the TV the 3D generally looked good, but there were some issues when the screen displayed lots of motion in 3D. We often saw some blur with the 3D footage, but this could also have been a problem with our glasses as well (they were covered with fingerprints and were often bent and damaged from so many people using them at CES).

Viewing Angle

The viewing angle was quite good for the TC-P65VT25—even in 3D. We did notice some problems when we viewed the TV at a sharp angle because external light would often reflect off of our 3D glasses. This may end up being an issue if you plan on having a 3D viewing party in your living room.

Will 3D glasses be a fashion trademark of the next decade? We hope so!