Panasonic Viera TC-P65VT50 3D Smart Plasma HDTV Review

Design

Panasonic's TC-P65VT50 is straddling the line between conservation and progress. It's quite thin for such a massive plasma, though it dwarfs smaller televisions who squat within the shadow of this colossus. Despite its considerable weight and size, it's not the monstrosity it could have been. Panasonic Viera specifically followed a "single plate of glass" design, to minimize bezel and give the appearance that your display is floating comfortably in mid air. The stand, which upon first glance looks perfectly boring, is actually laid over with a gradient that brightens from black to white from front to back. While this design choice is meant to make the stand more aesthetically pleasing, some might feel it's more aesthetically cheesing. The on-set controls and ports are tucked away behind the TV, leaving its face free of blemish. We feel that any changes in port or controls placement might have been overkill, but Panasonic hit a smart middle ground between over-innovating and clinging to safe harbor.

It's clear that Panasonic has learned a lot from their past design choices; the VT50 is one of their most handsome plasmas to date. Its design has been improved from last year's VT30, and it's much slimmer and more aesthetically sound than the VT20 series from two years ago. We feel that people will wax and wane about this plasma's overall appearance, but there's no arguing that it sparks the mind's eye: either to the beauty of the TV, or to the beauty of TVs to come.