Panasonic Viera TC-P65VT50 3D Smart Plasma HDTV Review
$3,699.00
Contrast
Panasonic's flagship plasma tested with a great maximum contrast ratio of 3401:1, roughly three times what we consider to be a decent, average score. Put up against the flagships from LG, Samsung, and Toshiba, it definitely held its own.
A black level of 0.03 cd/m2 and a peak brightness of 102.03 cd/m2 will give you plenty of black/white differentiation, hands down. More on how we test contrast.
Color & Greyscale Curves
The P65VT50 tested with average color curves, though they're a little sloppy. Plasma TVs tend to favor shadow tones over highlights (due to their technology), and you can see that happening in the chart below--the white, red, green, and blue lines representing those hues are slow to ramp up. White, in particular, showed us an awkward bend that will give less detail to shadow tones, and more to midtones and highlights. Red, green, and blue, on the other hand, will favor shadow tones and harbor less detail in midtones and highlights.
Overall, these curves are pretty smooth, and apart from a little color banding, we'd call this a decent performance. More on how we test color performance.
Color Temperature
This is a great color temperature performance, and here's why. We test a TV's ability to maintain a 6500° K color temperature across the light input spectrum. The shaded area below represents deviation from that temperature that is imperceptible to the human eye. Thus, we can discern that almost no color temperature error will be visible during viewing.
This is a great result--no perceptible error means this plasma maintains its color temperature integrity 100% of the time. More on how we test color temperature.
Color Gamut
We test a TV's sRGB (white, red, green, blue) performance against the rec. 709 standard for HDTVs. You can see from the chart that the Panasonic TC-P65VT50 was very accurate, with its gamut (the white triangle) almost perfectly matching the ideal gamut (the black triangle).
The mild deviations at the triangle's corners and white point won't be overtly visible during viewing. An almost perfect result. More on how we test color temperature.
Picture Dynamics
The P65VT50's tested with fine picture dynamics. Plasma televisions level their black/white saturation based on the amount of each shade on screen, tending to foster brighter whites in small patches, and dimmer whites over larger areas. The P65VT50 showcased a balanced dynamic contrast between those shades, with only mild deviations in brightness or darkness regardless of which held the lion's share of the screen.
The Panasonic TC-P65VT50 is plenty dark, and doesn't make use of auto-dimming during a 100% black screen. Overall, good picture dynamics. More on how we test picture dynamics.
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