Panasonic Viera TC-P65VT50 3D Smart Plasma HDTV Review

Software & Internet

The Panasonic TC-P65VT50 doesn't have any new features where its menus or smart content is concerned, but the processing speed has been considerably boosted by cloud-based processing.

While we initially maligned the processing speed and content found within Panasonic's Viera Connect platform, it seems that they've finally gotten their act together. Don't get us wrong; we still feel that Panasonic's smart platform is organized in a terrible fashion, and confounds your access to basic content. But at least now it confounds quickly. The TC-P65VT50's internet features are much more smoothly integrated into the TV, and everything, from apps to web sites, loads a lot quicker. This may have something to do with the two cooling fans embedded into the back of the TV. It's a plasma, however, and still gets very hot. The Touch Pad remote, coupled with this new speed, vastly improves your browsing experience.

The 3D, USB, and settings menus haven't changed at all, but they were okay to begin with. Picture, sound, and 3D menus are still allocated to azure colored opaque menus that hug the left side of the screen to allow live previews of changes in settings. The USB menu houses all of your picture, video, and music content under one roof, be it connected via flash drive or through Panasonic's wireless Viera Link system.