HDTVs are gaining ground slowly but surely world over, even in markets where HD content is still scarce. It is hard to fathom the true driving factor behind HDTV purchases in Indian markets. It may be due to the attraction towards the size, newer technology, or pure bragging rights. In the end the growing sales and hence declining prices favor people like us, who want to use and mostly “know†how to better use these beauties.
Panasonic is a brand which was once fairly popular in India due to its Japanese roots and “ahem†imports. I remember having used many Panasonic products as a teen. However the 90s saw emergence of other popularist brands in the Indian markets and Panasonic had to take a back seat.
Panasonic is not a small fish in the Plasma game in other markets though, which is evident from these figures
DisplaySearch reports rise in Q3 plasma shipments, but who's buying? - Engadget HD
Today we take a look at one of the more popular products in the Plasma department from their arsenal, the 50PV80-D
[BREAK=Bundle]
The monster had very little to keep company of when it arrived.
Remote + 2 AAA batteries (Not shown here).
Manuals in two languages
VESA compliant wall mounting kit (not shown here).
A cleaning cloth that’s really punny considering the monster, it could barely suffice to clean the frame.
Power cable (Not shown here).
This cable is some proprietary design, which makes me a little uncomfortable thinking about the scenario when it goes kaput.
That’s all there in the bundle.
I did expect a little better bundle when I pay in excess of 1 peti for something. What I expected to have was at least a cable each for VGA, HDMI, and Component, (Heck even dell giveth this much with the 24 incher 2408) and yes a calibration disc would have been welcome too. Call me greedy but this is what I expected.
[BREAK=Design]
The set looks classy to boot. The curved arch design gives it a very interesting appearance. Sometimes that works otherwise as well. If you have lights directly above or in front of the TV it reflects from the arch and starts to mar the experience. This is a case only when you have those large lights turned on and in all likelihood any serious viewer will keep ambient lighting to minimum so it becomes a no issue.
The button placement is average, nothing special here; I personally hate buttons and connectors placed at sides so the front placement seems alright to me at least. The front includes a headphone out, HDMI, S-Video in, and a composite in + audio L/R. Inclusion of a card reader which does SDHC with ease is a welcome addition. More about it later.
The back panel though could have used some better design as the connectors are hard to reach and the monster is really difficult to move. It has got 2 HDMI, 2 Component, 2 Composite, 1 VGA, 1 S-Video, 1 Analog antenna inputs at this end. This will definitely accept a fairly large number of devices you plan to throw at it.
The bezel is large and has some rubber non skid material at the bottom; it does a god job of it. The mighty bezel does add some substance to the looks of the monster.
[BREAK=Design Continued]
The bezel and the frame are one hell of fingerprint, and dust magnets. Additionally the bezel is a scratch magnet as well. The moment my bai wiped the bezel that too with a fairly clean cloth it can show very minute scratches. Even wiping with the 3M micro fiber cloth did the same.
The panel has an additional glass layer on it, which is coated with some anti reflective material, which does a great job. Even if I hold a mobile opposite the panel it does not show the reflection.
The viera logo can be seen on the top left of the frame with other logos at the bottom right. The panny logo takes “front row centre†as it should.
The remote is well designed as well, small enough to fit in any size palms. The placement of volume and channel buttons is very good, the later one absolutely useless in most of the cases. It’s just about the place where your thumb naturally rests on a remote.
The remote is sturdy and the tactile response of the keys is nice too. You can also use it to control other Panasonic devices connected over HDMI to it, thanks to HDMI CEC 1.3a specifications and a sweet name panny puts to it as Viera Link.
[BREAK=SD Performance]
The majority of TV viewing in most Indian households constitutes of SD content, from regional language/Hindi soaps :arrrrrgh: to cricket and news. So SD performance was a prime factor. The PV80 does a fairly decent job as far as upscaling is concerned. This is evident if you see it in the 4:3 aspect ratio. However the “just mode†that is optimized 16:9 in panny terms, leaves a lot to be desired. If you have seen the LG plasma, the stretched images actually look decent enough at the centre and are stretched a lot at left and right edges. However with the panny there is evident stretch at the centre as well. This is not much of an issue when watching sports however with the useless soaps running and facial close-ups I end up getting taunt a day for getting a 1L worth TV which can’t even show images properly.
Apart from the stretch, the upscaling actually enhances the overall viewing experience, and for me Neo Cricket turned out to be the best channel to demonstrate this. There are no motion issues, no jaggies, vertical lines look smooth without the typical artifacts.
Let the pics do the talking.
SD Issue
Indian telecasters are yet to wake up to the fact that their bright and bloated logos can actually harm some panels out there. Particularly logos like India TV, Filmy etc tend to cause image retention. That is just for a while though and nobody except me in the house notices it, so not a big issue. However I’d personally prefer logos like that of FOXHD.
The PV80 remote has an aspect ratio button, which I use pretty frequently to negate the retention effect.
[BREAK=HD Performance]
This is the forte of the PV80. Though its just a 720p it can put a lot of 1080p LCDs to shame. The colors are very neutral, a little shade of green fresh out of the box, but thanks to a timely pointer by TechHead, I was able to tweak the panel to the best of its capability.
The black levels are simply superb and that was a primary driving factor for the PV80. The white levels too are great. A little bleeding is noticeable if you set the brightness too high (>80).
The motion handling is very good, fast moving images were a no issue, and neither were the still scenes. Watched various movies on it to test the performance.
Ratatouille.
There are a lot of dark scenes in this movie and so are very brightly lit ones with the waiters’ n chefs’ uniforms. Luckily I had also had a chance to behold the same movie on the almighty Kuro, and the only place where the PV80 was found lacking was the absolute dark scenes in the gutters, and below the bridge. The black levels are the Kuro’s forte so it was obvious. Apart from that there was little discernible difference.
Godfather.
The black and white masterpiece deserves this treatment. Some scenes like Sonny’s murder or Michael waiting outside the hospital were rendered exceptionally well. Overall a very good experience, and yes even in black and white, HD rules.
Saving Private Ryan
The vegetation, natural elements like the sea, large sprawling grasslands of the Nordic region, detailed sniper views are render beautifully. I had a little concern if it could handle the complex dynamics of the first scene, as there are a lot of color variations, contrast variations there. But the PV80 stood the test and shone throughout.
PS: Could not take decent pics with my pathetic photography skills, which are unjust for the HD content. Will borrow a tripod and post a few pics soon.
[BREAK=Gaming]
I am not a regular gamer however Quake4 on this panel was a treat to the eyes. And so was Quake3 albeit a little stretched since Q3a doesn’t natively do a 16:9, or rather I don’t know how to do that in Q3A. Did not get a chance to try any other games though, fellow TE gamers are welcome to try it out at my place.
IMO the thing going for the plasma in terms of gaming is the little or no input lag, will post a video shortly to demonstrate this as well.
To enjoy games on this monster we’d need some serious long cables or very good wireless keyboard + mouse combo which I am yet to find, or a decent wireless controller, which I am personally not very fond of being a FPS person.
One word of caution though, the game hoods do cause a bit of image retention after an hour or two of continuous gaming, no burn in, just a retention that goes away in 10 – 15 min.
[BREAK=Conclusion]
Overall a very good panel. I have been using this for quite some time now so am in a better position to comment on it than I initially was. Sound is decent, though not the thing I’d use in the long run. PQ is the thing to fall for.
Some grudges are there though, which I’d attribute to the technology itself and insensitivity of our broadcasters with their large ugly logos.
Another thing to note is the power consumption. It’s a power hungry monster. I added two things this Diwali, an IFB washer and this plasma, and my bill has skyrocketed from a modest ~300 to ~1000 bucks straight. I am not complaining though, however this is the price u got to pay for large screen viewing.
I got it for 1.05L and it still demands the same moolah.
This is the first time I am opining my experience with a product as a review, any type of feedback is most welcome.
PS:Thanks to TechHead for the caliberation tips.
[BREAK=Specifications: Physical]
Power Save Mode n/a
Power Supply AC 220 - 240 V, 50/60Hz
Power Consumption (W)
Normal Use 500.0
Standby without DVB Tuner Lock On 0.5
Dimensions W/O stand (mm)
Width 1210.0
Height 790.5
Depth 95.0
Dimensions with stand (mm)
Width 1210.0
Height 844.0
Depth 387.0
Weight W/O stand (kg) 36.0
Weight with stand (kg) 38.0
Operating Temperature 0°C - 40°CNothing special to mention here
[BREAK=Specifications: Tuner]
Tuner Integrated yes
DVB Digital Tuner No
Tuning System PLL synthesizer 100-position auto-search tuner
CATV Compatibility Hyper-band
Broadcast Stereo Reception
NICAM -B yes
NICAM -G yes
NICAM - I yes
NICAM -L n/a
NICAM -German (A2) yes
NICAM (FM) n/a
Teletext Reception 1000P Level 2.5, FASTEXT/LIST/TOP
Receiving System World 17-System
A DVB-S/T would surely have been a great addition here. Not that it is scoring any negatives because of that, since no other TV that I know of in our market is offering one either.
[BREAK=Specifications: Display]
Screen Size 50" (127 cm) diagonal
Screen Aspect 16 : 9 Wide
Panel G11 Progressive HD Plasma Display Panel
Contrast filter layer n/a
Progressive Scan yes
Number of Pixels 1,049,088 (1,366 x 768) pixels
Full HD No
HD-ready Yes
Color System NTSC/PAL/PAL 60Hz/SECAM/M-NTSC
Applicable PC signals SVGA (XGA, WXGA)
Applicable Scanning Format
525 (480)/60i yes
525 (480)/60p yes
625 (576)/50i yes
625 (576)/50p yes
750 (720)/50p yes
750 (720)/60p yes
1125 (1080)/50i yes
1125 (1080)/60i yes
1125 (1080)/24p (HDMI only) yes
1125 (1080)/50p (HDMI only) yes
1125 (1080)/60p (HDMI only) yes
Contrast Ratio (in dark surroundings) Native: 15,000:1; Dynamic: 1,000,000:1 :BS:
Shades of Gradation 4,096 equivalent steps of gradation
100 Hz Panel Yes
24p Playback yes
3D Color Management yes
Sub Pixel Control yes
Picture Overscan n/a
MACH Enhancer n/a
Motion Pattern Noise Reduction yes
C.A.T.S. (Contrast Automatic Tracking System) yes
Video Noise Reduction yes
3D Comb Filter yes
Picture Mode Dynamic/Standard/Cinema/Auto
I have removed specs specific to Panasonic and irrelevant with other Plasma’s context from the spec sheet. Also the 100Hz is not mentioned on the Panasonic website though it is present on the Panel.
[BREAK=Specifications: Sound and Connectivity]
Speaker System TBD :wha:?
Speakers 2
Audio Output 20 W (10 W x 2), 10% THD
Sound Mode Music/News/Cinema
Dolby Digital No
Dolby Digital Plus No
Surround Yes
SD Memory Card Slot(SDHC Compatible) Yes
HDMI Input 3 (1 front, 2 rear)
HDMI Input 1080p n/a
Composite Video Input AV1/2/3/4: RCA phono type (3 rear, 1 front)
S-Video Input AV3/4: Mini DIN 4-pin (1 rear, 1 front)
Audio Input (for Video) AV1/2/3/4: RCA phono type connectors [L, R] (3 sets rear, 1 front)
PC Input Mini D-sub 15-pin x 1 (rear) (Audio input for PC: co-use with AV2 audio input)
Component Video Input AV2/3: RCA phono type [Y , PB/CB, PR/CR] (2 sets rear)
Monitor Out RCA phono type (1 rear)
Audio Output RCA phono type connectors (L, R) (1 set rear: co-use with monitor out), Headphone jack (1 front)
Digital Audio Output No
Headphone Output Yes
Headphone Output (variable) What’s this?
Panasonic is a brand which was once fairly popular in India due to its Japanese roots and “ahem†imports. I remember having used many Panasonic products as a teen. However the 90s saw emergence of other popularist brands in the Indian markets and Panasonic had to take a back seat.
Panasonic is not a small fish in the Plasma game in other markets though, which is evident from these figures
DisplaySearch reports rise in Q3 plasma shipments, but who's buying? - Engadget HD
Today we take a look at one of the more popular products in the Plasma department from their arsenal, the 50PV80-D
[BREAK=Bundle]
The monster had very little to keep company of when it arrived.
Remote + 2 AAA batteries (Not shown here).
Manuals in two languages
VESA compliant wall mounting kit (not shown here).
A cleaning cloth that’s really punny considering the monster, it could barely suffice to clean the frame.
Power cable (Not shown here).
This cable is some proprietary design, which makes me a little uncomfortable thinking about the scenario when it goes kaput.
That’s all there in the bundle.
I did expect a little better bundle when I pay in excess of 1 peti for something. What I expected to have was at least a cable each for VGA, HDMI, and Component, (Heck even dell giveth this much with the 24 incher 2408) and yes a calibration disc would have been welcome too. Call me greedy but this is what I expected.
[BREAK=Design]
The set looks classy to boot. The curved arch design gives it a very interesting appearance. Sometimes that works otherwise as well. If you have lights directly above or in front of the TV it reflects from the arch and starts to mar the experience. This is a case only when you have those large lights turned on and in all likelihood any serious viewer will keep ambient lighting to minimum so it becomes a no issue.
The button placement is average, nothing special here; I personally hate buttons and connectors placed at sides so the front placement seems alright to me at least. The front includes a headphone out, HDMI, S-Video in, and a composite in + audio L/R. Inclusion of a card reader which does SDHC with ease is a welcome addition. More about it later.
The back panel though could have used some better design as the connectors are hard to reach and the monster is really difficult to move. It has got 2 HDMI, 2 Component, 2 Composite, 1 VGA, 1 S-Video, 1 Analog antenna inputs at this end. This will definitely accept a fairly large number of devices you plan to throw at it.
The bezel is large and has some rubber non skid material at the bottom; it does a god job of it. The mighty bezel does add some substance to the looks of the monster.
[BREAK=Design Continued]
The bezel and the frame are one hell of fingerprint, and dust magnets. Additionally the bezel is a scratch magnet as well. The moment my bai wiped the bezel that too with a fairly clean cloth it can show very minute scratches. Even wiping with the 3M micro fiber cloth did the same.
The panel has an additional glass layer on it, which is coated with some anti reflective material, which does a great job. Even if I hold a mobile opposite the panel it does not show the reflection.
The viera logo can be seen on the top left of the frame with other logos at the bottom right. The panny logo takes “front row centre†as it should.
The remote is well designed as well, small enough to fit in any size palms. The placement of volume and channel buttons is very good, the later one absolutely useless in most of the cases. It’s just about the place where your thumb naturally rests on a remote.
The remote is sturdy and the tactile response of the keys is nice too. You can also use it to control other Panasonic devices connected over HDMI to it, thanks to HDMI CEC 1.3a specifications and a sweet name panny puts to it as Viera Link.
[BREAK=SD Performance]
The majority of TV viewing in most Indian households constitutes of SD content, from regional language/Hindi soaps :arrrrrgh: to cricket and news. So SD performance was a prime factor. The PV80 does a fairly decent job as far as upscaling is concerned. This is evident if you see it in the 4:3 aspect ratio. However the “just mode†that is optimized 16:9 in panny terms, leaves a lot to be desired. If you have seen the LG plasma, the stretched images actually look decent enough at the centre and are stretched a lot at left and right edges. However with the panny there is evident stretch at the centre as well. This is not much of an issue when watching sports however with the useless soaps running and facial close-ups I end up getting taunt a day for getting a 1L worth TV which can’t even show images properly.
Apart from the stretch, the upscaling actually enhances the overall viewing experience, and for me Neo Cricket turned out to be the best channel to demonstrate this. There are no motion issues, no jaggies, vertical lines look smooth without the typical artifacts.
Let the pics do the talking.
SD Issue
Indian telecasters are yet to wake up to the fact that their bright and bloated logos can actually harm some panels out there. Particularly logos like India TV, Filmy etc tend to cause image retention. That is just for a while though and nobody except me in the house notices it, so not a big issue. However I’d personally prefer logos like that of FOXHD.
The PV80 remote has an aspect ratio button, which I use pretty frequently to negate the retention effect.
[BREAK=HD Performance]
This is the forte of the PV80. Though its just a 720p it can put a lot of 1080p LCDs to shame. The colors are very neutral, a little shade of green fresh out of the box, but thanks to a timely pointer by TechHead, I was able to tweak the panel to the best of its capability.
The black levels are simply superb and that was a primary driving factor for the PV80. The white levels too are great. A little bleeding is noticeable if you set the brightness too high (>80).
The motion handling is very good, fast moving images were a no issue, and neither were the still scenes. Watched various movies on it to test the performance.
Ratatouille.
There are a lot of dark scenes in this movie and so are very brightly lit ones with the waiters’ n chefs’ uniforms. Luckily I had also had a chance to behold the same movie on the almighty Kuro, and the only place where the PV80 was found lacking was the absolute dark scenes in the gutters, and below the bridge. The black levels are the Kuro’s forte so it was obvious. Apart from that there was little discernible difference.
Godfather.
The black and white masterpiece deserves this treatment. Some scenes like Sonny’s murder or Michael waiting outside the hospital were rendered exceptionally well. Overall a very good experience, and yes even in black and white, HD rules.
Saving Private Ryan
The vegetation, natural elements like the sea, large sprawling grasslands of the Nordic region, detailed sniper views are render beautifully. I had a little concern if it could handle the complex dynamics of the first scene, as there are a lot of color variations, contrast variations there. But the PV80 stood the test and shone throughout.
PS: Could not take decent pics with my pathetic photography skills, which are unjust for the HD content. Will borrow a tripod and post a few pics soon.
[BREAK=Gaming]
I am not a regular gamer however Quake4 on this panel was a treat to the eyes. And so was Quake3 albeit a little stretched since Q3a doesn’t natively do a 16:9, or rather I don’t know how to do that in Q3A. Did not get a chance to try any other games though, fellow TE gamers are welcome to try it out at my place.
IMO the thing going for the plasma in terms of gaming is the little or no input lag, will post a video shortly to demonstrate this as well.
To enjoy games on this monster we’d need some serious long cables or very good wireless keyboard + mouse combo which I am yet to find, or a decent wireless controller, which I am personally not very fond of being a FPS person.
One word of caution though, the game hoods do cause a bit of image retention after an hour or two of continuous gaming, no burn in, just a retention that goes away in 10 – 15 min.
[BREAK=Conclusion]
Overall a very good panel. I have been using this for quite some time now so am in a better position to comment on it than I initially was. Sound is decent, though not the thing I’d use in the long run. PQ is the thing to fall for.
Some grudges are there though, which I’d attribute to the technology itself and insensitivity of our broadcasters with their large ugly logos.
Another thing to note is the power consumption. It’s a power hungry monster. I added two things this Diwali, an IFB washer and this plasma, and my bill has skyrocketed from a modest ~300 to ~1000 bucks straight. I am not complaining though, however this is the price u got to pay for large screen viewing.
I got it for 1.05L and it still demands the same moolah.
This is the first time I am opining my experience with a product as a review, any type of feedback is most welcome.
PS:Thanks to TechHead for the caliberation tips.
[BREAK=Specifications: Physical]
Power Supply AC 220 - 240 V, 50/60Hz
Power Consumption (W)
Normal Use 500.0
Standby without DVB Tuner Lock On 0.5
Dimensions W/O stand (mm)
Width 1210.0
Height 790.5
Depth 95.0
Dimensions with stand (mm)
Width 1210.0
Height 844.0
Depth 387.0
Weight W/O stand (kg) 36.0
Weight with stand (kg) 38.0
Operating Temperature 0°C - 40°C
[BREAK=Specifications: Tuner]
DVB Digital Tuner No
Tuning System PLL synthesizer 100-position auto-search tuner
CATV Compatibility Hyper-band
Broadcast Stereo Reception
NICAM -B yes
NICAM -G yes
NICAM - I yes
NICAM -L n/a
NICAM -German (A2) yes
NICAM (FM) n/a
Teletext Reception 1000P Level 2.5, FASTEXT/LIST/TOP
Receiving System World 17-System
[BREAK=Specifications: Display]
Screen Aspect 16 : 9 Wide
Panel G11 Progressive HD Plasma Display Panel
Contrast filter layer n/a
Progressive Scan yes
Number of Pixels 1,049,088 (1,366 x 768) pixels
Full HD No
HD-ready Yes
Color System NTSC/PAL/PAL 60Hz/SECAM/M-NTSC
Applicable PC signals SVGA (XGA, WXGA)
Applicable Scanning Format
525 (480)/60i yes
525 (480)/60p yes
625 (576)/50i yes
625 (576)/50p yes
750 (720)/50p yes
750 (720)/60p yes
1125 (1080)/50i yes
1125 (1080)/60i yes
1125 (1080)/24p (HDMI only) yes
1125 (1080)/50p (HDMI only) yes
1125 (1080)/60p (HDMI only) yes
Contrast Ratio (in dark surroundings) Native: 15,000:1; Dynamic: 1,000,000:1 :BS:
Shades of Gradation 4,096 equivalent steps of gradation
100 Hz Panel Yes
24p Playback yes
3D Color Management yes
Sub Pixel Control yes
Picture Overscan n/a
MACH Enhancer n/a
Motion Pattern Noise Reduction yes
C.A.T.S. (Contrast Automatic Tracking System) yes
Video Noise Reduction yes
3D Comb Filter yes
Picture Mode Dynamic/Standard/Cinema/Auto
[BREAK=Specifications: Sound and Connectivity]
Speakers 2
Audio Output 20 W (10 W x 2), 10% THD
Sound Mode Music/News/Cinema
Dolby Digital No
Dolby Digital Plus No
Surround Yes
HDMI Input 3 (1 front, 2 rear)
HDMI Input 1080p n/a
Composite Video Input AV1/2/3/4: RCA phono type (3 rear, 1 front)
S-Video Input AV3/4: Mini DIN 4-pin (1 rear, 1 front)
Audio Input (for Video) AV1/2/3/4: RCA phono type connectors [L, R] (3 sets rear, 1 front)
PC Input Mini D-sub 15-pin x 1 (rear) (Audio input for PC: co-use with AV2 audio input)
Component Video Input AV2/3: RCA phono type [Y , PB/CB, PR/CR] (2 sets rear)
Monitor Out RCA phono type (1 rear)
Audio Output RCA phono type connectors (L, R) (1 set rear: co-use with monitor out), Headphone jack (1 front)
Digital Audio Output No
Headphone Output Yes
Headphone Output (variable) What’s this?
:hap2: