Panasonic Viera TC-P55VT30 55" 3D Plasma HDTV Review

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The good: The Panasonic TC-PVT30 has excellent image quality in general, with excellent black level performance, shadow detail very good and accurate color points in the THX mode. It can handle 1080p/24 sources and well-lit rooms and uniformity of the screen shows almost perfect plasma and 3D image quality very good. Includes a pair of 3D glasses and a safety Wi-Fi. Its Internet Suite is very easy to use and rich in content and style is sober and elegant design with a single panel.

The bad: The VT30 is very expensive, and last year, Panasonic plasmas black lost, the level of performance over relatively short periods of time. His color is not as good as the best plasmas current and uses far more energy than LCD TVs.

The bottom line: Good all around picture quality, anchored by the deepest levels of black plasma of the year, make the Panasonic TC-PVT30 the TV series with better performance than we had in 2011.

During the last couple of years better Panasonic plasma has been the best television review , and 2011 is no exception. The top-of-the-line Panasonic TV-series is the PVT30 in the television industry, which was reviewed at Twitter, and despite coming in at # 2 on our survey for the flagship Sony, we are confident that no other TV commands the same expectations.

In almost all aspects of the VT30 up to expectations. If Panasonic's claim on its black level stability is true, allowing you to beat the 2010 models a few months old, the VT30 is the blackest plasma we've tested since the Pioneer Kuro. Other areas of image quality of Panasonic, this is also generally excellent, although it does not stand so high above the competition last year did VT25 series. Competition, that is, Samsung is the best plasmas, has improved, and we tested PND8000 exceeds the color accuracy of the VT30. If you want the best picture regardless of cost, the Panasonic TC-series is our selection PVT30 No. 1 this year.

About the series: This was a practical assessment of 55-inch Panasonic TC-P55VT30, but this fix also applies to the size of the screen another series. Both sizes have identical specifications and according to the manufacturer should provide a very similar image quality.

The models in the series
Panasonic TC-P55VT30 (revised) 55 inches
Panasonic 65-inch TC-P65VT30

Design


A single pane of glass fronts the screen and the black frame, creating a seamless look.

Improved core design of the VT30 Panasonic GT30 series on a single pane of glass that fronts the entire panel, eliminating the difference in depth between the frame and display. We've always liked this look, and thank you for playing the VT30 extra classiness: a thin silver strip along the outer edge to offset the glossy black. There is also a small speaker bulge along the bottom edge, but is subtle enough to a setback that the panel displays a perfect rectangle.

All that said, as the design, but might be a bit quiet for some tastes, and want the bezel around the screen was thinner, much like the GT30, or better yet, the Samsung PND8000/D7000-- Both of which have a slight advantage on the design VT30.

Simple shiny black support Panasonic have a relatively large size, and we were a little disappointed that it allows the panel to swivel.


The stand does not swivel.

Remote control and menus

Panasonic menus and remote controls are basically unchanged since 2010. The menu system looks and acts a little less sophisticated than the Samsung or Sony, and I do not like having to scroll through many pages in the Image menu. 3D settings seems out of place in the Settings menu, and the display of support beyond the basic explanation is lacking.

We like it's remote more than the Samsung due to the better button differentiation, but not as waterproof Sony clicker. We missed Netflix a dedicated button, and realized that despite changing the official name of its suite of Internet television "Viera Connect" button on the remote it still says "Viera Cast".


Panasonic menu system is Spartan compared with those of its competitors

Key TV features
Display technology plasma LED backlight N/A
3D technology Active 3D glasses included 1 pair
Screen finish Glass Internet connection Wi-Fi adapter Dejudder (smooth) processing Yes
DLNA compliant Photo/Music/Video USB Photo/Music/Video

Other:THX display certification for 2D and 3D; includes Wi-Fi adapter and 1 pair of 3D glasses

Panasonic includes a Wi-Fi dongle with the VT30, occupying a USB slot but happily allowing you to use a wireless connection with this TV without paying an extra $80 or more for a dongle. The new 3D glasses, included, are rechargeable and slightly less-dorky-looking then their predecessors

Streaming and apps
Netflix Yes YouTube Yes
Amazon Instant Yes Hulu Plus No
Vudu No Pandora Yes
Web browser No Skype Optional
Facebook Yes Twitter Yes

Panasonic seems to impose a simple menu structure and default font in many applications and flash design, and as a result of its use feels easier and more cohesive. We do not miss having a web browser or the ability to search video

The VT30 offers more menu options easier to control than any other TV I've seen so far. New for 2011 Panasonic has added a 10-point grayscale adjustment, full CMS, and unlike any other TV we've seen so far, a luminance control of 10 points for the home in gamma. Unfortunately, these controls are only available in the preset order, and in no other, but were difficult to use and did not produce the expected results.

If you do not want to mess with the controls, THX for 2D and 3D is pretty close. And if you want to pay a gauge mess with the controls, for example, to set the ISF Day and night, you may want to ask someone who can take advantage of the Calman system self-calibration built into the TV.

You also get full control box with Netflix streaming and other services - television, basically, is Viera Connect as a separate "input." Panasonic also offers 2D to 3D conversion between their notions of configuration settings 3D 3D

Performance (How we test TVs)
The Panasonic TC-PVT30 is the best performing TV we've tested this year. Its black levels are among the deepest we've seen, beating competition from PND8000 Samsung plasma, and shadow detail is also higher. The color accuracy is very good, although not as accurate as the Samsung's video processing is excellent, and, of course, enjoy the almost perfect uniformity of plasma. 3D image quality is excellent, as well as 3D THX mode, even though Samsung LCD Plasma crashes and better to reduce interference

For our evaluation, we compared aligned models below and saw old favorite "Avatar" on Blu-ray.

Models comparison
Panasonic TC-P65VT25 65-inch plasma
Samsung 59-inch plasma PN59D8000
LG 50 inch plasma 50PX950
Panasonic TC-50-inch plasma P50GT30
Vizio 55-inch full range XVT553SV local dimming LED-based LCD
Pioneer PRO-111FD (reference) 50-inch plasma
Black level: The VT30 plays a tone very dark black color, surpassing the GT30, LG and Samsung plasmas, but still could not get as dark as the VT25, the Vizio or the Pioneer. Of course, the VT25 (which measured to 0.004 fL) was only a couple hundred hours on it, your black level to get worse as we age, while, according to Panasonic, the black levels will not VT30 change. If that is the case, then the VT30 is the new black plasma level second behind the Pioneer Kuro, but we will not know for sure until we test how the VT30 ages.

The difference in the absolute depth of black was fine line between the VT30 (0.0061 FL) and Samsung (0.0071), not to mention the GT30 (0.0082), but among the three the VT30 produces the best picture in dark scenes as the forest at night in Chapter 10. While measuring the gamma VT30 was lower than the Samsung, the details of the latter in the shadows, like plants to 33:38 and the back hair avatar Jake 34:03. These details were a little too bright on the VT30 compared to our reference, but still closer than the other two. A smooth, deep black ink appeared, the usual credit pop in every scene.

We look for fluctuations in the level of black and gray, but I could not find any in "Avatar." We also checked both the scenes of "Tron: Legacy," where the GT30 showed fluctuations and are not produced in the VT30 (rather than the ST30, either).

Color accuracy: Although the colors in THX mode looked good in the VT30, with a saturation of large and accurate color points, the Samsung was higher in general in this area. The Panasonic seems to have a slightly greenish cast to many scenes side by side comparison with the Samsung and the other, a difference that was visible especially in skin tones - such as the face and arms and wheels to Jake Quaritch speech in Chapter 2, or the faces of the cafeteria workers in Chapter 12. On the other hand the VT30 THX looked better than the little red GT30, but fell slightly below the reference we expect from a high-end TV.

Almost black in the VT30 was the best in the room, but the Samsung was also very good so the color difference between the two was not as remarkable as in the brightest scenes.

Video Processing: Same as the ST30 and GT30 series, the VT30 cadence properly handle 1080p/24 mode of 60Hz. In addition, we found the same kinds of false contour artifacts in 96Hz mode in VT30 we have seen in previous Panasonic plasmas as well equipped as the VT25 (see the review for details). For these reasons we decided to use the 60Hz mode for our tests and calibration. There were some small differences between the two in terms of black level and color, but not on the scale of, say, the Samsung CinemaSmooth PND8000.

On the other hand we noticed some artifacts 1080p/24 sources in 60 Hz mode that we saw at 96Hz. In the "Digital Video Essentials" test Blu-ray we noticed the lines of change and instability of minor importance in the buildings of downtown Philadelphia during a facing up bread. We saw no similar problem in "Avatar," but I guess that might arise. In short, no way perfect, but both do the main work - the film cadence correct - correctly.

Otherwise, the video processing of the test VT30 basically the same as the GT30 and ST30. Panasonic introduced the processing dejudder this year with a setting called "smoother motion." It offers two options, and weaknesses, which looked very similar to our eye, but weak on the left a track of more shocks. As usual, he found both relatively tasteless.

The GT25 since last year had a "control Blur Reduction" which, when activated, provided the resolution of motion. That control has been dropped in 2011, but the smoother motion basically does the same thing when he was hired, whether weak or strong, we have seen an increase in the resolution of movement in our test model (see Box Geek) . It is worth noting once again that THX does not let you turn smoother movement at all, and as usual, any spot was impossible to discern with actual program material.

The VT30 passed our test 1080i deinterlacing with 3:2 On, but not when using the default (and, despite what he says explaining the menu, this setting does not affect the HDMI sources).

Bright lighting:Compared with the Samsung screen VT30 was a bit more reflective, with bright highlights when the lights came on. On the other hand did a little better at preserving black levels in bright light, although the Samsung is still very good in that area. We ended up preferring the image a little brighter room Samsung, but the two were very close.

PC: The VT30 only accepts a maximum resolution of 1366x768 via VGA, so do not consider it a computer monitor as well. Text and other fine objects seemed relatively smooth.

3D: The VT30 is a very good 3D artist, more or less equal to the GT30, but was not as good as the two of Samsung in our line in the management of interference. Add the Samsung model for our tests UN55D8000 LED 3D, and again the best performer in the room.

In "Avatar" was the frequent interference, but we've seen from time to time. Weak additional contours appeared on the edge of the weights and vertical equipment rack behind Quaritch in Chapter 6 (21:16), for example, and were most notable in the VT30 in the Samsung. The head of the spy right to talk to Jake about his brother's coffin (2:42) also showed a stronger profile in any of Samsung VT30, especially UND8000. The contours were a little more noticeable in the GT30 then the VT30, but the difference was subtle.

Among the movie mode on the Samsung PND8000 and THX on the VT30 prefer the look of the Panasonic. You better color accuracy and skin tones and color seemed a little oversaturated at Samsung. Samsung movie looked a little brighter and more power, but also seemed a bit too cool and a little advantage. We assume that the difference could be reduced by calibration, but not for 3D calibration at the time.

Power consumption: Panasonic efficiency improved slightly in the last year VT25 - VT30 55 inches the uses 0.22 watts / square inch compared to 0.26/0.25 in the 50/65-inch VT25s we tested - and coincides with the Samsung 59 inches in this area. The ST30 is even more miserable, however, and of course any LED or LCD TV to beat everyone in the efficient use of energy.

As usual, stellar classification at first glance to power by default have a big caveat: the standard default setting is dim. VT30 In fact, a joke: only 3.4 fL maximum brightness, thanks to a hardcover and a faint image so that probably most of the spectators immediately choose a brilliant (and more power-hungry ) mode.

As mentioned before no 55 -, 60 - or 65-inch Panasonic plasma is efficient enough to qualify for Energy Star 5.3 standard, which comes into force on September 30, 2011. The VT30 55 inches were revised in June still wears the blue label, however, because it qualifies for the current iteration of Energy Star.

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