Among the best available plasma displays
Written: Jul 16 '03 (Updated Jan 08 '07)
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Pros: True HD. Relatively easy to mount if you are handy.
Cons: None, really. Prices are much more affordable than when I bought mine.
The Bottom Line: After 42 months (January-2007), no regrets whatsoever, great product, very little difference between this model and the newer 6UY, 7UY, 8UY models. No problems with "burn-in", as originally feared.
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| holmer19's Full Review: Panasonic TH-50PHD5UY 50 in. TV |
Just bought it (July 2003) from VisualApex.com. I recommend them. Unit is double boxed to help prevent shipping damage. I went with a simple wall mount bracket for $175. This unit has BNC connectors, so you will have to get BNC to RCA type adapters for most applications. VA provides them for free.
DVD-video (progressive scan enable) looked nice, Xbox looks nice. Will have HDTV and digital cable (Cox) installed in 3 days. Will report back on the HD performance once I see it!!
I designed home theater cabinets with a plasma monitor in mind. The center upright cabinet is a large rectangle that was meant to have plasma monitor positioned on it. It is about 10 inches thick, and has 3 drawers that slide out to the left and right behind the monitor, that hold DVDs. Below the center cabinet is the base cabinet, slightly wider, that holds all the component electronics and a front center channel speaker. Above is the upper cabinet, that contains left and right speakers. The upper and lower cabinets are deeper than the middle cabinet, that holds the plasma monitor. The result is a very nice built-in look. The cabinet door panels are dark cloth, which allow sound and remote IR signals to pass through.
You really need to think about where and how to mount this unit before you buy it. It can easily overpower any room. You might want to design your own cabinets, like I did.
Very clear and sharp picture. As mentioned above, I will write a second review in a few days, after I've had more time to play with the unit, and assess it properly.
Part II (after HDTV service installation)
Some of the little things I’ve learned about the Pan-50:
Is this a case of the “Emperor’s New Clothes?” I think not. The TH-50PHD5UY is most definitely, spectacular! It is however, expensive. But if you want to be on the cutting edge of technology, there is a price. At least if you do purchase now, you can be assured that you WON’T be on the “bleeding edge” of technology. This unit does, indeed, perform.
Viewing HDTV programming via Cox Cable on PBS-HD, Discovery HD Theater, ABC, CBS and NBC prime-time HD programming is nothing short of AWESOME. The images are truly lifelike. The colors are incredible. This should be your primary reason for buying this unit. Regular cable and broadcast are the same or a little better than can be seen on other types of TV sets. Perhaps you should wait until much more HD programming becomes available in your area, and the unit cost drops.
DVDs are of varying quality. During playback, some are pixelated at full screen, some are beautiful (even zoomed-in) approaching HD-quality. For instance, “Fellowship of the Ring” (a special set containing 2 discs for the movie) is spectacular.
Playing some DVD-videos causes black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, no matter which aspect setting you use. I was concerned about playing anything in other than true 16:9 format, because of the horror stories regarding image burn-in. “Charlie” at VisualApex fielded my question, and indicated that simply watching a movie with black bars on the top and bottom of the screen will not cause the dreaded “image burn-in.”
Repeated and continuous watching of TV programming in 4:3 aspect can cause burn-in, as can using your plasma display as a computer monitor and leaving a static image on the screen for many hours or days. But viewing a typical DVD or two in widescreen format won’t be a problem. This was confirmed by a Panasonic support person via phone. The bottom line on "burn-in" is DON'T be paranoid about it. As long as MOST of your programming is viewed in a full screen mode (zoom, full, just), the unit will be fine.
After considerable fiddling around with various alternatives, I have settled on the following equipment:
Scientific Atlanta 3100HD cable box (provided by Cox).
I have a JVC JX-S111 component video switcher, which I find absolutely indispensable for switching back and forth between DVD, HD-Cable, Regular Digital Cable, X-box, and auxillary input (Camcorder), with ease.
I have also bought a handy component you may want to consider for your home theater display, and that is an HD video scaler. I bought an AVT-3700 ImageMax HDTV Video Scaler. They run about $360 or so if you shop around. In my humble opinion, it is well worth the money. What this Scaler does is take the S-Video cable signal and DVD player component output and scales it up to 420p, 720p or 1080i for your monitor! One drawback is that the 720p and 1080i modes are locked at 16:9, and can't be adjusted via the monitor aspect control, but the 420p can. I find I'm getting used to 4:3 stretched to 16:9, so it doesn't bother me much. The increased clarity is worth it. DVD's definitely look even better scaled up to 1080i.
With the above scaler, I watch Fox news in 420p mode zoomed in. That way, I lose the annoying bottom scroller.
It really does make a noticeable difference in the clarity of the images, and reduces some of the flicker that you see watching cable via S-video. The images are not as pristine as true HD programming, but there is still a definite improvement over unscaled images. I read a very thorough and apparently unbiased review on the unit before I bought it. The review indicated that the features and performance of this unit can be found in competing products that are many times more expensive. I was offered a 30 day trial to return the unit from the vendor if I was dissatisfied. I kept it. The ImageMAX 3700 comes with a remote control (which MUST be used to operate the unit) and all of the patch cables you should need. Update: The newest 3800 model has pushbuttons for manual operation.
A couple of review links for the ImageMAX:
http://www.hometoys.com/wrap.php4?/htinews/aug03/articles/tvone/tvone.htm
(with the below link, you must scroll ALL the way down to the bottom of the page!)
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=5
A good price for the ImageMAX can be found at:
http://www.theprojectedimage.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TPII&Product_Code=AVT3800&Category_Code=ld
So what I’ve learned can be summed-up as follows:
The better the quality of program signals you provide the plasma display, the better the quality of the images you will experience. Period. (See info regarding the image scaler above.)
Some DVD-videos look great, and some may look “okay” with some graininess or pixelation, particularly if “zoomed”, but that is not the fault of the plasma display. It is the fault of DVD-video. Until more data can be packed on ALL DVDs, such as an HD-DVD-video, playback of some DVDs will not be that much better than what you can see on a standard CRT television. It all depends on the data density and quality of the individual DVD-video.
Where the benefit and value of this plasma unit is, is in the display of true High Definintion programming. I’ve seen other plasmas, both High and regular Definition models. The quality of the images the TH-50PHD5UY displays are as good, probably better, than any other plasma monitor, and the best I’ve ever seen that were not real life.
Regarding mounting with an adjustable or stationary bracket:
I went with a very simple flat wall mount (PSM-2051). It came with four hard plastic cone pegs and elongated machine bolts that screw into the back of the Pan-50. The bracket mounts flat on the wall, with either lag bolts into studs through the drywall, or in my application, nuts and bolts through holes drilled in the cabinet face. All you have to do, with someone on the other monitor handle, is slip the pegs gently downward into the slot holes on the bracket, and voila', it's mounted, about one inch away from the wall. This is probably the bare minimum you'd want, as the unit puts out some heat, and needs ventilation even though it has very quiet fans.....
Obviously, for aesthetics, you will want to route the wires behind the mounting surface (cabinet or drywall) so the install looks nice and clean.
The bottom of my Pan-50 sits about 30 inches from the floor, and the horizontal centerline of the bracket is about 46 inches from the floor. That puts the unit at the perfect height for viewing while seated on a couch, etc., in my humble opinion.
I would not opt for an adjustable mount. I'm glad I got the stationary mount, and I'm happy with it's simplicity.
Update: Monitor problem? NO! Cable (Ground Loop) problem!
I noticed that there were some horizontal bars on the display sometimes moving up or down slowly, or were stationary. This occurred with X-box, DVD, regular and HD program viewing. I was afraid there was something wrong with my brand new Panny! Through the great support system with my vendor (VisualApex) we discovered the problem was NOT with the Pan-50, but interference from the digital Cox cable input. As soon as the Cox cable was unplugged, the problem completely disappeared from the monitor while watching a DVD via component video. It is either a grounding or signal modulation/interference issue with Cox which THEY are going to have to solve, or they will lose my business when I convert to a DirecTV satellite !!!!
I didn't spend this kind of money to watch subtle, yet annoying bars drift up and down my display!!!
Cox Cable comes through!!! The "Ground Loop" visual bars and audible hums are gone.
I must say I am impressed with Cox Cable service technicians. Not only did the technician install an isolator (which I could have spent $60 for a Jensen Isolator) and signal booster, he ran a completely new cable dedicated to the monitor, after discovering that we had a week signal from older service on an internet cable modem line splitter. He even changed out my HD digital box. Above and beyond the call of duty. For now, I will keep Cox!!!
After doing a little research on the net, "ground loop" gremlins are endemic to many home theater systems, manifesting themselves in pesky audible hums over speakers and visual bars, etc. on displays, due to differing ground sources and house current interference. It just takes patience, experimentation and the right filters, equipment, etc., to remedy the problem.
As mentioned above, Cox provided me (free) an inexpensive Viewsonics, Inc. isloator, model number VSIS-EU. (Note that this is a different company than the Viewsonic computer monitor maker.) An individual read this review and found a dealer selling them for $6.00; TVC at 1-800-755-1415.
I hope my information helps you in your decision(s). Comments or questions? Feel free to contact me at holmer19@netscape.net. I'd be happy to send you an image of the cabinets I designed.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 6,499.00
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holmer19
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Location: San Diego
Reviews written: 22
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