My 50PHD8UK impressions

[aykew]

First off, a big, BIG thanks to Candace at Visual Apex for pulling some strings to get this to work for me; these came in late Thursday, and she made double sure that the order processing went through so that I could pick it up on Friday- the first 50PHD8UK to leave their warehouse! I can't recommend VA highly enough; from now on, if they sell it, I'm buying it from them.

I created this thread to log my impressions to anyone who cares to read about them, but as new owners come online, be sure to add your own! Note that I'm not exactly a videophile (though I think I tend to be very picky) and that this is my first HDTV of any kind. Actually, it's because of this fact that I'm horribly underprepared for my new toy. The sole device connected to my television at the moment is my Humax DirecTV TiVo unit, through S-Video. I don't even have a component DVD player, (a situation I hope to remedy tomorrow morning) so all I can comment on so far is the DirecTV SD video quality.

First some unboxing pictures:


The unit came double boxed insulated with styrofoam blocks. Seems like a perfectly safe way to transport; the boxes are heavy-duty and intelligently designed. The foam moulded to the panel's contours perfectly and hold it very snugly indeed.

Wall mounting was a harrowing experience (just from nerves- I've never hung something that costs $3k on a wall before!) but my father-in-law and I managed to get it on the wall pretty well. I thought I'd be nervous about the quality of our install at this point in time, but with four 3" lag bolts into the wall studs, that thing isn't going anywhere!

When I turned it on for the first time... wow. Even though it was a DirecTV SD feed, the picture I got was rich, saturated and about as sharp as I could have expected. I was actually prepared to feel disappointed after watching SD content on other panels in the stores, but the picture really exceeded my expectations. (Now, I'm not sure if this is due to low expectations or high performance, but I'm happy either way!)



My hero, Alton Brown from Good Eats is looking good here. The picture is extremely watchable. Being that Good Eats is a cooking show, it has a lot of text onscreen at various times. The text all looks great, though I can't wait till Food Network switches over to HD. It's weird to see how Just mode messes with your head during camera pans. I imagine I'll get used to it faster than watching people in "fat head" mode, though.



I thought I'd try something that was definitely of sub-par video quality; for some reason the season premiere of Prison Break looked just awful. Here you can see some heavy banding going on, which is 100% the feed's fault. Though this did look marginally worse on the plasma compared with my old CRT, I have to say that it's still not unwatchable... unpleasant, unenjoyable maybe, but... well, I've watched worse.



Here's a nice perspective view so you can see how it hangs on the wall. I'm using the Peerless flat mount that VA sells. It's quite a slick device, and I highly recommend it. There are lots of adjustments, so even once the bolts are in the wall, you should be able to play around with it a bit if you're not happy with your leveling or placement. It sits quite flush against the wall; the front of the bezel is a hair under 5" from the wall.

Once I have a chance to finish up my install properly, none of those cables will be visible. I'll also have a floating shelf below the TV to put components I need to interact with physically. (DVD player, video game consoles, etc)

More pics and impressions tomorrow after I grab my new DVD player. I will confirm whether or not this set has any black level shifting problems tomorrow too, but I didn't notice it at all during my viewing so far (about an hour).

Now of to bed... or watch the TV some more.

[valkyrie]

Nice choice! And, I like the fact you've picked up on "Prison Break." Good show, I can't wait to catch some on my 42" PHD8UK in HDTV.

VA was great to me as well, and I can't recommend them enough. I couldn't even get TVA to answer any of my questions, even after 4 days of trying. VA was far and away the better choice. Glad you were able to get yours too. I think I was the first to get the 42" from them, so I'm glad to meet the one who picked up the 50".

Cheers.

[aykew]

Originally Posted by valkyrie

Nice choice! And, I like the fact you've picked up on "Prison Break." Good show, I can't wait to catch some on my 42" PHD8UK in HDTV.

VA was great to me as well, and I can't recommend them enough. I couldn't even get TVA to answer any of my questions, even after 4 days of trying. VA was far and away the better choice. Glad you were able to get yours too. I think I was the first to get the 42" from them, so I'm glad to meet the one who picked up the 50".

Yeah, other than the video quality, I enjoyed Prison Break a lot. (I really like the trend towards highly serialized shows like Lost and 24.) I just hope the feed improves next week!

Glad to hear you got your 42! Of course... you realize, of course, that many people hate us now, right?

[BruZZi]

Originally Posted by aykew

YOf course... you realize, of course, that many people hate us now, right?

Hate???

You guys are the "Guinea Pigs" . We're hoping there will be no issues like the "7UY" Models.

So... we love you !!!


.
Check Out the all-new BruZZi's Panasonic Plasma FAQ
The FAQ plus links to Plasma Stands, Wallmounts, Murals, Lifts, Speakers, Frames, Bezels & More.
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[shane55]

BruZZi is soooooo right.
No hate. Envy? Oh my gosh yes... sick with it!

Congrats on your purchases, and we'll be expecting more reviews and reports! Detailed... and with pics to match.

cheers

shane

[redorbit]

I'm very curious about how the 50PHD8UK stacks up once you're watching DVD's and other tests. Anyone that has purchased this, please share your comments here!

[Qooop]

I don't see any way on the VA web site to check status of my order. I ordered the 50" a week ago, they emailed me saying it was back ordered. Still waiting for notice of a ship date.

I hope to mount it on the same mount that is currently holding my 42" 7UY. I do not know if it will fit on the Peerless articulating arm or not.

[10secbee]

Hello, did you try your dvd player yet? Any hd? Its killing me waiting for more impressions Thanks and later

[fisheggs]

Be still my beating heart!! All black, no silly silver shining anywhere!! And at an attractive price as well. I may have found my Christmas present to myself.

[jpooton]

Thanks for your post! Can you answer one question. From the pictures and diagrams I've looked at, it seems like the back handles protrude further back then the rest of the set. (ie. where you would screw on the mounting plate is actually recessed compared to the handles.) Is that correct? Could you estimate how much? Trying to figure out mounting here before making my order.

[aykew]

Sorry for making you all wait! To tell the truth, it's been very hard to pull my eyes away from my new set.

DVD impressions:
I've got my new Denon 1710 hooked up via component cables. (The least expensive monster cables I could find... I know, I know, Monster isn't a great value, but it's all the store had!) The Denon has a auto-gamma correcting feature turned on by default, which I deactivated. I'm thinking I'll do a side-by-side when the new Sony DVP-NS70H is available and return the one I don't like as much.

The first disc I popped in was Kung Fu Hustle, which I highly recommend both for the video transfer and the movie. The first thing that struck me was how gorgeous the title screen looked. It's black, white and red and the colors really just popped off the screen. My wife remarked on how it looked like it had been printed on paper, and I agree!

The movie itself was just wonderful, though keeping the movie on its original aspect ratio (1.85:1, I think) was a little stressful because of the thin black bars at the top and bottom. I stuck it out though, and there aren't any negative consequences to speak of! Colors were well saturated, and I didn't have any trouble resolving details at all, even during some of the night scenes.

Next, I watched the pilot episode of Firefly and paid special attention to the space scenes. The TV's ability to render shadow detail isn't perfect, but it is very, very good. I swapped the DVD player's gamma mode on and off to see if there was anything I was missing. The gamma mode boosts the black levels into grey and also raises the contrast a little. There were a few details here and there that got lost in the shadows without it on, but the darker blacks are certainly worth it.

I also used this disc to test the TVs deinterlacer. I put a scene where the camera pulls out from a tight shot of the crew in spacesuits to a wider shot that shows the ship. Lots of debris at diagonal angles here. Using the 480i output on the DVD player, there was a little bit of dot crawl and roughness on the diagonals, especially one of the dark lines on the ship. (The joint between two pieces of plating) On a 480p output, the lines did seem to resolve better, but I noticed that the smoothness of the pan-out was a little diminished (like the frame rate had been turned down a little). Overall, I think I prefer using the Denon's deinterlacer, but I'm going to have to do a little more testing.

For those concerned about the shifting black level problem that had plagued last generation's 42", you'll be happy to know that I haven't seen any evidence of that here. (Though I suppose it's possible that it's happening to me and I'm just not noticing.) I used both Firefly and Finding Nemo for testing this. On Finding Nemo, I paid particular attention to the black levels in the scene where Dory and Marlin go down into the trench. This is challenging because not only is it a smooth fade into black, but there are about 10 seconds of nothing BUT black, followed by a speck of light. I'll have to watch this tonight when there isn't so much ambient light around, but I didn't see anything to suggest the black level problem is present.

Video games
I hooked up my Xbox via component cables to do a short blaze through the first level of Halo 2, which is pretty dark in places. This really gave the Panasonic's ability to render low-luminosity details a chance to shine. I didn't lose track of any of my targets and could easily distinguish the bad guys from the good guys in dark areas. One thing that floored me was how sharply the TV rendered the game. So sharply, in fact, that I could see aliased edges, mip mapping and other frame rate-enhancing graphics tricks that I never noticed before, even on my brother-in-law's ED Gateway. (A moment of silence for his inferior hardware....) I am now SERIOUSLY jonesing for the next generation consoles; the PS3 and Xbox 360 are both Hi definition by default (and mandate, I believe) and should be so very, very sweet indeed.

Not that it's ever been a problem on plasmas, which have a natively low pixel latency compared with LCD, but I didn't see any ghosting or latency related issues at all.

Generally, I'm very pleased with my new TV, thought there is one thing that I found just a little disappointing. Though the gradations in the blacks are very nice, I'm a little disappointed that an entirely black screen is still not perfectly black. (A very dark grey, somewhere between the color of the outer and inner bezels.) I think maybe this is just still a limitation of the technology, but can any 7UY owners confirm that this isn't a step backwards?

Another small complaint is that either the remote or the IR receiver (or both) don't seem to have a particularly wide angle, so that you have to point the remote more or less directly at the screen to get it to recognize your command. Hopefully that will all be resolved when I set up my Harmony 880 with the new TV settings.

All and all though, I really couldn't be happier. This is by all measures a fantastic set, and I can't believe it is priced as low as it is. I'm not really sure I'd rather have any other similarly-sized set at any price!

PS- This isn't really a good time of day to take photographs, as the TV is mounted directly opposite french doors. The set is perfectly watchable under these conditions, but my camera doesn't do a very good job of capturing what things actually look like.

[JohnMR]

Just in case you do not know, the handles are easy to remove,

John

[aykew]

Originally Posted by jpooton

Thanks for your post! Can you answer one question. From the pictures and diagrams I've looked at, it seems like the back handles protrude further back then the rest of the set. (ie. where you would screw on the mounting plate is actually recessed compared to the handles.) Is that correct? Could you estimate how much? Trying to figure out mounting here before making my order.

No worries; the handles are flush against the back edge of the panel; it just doesn't look like that's the case because of the taper around the edge of the screen. JohnMR is right, too; they remove with just a normal philips head screwdriver.

[jpooton]

Originally Posted by aykew

No worries; the handles are flush against the back edge of the panel; it just doesn't look like that's the case because of the taper around the edge of the screen. JohnMR is right, too; they remove with just a normal philips head screwdriver.

Easy removal, nice.

I think I may have phrased my question poorly though. Are you saying that the handles do not extend any further back (toward your wall) then the area where the mouting plate is attached?

Can I ask what mount you purchased? (to help me determine the depth it added with your install at just under 5")

Last questions I promise...

[10secbee]

aykew, thanks for the great review!! So you havent noticed any issues at all with lag and the xbox? Have you tried any other games besides halo 2? Thanks again, now I just need to be able to find one in stock somewhere. Later

[aykew]

jpooton: Yup, the handles do not extend past the back of the plasma. In other words:


The mount I bought was the Peerless Plasma Flat Mount, model SF660-001. (It's the one they have in the Visual Apex AVS special bundle)

10secbee: Nope, no lag issues at all! For now, the xbox is connected directly to the set, but eventually it will be run through the receiver, which may introduce some lag, but I hope not! I'll give Pirates and Burnout: Takedown a shot this week and let you know.

[10secbee]

Thanks!

[BigTetto]

Aykew-

Congrats on the purchase. Any thoughts on having it calibrated? I'd suspect you'd get even better blacks than what you are getting out of the box.

Thanks,
Mike

[R Harkness]

Originally Posted by BigTetto

Aykew-

Congrats on the purchase. Any thoughts on having it calibrated? I'd suspect you'd get even better blacks than what you are getting out of the box.

Thanks,
Mike

You can see how deep the blacks on the panel will go in a few seconds, simply by playing with the brightness control. Put on a 2:35:1 movie with black bars, adjust the brightness downward until the black bars stop getting any darker. Now you know how deep the blacks will go.

[JWhip]

I would recommend a calibration. I have the 50PHD7UY and while it had a great picture out of the box, it is mindblowing after the calibtration. Better blacks, better contrast, better overall color and more detail.

[MRinDenver]

Originally Posted by Qooop

I don't see any way on the VA web site to check status of my order. I ordered the 50" a week ago, they emailed me saying it was back ordered. Still waiting for notice of a ship date.

I hope to mount it on the same mount that is currently holding my 42" 7UY. I do not know if it will fit on the Peerless articulating arm or not.

it is my understanding that the Panasonic mount -- the only model they sell for the brand -- works fine for the 42 and the 50.

[aykew]

Originally Posted by BigTetto

Aykew-
Congrats on the purchase. Any thoughts on having it calibrated? I'd suspect you'd get even better blacks than what you are getting out of the box.

I'm going to try calibrating it myself using DVE and the various methods posted in the forum first, after the break-in period. If I can't get the picture to where I want it, I may consider professional help... but this whole upgrade cycle has left my wallet in a bit of pain, if you know what I mean!

[JWhip]

I tried to do it myself also but other than the service menu, I found no way to get the gray scale perfect, which it is now or as close as it can get (6512k).

[R Harkness]

Originally Posted by JWhip

I would recommend a calibration. I have the 50PHD7UY and while it had a great picture out of the box, it is mindblowing after the calibtration. Better blacks, better contrast, better overall color and more detail.

Hi JWhip,

Just for the sake of calibration newbies....

When you say "better blacks" I presume you mean better shadow detail and perhaps a more nuetral gray scale/D6500 color temp (which would include the benefit of black/shadows having a nuetral hue rather than a blue or green bias).

Calibration is certainly good. I just figured we should be clear, as I wouldn't want someone spending tons of money on calibration under the assumption it will make the blacks go any deeper than what you can do with the picture controls.

Cheers,

[JWhip]

Rich, you are correct, but... I must say that the blacks do look blacker after the calibration. Maybe it is just me, but the picture is much better across the entire spectrum after the calibration. I must say that I was really surprised by the results.

[R Harkness]

JWhip,

I have seen black levels look subjectively a bit better after ISF level calibration. I was always aware of the green hue in the Pioneer models, particularly visible in the lower gray scale (shadows, black bars on movies). I've seen it mostly calibrated out of an older Pioneer, and the new Pioneer models have pretty much eliminated the green in the dark areas. The nuetrality of the gray/shadow areas seems to catch my eye less and subjectively makes the shadow areas look better. The green glow having been removed could translate into a subjective impression of slighly deeper shadows. Perhaps the same applies for some people after their Panny has been calibrated. Although I did not find any difference in the quality of the blacks/shadow detail pre and post ISF on my display.

[zachaller]

Wow i really need to get one of these now

[Ztv]

Hey guys new here. I am also considering this monitor. I was under the impression that the frame was black. Is it ? or is it grey?

Also, I am looking for sugestions for a tuner or receiver to go with it.

Thanks

[aykew]

Definitely a charcoal grey, not black. (Though the frame around the screen itself is a very handsome black)

[dpak2005]

Would like to see HD screen shots on your beautiful set whenever you get the capability. Stretched SD through an S-video connection does this plasma no justice.