New Panasonic THX Certified 42PZ800U, 46PZ800U, and 50PZ800U Thread! - Page 19

i wish they had a close up on the silver bezel so people will start to appreciate the USA black trim a lot more....

No kidding. I'd love to see an 800U compared to an 85U to see if its worth the > $500 difference. For that much I'd rather just get a Pioneer 5010 Kuro.

At least in Canada Kuro is much more expensive than the 800U

Strange. Dropped by yesterday. But it was nowhere to be found

From what I have heard, the 50PZ800U will not be out until AT LEAST May 16th.

I saw the 50PZ800U at the Best Buy near Park Meadows Mall in Littleton, CO yesterday. I only checked to see if they had it, did not really have them change the feed or anything. The problem I now have is I went with my wife who goes "I just don't see the difference" and then she sees the Samsung LN46A650 (new LCD with the red bezel) and she fell in love with it. I guess my point is everyone is complaining about the bezel and I was thinking that it should not sell a TV, but apparently for women it does.

That's funny because my girlfriend hates the red bezel on the A650 so it all comes down to personal taste.

I agree. But I do admit on the wall of 50+ plasmas and LCDs, the red bezel draws your eye first. What a marketing gimmick

They had 2 in stock yesterday ?? One open and still in the box. They were trying to sell me the open one ?

For what it's worth, the Best Buy in Bretwood ,TN has the 50pz800 and 50pz85 on display, side by side. On factory settings, the pictures look nearly identical. Obviously, this wont tell the whole story, but just thought I'd share.

This is a first time post for me. Typically I read and don't clog things up with my posting. I'm a big fan of this thread and currently have a 50pz800u on order. For grins I called the BB at the Galleria in Houston and they have two in stock and said a display model will be up before the end of the week.

The early bezel pictures scared me but I can tell from the second picture of the latest set that it looks like the bezel blends right in. This makes me very happy and am dying to see picture quality and have some play time!

Is there any way to speed up the "break in" time on plasmas as this will be my first one. It's replacing a 1080p Lcos RPTV (61 in. was too big, and yes there is such a thing).

By the way thanks for all the input/pictures and I look forward to hearing and seeing more.

Ok, finally got to see the 50PZ800U at BB. Thought they would never unbox the darn things and plug them in.

Sound System: Seemed excellent to me. It might be better than any others currently on the market for flat panel. Crystal clear and very defined voices and music. Yes it might be better than 700/750.

CATs: On this one, it seemed to work perfect - BB let me use a flash light. It would automatically, adjust the picture in about 15 seconds, very gradually. This should work real good in a home setting.

PQ: Well in the store there is no difference between the 85U or 800U, which is fine with me because the I consider the 85U a perfect picture. BB feed is via antenna; inside BB RF feed loop - not antenna to the world. While it created a source signal of 1080i the actual program material was fairly low quality, it was not real 1080i material.

Directly above the 800U on the wall was the LG PG20; when both pictures set to vivid or standard, they looked about 98% the same. Again that is due to the low quality BB feed (typical). It does make you stop and think: LG about $1,200 and the 800U $3,195. Both these sets face directly to bright outside direct sunlight - facing south in Texas, you can only imagine. Still, in vivid the 800U was brighter and more vivid (in vivid) than any of the LCDs there (for those that like their TV bleeding). THX mode would be like the 85U cinema with the picture control reduced, brightness reduced, and color reducedbut we all know that, it was an excellent picture - even with the low quality source.

The Trim: Well, it is ok, I can live with it, but they should have done better.

The Glass: As you know with almost all plasmas there is a ghost if you are sitting to the side. Put on the menu screen and you can read two sets of letters.

That ghost was there on the 85U but it never bothered us. My concern was, is there even more ghost on the 800U? I don't think so? I did study the menus on both 85U and 800U for about 15 minutes. Yes there was some difference; but I believe the ghost are 98% the same, and therefore not an issue for us.

85U ghost: Put on a menu screen (i.e. one with the word return and the remote control circle is a good one to use). Then put your knuckle on the screen (in front of the word return). You will notice that the real image is at one place, your knuckle is about ½ outside of the real image, but the ghost is about ¾ behind the real image.

800U ghost: Maybe the spacing between real image, knuckle, and ghost is just a tad wider? I do not know if that has any effect on PQ or not? I don't think it does. In order for me to tell if it does would probably take a couple of hours or more in the home setting. So I think ghost, as such, is a non-issue. But other opinions on this subject are welcome.

Overall, I liked the set a lot. Sure wish they had the PG60 right next to it!

Thanks for your feedback. Cant wait until people start taking these home and test them out there.

"Ok, finally got to see the 50PZ800U at BB. "

Which Best Buy did you go to in Houston? I would like to get over there ASAP.

Thanks for the help!

willowbrook............I think the woodlands is still working on theirs, they have no clue, and the one in spring is still a few weeks away.
(willowbrook = FM 1960 @ 249 railroad tracks)

Great job on observations from the 800U and 85U. Again as technology gets better the picture quality variation is not large at all. Regardless if the 800U/850U will be the flagship displays, the 80U/85U will share the same qualities. Is it worth the premium? Some want the best although the difference is minimal.

Chris

i will be really bummed if there is a ghost on the 800u. that is why i have been waiting for the 800u. i might have to get the kuro or the samsung plasma now. bummer

I gotta say if 800=85 with better sound, that is a little disappointing to me.

Lets hope the technology is truly improving and these things are not just becoming a price based commodity. I can't wait to see some more reviews and hopefully soon. Sams has the 50pe700 at a cost I can't believe. If there is no significant improvement on the 800's I may give that model another try, if there is any left.

Having spent a more than a few hours with these animals. IMHO, the 85U is a much better PQ that any of the 2007 models. That is my opinion. AFAIK, they all have the type of ghost I am talking about, which includes Samsung. I have "heard" the Pio's do not - out of my price range so I have not looked.

Ghost: Keep in mind I am talking about puttin your eyeball, like sideways on the screen, or at a very sharp angle off to one side, very few people watch TV that way.

IMO, I believe you will find the 800 series significantly better than 700 series; both I would consider excellent.

i know you have to be side to side with the plasma to see the 2nd image. but it just kinda bugs me that i know i can see a ghost if i would do that. i might have to get a newer kuro if they are affordable

AFAIK the only picture difference between the two would be 5,000 shades vs 4,000 shades. It is unlikely the BB feed was even putting out 1,000 shades; hence the $1,200 LG set looked the same. If a person can seen the difference (5,000 vs 4,000) you would have to have the "ultimate" in feed quality.

Went to BB on lunch and paid for my 800U. Friend is coming with truck to pick it up later tonight. They had some service special going so I will be getting it calibrated for free after I have done the break in. That on top of the 12% off + ability to finance isn't too bad I guess.

Will do some initial impressions tonight before starting the break in period

What is the size of the box that 46PZ800U it comes in?

Need more pictures....and thoughts.

Just looknig for something to keep holding me over until the one I ordered shows up

Overall, it still sounds like a solid set from what people have said. I sorta agree with the sentiment stated earlier that it's probably a good deal at $2,500 or so.....but not sure people that pay closer to $3,000 are going to be as satisfied since at that price you're probably expecting close to Kuro quality.

I'm excited and can't wait to get it. I spent alot of time looking at a 50PZ85 this past weekend and I thought that set looked pretty good. So I really don't think I'm expecting a whole lot more in terms of PQ. I mean, we're into like 10 or 11 years of plasma generations....how much better is picture quality going to get with it?

I'm personally just looking for a solid, overall set. Doesn't need to be perfect, but just want it to be better than the 700 series and maybe slightly better than the 85 series.

I think that will be a true statement. It "is" noticeably better than 700 IMO, and will be slightly better than 85U when you feed it the "best of the best" signal source you have (blu ray, live OTA 1080i with 1:1 pixel mapping etc)

yeah people are forgotting that things like the shades and the 24P processing are probably not as easy to see when looking side buy side in a store like best buy (hopefully someone doing an exchange can take em home and do a real test soon).

maybe the THX mode options one could compare in the store and see if that makes the picture modes on the 800u any better, but so far people havent devled much into that.

Nothing but HDMI here. I plan to use the back 3 HDMI inputs for my PS3, 360, and Cable Box (eww). Fourth HDMI input on the side will be for my PC when I feel like it

OK first of all I had typed a big reply about my impressions, hit a button by accident and it's all gone so here I go again. @#$#%%

I have had multiple different HD setups and pretty much know what to look for so please don't judge my post history.

50pz800u Impressions:

By the way I set it to THX and reset the factory settings because for some reason I trust THX. That and there is obviously no way to dial in a set at BB.

COSMETICS: First of all let me tell you that the set stands out from the pack and not in a normal way. First of all it wasn't shiny thank God. It was refined, non-glitzy and all class. As for the screen, let me put everyones fear to rest and tell everyone that it does have a smooth one sheet of glass finish with NO BEZEL. It instead has a "frame" around the edge that is about a 1/4 in and looks very nice. I wish they would have made the corners more seamless, but you can't even tell from 4-5 feet away. Your eyes tend to gravitate towards the picture anyway and let me tell you the set looks delicious.

GLARE: This was very surprising for me but I did not expect to find any special here but I was wrong. The frame is ever so slightly brushed to virtually eliminate any reflective light. Now this area is only a 1/4 inch so lets move on. The 2.5 in black area between the picture and the frame underneath the "one sheet of glass" is almost exactly what it needed to be, and that is a color of black that is consistent with the contrast of the image and very limited glare. The actual picture of the television was like a perfect marriage between the 700u and 77u screens. More antiglare than the 700u, but it still maintains its glass like image.

PQ:

CONTRAST: The 800u really surprised me. Not just that the blacks looked darker than a 5010 (shows about the same detail though), but how rich the whites looked and I don't mean in an LCD kind of way. This caught me and made me smile because it sets this unit apart from the pack. It made the image appear to have more depth and that leads to an immersive visual experience that we are all looking for. I can't wait to get this thing in the dark.

COLOR: It's hard to judge this in the store but the panny looked very natural. The color of the whites really improved the dimensions of color. I could not discern any color push but it's not like BB has the best feeds. When will they learn. I will however talk about the color gradation.

COLOR GRADATION: Most of you know that this units boasts more shades of gradation (the passing of one shade or tint to another, or one surface to another, by very small degrees) then others. I originally thought this was cool but can the naked eye perceive it. I was looking for it but I could not tell when a movie picture was on the screen. However when the BB Logo comes up the background has different shads of color that you can discern from each other. I was very surprised at what I saw. I ran 15 feet over and looked at the same thing on the pio 5010. The 800u had a much smoother blend of color over the pio. I mean significantly so! Again another reason to dub the picture extremely film like. The gradation makes a big difference.

On the 800u I could not see any grainyness in the picture that is on the 85u.

Also it seemed like the panny displayed more of an image than the other tv's. Almost like more pixels. Is anyones heart racing yet?

Also, there is absolutely NO GHOSTING on this set. This is non existent.

I did not listen to the sound as there is no way on earth I would watch this set without a surround setup. You would do yourself an injustice if you did not pair this set up with audio bliss.

Bottom line: This set has more sizzle, incredible snap, and a three dimensional quality that tugs on my heart strings. Yes, I was impressed.

COMPARISONS:

A pio 5010, and 85u were very close but the a550 was right next to it. Let me just say that these sets are appropriately priced for what you get. Except now the pio's appear to be a little pricey even after their price drop.

Pio 5010: This unit has great detail in the picture but has a little loss in snap compared to the 800u. The 800u blacks were darker but yielded the same detail which is impressive for the pioneer. But here is the big difference. The whites look faded on the pio compared to the panny. The 800u has a sparkle that is noticably absent on the pio. And that says alot.

85u: First of all the 85u is appropriately priced for what you get. The one sheet of glass and extra shades of gradation make a big difference on the 800u over the 85u. It is easily visible when the settings are comperable. The blacks look like the same shade but the detail on the 800u make a 20% difference in the picture. It's almost like a 700u going up against a pio kuro. Maybe not that big but close when it comes to contrast. The 800u had NO GRAINYNESS I could see unlike the 85u.

A550 (It was right next to the 800u): First I set this unit to factory default cinema. This set has a great price for what you get but here are the noticable difference. Cosmetically, The set frustrated me just looking at it. The shiny 2.5 in BEZEL was reflection city, especially on the "lip" between the picture and the bezel. The panny was smooth with no lip or distracting reflection around the black border due to its one sheet of glass design. The 800u did have slightly darker blacks (about 10%) and had better detail. Both sets have good color and whites but again the panny has a more refined image and was incrementally better. The glare off of the a550 was worse than the 800u but not distractingly so. As far as visual snap and sparkle they were close, but the three dimensional quality of the panny stole the show. I hate the glare on this set/bezel and that is enough to keep me away from it.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if I can answer anymore questions. I am really looking forward to a professional review. I have a feeling this set is going to make a big splash!!!