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The Official Panasonic TC-P50X1 and TC-P42X1 Owner's Discussion & Information Thread

post #1 of 3174
2/26/09 at 8:05am
Thread Starter 
Now that these panels are out let's get the discussion started. Have you seen or do you own this? What are your experiences with this?

From the Panasonic web site, these are the features listed:

# 720p Resolution
# Contrast Ratio: 30,000:1 Native; Infinite Black Panel
# 720 Lines of Moving Picture Resolution
# 600Hz Sub-field Drive
# VIERA Image Viewer
# VIERA Link
# AR (Anti-Reflective) Filter
# Game Mode
# 3 HDMI Inputs
# 100,000 Hour Panel Life

These are a few of the specs (various sources):

Power Consumption: Max 399 W
Power Consumption: Stand By .03 W
Pixels 1,049,088 (1,366 (W) × 768 (H))[4,098 × 768 dots]
Item Weight: 79.4 lbs.
TV Type: Plasma
Sound, Overall Type: Surround Sound, 2 channels or more
Screen Size (by diagonal measure): 49-9/10 in.
Jacks, IN-OUT:
PC Input: No
Composite Video Inputs, Number: 2
S-Video Inputs, Number: 1
Component Input Sets, Total Number: 2
Digital Audio Output: Yes
Digital Audio Output Type: Optical
HDMI Inputs, Number: 2 rear, 1 side
Tuner Type: ATSC/NTSC/QAM (digital/analog)
Maximum Resolution: 1366 x 768
Native Resolution: 720p
Anti-Reflective / Static Screen: Yes
Comb Filter Type: Motion-adaptive, 3D Y/C
Contrast Ratio: 30000:1
Width: 48 in.
Height: 32-2/5 in.
Depth: 15-3/10 in.
Remote Control Type: Wireless (infrared)
Controls, Video:
Sleep Time (Switch Off): Yes
Closed Captioning: Yes
Aspect Adjustment: Yes
Video Input Labeling: Yes
V-Chip Program Lockout: Yes
On Screen Display (OSD): Yes, Trilingual
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post #2 of 3174
2/26/09 at 9:02am
I just purchased on last night. Nice set for the money. We watched some Planet Earth off HD-DVD and the picture looked very sharp with the no motion blurs that I noticed. I will have to play around with the settings. I went with the cinema mode and moved the sharpness to 0. I don't notice the pop as I do with my JVC projector but that may be due to improper settings. I am pleased with the purchase overall. At 11' back, I couldn't tell the difference between 720 & 1080 at the store.
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post #3 of 3174
2/26/09 at 10:03am
You might want to change the title to Panasonic X1 Owner's thread as the 42" and 50" use the same panel.
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post #4 of 3174
2/26/09 at 10:08am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kkpro View Post

I just purchased on last night. Nice set for the money. We watched some Planet Earth off HD-DVD and the picture looked very sharp with the no motion blurs that I noticed. I will have to play around with the settings. I went with the cinema mode and moved the sharpness to 0. I don't notice the pop as I do with my JVC projector but that may be due to improper settings. I am pleased with the purchase overall. At 11' back, I couldn't tell the difference between 720 & 1080 at the store.

Sharpness to 0? Why would you do that? Does it take the edginess out and make the TV viewable at closer distances or something?
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post #5 of 3174
2/26/09 at 10:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by stindawg View Post

you might want to change the title to panasonic x1 owner's thread as the 42" and 50" use the same panel.

+1
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post #6 of 3174
2/26/09 at 10:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HammerRock View Post

Sharpness to 0? Why would you do that? Does it take the edginess out and make the TV viewable at closer distances or something?

Sharpness controls add edge enhancement ie artifacts.
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post #7 of 3174
2/26/09 at 10:31am
D-Nice, Waiting For your Test Report on the X1. When do you think you will post it or are you passing on the X Series?
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post #8 of 3174
2/26/09 at 10:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by StinDaWg View Post

You might want to change the title to Panasonic X1 Owner's thread as the 42" and 50" use the same panel.

+2

Chris
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post #9 of 3174
2/26/09 at 5:27pm
I read somewhere that this set has a dvi input im assuming that is false? I was wondering because i am going to purchase this set tomorrow and need to order cables accordingly for my pc.
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post #10 of 3174
2/26/09 at 5:30pm
No dvi, I don't know of any sets that use them anymore.
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post #11 of 3174
2/26/09 at 6:20pm
r there any settings out for the tv yet? calibrations?
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post #12 of 3174
2/26/09 at 8:01pm
mines on custom (not a fan of cinema, makes everything look too dark... scenes outside look like its always sunset)

contrast: 76
brightness: 57
color: 53
tint: -9
sharpness: 29

everything else off.

Black levels: light

my only complaint with this set is its lack of pop.. its very dark and subtle.
but thenagain i feel the same way about many of the pioneer sets.

My old samsung s4253 had the same problem but then in the setup menu you could change the energy saver settings to off and the screen just jumped out at ya. I wish we could that with this set.
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post #13 of 3174
2/26/09 at 8:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill1313 View Post

D-Nice, Waiting For your Test Report on the X1. When do you think you will post it or are you passing on the X Series?

My local BBs are out of stock right now. I don't deal with HHGregg. Hopefully I can get one next week. However, I am debating whether to or not to skip the X1 series.
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post #14 of 3174
2/26/09 at 9:08pm
d-nice, plz dont skip the x1 series as I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it before I purchase.
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post #15 of 3174
2/26/09 at 10:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill1313 View Post

D-Nice, Waiting For your Test Report on the X1. When do you think you will post it or are you passing on the X Series?

I think I read somewhere that he wasn't interested in testing the Xs and would wait for bigger game.

Saw this set today at Sears. Was underwhelmed -- seemed Pioneer dim, as if it's missing 100 watts' worth of power from the PX80 (which it is). Maybe that means it does have good blacks -- couldn't tell, but I don't think so. It was, to my eyes, bested by the Samsung A450 right above it. I think it would be also bested by the PX80.

But tomorrow is another day, and I hope to see another one in a better environment before I take the Samsung plunge-of-IR faith.
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post #16 of 3174
2/27/09 at 5:28am
Prime Time, Why not look around for a PX80 because there's still some around.

D-Nice, here is the perfect reason to test an X1 so people will know wether to grab a PX80 while there still around or go with the new X1.

What I would really like to see you do is test an X1 & then return it for an S1 & do a test report on both because as far as I'm concerned every Mag. & Website will be doing test reports on the G,V & X Series. Think about 2008 what Mag or Website did a test report on the PZ80?

I would'nt be surprised to find out that the PX80 is the better value especially if the Power Supply is cheaper in the X1 that's the 1st big thing to cut to make cheaper sets but the picture quality usually also drops when they do that & the sets don't last as long either & you can have a lot of picture quality problems in the future with poor power supplies, at least that's how it was with CRT displays.
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post #17 of 3174
2/27/09 at 6:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by D-Nice View Post

My local BBs are out of stock right now. I don't deal with HHGregg. Hopefully I can get one next week. However, I am debating whether to or not to skip the X1 series.


Don't overwhelm the poor lad...................he is still in mourning over the demise of Pioneer in the PDP industry.

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post #18 of 3174
2/27/09 at 6:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill1313 View Post

Prime Time, Why not look around for a PX80 because there's still some around.

D-Nice, here is the perfect reason to test an X1 so people will know wether to grab a PX80 while there still around or go with the new X1.

The very last PX80s are disappearing from the SoCal B&M shelves as we speak. I'm trying to chase one down.

If you want one before they're gone, you've gotta get them online. Now.
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post #19 of 3174
2/27/09 at 7:24am
Thread Starter 
So that's the most of this set? Buy the previous model? Wow, I am disappointed now. I thought the set looked better because of the faster processor.
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post #20 of 3174
2/27/09 at 7:51am
I don't know about "better" looking than the PX80. The one I looked at was definitely dimmer. And someone else noticed the same thing, so that makes it almost a trend. Played with the menus looking for an "Energy Saver" tab, but didn't see it.

I believe the PX80 was the most popular plasma sold in the past six months. I would be surprised if the P50X1 follows suit. Apparently Panasonic felt the need to "fix" something that wasn't broken, or Muntz-out some parts they thought they could shave costs on.
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post #21 of 3174
2/27/09 at 8:19am
Thread Starter 
Well, I heard California was trying to ban Plasmas because of the energy consumption or some foolishness. The P50X1 is energy star compliant now so maybe that was the change.

It lists for $1099 but I got it for less, so I thought it was a good deal (I didn't say the price I go it at). The main thing is that I like it, and for the price the only thing comparable now was the Walmart one with only 2 HDMI ports.

Of course one of the big drawbacks is that it only has a digital audio out.
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post #22 of 3174
2/27/09 at 8:57am
hammerock, anyone telling you right now that the px80 model (which reviewed very well) is better is merely stating opinion that is very likely false. I would be especially weary of statements like this made at this early stage. Every generation of panasonic sets have shown an improvement and it is doubtful that will change. The x1s will almost surely be an improvement, and a worse case scenario is that they are the same.

Panasonic relies on numerous positive reviews and their reputation to sell their 720p sets over hoards of competition from cheap brands. This will continue with their x1 series, which will again represent excellent 'bang for buck' due to the 1366x768 resolution which keeps costs down significantly but still has excellent black level.

The winning part of the panasonic 720p series is the fact that they do everything quite well and cut costs on native resolution. This compares favourable to countless middling entry level 1080p lcds which cut corners everywhere to fit the extra pixels in for a specified cost. After spending all the money on the pixels, they ignore all other aspects of picture quality on the low end models and they end up looking terrible.

Enjoy your set.
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post #23 of 3174
2/27/09 at 9:16am
Whether the PX80 is "better" than the P50X1 is certainly a subjective matter and an open question right now.

However, tt should be readily apparent if the PX80 is brighter than the P50X1.

"Brighter" need not be a dirty codeword for "LCD" in this forum.
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post #24 of 3174
2/27/09 at 9:22am
Don't forget about all of new ecological requirements regarding power consumption especially of plasmas. These days you cant simply sell last year's model, you MUST lower its power consumption, so if you use last year's panel, then you can only achieve this by artifically lowering brightness. So I agree that though its highly unlikely that X1 is worser (dimmer) than PX80, theres a chance that it really is, and there is an explanation for this.
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post #25 of 3174
2/27/09 at 10:56am
Thing is, excessive power consumption should not be that much of a problem with 720p displays relative to their 1080 cousins.

You look at the Maximum Power Consumption specs for the 1080 sets and they are much higher than the X1/PX80. The PX80U's stated max power is on a par with the new Neo displays, which are touted as being more efficient.

Plasmas are spotting LCDs enough in the brightness department without increasing that gap and making things even more obvious.
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post #26 of 3174
2/27/09 at 11:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by smilejedimind View Post

I read somewhere that this set has a dvi input im assuming that is false? I was wondering because i am going to purchase this set tomorrow and need to order cables accordingly for my pc.

Yes that's false. Panasonic hasn't had a DVI input on their TVs in about 5 years. For some reason, Best Buy likes to put that in their specs on various Panasonic models

FWIW, i would never buy a 768p TV to use with a PC, are you sure you don't want to wait a few weeks for the S1?
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post #27 of 3174
2/27/09 at 11:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by PrimeTime View Post

Thing is, excessive power consumption should not be that much of a problem with 720p displays relative to their 1080 cousins.

You look at the Maximum Power Consumption specs for the 1080 sets and they are much higher than the X1/PX80. The PX80U's stated max power is on a par with the new Neo displays, which are touted as being more efficient.

The max power of the NeoPDP may be higher but that is because they are much brighter. If you lower the brightness to normal use they will use less electricity. That is the point of them. Saves power for most users or same power with the super bright lcd look that so many people seem to love.
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post #28 of 3174
2/27/09 at 12:25pm
I guess that's the $3,000 question right now.

Ten bucks says the 589-watt-rated 50G is no brighter than the 497-watt PX80U. But that won't be a sales issue because the new showroom baseline will now be the P50X1.

Only on the Plasma Forum is brightness a fightin' word. Every place else -- RPTV, DLP and that other tech that begins with "L" -- mo' brightness is considered to be mo' better. And on the Front Projector forum it's pretty much the Holy Grail.
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post #29 of 3174
2/27/09 at 3:27pm
Quote:


Can you see that the brightness of both screens is the same? But, the one on the left, the NeoPDP employing highly efficient luminance technology, has a power consumption that is about half of that of the screen on the right.

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post #30 of 3174
2/27/09 at 4:05pm
Make that twenty bucks.
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