Official New Panny thread: 42PD50, PX50, PX500 - Page 2

I just called BB and got the same info.

My question is: Why if the new model will be shipped on 3/22 is there not more info available?

There seems to be genuine confusion if this new model will have Cable-Card or not (though I would think that it definitely would).

-UC

I stand corrected! Hopefully this is a good sign.

Mangelo, do you happen to know the SKU for the TH-37PX50U (and whether it is also available / on sale)?

thanks!

It was AdilM ("Installer / Dealer in NC") that posted that PM50 info here, part of a blurb he says he got from Panasonic around CES time. As he says himself, "don't crucify me if it's wrong!".

Available S-9, i.e. September; guess we'll have to wait and see.

I remember now . . .

A quick comparison between the PM and the PD below it show NO bullets in common. I wonder what all that means.

I guess we wait.

I email Panasonic about the specs of the 37 inch pd50u about 2 weeks ago. I finally got their response today and they said

"Thank you for your inquiry. The information that you have made a
request for is not yet available.

Thank You,
Panasonic Consumer Support"

I have already moved on and got the Sharp Aquos.

All the contrast ratio numbers are imaginary--Panasonic had to say 5000:1 to say that they were competitive with LG/Zenith. Who's really the best? Probably Panasonic by a hair but not at 5000:1 though LG/Zenith does have its believers.

goman,

Wow, you actually got a response! Well, sort of.

Maybe there's hope for me. I e-mailed them as well asking why, if there is going to be a 37" ED in Germany we can't have one here also.

I'm taking bets as to whether I get the same no-response response.

But I've been paralyzed so long a while more won't matter. I'm going to wait and see.

That's a typo.

The TH-42PM50 is an older Japanese Model.

Does anyone know if the new Panasonic's (in particular the 42PX50U) will accept a 720 input, so that someone can watch ABC HD and other broadcast that are being feed in 720?
Or can you still view these programs without having an input that accepts 720 signals? Would you just switch to viewing it in 1080i? I am not this familiar with plasma as I do not own one at this time. I know the Pioneer accepts 720 signals, just wanted to make sure if I go the Panasonic route I could view certain programs.
If someone could clear this up for me I would appreciate any information in regards to the 720 input or being able to view programs without it.
Thanks
Jeff

"Does anyone know if the new Panasonic's (in particular the 42PX50U) will accept a 720 input, so that someone can watch ABC HD and other broadcast that are being feed in 720?"

Based on all the Press Releases it is my understanding that Panasonic has rectified this issue- yes it will now accept 720 signals via component, HDMI, etc.

Dave

It only took them like 10 years to do it.

These spec's provided by "westa6969" tout a contrast ratio of 10,000:1 for Samsung's new 2005 HP-R5072 PDP.

ExtremeTech.com listed the HP-R5072 among The most impressive HD displays at CES (which) included some great values.

Samsung's 50-inch "HP-R5072" impressed me with its 12-bit processing (claiming 68.7 billion colors) as well as improved contrast and brightness. Luscious indeed, this desirable display will be available in April for $6,999 (MSRP).

It will be interesting to see how this panel measures up against the new Panasonic TH-50PX50/500U series PDPs.

Samsung..haha.....see if they can get there "clayface" issue fixed first........
I have a Akai 2498ED1 and its a rebadged SP-P4231 and the posterization and clayface artifacts are horrible,driving me nuts figuring how to fix it thru the service menu....not much luck so far.
It's made in mexico and i read here that the new panny's are made there too, which prob is at the same factory, just added a different assembly line.
There's only a handful of plasma factory's in the world.
So what i'm seeing from mexico i'm not impressed, so the current made in japan panny's might be the best.
Time will tell and all the "good" ones might be gone.

I agree, to this point, Samsung PDPs have not received high marks. But you might think (perhaps erroneously so) after building PDPs this long and with an MSRP in the $5K+ range... Samsung would eventually get it right. As you said only time will tell. The good news is some B&M store should have either the 4272 or 5072 on display, so we will be able to see both the Samsung and the Panasonic PX50/500U panels, perhaps side-by-side. While we can't draw any conclusions until we see these panels, at least the specs for the Samsung are impressive and it does look nice in the picture.

ExtremeTech.com viewed this panel at CES 2005 and gave it a favorable rating.

Any information on 37" speaker placement...and width??

It probably took their marketing people that long to persuade their manufacturing executives to spend money to fix something that didn't really need to be fixed.

Panasonic's 720p "problem" applies only to STB's that output 720p signals, but not 1080i. Are there any?

As I understand it, most, if not all, external devices produce either output depending upon how they are set, converting one format to the other as necessary. Once inside the TV's circuity, all signals 480, 720 or 1080 have to be scaled to match the display's native resolution, which, on a plasma screen, doesn't exactly match either HDTV standard. If sales brochures are to be believed, it's not uncommon for other sets to convert all signals to 1080 prior to internal processing.

I suppose it could be argued that 720 to 768 involves less conversion than 1080 to 768, but it's doubtful that the difference is visible to the naked eye, especially since Panasonic engineers undoubtedly optimized their circuitry for 1080 to 768 (or 480 for ED) scaling.

As for watching ABC and Fox 720p broadcasts, I've been enjoying them on my Panasonic TH-42PD25U since the moment I plugged it in.

"Panasonic's 720p "problem" applies only to STB's that output 720p signals, but not 1080i. Are there any?"

I do not have my plasma TV yet so I really shouldn't be discussing any of these issues, but I think Comcast in my area was putting out 720p signals. This may not be the case any more but I know alot of panny ED people where having problems with this.

Which does a better job of scaling - the TV or a STB? If the TV, then it is better to have the 720P input and set the STB to passthrough. Also for Xbox users the 720P input is a plus.

JCPZero

It appears that Panasonic is no longer shipping the 50PX25. Hopefully, that means that the 50PX50 is coming in EARLY april, although that is probably wishful thinking.

Thanks to new forum member Nogits in this post:

Panasonic now has the owner's manual for TH-42PD50U available online in PDF.

See if this link works directly to the PDF:

TH42PD50U PDF

Now I am off to do some PDF manual reading!

JCPZero

Here are some comments on the TH-42PD50U pdf manual:

720P support on HDMI and component inputs
No Cablecard slot
Aspect cannot be changed on HD (720p/1080i)
All inputs on rear - none in front

Input specific picture settings? - Does not look good. It appears to be the same as the 25U. Seems you have to use the picture mode trick (Vivid, Standard or Cinema).


JCPZero

No Antenna B
Black Level Control
MPEG NR
Automatic Program review in Recall - Shows current program being viewed; nice
Color Management?
Zoom Adjust - Adjusts vertical size and position

Nice! Thanks for sharing that the manual is available. I am off to do some reading =)

Nothing is free, I guess. Panasonic really cut corner in this case to lower the price on the PD50U.

Among my favorite features which had been removed: front/side AV input for camcorder. PIP (good for watching 2 football games at the same time). Are this really equal tlo $500 diff in MSRP?

Let's hope the new PQ is worth it. I got turned off by this set already.

Does anyone know for sure if the new PX50/500 models plasmas will have HD aspect ratio control i.e. zoom on HD 4:3 letterbox or 2.35:1 widescreen, so it fills the entire display?

Unfortunately I believe it is unlikely as the service manual for the new TH42PD50U shows no aspect control for HD is available

I am starting to think the only way to get the Panasonic picture with the features I want is to combine a TH50PHD7UY with a DVDO Iscan HD+.

Panasonic best picture, poorest features

When I was in BB this past weekend, their computer showed one TH-42PD50U in the Birmingham, AL warehouse...perhaps we have a member in Birmingham that has seen it or might be able to check it out for us???

I'll second that!

With all the "losses" in the new 42ED, the only thing that might prove to be a redeeming quality is if it turns out to have the sub-pixel control with a fantastic PQ.

Aspect ratio for HD?

From what I understand, it takes some serious signal processing to do that (translation : cost) . Even stand alone set top box currently on market cannot do that.

On the other hand, movie directors definitely do not want us to do that as they spend a lot time to frame their shots.

I have to admit, I am not a big fan of 2.35:1 aspect ratio. I do not really understand the extra footage viewers will benefit from 2.35 as compared to 1.85. The attention is mostly on the center of the screen anyway.

Why don't they shoot movie all in 1.85:1, :-)

Or why not issue DVD's "Pan and Scanned" at 1.85:1 (instead of 2.35:1) like they do 1.33:1?

I don't know why, but letterbox bars on my 16:9 screen annoy me, even though they never did on my 4:3 screen.