HDTV and Home Theater Podcast - Podcast #461: Panasonic TC-P58VT25 58″ 3D 1080p VIERA Plasma HDTV

[arad]

Ara has been watching his Panasonic TC-P58VT25 58-inch 3D 1080p VIERA Plasma HDTV (Street Price $2500) for about a month and thought it would be a good time for a review. When Ara purchased the TV it was going for about $2700, now you can buy it for about $2500.

[url=http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/podcast/2011/01/hdtv-and-home-theater-podcast-podcast-461-panasonic-tcp58vt25-58-3d-1080p-viera-plasma-hdtv.php]Read Show Notes[/url]

[jordanm]

I'll keep my April 2010 acquired new, Pioneer Elite Pro-151FD, thank you. In HTPC mode, I have many widgets with it, too, all at 1080p/24 from an nVidia GT 430 with HDMI.

[Rodolfo]

[quote="jordanm"]I'll keep my April 2010 acquired new, Pioneer Elite Pro-151FD, thank you.[/quote]

I agree with Jordan, there is no equal to the Kuro; I would not give away the one I purchased for my wife either. The Pannys were usually second choice when the Kuros were alive, but now they are first choice regarding image quality.

Regarding the automatic adjustment of black level as the panel ages, although that was an issue reported widely on Internet forums, Panny has declared that they have done changes but are still doing it in a lesser manner so it is less noticeable.

Thomas Norton of HT Mag has done the aging testing for several weeks leaving the panel on and using calibration equipment to measure light output and he confirmed that although the black level did registered a small change after several hundreds of hours it was very minor and almost imperceptible to the eye with regular content (read the past few magazine issues on the subject).

That testing is not normally done by magazines because it requires more than the typical few weeks a reviewer keeps a sample-unit before returning it to the manufacturer, but he arranged a special deal with Panny to been able to make such measurement at intervals as the unit aged and report his findings to the public, which I am sure Panny was also looking for the same to defuse the negative publicity.

Best Regards,

Rodolfo La Maestra

[jordanm]

Rodolfo,

The calibrator that did my now-dead and replaced PRO-150FD (Pioneer sent me the 151FD in exchange), just came back in December 2010 and did the 151FD. He told me it has the finest PQ ever, even better than the rumored Pio 500/600 (which supposedly has 10G tech) as both are too unstable, and the Pioneer beats the newest Panasonics, as well.

He told me if Panny ever uses the tech it bought from Pioneer, it might be worth looking at, but not until then.

The new 151FD came with a new 2-year warranty. So I'll keep it until 2012 or beyond and wait to see what develops.

You should only see what I can now do with the Pioneer. Playing back EpixHD I get any movie I want streamed in 1080i. The PC has a BD drive and PowerDVD 10 Ultra, and plays back BDs with TrueHD and DTS-HD Master, and mostly 7.1. It'll play avi and mkv files too but with DTS and DD, no BD sound, yet. Oh well, on 7.1 they all sound great.

[colee1]

Nicole here and I'm happy with my purchase! Setup was very easy and the HD programming I get from DISH Network has never looked better. I work for DISH so when I was on the market for a new HD TV I knew just what specifications I was looking for. The price didn't detour me, possibly because my HD programming is free for life (available to all subscribers not just employees).