mjoliver

 View profile
 Send mail

Outstanding performance and value.

Nov 9, 2007

Rating: 9 out of 10 (Spectacular)
Pros: Excellent picture from upscaled Starhub HD STB: Even SD channels reproduce excellently at 1080i input resolution.
Cons: SRS Trusound Surround XT quite disappointing. No real spatial/ambience effect.
Opinion:
I debated for many months about which LCD TV to buy for my living room, having discounted Plasma because of concerns about, burn-in, expense/screen size, lack of Full-HD, heat dissipation and screen reflection. Suddenly, the Panasonic TH-50PY700H. I changed my mind almost immediately upon reading the specs. and witnessing the crisp natural colours, judder-free motion and hearing the powerful, dynamic wide-range built-in audio.
Admittedly, it lacks some refinements and flexibility to tweak, but, frankly, for the price (my nett cost, after dealer discount and cash vouchers from Panasonic, was SGD4199!), I have no complaints at all.
Besides this newly acquired Plasma Screen, I have a home cinema in a dedicated room: 110" screen, Sony front projector, 7.1 channel audio (Onkyo to Klipsch speakers). I'm extremely fussy about audio and video reproduction. This TV is really excellent to watch cable HD and upscaled SD media from Starhub over HDMI and the occasional standard DVD, if I'm too lazy to fire up the big system.
This Panasonic lacks 24/30fps input and has limited but adequate video tweaks, but this is no big deal for me since the solid upscaling, natural colours and high-contrast picture is excellent for the purpose in my bright living room.
The audio is exceptional for a TV: deep, tight bass and crystal clear treble with bags of amplitude to spare, especially for a living room environment. The biggest disappointment about this product is the stale surround-sound from SRS: at best it is stereo with a bit more depth than usual. It simply doesn't stack up at all as a synthetic surround as I've heard significantly better on many other TVs.
Overall, however, after only one week of ownership, top marks for price/performance/looks/ease-of-use.... 100,000 hours G10 screen and 3 years warranty.