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The set offers a native resolution of 1,280 x 720 alongside high, 400 cd/m2 brightness ensures vivid, exacting images from DVD players and other devices. What's more, Panasonic's Progressive Scan Doubler will upconvert standard interlaced (nonprogressive) broadcast and auxiliary signals to flicker-free, 480p resolution.
The PT-50LCL13 is considerably less bulky than most rear-projection televisions and consumes less energy. Further, LCD displays don't suffer from misconvergence or flicker, like their CRT counterparts. The Panasonic multimedia display incorporates thin-film transistor (TFT) technology, also known as active matrix, to improve color reproduction, eliminate ghosting, and boost response speed. TFT technology also helps achieve an extraordinary brightness level of 700 to 800 cd/m2.
Two-tuner picture-in-picture with split-screen display lets you view two programs at once by dividing the screen in half down the middle. Each program is shown at full height, with one program on the left side and the other on the right. Eight-bit PIP image processing provides 256 levels of gray from black to white in the inset picture for finer image detail.
Movie sources get their due with Panasonic's 3:2 pulldown feature, Progressive Cinema Scan. This enhancement compensates for motion artifacts that sometimes result from the telecine process that's used to convert film's 24-frames-per-second to an NTSC-friendly 60 frames per second. Other picture-enhancing features include horizontal and vertical edge correction and a motion-adaptive 3D Y/C digital comb filter, which eliminates "hanging dots" and color rainbow effects in closely spaced patterns.
What's in the Box
TV, remote control, remote batteries, and user's manual.
Watching movies on this is what I bought it for and it is incredible for that. INCREDIBLE!!! We watched Seabiscuit and Finding Nemo on it and it was flawless. We just use the TVs speakers now, but will purchase a home theater system, bit by bit, over time. I think the speakers are great. Loud, without much distortion. But...I am not an audiosnob.
I recommend the set with the idea that I know that I'm on the bleeding edge a little bit and hope that HDTV catches up with us sooner rather than later.
PS - After researching DVD players and seeing what I could find here in Puerto Rico, I bought the Toshiba SD 3900 DVD player for about $80 and it seems to drive the "flawless" picture on the Panasonic TV just fine. I planned on buying a $2-300 dvd player, but couldn't find the one I wanted here, so I just bought the Toshiba "for now"...and I may just stick with it.
Please note that digital cable and satellite does not equal HDTV. In reality, there are about four HDTV channels in my cable area. Digital cable picture quality ranges from Good to Poor. I was able to improve the picture quality by tweaking the Picture adjustments. First, change the Picture menu default to Cinema. I keep the Color Temp at Normal. The Picture Adjust allows you to fine tune the Color, Tint, Brightness and Sharpness. (NOTE: Normal is the reset - I learned the hard way). I keep all these settings below the mid-line in various positions (Set to your own liking). The greatest change was noted when I finally turned the Picture adjustment down. The non - HDTV channel grain was decreased quite a bit. With all the changes, the picture is darkened some, but still looks fine.
My set up is through a Yamaha home theater amp and cable box via component cables. Depending upon your connections (component, s-video, etc), some of the advanced set up features may be automatic - Component - per Panasonic. So, I have the following - Video NR off. ID1 off. 480 p color Matrix - SDTV. 3D Y/C on. 3D IP on. Also, when connected through a cable box many of the TV actions/features are defeated- i.e. PIP- Split Screen - Mute- Captions - etc. The speakers for the TV are adequate, but I use my home theater for sound on everything. I have the speakers shut off.
Watch the price on this TV. I have found the base price is less in the store and there is often a $$$ rebate. The best time to buy is the day after Thanksgiving. I paid $$$$ for the TV and $$$ for the five year extended warranty (Recommended).
This set weighs about 89 lb and is easy to move on the custom stand. The set is well packed in an oversize box. Even though the box is large, keep it for at least 30 days, in case you want/need to return the TV (They may not take the TV back without the box). I also performed additional research on the internet and found the Panasonic highly rated.
Lastly, do yourself a favor and purchase a home theater sound system of equal quality (not a jack in the box system - I made that mistake a year ago {Returned it} and vowed not to update my home theater system from a 30 inch TV and a 20 year old amp with four speakers and a sub-woofer). My new audio system cost more than the TV and completes the home theater experience. I was amazed at the sound and sight of special effects. (The key for the audio is the proper calibration of the speakers that my amp can do automatically). Panasonic 50 inch LCD TV - -- Recommended Purchase!!!!
12/22/03 A Few More Tid-Bits Recently, I provided a review and thought of some more information to share, from my many hours of research The LCD TV functions with a high intensity light, that has an estimated life of 10,000 hours/5 years. The Panasonic service department indicated the light shelf life is probably actually less, based upon usage, number of times the set is turned on/off, etc. My salesman indicated the cost of replacing the light is $$$, but Panasonic indicated it would be less, and will go down in 5 years anyway. It appears that the end consumers can replace the light themselves. Moreover, the Panasonic service tech indicated the life of the LCD TV is probably ten to fifteen years without a major breakdown/repair - Not bad, since my 30 inch Toshiba lasted about seven years before it needed a $100 repair. You can download the Panasonic PT-50LC13 operating instructions from the Panasonic web site - A good idea before your purchase. The service department is open to speaking with consumers before the sale at 1 866-843-9788. I have contacted twice and found more help the second time from another tech (Phil).
After re-visiting my salesman to view the TV with my wife, I noticed a small blue spot on the screen (only when the screen was between feature presentations and dark/black). Per the salesman, this is a pixel malfunction and would be covered under warranty. I am not sure what causes this malfunction, but have only seen it on this one TV.
The set is light-weight (89 pounds) and thin/narrow. So thin, the top of the TV will not accommodate a TV top shelf. I like the optional custom stand, but as I noted in my previous review, the space for components is lacking. (Stand drawback is the limited interior width of 29 inches and limited depth - my amp with all cables just fits within the depth and I can only fit my narrow cable box next to my 17 inch wide amp).
The remote is pretty easy to operate. My only drawback is that I now have four remotes that I need to tune to operate the other components. At this point, I have the DVD tuned to this remote and that works fine. I expect for any advanced feature, I will still need to use my other remotes. I have used monster cables for all my connections and find excellent clarity and sound. The aspect feature works well and the Full setting looks fine with many of my 4:3/normal concert DVDs. However, with many of my 4:3 or normal movies, the stretching is apparent in the face and body. Not sure why the difference.
I recommend the 5 year extended warranty for this purchase. Based on what my salesman told me and by reading the fine print, the coverage is for in-house service - parts and labor - including the light. I shopped locally for this TV set (Two big chain stores and a regional audio-visual specialty store), and found each to be competitive in pricing. The competency and integrity of the salesman is key for me.
Like many other consumers, I contemplated purchasing from an E-Tailer, with a nice little price savings - That is all you get - a little price savings. Please realize the following when ordering from an E-Tailer: You will still pay shipping $$$ plus - Tax may be applied if the E-Tailer is located in your state - The Panasonic Warranty may be void and you may only have coverage through the E-Tailer - The extended warranty may be more costly - Contact/Service after the sale may be lacking. I had contacted a few of the E-Tailers and found the TV set and stand were backordered for two months. I asked for a different stand and a call back, with no response. A few dollars more spent locally, will save future headaches. Panasonic 50 inch LCD TV - Recommended Purchase!!!!
12/24/03 - Day 11 of ownership - Last Installment of information (3). Recently, I provided a review(s) and discovered the following last night. NOTE: Keep in mind that (Contrast) Cinema, Dynamic and Normal all have their own options for Picture Adjustments - Color, Tint, Brightness, Picture and Sharpness. I keep Dynamic and Normal at the factory pre-set at this time and use Cinema as my primary contrast.
I have noticed that THX certified movies are difficult to fine tune for color and contrast - There is a deeper red tint to some of the character faces in Tombstone and Planet of the Apes. (I am not sure if this has anything to do with component cable connections - So far only THX movies have the color variation). I have utilized the disc optimizer for adjustment, but I still needed to delve deeper with my Panasonic fine-tuning. Hence, I have tweaked up some of the adjustments in the Cinema contrast. Thereafter, I set the Contrast setting on my DVD player - Panasonic S25K - to Cinema 2. The flesh-tones now look perfect on the DVD(s) and on cable as well.
My line settings for THX Movies (Range is 1 - 17) for Cinema Picture Adjustment from the left of the screen are:
Color - 7
Tint - 9
Brightness - 10
Picture - 10
Sharpness - 9
(Note Normal is the factory reset - Do not reset until you write down your settings).
My initial line settings for watching Non-HDTV in the Cinema Contrast mode are:
Color - 7
Tint - 9
Brightness - 9
Picture - 7
Sharpness - 7
(Note Normal is the factory reset - Do not reset until you write down your settings).
I hope my reviews prove helpful and turn any disappointment and frustration to cheerfulness.
We sit around 6 feet away and the picture is quite stunning on HDTV.
Note however, if you just connect plain analog or even digital cable, you will be sorely disappointed - with the signal, not the TV :-).
DVDs look good - had to purchase a progressive scan DVD player just to make the pictures look good! Progressive scan DVD at 480p look great. However if the DVD is of poor quality, then the errors are magnified on the 50" screen!
The TV does 1080i and 720p very well on the DVI connector.
The RGB inputs work great - was even able to get my Dell Latitude laptop connected and working (most of the older laptops cannot connect with RGB to a LCD monitor).
THe BBE sound is nice as well - provides a much better surround sound experience. However, the auto volume correction does NOT work with BBE. Overall, having external speakers definitely makes the experience a lot better.
LCD TVs like Plasma TVs have a fan to cool the inside - but I did not hear the fan with normal and very low volume output. Only when the TV is off, I can hear the fan operating silently for some time before it switches off completely (after the lamp is cooled).
Pros:
- Looks extremely sleek - better than Sony wega LCDs!
- Lot cheaper than a 50" plasma and performs better over a longer period
- 2 sets of RGB inputs - one at side and one at back - this is great for laptop or computer connectivity. Imagine connecting the laptop to it and surfing from the couch with a wireless keyboard
- DVI / HDCP Input - for those who understand what this means, connecting the cable box via this connector provides the best possible connectivity (better than composite, better than RGB). Works great on Time Warner / Brighthouse HDTV cable box with DVI output.
- TV Comes with DVI cable
- Lots of composite and component inputs and digital audio out as well
- Remote looks and performs well (silver finish just like the TV) and is able to control the cable box as well if needed. We use the cable remote to control the TV instead.
Remote menus very easy to understand and operate.
- Offers quick aspect scaling from Normal 4:3 -> Full (extends the normal 4:3 screen to 16:9) -> Just (extends only the extreme sides so that people in the middle do not look abnormally fat!) -> Zoom (uniformly zooms out - but can lose the ticker at the bottom!). This aspect scaling works on the component, composite and the coax inputs.
Cons:
- Does not come with composite cables - but ask your cable provider - they usually provide one.
- Standard Cable (even just plain digital) looks just so-so. The size of the TV and the high resolution of the LCD display magnifies any deficiencies in the signal.
- DVI input does not seem to have closed captions - do not know if the problem is with the signal or with the TV
- BBE surround sound does NOT have auto volume correction
- takes around 30 sec - 1 min to startup after a cold start
- Lacks a built-in HD Tuner - but then most plasma TVs do not have it either and is a lot cheaper because of its absence!
- Cannot scale aspect on the Digital Input (DVI/HDCP) - I think this is a restriction on the signal as it is already 16:9 720p signal.
- Need to set the TV to Cinema mode otherwise the cable inputs on standard or digital look terrible! Make sure you do this, otherwise you will NOT have a good viewing experience! Wish Cinema mode is the default.
Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it's hard to get it back in.
-- H.R. Haldeman
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has a few things to say on
the subject of towels.
Most importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For
some reason, if a non-hitchhiker discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel
with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a
toothbrush, washcloth, flask, gnat spray, space suit, etc., etc. Furthermore,
the non-hitchhiker will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or
a dozen other items that he may have "lost". After all, any man who can
hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, struggle against terrible odds,
win through and still know where his towel is, is clearly a man to be
reckoned with.
-- Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
