Panasonic's 50-inch VIERA TH-50PZ800U plasma gets reviewed

There's been quite a few VIERAs reviewed of late, but the latest one to capture an Editor's Choice award from the folks at CNET is Panasonic's TH-50PZ800U. The 50-inch plasma purportedly produced "highly accurate colors and deep black levels," and the "excellent uniformity, in-depth calibration, handsome styling," stellar port selection and effective anti-reflective screen didn't hurt matters. The only real digs came from the lofty price tag, less-than-perfect black levels and ho hum 24p mode -- all of which were apparently not enough to keep critics from falling at least mildly in love. Overall, the set was deemed "one of the best-performing HDTVs available," and that alone speaks volumes. Tap the read link for the full spill if you're still in disbelief.

[(Unverified) Posted May 27th 2008 3:32PM]

Sounds like the 24p issue could be a HDMI / handshake problem. If not, however, it is pretty unacceptable to buy a high end flat panel at this price in 2008 that doesn't support true 24P and accurate 2:3 pulldown. That's like running a marathon and stopping 5 feet before the finish line.

[Biggiesized Posted May 27th 2008 10:21PM]

No the problem is that 24p is only 48 Hz (double), and a lot of flicker appears.

[(Unverified) Posted May 28th 2008 12:49AM]

I just got my Panasonic TH-50PZ85U about a week ago and am very happy with it. Fantastic picture, and I got it at a pretty good price with Price Matching. I was going to get a LCD, but picture quality, Viewing Angles, Price, etc. on a Plasma still have LCD's beat.

[onesolo Posted May 28th 2008 5:23AM]

I'm almost going to the Pio 8G Hd Ready plasmas after this whole fiasco of the latest generation of Panasonic Plasma...

[(Unverified) Posted May 28th 2008 11:45AM]

Plasma FTW!!!!