PLAYBACK 24: Panasonic G10-Series THX-Certified Plasma TV
Superb Picture Quality at a Sweet Price
Home Theater/Multichannel Audio
- PLAYBACK 24: Gallo Acoustics Reference Strada 5.1-Channel System
- PLAYBACK 24: Pioneer Elite SC-27 THX Ultra2 Plus-Certified A/V Receiver
Portable/PC Audio
- Chordette Gem High Definition Bluetooth Decoder/USB DAC (Playback 24)
- PLAYBACK 24: Grado SR325is Headphones
TV / Displays
Two-Channel Audio
Source: Playback
| Products in this article: | TX-P46G10 THX-Certified Plasma TV |
| Related products: | Panasonic TX-P46G10 THX-Certified Plasma TV |
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If the common wisdom is that LCD is killing plasma, well, someone forgot to tell Panasonic, who has substantially increased their plasma presence (and plans to continue to do so with yet another new next-gen plasma panel factory slated to go online next year). Offering multiple tiers of plasma models, their G10 series, which features models in 42”, 50” and 54” sizes, as well as the 46” model (the TX-P46G10) under review here, might be the ones that hit that magic sweet spot between features and performance, and price. All are full 1080p sets, and all are both THX certified and Energy Star qualified, and include Internet movie streaming via Amazon’s Video On Demand subscription service. Recent price trimming includes a $100 drop on the 42” set, and $200 cuts on the 50” and 54” sets, putting the 54” set at a suggested retail of under $2,000 – a fraction of what well-performing 50” 720p plasma sets went for just a few years ago (and without the expanded feature set of today’s lineup).
OVERVIEW
Consider this HDTV if: you’d like a plasma flat panel that provides excellent picture quality that exceeds that of just about any LCD flat panel equivalent. The 50” set at $1,600 and the 54” set at under $2K are superb values by any measure. Viewing angle is yet another advantage that plasma enjoys over LCD, and the G10 features anti-glare screen coating for better contrast under high ambient light conditions.
Look elsewhere if:you need a super-bright picture, as that’s the one key advantage that LCD holds over plasma. For most users however, the Panasonic’s picture will probably be bright enough.
Ratings (relative to comparably-priced plasma HDTVs):
- Overall picture quality (SD): 8
- Overall picture quality (HD): 9
- Features: 8
- Connectivity: 7
- User interface: 7
- Value: 9
FEATURES
THX certification is what sets the G10 series apart from other popularly-priced plasma models, and the THX mode puts the set into essentially studio monitor-grade condition, which provides exemplary colorimetry (accurate color tone rendition) as well as optimum gamma to eliminate white clip and black crush.
Panasonic’s Viera Cast internet via LAN connectivity provides access to online services such as YouTube videos, Bloomberg’s financial news service, Google’s Picassa web photo album viewer, as well as a weather widget. Streaming movies and TV shows from Amazon’s Video On Demand service eliminate trips to the local video store or mailbox to rent or buy SD and HD shows.
Connectivity
Compared to other sets in its class, the Panasonic only comes up a bit short in the HDMI department, with three inputs as opposed to the usual four. But there are two HD-compatible component inputs, so the set offers a total of five HD inputs, which should be enough for most users. Unlike many sets which only offer component and composite inputs, the G10 is equipped with an S-video input, which will be of interest to those with legacy S-video sources such as S-VHS VCRs and/or camcorders and the like. There are two composite inputs, but one of them is shared with the S-video input, so it’s an either-or choice there.
Since Panasonic is one of the three co-developers of the SD flash card standard, it’s no surprise that the G10 comes equipped with an SD card reader slot. But that’s in lieu of a USB port, which will be of concern to those who’d like to hook up their portable media player or other device that’s USB-equipped. There’s an RGB PC input to round out the connectivity package. Some of the connections are on a side-mounted input panel for hookup convenience, including one of the HDMI inputs and the SD card slot.
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You mentioned a short memory on flat screen prices. You bet! My 50" 1080p Panny cost about $3K just a few years ago. Evan better than that, my parents bought an early color CRT in the late 1960s for about $700 an enourmous sum at the time! All pricing is relative.
Nice to see that Panasonic still believes in the superior picture quality plasma has to over LCD especially for fast movie scenes and sporting event.
The review is OK, but for those of us who watch movies, how does this unit perform when fed 24p source material?
24P performance? Really, really good. This is a great lineup. I got my 42" for $850 due to a typo in the Sunday paper ad, but even at the $950 street price it's the best deal in HDTV by far. Pana also has a very nice matching Blu-Ray that Costco offers for $169. Since they have done a lot of integration, I would think strongly about mixing and matching any more than you have to. The audio is fine for watching the news and narratives, but a good sound bar or full surround system is in order here.
I have mine wall mounted on a North wall of a 13 X 17 room with 4- 3X5' undraped east-facing windows and other than a sunny day, the brightness is plenty, although as it gets darker, the the shadow detail becomes apparent, instead of being lost.
Off-axis viewing. If there's one thing that really seals the deal on the G10 - off axis performance - is absolutely stellar, and by comparison, all LCDSs suck at this. If you plan to put the screen on the long wall of any room where you might possibly find yourself off to one side, look no farther, you have found your new TV.
I have a 50" G10. I do watch movies from my Samsung BD-UP5000 HDDVD/Blu-ray player on this set in 24P. The G10 doubles the refresh rate to 48. Some people may notice flicker at 48 frames per second; I do not, except in the very brightest scenes (with large areas of very light or white solid coloring) and watch all my Blu-ray and DVD movies in that mode. The step-up V10 models use a 96 frame-per-second rate, but the price difference did not seem justified at the time (I paid about $1,300 from Amazon, delivered, vs $1,800+ for the 50" V10 model).
I bought one of these in May for $1,850. Now, looking at Nextag, I see you can get one for less than $1,600 with free shipping from a very reputable dealer. The picture from this TV is nothing but stunning. The audio isn't as good as it was on my previous Panasonic plasma TV (it's not bad though) but I use a separate audio system so it's not an issue for me. So far in using the Amazon movie rental feature, I've been very satisfied. The rental movie pictures comes across as excellent hi def, and every movie I've searched for is available, so I'm not sure why one would bemoan the lack of availability of Netflix. I use a splitter to send the high speed internet (needed for the TV rental feature) to both my TV and computers. Youtube looks good on it too.
Great TV .. I believe it's the best bang for the buck HDTV out there.
actually, plasma progress is disappointing, even if quality vis-a-vis LCD TVs is still better. (power consumption is of course worse.)
the Kuro 6020 from last year was as good, had 60" of space, and could be had for around $3,000 when it came out. The Kuro 5020 had 50" of space and could be had for around $2k all year. Again, it was as good as this Panasonic. I see very little progress from last year's models.
at this point, plasmas at this price should be able to produce perfect blacks. maybe next year...
Fact one: The Panasonic has always been t he next best if one couldn't swing the price of the Pioneers.
Fact two: The Pioneer is gone. It doesn't make sense but that's the way it is.
Fact three: The Panasonic out performs today's LCDs, contrary to what the misinformed bloggers who helped kill the Pioneer say.
Fact four: Some people don't know a great deal when they see one.
I bought mine the second week it came out after researching the heck out of what to do in a loft with lots of windows and ambient light. The anti-glare screen solves the glare issue, and I've had no complaints with the output. Upconverted DVDs are excellent in picture quality; BD simply stunning in shadow detail, black level, and motion--I couldnt find an LCD set better in these areas for under $4000. SD broadcasts over Dish are mediocre, but that's a small price to pay based on the value the G10 offers.
I just got my 65" V10 Series (also THX certified like the G10; only bigger). Nicest pic I've seen on any TV ths far...and love the super sized screen for my blu-rays, sports, and console gaming. I too did a lot of research especially in the larger screens 60" and above... Sony is over priced period. Mitsubishi only offers DLP (which I had and it was a very good pic, best DLP type I've seen) their new LaserVue looks stunning ... like to see it next to the V10 series tos see which really looks better...but I was able to get the 65" for $3600 w/addition of 5 yr service plan and tax it was only $40 more than BestBuy's total price w/o the protection plan. Anyway I'm very satisfied with it and hope to get the Viera Cast connection hooked up soon.
Couldn't find references about the TX model here in Canada. The interesting part is that even the Panasonic US site lists the TC-Pxx models. Are these the same sets (i.e. TX-P50G10 same as TC-P50G10)?
The reason that LCD's are more popular than Plasmas is that Plasmas are still really susceptable to screen burn in or image retention. Every person I know who has a plasma has some kind of burn in on there set. This is never talked about in reviews. Why not? Have the really newer sets gotten better at this? Yes, Plasmas have a better picture quality, but until they address this very disturbing issue, they will fade away.
I do not understand how this can be I have had a Pany Plasma for four years with no hint of burn in.
Likewise my brother has had his approx. two yrs. no burn in. I believe it is generally accepted to be
overblown as an issue.
Panasonic uses a Pixel Orbiter (Anti-Image Retention) making pixel burn a non-issue. It works slowly enough you do not notice it in action.
You see? This is the kind of misinformation responsible for killing plasma sales. Plasma burn-in is a thing of the past. No decent plasmas (which is to say anything with a brand name) have had burn-in or image retention in years! My Philips plasma is from 2005 and I've never had this issue. So the reason why reviewers don't cover this topic is the same reason why they don't talk about aliens living in your TV. It doesn't exist. So stop spreading rumors about something which is not true!
I was just at the local Futureshop last week surveying the landscape of LCD and plasma sets. I was particularly interested in the latest and greatest Samsung LED units which I feel to have the best picture even among the best plasmas. I was lingering in front of a 65" plasma set which had a very distinct 9" band in the middle with the word PLAY clearly burned into the left side of this band. Now granted stores tend to abuse these units more so than in most home environments but don't tell me that burn-in doesn't exist. I've been installing TVs and projectors for a couple of decades and I see it all the time. Contrary to what that other guys says LCD can't retain image period.
That is because they have gone great lengths to prevent that. They have pixel orbiters, bright side bars for 4:3 display, screen wipe several features to prevent that. It has reached a stage where you have to absolutely abuse the new generation television to have burn-in. Trust me i have an LCD monitor which has a burn-in.
I've got the G15, exactly the same as the G10 but with a different bezel (less silver). There were some initial issues with this unit involving the THX mode and some greenish tint. The latest firmware has fixed this issue and I can say that this picture ROCKS. The only, and I mean only, TV I've seen that was better was the Kuro Pro which is still the best TV to ever be on the market.
Don't hesitate to get the G10 or G15, you won't be disappointed.
I've had my Pany 50" plasma for almost two years, and it has slight temporary image retention if you leave the image stationary for a while and then go to a dark image. I must stress how temporary the retention is; as soon as you replace the image with a bright one, particularly one with movement, the retention is gone. There has been no hint of ANY permanent retention of any kind. Mine is a 720p, and I can only guess at how amazing the above-reviewed set must be. I love this technology. Viva plasma!
I'm an early adopter, I've had a Fujitsu 50" plasma since 2002. There has never been a burn-in problem. Neither has the picture faded, it's as bright as day one. Very accurate colors, in my opinion better than LCDs. Screen reflections can be a minor problem but the wide viewing angle allows you to compensate. I own both types and I'm totally satisfied with plasma.
"One might quibble that perhaps the Netflix streaming service might have been the better choice for instant access to movies and shows."
Yeah. One might.
I'm always a little amazed to see a statement like that. People who already subscribe to Netflix (& there are a LOT of people who do) can have access to literally Thousands of movies online At NO Additional Charge. Blockbuster charges you for every movie, just as if you'd paid for it at the store.
Are people who say things like that in the top 10% of the financial food chain?
What's to explain?
Without Netflix access, I could give a hoot in hell about 'internet access.' My Apple pc widget can give me the weather, thank you very much.
I have a Panasonic Blue Ray player, Panasonic plasma tv (years old) & Panasonic Receiver, & I'm ready for an upgrade.
- But until Panasonic includes Netflix accessibility, it's not on my list of potential product purchases (& I'm really unhappy about that because I have a high regard for their products except for this issue).
End of story.
disturbing issue...from Bill lcd. What do you do Bill. Go to bed every night and think about this? Really laughable use of words.
If you can still find one, buy a Pioneer Kuro KRP500-A 50" plasma. I compared most of the high end screens before buying my Kuro. If you do decide to go for a Panacrapic and it goes wrong, don't expect to get the support that you deserve. After the way that I was treated with a unit that I previously had from Panasonic, was still under guarantee and it came back with broken board mounts and loose pcd inside and they didn't want to know. Wrote to the MD and got nowhere, well, that's Panacrapic for you.
Yes, the Kuros were the best plasmas ever -- but Pioneer transfered its plasma patents to Panasonic in 2009, so it's entirely likely that the 2011 (if not the 2010) Vieras will include some of the circuitry that made the Kuros so special. In the meantime, the G10/15 lineup are probably the best flat panels out there for their price.