Panasonic TH-50PX600U 50" HDTV Plasma TV

When looking for a new television we searched around and decided on a plasma. Since my husband is technology savvy, he was responsible for the research and selection of our new television. My husband searched for particulars he wanted and came up with the Panasonic TH-50PX600U. This is a 50" model. We wanted plasma because of the thin width and because you can still see the picture well from the side. We also wanted the HD tuner built in. We have enough boxes around the t.v.!

A major difference between this model and the Panasonic TH- 50PX60U is the PCMCIA port for a PCMCIA card. This card allows to connect your digital camera to view pictures directly to the screen. This was a main selling feature for my husband. We looked at a variety of televisions and looked at pricing, availability, and coming closest to having options we wanted.

The Product
We came home with a large box. Inside was the plasma panel, the stand, remote, batteries, manual, and cables. We transported this in a truck so we had room. It would be difficult to transport in a car and I'm not sure you would be able to. My husband had a friend help him set up the stand and panel. It is very awkward due to the sizing so it really is a two person job. I did help carry it to the porch.

The television is attractive, it has black around the screen and is surrounded by brushed silver bevel. The stand is a brushed silver as well. It looks great! We did not wall mount, primarily because we live in a historic house and I fear it would fall.

Remote
The remote has capabilities to work 4 different components. It has a TV Guide button with a page scroll. There is a mute button, display or remove channel banner, and aspect ratio. A Favorite channel list button is available. You also have the ability to switch between a viewing channel and a previously viewed channel. Channel up/down buttons, and up/down volume buttons. There is a sleep timer, split screen and swap pictures in eh split screen operation.

Set up
Once the t.v. was on the stand, my husband connected cables (coax cable, component cables, S-Video/audio cable for my DVD) while I put the batteries in the remote. The stand has bolts for stabilization. When he said it was ready I hit the power button. It does take a few seconds for the picture to show. There is a small red light on he bottom left hand corner to indicate the set is on. The light is located by the power button on the set.

It was easy to adjust the colors, brightness, etc. to our liking. We also set the satellite remote to work with this television. There are input plugs located on he front of he set under a hidden panel for temporary accessories (camera, computer, etc), and on the back for permanent accessories (satellite box, DVD player, etc) .

Breaking It In
I did not have much to do with this. For the first hundred hours, Panasonic recommends that the entire screen be used. So if you don't watch HD, adjust the size to fill up the entire screen. Some of the people look funny, but this is a temporary problem. Generally, we do not change he size of the picture for a more natural looking picture.

It is recommended that static images do not remain left for an extended period of time. This is to prevent image burn in. We have not experienced any burn in.

Our Experience
I do not know what many of the specifications mean or do and probably never will. I do know that this is one HUGE screen for a computer monitor. My husband has used it for this. The hook up was a cinch. It does heat up the room - but I live in a historic home with insulation issues anyway. It is easy to hook up cameras and video recorders as well. It helps to be able to hook devices up in the front versus having to get around to the back.

We have the ability to lock out channels from the television or our TIVO satellite which I'm sure will be useful in a few years. Although the remote has many features, we are more comfortable with the satellite remote.


Picture Quality
I love watching HD programming, preferably nature or sports. Fox Sports, Discovery HD are my favorites. I don't notice the picture quality as much when I am following a story line. The detail is amazing. I love seeing the blades of grass, beads of sweat, and the detail we can see during football games. Nature shows are incredible for the detail, for example, the grains of sand, strands of fur, coloring of eyes, etc. It shows fine details of facial features such as freckles, fine lines, color variations, etc. All the colors seem very natural and vibrant. The colors are brilliant. They appear pure, for example white is very white. Graded colorings are very natural and gradually change from one to another without a noticeable break of color.

You can stretch the picture on non HD programming to fit the entire screen. This usually results in squatty people. We generally do not like this, so we only use the entire screen while watching HD programming. Without HD the picture is centered on the screen with black around the sides. At first this seems odd, but I generally tune out the black and it does not distract me from the show.

One benefit of a plasma is seeing the picture from different angles. The picture still looks good from 90 degrees. It is set up diagonally in a corner so we don't view it from angles very often, but it looks great from the sides.
We use the HDMI cable that came with the Directv HD tuner. We do not have an HD DVD player, but DVD's look great normally. We can hook up HD o the DVD player through the RGB composite connections.

Other ways to get HD through this set is by an HD over the air antennae, or use a digital cable company card that plugs into the back of the set and converts the picture to HD. You can also use an HD satellite dish and receiver (which is what we are doing). It does cost more each month for HD programming. It is around $10 in our area.

Sound Quality
The sound quality is good. I do not notice any operating noise from the set. You can easily add speakers to the set. We have not and enjoy the quality of the speakers. The speakers are embedded in the strips on the sides of the set. They do not look like speakers as a black plastic grill is over them.

Overall
We have had the set for almost one year and fortunately have not had any major problems with it. We are very happy with this purchase. It makes television a more enjoyable experience. We notice many things that we hadn't on our other set due to the brilliant colors and the HD. The only thing we have noticed is that every once in awhile, the picture will black out for a few seconds. We have TIVO and notice that we can rewind and see what was blacked out. We aren't sure what is causing this. A nuisance, but we really aren't sure if it is the t.v.'s fault.

We have convinced our 7 year old to not touch the screen. I have wiped it clean with a soft clean cloth to remove fingerprints. For stubborn areas, it is recommended to make a weak detergent solution being careful not to leave the detergent on the set or allow liquids inside the set.

Warranty
The warranty covers parts for two years and labor for one year. It would be nice for a longer warranty on such an expensive item. The warranty is for in-home service which is nice so you won't have to lug the television around. There is a support center also to help - on-line and over the phone. So far we have not used any of this.

Specifications I obtained from Panasonic.com I did notice that these specs from the website are for the 50PX60U NOT the 50PX600U. There are minor differences, but a major one to my husband is the addition of the PCMCIA port that is included with the 50PX600U model.

Diagonal Screen Size 50"
Aspect Ratio 16:9 (Widescreen)
HDTV Compatibility 1 480p/720p/1080i
Displayable Colors Maximum of 29 Billion
Shades of Gradation 3,072
Pixel Pitch (H x V) 0.81 x 0.81 mm
Panel Type 9th Generation Plasma Panel
Aspect Control for TV/AV Modes 4:3, Zoom, Full, Just, H-Fill
(PC Mode: Normal, Full, Zoom)
Native Resolution (Number of Pixels) 1366 x 768
Contrast Ratio Up to 10,000:1
Progressive Scan
Video Noise Reduction
Digital Comb Filter Motion Adaptive 3D-Y/C
Color Purity Optimizer (3D Color Management)
Sub-Pixel Controller
Motion Pattern Noise Reduction

AUDIO:
Speakers 4: (2 woofers: 8 ohms, 55 Hz - 350Hz, 10% THD)
(2 tweeters: 8 ohms, 350Hz - 17kHz, 10% THD)
31W Output Power
BBE ViVA HD3D Sound

INPUT/OUTPUT:
Tuners NTSC (Standard analog broadcasts)
ATSC/QAM (SDTV and HDTV broadcasts)
Photo Viewer through SD Slot
SD Card Slot (JPEG Photo Viewer 2)
CableCARD Ready 3
HDMI-HDCP Interface 2 rear
Analog Audio Input (for HDMI) 2 rear
Composite Video Input 3 (2 rear, 1 front)
S-Video Input 3 (2 rear, 1 front)
Audio Input (for Video) 3 (2 rear, 1 front)
PC Input (RGB-VGA) Mini D-sub 15-pin (rear)
Audio Input (for PC) 1 (M3 Stereo Plug)
Component Video Input [Y, PB(CB), PR(CR)] 2 rear
Audio Input (for Component Video) 2 rear
Composite Video Output 1 rear
Audio Output 1 rear
Digital Audio Out 1 (optical)
IR Out 1

CONVENIENCE:
EZ Sync™ HDAVI Control via HDMI interface
TV Guide On-Screen Program Guide 4
Video Picture Memory
On-Screen Display Languages English/Spanish/French
Split Screen Display (2 Sources)
V-Chip Program Lockout
Built-In Closed Caption Decoder
Timers - Sleep/On/Off
Video Input Labeling

GENERAL:
Power Supply AC 120 V, 60 Hz
Power Consumption 525 W
Operating Temperature 32 degrees F - 104 degrees F
Operating Humidity 20% - 80% (Non condensation)
Pedestal Stand Included
Remote Control Included
Dimensions (H x W x D) with pedestal stand 34.3" x 49.9" x 15.8" Weight with pedestal stand 123.5 lbs
Dimensions (H x W x D) 31.6'' x 49.9'' x 5.5''
Weight 94.8 lbs

For more information check out Panasonic's website.