Review Of The Panasonic TC-P50S1
Plasma televisions are a great choice when it comes to buying an HDTV, particularly for their fast refresh rate and deep colors. You just have to make sure you get one that doesn’t suffer from screen burn-in and doesn’t use up too much electricity, which is why the Panasonic TC-P50S1 is certainly worth considering.
Image Quality
Plasma TVs are especially known for their deep black levels, and this is something which the Panasonic TC-P50S1 definitely lives up to. In fact, the black levels displayed on the TC-P50S1 are the deepest produced by Panasonic so far. As for the other colors, they are saturated enough and appear vibrant on the screen, although they fall short in terms of accuracy - a problem common to Panasonic panels. If you look closely, you might notice a slight green tinge on light colors. Then again, this is easy to overlook compared to the excellent shadow detail.
Plasma TVs also produce crisp and clear images even during very fast-moving sequences, which is again something that the TC-P50S1 easily accomplishes. After all, it is equipped with a 600Hz sub-field drive and a patented Full-Time 1080 TV Lines Moving Picture Resolution which prevents fast-moving images from becoming blurry.
Design
Models of the same series usually sport a similar design and like the other S1 models, the TC-P50S1 comes with a sleek, glossy black frame - a frame accentuated by rounded edges and interrupted only by two logos, an indicator light and the power button, which actually blend in nicely. It also has a glossy black stand. It is set apart by one added feature, though - hidden speakers, which also result in a slightly better sound.
Remote Control
The remote control that comes with the TC-P50S1 is also similar to others, but not as good as most since it doesn’t have a backlight. Buttons with different colors, shapes and sizes help make up for this, though, since they can be easily distinguished even in the dark.
Connectivity
The Panasonic TC-P50S1 has three HDMI inputs for you to plug in your Blu-Ray player, DVD player and your game console. It also has two component-video inputs, two AV inputs, an RF input and a digital audio output. It even has an SD card slot. It does not have a VGA input, though, which means you cannot plug in your computer unless it is HDMI capable, nor does it have a USB slot.
Power Efficiency
As mentioned earlier, the TC-P50S1 does not consume as much electricity as most Plasma TVs, which consume around two times the electricity used up by LCD televisions. This is because it has an innovative plasma display panel and a default picture setting that is slightly dimmer than others. Because of this, the Panasonic TC-P50S1 earned an Energy Star 3.0.
Other Features
The Panasonic TC-P50S1 also comes with the Viera Link, a feature which allows you to switch on all your HDMI-capable devices, such as your DVD player, Blu-Ray player and surround sound speakers with just the press of a button. It has features to prevent and treat screen burn-in, as well, so you can always have great images on your screen. All these make the Panasonic TC-P50S1 a good HDTV, and definitely one worth considering with its relatively low price.
Edward McKellen is an HDTV expert who writes lcd tv reviews for HDTVreviewlab.com. To read more about the Panasonic TC-P50S1 HDTV or check out the latest Panasonic HDTV reviews visit HDTVreviewlab.com