Best Buy HDTVs Reviews

Panasonic TC P58V10

I’ve had this set for about a month now. It is a fantastic plasma display. As far as I’m concerned it’s probably the best current HDTV available because a) Pioneer Kuros are no longer being made, and b) LCDs don’t compare to a good plasma. The resolution and clarity are superb, the colors are extremely accurate in THX mode, the Warm 2 color temp preset is reasonably accurate right out of the box, and it has great contrast. Picture uniformity is stellar as is overall picture geometry. The 24p/96 Hz option is great as this maintains the proper film cadence (as opposed to 60 Hz) but does not introduce visible flicker (like the 48 Hz option). When the set is fed a good 1080p signal, the image is phenomenal.

So why only 4 stars? Ironically (for a plasma) it’s the black level. When the image has mixed bright and dim areas, the blacks look spectacular…the contrast is great. However, on a full field black signal, the best this display can do is a dark gray. Luckily, low contrast material doesn’t usually make up most of a movie (Dark City being an exception) so this isn’t too bothersome but the overall full field black level could definitely be better. If you already own a fixed pixel display (other than a Kuro or a local-dimming LCD) you’re probably already used to this but I had a CRT RPTV before this and nothing compares to the black levels on those…black is BLACK (not gray). However, everything else about this TV blows my old CRT out of the water (including black levels on medium to high contrast images).

I got a sweet deal for this set on Amazon when it popped up one afternoon for about $600 less than the usual retail price. I understand they are hard to come by but they are worth every penny. The THX mode, fully adjustable Custom mode, and 24p/96 Hz option are worth the upgrade over the G or S series, IMO.

***Feb. 9, 2010 Follow up:

Still no problems with rising black levels (yet). Have over 600 hours on set. 0 IRE window measures 0.009 ftL. Will update if this changes.

Reviewed by : Robi1138,   Dec 27, 2009