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 Location:  Home » Televisions & HDTV » Plasma TVs » Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ85U 50" 1080p Plasma HDTVDecember 1, 2008  
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Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ85U 50" 1080p Plasma HDTV
Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ85U 50
List Price: $2,199.99
Buy New: $1,449.90
You Save: $750.09 (34%)
Buy New/Used

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars(based on 81 reviews)
Sales Rank: 361
Category: CE

Publisher: Panasonic
Studio: Panasonic
Brand: Panasonic
Label: Panasonic
Color: Black
Media: Electronics
Autographed: 0
Memorabilia: 0
Batteries: 2
Batteries Included: 1
Display Size: 50
Shipping Weight (lbs): 104
Dimensions (in): 54.5 x 351.7 x 12.7

MPN: TH-50PZ85U
Model: TH-50PZ85U
UPC: 037988241811
EAN: 0037988241811
ASIN: B00142MUEM

Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

Features:
  • 1920 x 1080 Resolution
  • 1000000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio for the Brightest whites and darkest blacks
  • 4096 Shades of Gradation for spectacular Color Reproduction
  • Viera LinK? HDAVI Control lets you operate all of your home theater components by pressing a single button on your TV's remote control
  • GalleryPlayer allows you to enjoy the world's finest high definition art and photography on your Panasonic HD plasma TV

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
50" widescreen HDTV (16:9 aspect ratio) * built-in digital (ATSC) and analog (NTSC) tuners for over-the-air TV broadcasts (antenna required) *

Amazon.com Product Description--March 10, 2008
With its 2008 Panasonic Viera Plasmas, Panasonic brings anastonishing 1,000,000:1 contrast ration to the table. advanced pixel resolution and image-processing technology with the plasma TV's natural ability to beautifully reproduce fast moving images, so every detail is rendered with amazing clarity, and all the action is delivered with a high degree of fluidity.


What's New This Year?

  • Super Contrast--native contrast ratios on the PZ85, PZ800 and PX 850 series are 30,000:1, double last year's 15,000:1.
  • Dynamic contrast ratios are up to 1,000,000:1.
  • new anti-reflective filter; lead-free "Tough Under Force" panel is resistant to impacts and scratches
  • Built-in SD card slot with Photo Viewer/Gallery Player software
  • x.v. Color and Deep Color (HDMI 1.3 features)
  • Game Mode auto-adjusts image quality suitable to games and includes anti-image retention
  • Viera Link is now compatible with Onkyo and Yamaha home theater systems
  • At least 3 HDMI inputs on all models (4 on PZ800 and PZ850 series)
  • THX Certification on PZ800 and PZ850 series

Which Viera is Right For You?

Click here to see a comparison of step up features on each Viera series.



Amazing color reproduction

The incredible black reproduction of a Panasonic High-Definition Plasma TV results in impressive contrast and beautiful, natural colors. So you'll get warm, accurate skin tones, gorgeous greens, breathtaking blues and vivid reds. For color that's as rich and bold as life itself, look to a Panasonic Plasma TV.



Consistent brightness from any angle

A Panasonic Plasma combines anti-glare and anti-reflection technology with the natural light-emitting properties of plasma, to give you a super-wide viewing range with a crisp, beautiful image from almost any angle.




Smooth, graceful motion

When you're watching sports or movies with fast-motion graphics, you want a TV that can keep up with the action. With over 900 lines of moving picture, self-illuminating plasma displays eliminate afterimages in fast-action scenes. So whether you're watching a sporting event or an action-packed movie, you'll always get the most impressive viewing experience possible.



1,000,000:1 Contrast

The Panasonic's Real Black system (a pre-discharge suppression system) and improved panel production processes combine to reproduce outstanding blacks with superb contrast. Each image is richly expressive, from bright scense, like scorching desert landscapes, to dark cave scenes. Compare the image produced by conventional HDTV on the left to the Real Black image produced on the right



More Colors

Viera HDTVs support the xvYCC color profile (Extended YCC Colorimetry for Video Applications), or "x.v. color" for short. Standard RGB color space allows the display of a portion of the colors that are viewable to the human eye. The next generation "xvYCC" color space actually offers an available range of colors that exceeds what human eyes can recognize.
  • Next-generation "xvYCC" color space supports 1.8 times as many colors as existing HDTV signals
  • Lets HDTVs display colors more accurately
  • Enables displays with more natural and vivid colors



Deep Color

deep color eliminates visible color banding Where x.v. color expands the available range of colors your HDTV can display, Deep Color increases the number of colors your HDTV can display within that range, for smoother transitions from color to color.
  • Lets HDTVs and other displays go from millions of colors to billions of colors
  • Eliminates on-screen color banding, for smooth tonal transitions and subtle gradations between colors
  • Enables increased contrast ratio
  • Can represent many times more shades of gray between black and white.



Connectivity

Viera flat panel HDTVs interact with an array of high-definition devices and services, making it easy for consumers to access and enjoy content as never before. As of 2008, Viera Link is compatible with Onkyo and Yamaha home theater systems.
Videos and stills recorded on SD cards can easily be viewed via the SD slots on Panasonic Blu-Ray Disc players and Viera HDTVs. Viera Link means easy connectivity via HDMI cables. Finally, consumers can easily operate their Blu-Ray Disc players, DVD recorders and home theater systems with a single remote control device.
SD Cards Viera Link


4 HDMI inputs to connect all of your devices directly to your television. Equipped with an RGB input terminal, VIERA can connect with your PC and serve as a large-screen monitor.
Easy connectivity with HDMI ports pc input



Long Life

long life Panasonic plasma panels are rated to last 100,000 hours, which is about 30 years of regular or 11 years of non-stop usage before the brightness of the display is halved.



Get Full HD with Blu-Ray Disc Players

Blu-Ray disc player A Panasonic 1080p plasma television is able to render 1920x1080 pixels, but standard DVDs have a resolution of just 720x480. Blu-ray discs output true 1080p High-Definition resolution and have a storage capacity ten times greater than standard DVDs, so no pixel gos to waste.



Which is the Right Viera for You?



Screen Size
Measured
Diagonally
1080p
Full HD
1920 x 1080 pixels
Native
Contrast
Ratio
PC Input
THX
Cert
24p
Speakers
HDMI
Inputs
One Sheet
of Glass
Design
Swivel
Base
Shades
of
Gradation
H.264
Codec
Digital
Cinema Color
Studio
Reference
Mode
Pro
Setting
Menu
Serial
Port
Standard Features
TH-42PX80U
42 inches

15,000:1



2
3


4,096





  • 480 Hz Sub-field Drive Technology
  • Anti-Reflective Filter
  • Viera Link HDAVI Control
  • Built-in SD Card Slot w/Photo Viewer
  • Deep Color Technology
  • x.v. Color
  • 3D Color Mangement
  • Sub-Pixel Controller
  • Motion Pattern Noise Reduction
  • Anti-Image Retention Mode
  • Game Mode
  • Scratch and Impact Rsistant Panel
  • 100,000 Hours to Panel Half-Brightness (>30 years @ 8 hours/day)
  • Lead-free Panel
TH-50PX80U
50 inches

15,000:1


2
3


4,096




TH-42PZ80U
42 inches check 20,000:1



2
3


4,096




TH-46PZ80U
46 inches check 20,000:1


2
3


4,096




TH-50PZ80U
50 inches check 20,000:1


2
3


4,096




TH-42PZ85U
42 inches check 30,000:1 check

2
3


4,096




TH-46PZ85U
46 inches check 30,000:1
check

2
3


4,096




TH-50PZ85U
50 inches check 30,000:1 check

2
3


4,096




TH-42PZ800U
42 inches check 30,000:1 check check check 4
4
check check 4,096




TH-46PZ800U 46 inches check 30,000:1 check check check 4
4
check check 4,096




TH-50PZ800U 50 inches check 30,000:1 check check check 4
4
check check 4,096




TH-58PZ800U 58 inches check 30,000:1 check check check 4
4
check check 4,096




TH-46PZ850U 46 inches check 30,000:1 check check check 4
4
check check 5,120 check check check check check
TH-50PZ850U 50 inches check 30,000:1 check check check 4
4
check check 5,120 check check check check check
TH-58PZ850U 58 inches check 30,000:1 check check check 4
4
check check 5,120 check check check check check
TH-65PZ850U 65 inches check 30,000:1 check check check 4
4
check check 5,120 check check check check check



Customer Reviews:   Read 76 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars Unbeatable Value   November 18, 2008
First things first. Open the box and make sure the screen isn't cracked before you let the shipper leave and before you sign anything (shine a flashlight on it and any cracks will show up immediately). I learned that the hard way the first time I purchased this set (from another vendor). Also, I believe Amazon requires the shipper to unpack the TV, plug it in and verify that it is working before they leave although in my case the guy wanted to leave without doing this and I went ahead and let him.

There's not much to say about the set itself except that it looks fantastic. I'm watching movies and playing games in a completely dark room and the black level is excellent. You should do at least a basic calibration of the brightness and picture (contrast) settings using a calibration disk for optimal quality (there is a free one you can find on the AVSforum, or you can buy one).

As with all Plasmas, you have to watch out for image retention, but I haven't found that to be an issue at all. The instructions offer extremely conservative advice on breaking in the screen to avoid image retention (100 hours of full-screen viewing content with no black bars, sports or stock tickers or video games with fixed elements of any kinds, then another 900 hours of limited viewing of such content). Personally, I ran a break in program for 75 hours, started using the set for video games and movies (with black bars) and I just run the break-in program all night after any bad content. I'm now up to 200+ hours now and haven't seen a speck of image retention or burn in.

Highly recommended.



5 out of 5 stars It rocks brother - but not as a computer monitor (my bad)   November 14, 2008
Well, I have been a CRT guy for a long time. I always thought that I would not really care to have HD over normal TV. I mean, yeah, the picture would be better but once engrossed in a show, well, would I really care if it is HD? And the answer is - as I expected - not really. However, that is just me.

As far as this TV goes, its fantastic! Great picture, great features - comes with a VGA type plug so you can run your computer into it easily if you don't want to go HDMI for some reason. Sound is okay - not anything noteworthy. But really, it is an excellent TV.

Also - there is no noticeable glare that people are always concerned about. I have windows behind me so when the TV is off, I can clearly see them. When on - I don't notice them at all so don't worry about the glare.

The bad: Note that the bad is about all Plasma - not this TV. First - I bought this to be a computer monitor more than a TV (I am using it right now as a matter of fact - from my couch - very nice). I did not do my research though - very bad. Plasmas are known to have pixel memory. Although better than it was in past years, when you are on the internet for hours at a time - some parts of your screen never change - X in top right corner, window frame all around. For that reason, I wish I had gotten an LCD and would recommend the same to people looking to use this thing as a humungo sized monitor. I am guessing that I will screw it up being a software guy. Also - it is a power hog of course - also par for Plasmas. I don't have to run the furnace in my house anymore ;-) jk

That said, as a TV, this thing is great - but I always expect that from Panasonic.



5 out of 5 stars PANNY PLASMA BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK   November 11, 2008
Went to BB to originally buy a 1080P 50 in Samsung Plasma or a 1080P 120Hz LG. Talked to the BB rep and they told me, "I would rather get a Panasonic 720P than a Samsung 1080Por LG 120HZ!" WHAT I THOUGHT!! Then she explained to me that the Panasonic has a 480Hz subfield drive, whereas the LCD's I was looking at were only 120Hz. She explained to me Plasmas have come along way and there's no issues with BURN INS and GHOSTS like the first gen Plasmas. Panny has an automatic orbiter and anti-image rention options set up to combat these issues!!!She showed me a calibrated Panasonic 720P and it BLEW the Samsung and LG AWAY!! But I was not set on buying 720P. I wanted the 1080P.

Left BB and came straight to Amazon.com (Amazon was almost 500 cheaper than BB, plus you pay no tax!!), however when I bought my TV they we didn't offer free shipping. I ended up buying [...] in August (best price I found on the internet)(EASY TRANSACTION, plus free shipping, no tax). NOw I see the Tv's alittle under 1500, but Football season was coming up and I wanted to see the new season in HD!!!

I still haven't gotten my plasma calibrated, waiting for a buddy from BB to do it for free (its been 2 months and I'm still waiting!! haha what a friend). TWO drawback ARE 1) I'm realizing I wish it had 4 HDMI inputs and 2 the sound is LACKING (I guess cause its only 20W's), i've decided to buy myself the Panasominc 960 HTIB for Christmas!!!

I have no issue with HEAT!!! I have no issue with GLARE!!! I have no issue with Ghosting or burning!!!

BUY IT especially since it has the 480Hz subfield drive and you can't beat the price at under [...]!!! It came out 8 months ago retailing for nearly a grand more!!!




5 out of 5 stars Very pleased.   October 30, 2008
We are very happy with our new TV. The image is awesome and size appropriate for us. It arrived promptly and we can't be happier!


5 out of 5 stars Awesome TV!!!   October 24, 2008
First of all, Holy Crap!! The picture on this tv is phenominal. I did a crazy amount of shopping and studying before I finally made my decision on this tv, and I'm glad I did. Plasma is way better than lcd and they happen to be less expensive. I am also impressed that this tv happens to be Energy Star qualified. Couldn't be happier.



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