Panasonic - VIERA - 55" Class (55-1/8" Diag.) - Plasma - 1080p - 600Hz - Smart - 3D - HDTV

After about three months of research and numerous trips to Best Buy, I finally decided on the VT50. I was a little cautious about getting a plasma because I have two windows, and a large sliding glass door in my living room. I am happy to tell you that the glare issue is almost non existant! This pannel does a great job of defusing natural light. I wish I could give a n/a for sound bc I am not relying on the sound of the TV as I am using a home theather setup. FYI I also bought a rocketfish tilting wallmount and within 2.5 hours I had the wires run through the wall, and the TV mounted. The Rocketfish mount is a perfect match! If you're looking for the best overall plasma pannel without spending a fortune I wound encourage you to look no further.

This TV right out of the box was very awesome! Working at Best Buy allows you to see the quality of a lot of TVs out there and I did a lot of research online about the best TVs on the market before I made this purchase. The picture quality on this TV is unbelievable. I feel like I am actually there; it is so amazing! The colors are sharp and true. (Soon I will be getting the TV calibrated so the colors will be even better) Blurays in 3D are stunning. Connecting to the internet (using Netflix, Hulu+, Pandora, and CinemaNow) was super easy, the TV didn't lag with the connection at all, and the interface on all apps is very easy to use. Also, this TV has plenty of inputs to connect all your devices so you don't necessarily need a receiver for your home theater set-up. The only two things that aren't 100% perfect are that the TV doesn't come with any glasses included, so that is an extra cost; and if you watch TV shows/movies with a lot of light (natural or electrical) there is a slight reflection. The glare isn't terrible, but it is there. This isn't a problem for me because I watch the TV in the dark anyways. The one aspect I can't truly comment on (and why I didn't rate it with any stars) is the audio quality of the TV. Being an audiophile, when I purchased this TV, I also bought a MartinLogan sound system so I haven't used the TV speakers at all. However I did return this TV back to Best Buy. Not for any negative reasons, but I decided I loved this TV model so much, instead of just having 55" of amazing-ness, I upgraded to the 65" version of this same TV!

This is my second plasma from Panasonic and the picture is great. My first panasonic was purchased in 2007 and it is still up and going strong. I loved the picture of my 2007 42 inch and when I finished my basement I didn't even think about another brand. My new 55 inch VT has even better picture quality....Wow .....didn't think that would happen because my 42 still impress people who view it. One last item, this plasma is just as thin as a LED, much more slim than my 2007 Panasonic 42 inch.

Overall.. I've had this tv now for 1.5months and I love it. I was in the market to buy the Vt30 55" but couldn't get my hands on new unboxed model. So i decided to wait till the VT50 came out and I'm glad I did. I have limited room on the fireplace I'm mount this tv, so I was concerned the older Vt30 frame would be to big. In reality, because the VT50 has the "Frame-less" design similar to the LED panels.. you actual gain allot of room in the vertical and horizontal.. every little bit counts. The TV overall is incredible and the built in presets for THX work pretty well, I have mine on THX bright room. In the custom mode you have so many knobs to tweak that its very overwhelming if you are not failure with what the setting does. So I would recommend a professional if you plan to re-calibrate. I have to agree that the newer panel does help with the glare.. my older plasma (Hitachi 42") vs. this one there is a significant difference. However there are some issues that I do not believe deserve a rating hit but its worth mentioning. 1. The DLNA compatible mode does not recognize any of the HD file formats like mkv or .ts etc etc etc ..I was hoping this was not the case but it is. Via DLNA you have access to your pix, music, and generic media files. 2. Via WiFi/Lan you cannot access your media server.. so if you do have movies like mkv's or DVD's the only way to play those is to use the "USB" port. This was a bummer as I was hoping I could eliminate the HTPC i had. I have not spent much time with playing any movies via the USB port as I don't have a need for that. 3. The users manual that comes with the TV is useless.. and for panasonic, I'm surprised at this. There are many features and hints and pop up help built into the firmaware of the Tv, but I'm one of those that likes to have a real manual to read. 4. When you are viewing the Netflix applet you cannot resize the screen format. So you are stuck with whatever ratio the movie is being streamed in.. if its 4:3, you cannot fill or resize the display to match the content. I have to research this more.. but I think it has to do with the fact that you are NOT using any of the actual external video inputs to the TV but the built in viewer which is not really associated with any of the HDMI out's the TV has. Also.. as a result of this.. the AR (Audio Return) channel that is available from HDMI port 1 is NOT usable when streaming netflix. You will need to use the digital/optical out form the TV and run that to a separate input to your AV-amp to get the sound from you HTheater. 5. on the VT 50-series they are now providing you with a smaller touchpad remote that in reality is useless and will end up on the shelf as a light paper weight. I would have rather had one 3-D glasses with it vs. the additional remote or the Skype Camera.. ! Overall though.. you are buying this unit for TV viewing and movies via B-ray and HD.. for that as it primary use.. this is an incredible tv with incredible quality. Upgrading from a 42" to the 55" in my den made a big difference and for the price point.. I was a happy camper..!!!

I purchased this model because of the outstanding picture quality. This set provides a superior picture in a room that has varied lighting and viewer seating situations. The audio performance is very good, better than three other sets purchased in the last two years. But a decent surround sound system should be a standard addition in any case. The remotes leave could have been designed better. The layout does not seem intuitive, and the more often used buttons lost in the layout. The "internet" choices are limited, and are somewhat difficult to access. But it all goes back to the picture. Excellent

I am very happy with my purchase. I originally was going to buy the 55GT50 until I went and compared it side by side at the store to the 55VT50. The picture quality on both were amazing but the VT50 was definitely a little better. I watched The Book of Eli and Avatar on both and the VT50 had deeper blacks and a little more vibrant color. Also it was a tad better in lit room conditions. (For plasma-phobes, because I was one, either of these plasma TVs are fine for bright rooms, I am watching football in a room that gets full sun on the standard low brightness setting during the break in period and it is fine. If you put it on bright room you barley notice a difference because these sets get plenty bright) Now I wouldn't pay 600$ more for the VT50 (sale prices of 1400 vs 2000) but I lucked out and found it at Best Buy for 1700 during an unadvertised sale 1/1/13. Not cheap but well worth the price for the best picture on the market along with the sharp elite that just costs an obscene amount for the average person. The THX Bright Room and Cinema settings are good for people who don't want to tinker with custom options. Once I get a few more hours on it I will see if I can get a better picture by myself. The sound is decent for a flat screen and I personally like the surround setting but don't expect sound system quality, you are buying this TV for the picture. I have not seen any artifacts, blooming or greenish hue I noticed in last years Panasonic Models. Smooth picture with cable, netflix, Blue Ray and XBOX. I haven't had any problem with burn in but am being very careful right now. Screen uniformity is perfect. The TV looks stunning mounted on the wall which is something Panasonic has lacked behind in the past. As for 3D.... I don't really care about that and It wasn't even a consideration for me but for the price you should at least get a pair of glasses. The stand is ugly and doesn't swivel but this is going to be wall mounted 90% of the time. It is still an oversight on there part. The remote is good but I have a universal and won't be using it. The second remote to me is pointless. All in all if you want the best picture for less than 2 grand this is it.

I own 3 led tvs and 3 lcd tvs. they are 40 inches and under. I bought a 60 inch Samsung 8000 led. nice tv but the picture was not good.whites were too bright the blacks were nice and black. when using the 960 smooth setting it produced more artifacts in the image, so I returned it and bought this less expensive tv after reading an extensive amount of reviews. picture is amazing. the smart aps are ok but no one buys a tv to use the smart apps, but they are cool if you get bored I guess.i bought this tv because the vt series has a dual core processor and an extra black layer on the picture that the gt series does not have. it is true,you will not get a good picture just because the tv has higher contrast or some other spec with high numbers. I like how the white colors do not hurt your eyes on this tv. my tv does not have any buzzing noise like the other reviews written. I did not try the speakers I have a surround sound hooked up. I did not try the 3d yet. smooth picture during fast motion scenes, if I see a blurry picture its because of my cable provider, I can tell the difference. one thing I do not like is the power indicator light under the picture. it is annoying, I might put a piece of tape over it. if you are going to buy a bigger tv like this then get a plasma. .led tv in a bigger size is going to have a harder time processing the picture I already returned a Samsung 8000 led due to image artifacts(even while playing bluray).I use audio quest wires.

This TV is a curse! The picture is so good, we find ourselves not wanting to leave the house. We watch programs we never would have before due to the sheer beauty of the picture. It is the best picture we have ever had, and we're not sorry we spent the big bucks on it. I can't imagine how the next generation of televisions can be any better. We watch a lot of basketball and this television is beyond our expectations. We took Consumer Reports rating (#1), and we're not sorry we did. Oh, and we had a free calibration done, and though we doubted it would make a difference, it would have been worth the price tag if we hadn't gotten it for free. The entire picture was enhanced and even better.