Panasonics TH-50PX600 tested with Optimum Releasings The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. Check out our DVD review on page 93
Images are often staggeringly beautiful when fed top-notch HD source material

JUNE 2006

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Panasonic TH-50PX600 3,000 (approx) www.panasonic.co.uk
Giant plasma defends large-screen crown
John Archer bathes in the high-denition prowess of Panasonics latest 50in agship plasma screen
he TH-50PX600 is the agship screen in Panasonics new range of ninth-generation plasma glass.
a CI slot for adding subscription TV services to the built-in digital Freeview tuner. I should add, too, that the HDMIs carry HDAVI: the two-way communication and control protocol that allows the 50PX600 and attached HDAVI-compatible Panasonic gear, such as the companys new DIGA DVD recorders, to be controlled as one. The 50PX600s on-paper specs certainly make for very impressive reading. The native resolution,1366 x 768, ensures that it is HD Ready; its claimed contrast ratio is a frankly incredulous 10000:1; the use of 11.5-bit video processing reportedly helps it dish up a total of 29 billion potential colours. As with the PX60 range, the 50PX600 is equipped with Panasonics latest picture-processing engine, dubbed V-Real. Among this systems techno talents are native processing of 720p and 1080i HD signals; digital remastering to upconvert standard-denition pictures to give them more detail; gamma control processing, which reputedly delivers
3,072 gradation steps; and a sub-pixel controller that processes the red, green and blue colours separately in each pixel to make lines sharper.
Matches delivered via the BBCs HD service on Sky, for instance, created exactly the sort of as if you were in the stadium clarity, sharpness and noiselessness that I know HD was invented to deliver. Of course, many good at TVs now deliver the sharpness and noiseless clarity of HD. But the Panasonic also dazzles with motion handling, as the players charge around the pitch with barely a trace of blurring. If youre a sports fan you owe it to yourself to see HD football on this screen. There was no trace of colour banding or pixel noise to disconnect me from the emotional impact of the images.
It comes hot on the heels of the 42in TH-42PX60, reviewed in HCC #131. My only problem with that screen was it just wasnt big enough, as the arrival of Sky HD has made me unapologetically greedy for ever larger displays. Panasonic is currently running two ranges of atscreens, denoted by the X600 and X60 sufxes. So what differentiates the 50PX600 from Pannys lower PX60 models? Quite a bit actually. Most obvious is the addition of a front-mounted SD card slot for playing and recording JPEGs and MPEG4 movies. It allows users to record TV programmes onto an SD card for viewing later on an SD-based portable media device. The 50PX600s second key attraction is its newly-developed Advanced Smart Sound Speaker system, incorporating a ultra-slim speaker unit (16mm wide by 10mm thick) and twin passive radiator woofers, designed to deliver superior bass, and greater power and clarity. I must say I slightly prefer the looks of the PX600 range. They extend the black screen frame further than the PX60s, and in doing so look less plasticky.

Performance

Panasonic is currently the world leader in plasma screens, so you would expect this product to set standards. In many ways, it does. I used a variety of high- and standard-def material to assess its picture performance, and was wowed on nearly all counts. Denition and image smoothness are terric. The HD coverage of the World Cup in particular provided plenty of opportunities to dissect image quality

SPECIFICATIONS

ITEM HD Ready Progressive Scan Digital TV Tuner Composite video S-video Scart Component video HDMI/DVI PC input Headphone SUPPORT DETAILS Does everything necessary All the formats handled Plus Top Up TV slot 1 phono input 1 input 3 connections (2 RGB) 1 input 2 HDMI Mini D-Sub 15 pin x 1 (rear) 1 output

RATINGS

Highs: Picture quality; sound performance; connectivity Lows: Images can lack sharpness compared to 1080 resolution rivals

Well connected

Connectivity is outstanding. Pluggery includes twin HDMIs, three Scarts, dedicated component video inputs, a PC jack, the aforementioned SD card slot, and
Picture Sound Features OVERALL
Sound: Nicam stereo with SRS TruSurround XT mode Resolution: 1366 x 768 Brightness: No claim made; Contrast: 10000:1 (claimed) Dimensions: 1266(w) x 802(h) x 138(d)mm; Weight: 43kg Also featuring Freeview 7-day EPG support; HDAVI connectivity; V-Real processing; Real Black Drive; noise reduction; colour management; colour and contrast management; MPEG 4 playback/recording via SD card

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Tried&Tested. Plasma TV
The 50PX600s performance with HD movies is arguably even better than it is with HD sport especially as movies tend to

Excellent

highlight the TVs remarkable black level. For my money Panasonics Real Black Drive system continues to deliver the most profound blacks in the entire atpanel world an achievement made all the more
are some caveats. Positioned alongside some large-screen rivals, both LCD and plasma, its images can appear to lack detail. The resolution of Panasonics glass will increasingly become an issue for high-end buyers. It needs to roll-out 1920 x 1080 glass sooner rather than latter. Hitachi is moving ahead of Panasonic in this market when it comes to 42in panels and Pioneer is a generation ahead when it comes to 50in models. Im also not totally convinced by the companys proprietary V-Real image processing system. It just doesnt do as profound a job of adding detail to standard-denition as rival technologies like Philips Pixel Plus or JVCs DIST, but I guess V-Real also generates less
unwanted processing side-effects than its rivals. The 50PX600s revamped speaker system delivers an audio performance thats more than functional. Volume can be achieved without cabinet rattle or speaker distortion, the soundstage goes wide and while vocals are rich and rounded.

LAB REPORT

Colour Black Level Contrast Resolution Colour temperature (pre-calibration) (post-calibration) Luminance (pre-calibration) (post-calibration) Contrast ratio (pre-calibration) (post-calibration)

Average

remarkable by the retention within dark areas of terric amounts of subtle shadow detailing and greyscale shifts. I was also impressed by the stability of the 50PX600s picture (no overt dot crawl or edge shimmer) and a colour tone that, once calibrated, looked totally

8000K 6400K 22fL 22fL 650:1 565:1

Conclusion

Theres no doubt this is another classleading television from the top brand in plasma. Its images are often staggeringly beautiful when fed top-notch HD source material, and its a match for the current agship television from Pioneer, the PDP-506XDE (its closest performance rival). For sports and movies, it can be equalled but not beaten
natural, even with tricky skin tones. The 50PX600 doesnt only look good with high-denition. Standard-def DVDs, and even low-bitrate digital broadcasts, look pleasing on the large screen. Overall then, the screen is a remarkable performer. However, there
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Nice and weighty, and features an unusually helpful layout of buttons
Record TV onto an SD card and watch it on a portable media device
Composite video and S-video fallbacks are hidden behind a ap SEPTEMBER 2006

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