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  • Introduction

  • Overall Design

  • Front

  • Back

  • Sides

  • Stand/Mount

  • Controls

  • Remote Control

  • In the Box

  • Black Level

  • Peak Brightness

  • Contrast

  • Tunnel Contrast

  • White Falloff

  • Uniformity

  • Greyscale Gamma

  • Color Temperature

  • RGB Curves

  • Motion Performance

  • 3:2 Pulldown & 24fps

  • Resolution Scaling

  • Formats

  • Viewing Angle

  • Reflectance

  • Video Processing

  • Calibration

  • Video Modes

  • Connectivity

  • Placement

  • Audio Quality

  • Menu Interface

  • Instruction Manual

  • Internet Features

  • Local Media Playback

  • Other Media

  • Power Consumption

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Other Comparisons

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Conclusion

  • Model Series Comparison

  • Photo Gallery

  • Ratings & Specs

  • Introduction
  • Overall Design
  • Front
  • Back
  • Sides
  • Stand/Mount
  • Controls
  • Remote Control
  • In the Box
  • Black Level
  • Peak Brightness
  • Contrast
  • Tunnel Contrast
  • White Falloff
  • Uniformity
  • Greyscale Gamma
  • Color Temperature
  • RGB Curves
  • Motion Performance
  • 3:2 Pulldown & 24fps
  • Resolution Scaling
  • Formats
  • Viewing Angle
  • Reflectance
  • Video Processing
  • Calibration
  • Video Modes
  • Connectivity
  • Placement
  • Audio Quality
  • Menu Interface
  • Instruction Manual
  • Internet Features
  • Local Media Playback
  • Other Media
  • Power Consumption
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Other Comparisons
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Conclusion
  • Model Series Comparison
  • Photo Gallery
  • Ratings & Specs

Introduction

Overall Design

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The overall design of the TC-P50S30 is nothing special, as it's essentially an angular glossy black bezel that raises fairly far from the screen. It's not going to stand out as the most beautiful thing you could ever buy, but it's not ugly.

Front

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The front of the TC-P50S30 is mostly featureless outside of the angular bezel.

Back

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On the back of the TC-P50S30 you'll find the ports, clustered around the right side.

Sides

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On the sides of the TC-P50S30, you'll find a small external media input panel with all the USB ports, the SD card slot and an HDMI input. On the right side, you'll find the manual control buttons, which are easy to find and operate.

Stand/Mount

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The TC-P50S30's stand is about as basic as they come: it doesn't swivel, it's clunky and its high-gloss finish makes it collect fingerprints like it belongs on a reality TV show about hoarders.

Controls

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The manual control buttons are easy enough to reach on the side of the TV, and are easy to operate. They're difficult to figure out which ones they are without looking, but chances are you won't need to use these.

Remote Control

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The remote control is the same exact one packaged with many other 2011/2010 model year Panasonic TVs, except that this year, Panasonic improved the previously-horrendous key travel issue. Thanks Panasonic!

The Remote fits easily in the hand and is lightweight, but it's no universal remote. The buttons are more or less logically placed, and the huge labeling makes each function easy to read.

In the Box

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The Panasonic TC-P50S30 comes packaged with its manual, remote, batteries, power cord, TV and stand.

Black Level

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Like many other plasmas, the {{product.model}} has an outstanding black level of 0.04cd/m2. Though this can vary a little bit (our recording device often noted the level dipped below this measurement), this performance is about as good as they come. More on how we test black level.

Peak Brightness

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Probably the most glaring flaw of the {{product.model}} is it's absolutely awful peak brightness. For reference, 200cd/m2 is the minimum brightness needed for watching regular cable TV in a brightly-lit room, and the {{product.model}} doesn't come anywhere close to it. You may have problems with the picture looking washed-out if you try to view in a brightly-lit room. More on how we test peak brightness.

Contrast

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Despite the very low peak brightness, the {{product.model}} has a decent contrast ratio, outperforming similarly-priced LCD screens. More on how we test contrast.

Tunnel Contrast

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Though this is quite unusual for a plasma screen, the {{product.model}} actually didn't seem to have any issues in maintaining a consistent black level on the screen, outside of the spike towards the very end there (where the screen was mostly white, around a tiny sliver of black). More on how we test tunnel contrast.

White Falloff

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The {{product.model}} had a few minor issues in maintaining a consistent brightness level, but we're not terribly surprised by this, given that plasma screens tend to run hotter than LCD screens, and that screen burn-in is more common in plasmas as a result. More on how we test white falloff.

Uniformity

Greyscale Gamma

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When we test greyscale gamma, we look at two aspects of our charts before scoring a TV’s performance: the smoothness and slope of the line. The smoothness of the line tells us whether or not there were certain values of signal intensity that the TV simply couldn’t produce, or if they were produced incorrectly. Ideally, the slope of the line should lie somewhere between 2.1 and 2.2, but depending on a TV’s performance, this may vary. If it does, that means it doesn’t quite produce the ideal values along the greyscale, which can result in lost detail, especially in shadows.

The {{product.model}} did a relatively average job here, as you can see from the chart below. There were a few hiccups in the smoothness of the line, indicating a few values that the TV did not display correctly. In addition, the slope of the line landed at 2.50, while not great, it isn't a bad score either. We find many TVs that fall around this area, so we're not too disappointed with the {{product.model}}. More on how we test greyscale gamma.

Color Temperature

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As indicated by the included chart, the {{product.model}} had a slight issue with color temperature cooling that got worse as signal intensity decreased. Despite how far the error level strayed into the realm of human perceptibility, you are probably not going to notice it too much. More on how we test color temperature.

RGB Curves

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The {{product.model}}'s RGB curves are mostly okay, with only a few notable errors towards the brightest end of signal intensity. Overall, there are only minor smoothness issues, with a few values that the TV set couldn't properly display. If you're looking at certain color values in shadow, you may notice some minor color banding, as you can see on the color strips below. More on how we test RGB curves.

Below are linear representations of the {{product.model}}'s individual RGB curves, that of the ideal response, and that of the other comparison models. Be sure to take note of any color banding in the strips, as it shows you color values that the corresponding TV is incapable of displaying.

Motion Performance

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The {{product.model}} has about as good motion performance as anyone can ask for, scoring high marks in smoothness. In each of our test patterns, the {{product.model}} didn't show any major issues with artifacting or stair-stepping, and it handled the refresh in image well. Users of the {{product.model}} should expect moving pictures to be rendered well. More on how we test motion performance.

3:2 Pulldown & 24fps

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The {{product.model}} has a native 3:2 pulldown feature that assists in displaying film content as well as most other TVs. Don't expect anything special out of this TV set in terms of handling film content, but the {{product.model}} doesn't do too badly at all. More on how we test 3:2 pulldown and 24fps.

Resolution Scaling

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The {{product.model}} has a native resolution of 1080p, but it can also handle content in other resolutions fairly well. We know that not everything you might hook up to the TV will have a 1080p HD signal, so we test different resolutions individually at the lab. Below is what we found. More on how we test resolution scaling.

480p

While displaying 480p content, 2% of the image was lost to overscan, but showed no other issues.

720p

When we fed a 720p signal to the {{product.model}}, it didn't lose any part of the image to overscan, but it did show severe issues with Moiré interference, a problem plaguing the 1080i and 1080p resolutions as well.

1080i

Much like the issues with 720p, the {{product.model}} struggled with 1080i content, namely with Moiré interference. For some reason, the {{product.model}} just couldn't make heads or tails out of high-frequency patterns, and it made the image show several sectors of false-coloration that changed from green to purple to blue etc. We've run into this before in {{product.brand.name}} plasma TVs, but this result was pretty bad.

Formats

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The {{product.name}} has a native resolution of 1080p and can handle all standard NTSC resolutions.

Viewing Angle

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We typically see good performances out of plasma TVs in this regard, but the {{product.model}} was really great in terms of total viewing angle. In our lab, we recorded a 150 degree total viewing angle, allowing you to view the screen from 75 degrees from center on either side before losing 50% of picture contrast.

Reflectance

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All things considered, the {{product.model}} isn't very reflective as far as plasma screens go. We typically see plasmas reflect just about every little bit of light in a room, making for some awkward situations viewing something in groups when the screen goes dark and you find yourself looking at someone else in the room in the reflection on the screen.

We noticed that the {{product.model}} did try to diffuse some light, but the reflection pattern and brightness was still pretty annoying. Still, you could do a lot worse in this area, and even diffusing some light is better than none.

Video Processing

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The {{product.name}} has a small handful of additional video processing features, some more effective than others.

Calibration

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In order to make sure we give each TV a fair shake in our testing environment, we calibrate each set for maximum performance. If you'd like to see how we calibrated our {{product.name}}, we've provided our settings below.

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All of our calibration is done in conjunction with the DisplayMate software.

](http://www.displaymate.com/)

Video Modes

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There are a small number of video modes that the {{product.model}} comes pre-loaded with, each suited for a different viewing environment.

Connectivity

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The Panasonic TC-P50S30 has a fair amount of ports, all located on the back of the TV set in either one of two panels: the main rear port, and the side input panel. The rear port panel is home to the analog video inputs, 2 HDMI inputs, the cable/ANT in, S/PDIF out (digital audio) and the ethernet port.

On the side input panel, you will find the SD/SDHC card slot, 2 USB ports and one HDMI input.

Placement

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The placement of the ports are well enough, but if you plan on mounting your plasma to the wall, plan on getting a mount that allows you ample space if you plan on using the ethernet, cable or analog video in ports, as these will almost certainly give you problems if they aren't given enough room.

Audio Quality

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The audio performance of the {{product.name}} is actually not that bad, given its two 20 watt speakers aren't going to replace your 5.1-channel surround sound system any time soon. If you'd like to use your own speakers, the {{product.model}} has a digital audio out (S/PDIF) port in the back that allows you to hook up your {{product.model}} to an external receiver.

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The {{product.model}}'s menus are relatively basic, and aesthetically uninspiring. Still, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, as the menus are consequently easy to navigate and use. This is roughly the same menu used by 2011 year Panasonics.

Depending on your input source, some of the advanced options will be greyed out. For example, some advanced features for signlas carried by an HDMI cable won't be supported with an analog external media source.

Instruction Manual

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As per usual with Panasonic TVs, the instruction manual was quite good. Sure, it doesn't have fancy color pictures, but it does have helpful diagrams, charts and tabbed browsing that make for an easy-to-read experience. You can also find a copy of the manual online.

A manual for so many TV models, they have to be further categorized by type.

Internet Features

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The {{product.name}} has a very basic array of internet features preloaded onto the home menu screen, including big names like Netflix and Pandora. {{product.brand.name}} still provides the user with the same laggy interface that plague other models, but the navigation is getting slightly better. For instance, the loading animations aren't as bad as the high-end models of {{product.brand.name}} TV, so that's a plus.

Local Media Playback

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The {{product.name}} can play back photo content (JPEG only), video content (MP4, MKV, MPEG-2, AVCHD) and music (MP3 and AAC) via the USB ports or SD/SDHC card slot on the side of the TV set itself. The menus for each are relatively simple, and easily navigable.

Other Media

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The {{product.name}} does not support any other type of media.

Power Consumption

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All in all, the {{product.model}} didn't draw a large amount of current to power its 50-inch screen. That's not to say that it's going to dazzle you with its efficiency, but you won't have to worry about shelling out a bunch of cash each billing cycle to run your {{product.model}}.

Against the competition, the {{product.model}} has a relatively average power draw for a plasma screen, but it will never touch the energy efficiency of a more modern LCD screen.

Value Comparison

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Both the Panasonic TC-P50ST30 and the {{product.model}} are very similar TVs, but while the {{product.model}} is more basic, you get 3D content with the TC-P50ST30, along with an inflated pricetag to go along with it. If 3D content isn't worth the markup in price, you may want to stick with the {{product.model}}.

Blacks & Whites

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While the TC-P50ST30 has a better peak brightness, the {{product.model}} has a competitive contrast ratio, albeit not as good as the former. Both have great black levels.

Color Accuracy

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As you can see from the chart below, the {{product.model}} has a noticeable problem with color temperature cooling towards the darker end of the range of signal intensity. The TC-P50ST30 does not share this shortcoming, scoring very well in our tests. Both sets had virtually identical RGB curves, so the {{product.model}} does not lose too much face here.

Motion

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While the {{product.model}} may be a little behind in color temperature error, it makes up for this shortcoming in motion performance. The {{product.model}} absolutely trounces the TC-P50ST30 in this regard, and will give you a much smoother picture between the two Panasonic TV sets.

Viewing Effects

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Both the {{product.name}} and the TC-P50ST30 have huge viewing angles, typical of plasma-screened TV sets.

Connectivity

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Even though the {{product.model}} gives you a fair amount of ports, the connectivity options present on the TC-P50ST30 are much more diverse, and the latter set is the better choice for those who are more concerned with having a broad range of media sources connected to their TV.

Other Comparisons

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While the {{product.model}} does not have any 3D content capability, the TC-P50ST30 does, and it scores among the best of 3D TVs that we've tested thus far.

Value Comparison

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The Samsung sports an MSRP that's $200 less than the {{product.name}}, but still is comparable or better in most categories of measure. If you want to save yourself a couple bucks, the Samsung PN50C550 is a great way to do so without sacrificing anything in the way of performance.

Blacks & Whites

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While the {{product.model}} has a lower black level, the Samsung has a much higher peak brightness, which will allow you to view its picture in a much broader range of lighting conditions than the burn-in prone Panasonic.

Color Accuracy

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The Samsung PN50C550 has a much less noticeable color temperature error than the {{product.name}}, but where it excels in this regard, it really drops the ball in RGB curves and color gamut, which the {{product.model}} outperforms it.

Motion

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Both sets did well in handling motion, and you really can't go wrong with either in this regard. Still, purists insist on our objective stats in this category, and the {{product.name}} was better in our testing.

Viewing Effects

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Both the {{product.name}} and the Samsung PN50C550 have absurdly huge viewing angles, and neither will disappoint here.

Connectivity

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The Samsung PN50C550 has a lot more in the way of input options, so it wins this comparison pretty handily. Still, if analog options are not as important to you, this may not be as big of a concern.

Value Comparison

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Both the {{product.name}} and the LG 47LD4500 have the same MSRP, but from there the similarities end. Not only does the LG have the typical shortcomings of an LCD screen, but the {{product.model}} has its own shortcomings too. You may prefer either one of these sets, but the choice really comes down to what you want or need in a TV that will decide which one is better suited for your needs.

Blacks & Whites

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Plasma screens typically outperform LCD screens in black and white performance, and the {{product.name}} did, to a point. It does fail to produce a bright screen, which the LG has no difficulty doing, but at the expense of contrast ratio. Really, if picture quality is a chief concern, you might be better off with the {{product.model}}

Color Accuracy

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While neither TV impresses with its color performance, the LG outperformed the {{product.name}} in every metric we use: color gamut, color temperature error and RGB curves.

Motion

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The {{product.name}} absolutely blew the LG 47LD4500 away in terms of motion performance, displaying far fewer artifacts and a much smoother picture.

Viewing Effects

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Much like other plasma screens, the {{product.name}} has a much larger viewing angle than the LCD-screened 47LD4500. This is a fairly typical difference between LCD TVs and plasmas, so there are no real surprises here.

Connectivity

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Even though neither set offers a plethora of input/output ports, the difference is more that the Samsung has more analog options, where the {{product.name}} has more digital ones. Both netted about the same score in this comparison, but if you need many HDMI input ports, the {{product.model}} is the better bet.

Conclusion

In the end, the {{product.name}} isn't a bad TV set, but it isn't exactly a great one either. While it provides great picture quality and motion performance, its lack of a high brightness and its vulnerability to screen burn-in make for a TV set that has to be handled delicately. If you're looking to buy a set as a casual viewer, chances are good that you can find another set that will perform better for the price, depending on what aspects of performance are most important to you.

Model Series Comparison

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The Panasonic TC-PxxS30 series has 4 TVs in its lineup: the TC-P42S30, the TC-P46S30, the TC-P50S30, and the TC-P60S30.

{{photo_gallery "Front Tour Image", "Back Tour Image", "Sides Tour Image", "Stand Photo", "Controls Photo", "Remote Control Photo", "Connectivity Tour Image 1", "Connectivity Tour Image 2", "Connectivity Extra Photo", "Menu Main Photo", "Menu 2 Photo", "Internet Features 1 Photo", "Internet Features 2 Photo", "Internet Features 3 Photo", "Local Media Playback 1 Photo", "Local Media Playback 2 Photo"}}

Ratings & Specs

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Meet the tester

Chris Thomas

Chris Thomas

Staff Writer, Imaging

@cthomas8888

A seasoned writer and professional photographer, Chris reviews cameras, headphones, smartphones, laptops, and lenses. Educated in Political Science and Linguistics, Chris can often be found building a robot army, snowboarding, or getting ink.

See all of Chris Thomas's reviews

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