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  • Tour & Design

  • Performance Features

  • Connectivity & Media

  • Controls, Menu & Remote

  • Conclusion

  • Series Comparison

  • Tour & Design
  • Performance Features
  • Connectivity & Media
  • Controls, Menu & Remote
  • Conclusion
  • Series Comparison

Tour & Design


From the front, TC-P65VT25 looks like a normal television. It has a glossy black bezel that that is about an inch and a half wide.

**

Back**


All of Panasonic's TC-P65VT25 TVs were mounted on the wall, so we couldn't get a good shot of the back for any of these plasma screens. If we had to guess what was back there, we'd probably say a lot of black plastic and a couple of ports.
**

Sides**


The P65VT25 is fairly thin, but with so many ultra-thin TVs being showcased at CES this year, it really didn't look very special. The controls for the TV are located on its left side, along with a collection of ports.

**

Stand/Mount**


As we said before, all of the TC-P65VT25s on display at CES were mounted, so we never got a good look at what the TV's stand looks like. We must say, the TVs looked quite good mounted on the wall.

 

** Aesthetics**


The TC-P65VT25 doesn't have a fancy or unique design, but its simple look is rather stylish. The screen has a rectangular shape (obviously) and is surrounded by a glossy, black bezel. Since the controls are all located on the left side of the TV, there aren't any buttons mucking up the flat, glossy front of the bezel.

Performance Features

Display Size & Technology


The Panasonic TC-P65VT25 is a 65-inch (64.8 inches diagonally) plasma HDTV. Generally, plasma TVs have better viewing angles than LCDs, and they often have a brighter image.

But who cares about size and screen technology? Everyone at CES is talking about 3D, which the TC-P65VT25 can do. The television can display a Full HD 3D image using new technology from Panasonic. You still have to wear those silly glasses, of course, but the TV does come with one free pair of 3D spectacles.

If 3D isn't your thing, you should remember the TC-P65VT25 is a fully functional 2D HDTV as well.

 

**

Formats & Resolution**


The TC-P65VT26 can display a full 1920 x 1080 HD image, which makes it a 1080p television. The set also offers Full 1080p HD in 3D. Now you can invite all your friends over to watch Avatar in 3D... of course, you'll have to purchase 3D glasses for everyone, which may be quite pricey.

**

Brightness, Blacks and Contrast Ratio**


The TC-P65VT25 has Panasonic's Infinite Black Pro display, which, according to Panasonic, offers a contrast ratio of 5,000,000 to 1. The TV's actual contrast ratio will probably be much lower, because manufacturers are big fibbers. We'll have to wait until we've brought the television into our labs for a thorough test.

**

Color**


Panasonic doesn't talk about any special color settings with the TC-P65VT25, but on the floor at CES the TV looked rather good. Even when viewing 3D footage we didn't notice much difference with color saturation or anything like that.

**

Motion & Refresh Rate**


The TC-P65VT25 offers a 600Hz Sub-field Drive refresh rate, which is fairly standard for a plasma HDTV (refresh rates mean different things for plasmas than they do for LCDs). The TV also has a 24p cinematic playback setting that is meant to create a more film-like motion when you watch movies. This can be combined with the TV's THX Movie Mode for even more cinematic enhancement.

Panasonic claims its new Phosphor science allows the TV to produce smoother images—particularly with 3D. In our time with the TV the 3D generally looked good, but there were some issues when the screen displayed lots of motion in 3D. We often saw some blur with the 3D footage, but this could also have been a problem with our glasses as well (they were covered with fingerprints and were often bent and damaged from so many people using them at CES).

**

Viewing Angle**


The viewing angle was quite good for the TC-P65VT25—even in 3D. We did notice some problems when we viewed the TV at a sharp angle because external light would often reflect off of our 3D glasses. This may end up being an issue if you plan on having a 3D viewing party in your living room.

Connectivity & Media

Audio & Video Ports


We couldn't get a good shot of the back of the television, so we can only show you the TV's left-side ports (below). The TC-P65VT25 has two USB terminals, four HDMI ports, a PC input, and an SD card slot. There's also a regular AV input on the left side of the television.

The SD card slot on the side of the TV can be used in conjunction with the Viera Image Viewer function on the television. The TV will playback JPEG stills if you insert a memory card that has photos on it. You can also playback HD video that have been recorded with Panasonic camcorders via this card slot.

** Media & Other Connectivity**


The TC-P65VT25 is part of Panasonic's Viera line of HDTVs, so it comes with all of the Viera Cast capabilities. This includes the Viera Image Viewer, which we mentioned above, as well as Skype. As long as you purchase a compatible webcam, you can turn your TC-P65VT25 into a video conference machine. Both Skype and the Viera Cast media feature are made possible with the TV's wireless LAN adapter—which is also used to connect to the Viera Cast media features.**

Placement**


The ports on the left side are easy to access, but we couldn't get a good look at the rest of the ports on the TV. We'll have to wait until the TV comes into our lab before we can properly diagnose the port placement on the TC-P65VT25.
**

Audio**


Panasonic didn't talk about any new audio features with the TC-P65VT25, so we can't report any news on this front.

Controls, Menu & Remote

Remote


We didn't get to look at the remote for the TC-P65VT25 at CES, so we have no idea what kind of tricks Panasonic has up its sleeve in the remote control department this year. Just wait until the TV gets into our labs and we'll have a complete remote control overview for you.**

Controls**


The controls for the TC-P65VT25 are located on the left side of the television. The controls are hidden behind the TV's bezel, so you can't really see them unless you look around the left side. The buttons do have labels, but the text isn't very big.

**

Menu**


We weren't able to access the menu system for the TV on the show floor.

Conclusion

 

Series Comparison

VT25 Series


The TC-P65VT25 is part of the VT25 series from Panasonic. All of the HDTVs in this series are plasma screens and they all have 3D capabilities. The features for the TVs in this series are mostly the same, so its just the screen size that is different.

Meet the tester

Jeremy Stamas

Jeremy Stamas

Managing Editor, Video

@nematode9

Jeremy is the video expert of our imaging team and Reviewed.com's head of video production. Originally from Pennsylvania and upstate NY, he graduated from Bard college with a degree in film and electronic media. He has been living and working in New England since 2005.

See all of Jeremy Stamas's reviews

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