Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ850U Television - Surprises, Good and Bad
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One down side to the TH-50PZ850U that is a bit puzzling is that it is not THX certified. THX is something that you would come to expect from a flagship television, and not having it included in the Viera TH-50PZ850U seems like a major oversight by Panasonic. One possible reason for the exclusion of THX is that placing a new feature like Viera Cast was costly. If Panasonic had decided to also include THX on the TH-50PZ850U it could have driven up the unit's price even more, causing the manufacturer to narrow its target market and potential buyers. Nevertheless, it really is a feature that should have been included in the TH-50PZ850U. To suppress the lack of THX, the TH-50PZ850U has a Studio Reference mode, which allows you to fine tune picture settings in the realm of gamma and color temperature, among others.
There is also a lack of picture in picture mode, which seems a bit ridiculous considering the TH-50PZ850U's sticker price. Most televisions that are a fraction of the TH-50PZ850U's price are loaded with this feature, and it is a definite negative if you are a person that likes to watch two different sporting events at the same time rather than flipping the channel constantly.
There are five different picture modes on the Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ850U that you can even customize according to your preference. One great feature is that Custom mode allows you to adjust settings according to each different input. Changing the settings on one input will not affect others; this is a great time saving feature to have. Video game players will appreciate the Game mode the most, as it allows you to label a specific input as that of a video game console to avoid having to toggle through all of the inputs when you want to play video games on the TH-50PZ850U.
Performance on the TH-50PZ850U is satisfactory, although not as great as you would expect for its price. Color accuracy is a bit off when compared with some lower end models, but the picture is excellent and uniform, especially when considering the black levels produced. The screen does a good job of reflecting glare, and viewing angles are great no matter where you are situated.
The Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ850U is a plasma television that provides an excellent picture and a host of connectivity options. Viera Cast is an innovative feature that will probably attract many to this television. The TH-50PZ850U is quite expensive, however, and unless you put a huge premium on Internet capabilities you may want to look at a less expensive television that can produce similar picture quality at a lower price.
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