- Full HD 3D
- IPS LED Panel
- Vera Connect with Built-in Wi-Fi and Web Browser
- Thin LED Design: TV without stand (Width x Height x Depth): 48.7-Inch x 28.6-Inch x 1.1-Inch, TV with stand (Width x Height x Depth): 48.7-Inch x 30.5-Inch x 11.5-Inch
- The 60Hz (110-120V 60Hz) on the back of the set only specifies the electrical system it is designed to be plugged into.
Buy Panasonic VIERA TC-L55DT50 55-Inch 1080p 240Hz 3D Full HD IPS LED-LCD TV Now
I got my 47" TV yesterday. On seeing the cyber monday deal, I was also in two minds given Cnet's scathing review. The TV seemed very good on paper. However, I wanted to get more opinions, and noticed that even though many others had mentioned the contrast issue and black levels, the TV was rated very well. Just as some one else mentioned in a recent review, the avforums review seemed very balanced and comprehensive. After that, I decided to just try it out.I did have some delivery woes with UPS, and their not-so-careful handling of my package right in front of my very eyes! But the TV is great. I hooked it up last night and it looks great! The design is very sleek, the panel is very glossy, and the images are very good. I spent some time looking at the various picture options, and the sliders for contrast, brightness, sharpness, backlight control. Out of the box the colours were great, but with the customization, they were brilliant. Even the black levels are quite good.
Setting up the internet had one small hitch. The TV was not getting an ip address from my router automatically. I manually set it up, and it was online in a flash. I also downloaded the iPad app for the viera remote, and it is really handy. Particularly to type stuff on the iPad and send it to the browser on the TV!
Played some HD content on the youtube app as well as the youtube site on the browser. Both worked great. Setting up the amazon instant video account was a flash as well.
Tried HD channels like AnimalPlanet, NBC, Nat Geo etc, and the rendering of the closeups, the crispness of the images was very good. Dark scenes had excellent blacks as well. The lighting in my living room is average low light.
I am yet to try 3D and full HD DVDs. Will update if I find anything interesting.
The one thing I have noticed though is that the backlight on the right end of the panel seems a bit "glowy" compared to the rest of the panel, when nothing is on. I reckon it may just be something that may go away once the TV has run-in a little bit. However, it has not affected the images as far as I can tell.
Overall, am quite glad I did not listen to CNet this time around.
Read Best Reviews of Panasonic VIERA TC-L55DT50 55-Inch 1080p 240Hz 3D Full HD IPS LED-LCD TV Here
I purchased this TV last week, the design caught my eye, I really like the style of this TV. The colors and brigtness is really good compared to my previous panasonic plasma, however it has several flaws:Cons/flaws:
TV shows yellow hot spots on the bottom of the TV, I guess they made it to slim and thin, so the backlight LED's leak
Black levels are not very good, TV shows dark grey in black scenes, should be inky black
TV has flash light effect, and severe lighting issues, especially when viewing at night or on a dark screen
TV has a large white cloud hot spot on the right/bottom corner, not severe but totally annoying
TV developed a blue/yellow line in the middle of the screen, which changes colors from time to time, it's blue right now and creates a thin blue line on the screen. I contacted Panasonic support and they have a technician coming next Friday to try to fix it. I'm thinking the display is bad.
Pros:
Great Desgin, thin bezel and only weighs about 28 lbs
Color accuracy and picture clearity are great
I really like the design and the color and clarity of the TV, so I will be giving Panasonic a chance to fix the issues with the blue line on the screen and the yellow hot spot leaks, before I decide to return the TV, since I got such a great deal for the TV. I purchased for $800.00, it's definitely worth it without the problems, but it is definitely not worth $1,300 dollars. No way.
Want Panasonic VIERA TC-L55DT50 55-Inch 1080p 240Hz 3D Full HD IPS LED-LCD TV Discount?
The Panasonic VIERA TC-L47DT50 47-Inch 1080p 240Hz 3D Full HD IPS LED-LCD TV is a great TV and if it wasn't for a few detrimental flaws, it'd be perfect.It generates outstanding clarity, brilliant colors, deep dark levels and is sufficiently bright when it needs to be.
In action scenes and sports it excels when it comes to producing fast moving moments. The 240Hz refresh rate is what makes this magic happen, and it's a noticeable improvement over the older 120Hz refresh rate which I had on my previous LG LCD 42" TV.
If you're wanting Internet apps, then this TV delivers that in spades. Not only do you get the biggest favorites like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Video On Demand, but you also get Cinema Now, Vudu, Pandora, Skype, Youtube, and literally dozens of other options that you can download and install via the wired or wi-fi network capability. Netflix in particular is much faster and easier to use with this TV compared to my older LG. There are numerous games to choose from, mostly your basic games like chess, but a neat feature nonetheless. There are sport apps such as Major League Soccer, MLB, etc., with most of them being free. The interface is fast and intuitive, very easy to learn and use even if you've never used such a feature before on a TV. It even has Skype so you can communicate with friends over the Internet on the big screen, which is much better than simply doing it on a regular PC monitor.
As far as the 3D aspect goes, it looks great, but personally this isn't the feature that I sought the most, it seems to be more of a gimmick at this stage than anything, but having said that this TV is at the top of its game in terms of that technology. There's also a 2D to 3D conversion feature, but it doesn't look that great. I tested this with the new film 'John Carter' and while the film itself looks absolutely amazing on this screen, the 2D to 3D conversion fell flat.
One downside to having a larger TV like this is that older shows, especially DVDs and VHS films do not look so good on it, and this is primarily because the resolution is so high which makes the low resolution of the older mediums really stand out like a sore thumb. This can be circumvented by using composite or component cables instead of HDMI when viewing lower res shows, but keep in mind they will look grainy when using HDMI cables. This wasn't an issue on my previous 42" LG LCD since it had a smaller picture and therefore the difference wasn't as noticeable. Blu-rays and HD satellite channels on the other hand look picture perfect, same goes for Netflix movies and TV shows that are in HD.
The overall design of the TV is aesthetically pleasing, clearly the creators went to great lenghts to ensure that this is an eye-catcher and will complement any room's decor. What I really like is the thin, minimalistic metal bezel, aka frame, of the TV, which gives the illusion of the display to almost blend in with the background. For such a large TV it's extremely light weight which allowed me to easily carry it around my living room. Its thinner and lighter than any other TV I've seen so it's easy to see that this is state of the art technology.
It's incredibly easy to put together if you want to use the metal stand (it only needs 4 phillips screws), which I recommend because the stand itself is very elegant looking and adds a nice touch to its futuristic look.
Another advantageous feature is the compatibility it has with certain brand receivers, such as Onkyo, which allows the TV's remote control to control the volume of your home theater. The way it works is that you turn on your TV and satellite receiver first, then turn on the home theater receiver and the TV automatically switches from the TV volume to the receiver's volume, which I thought was a nice and useful touch.
For the techies out there, one of the coolest features of this TV is the ability to download Panasonic's remote control app, which works on smart phones and tablets. Personally I've been using my iPhone to control the volume and change the menus. To be perfectly honest though, this is more of a gimmick, it's not as responsive or easy to use as the main TV remote control, but it's there for that coolness factor if you want to surprise and impress your friends and family.
This Panasonic functions like a media center, you can plug your USB drives into it and watch movies, play songs or look at your pictures, or you can even connect it to your PC as long as it's DLNA compatible, which doesn't include all PCs but it's been a fairly common standard for the past 2-3 years. To find out if your PC is compatible, simply go to your manufacturer's website and look at the FAQs or specifications, or Google a review of your PC. The wi-fi is built in so there's no need to mess with any USB wi-fi adapter, or you can run a network cable if you wish to directly connect to your router or switch, but wi-fi's definitely the way to go. It's fast, easy to use and there are no cables to worry about. As long as you know your wireless router's SSID (network name) and password, it's simple to connect, much like connecting your laptop to the wireless network.
My main gripe with this TV is that it doesn't have much shielding/protection against EMI (electromagnetic interference) due to its super thin design. I made the mistake of putting one of my Onkyo satellite speakers too close to the TV on the right hand side and that's left a permanent, large, white/grayish discoloration on the bottom corner. I immediately moved the speaker away when I noticed it but that was a few weeks ago and it hasn't improved at all. I've researched this and according to all the experts, LCD TVs are not susceptible to damage from the magnets in speakers, but there's no doubt about what happened because it wasn't there before the speaker was placed there, and I never had that problem on my previous LCD because it had a much thicker plastic bezel to protect it. Having said that, it's only noticeable during pitch black scenes, which are rare, 99.99% of the time you can't see it because most programming isn't purely black, but nonetheless I think it's important for potential buyers to know this so they can prevent making the same mistake I did. Also I hope that Panasonic takes a look at this to correct this defect in future designs.
The built-in speakers are quite good, but as with most TVs, if you want excellent sound you'll have to get a home theater surround sound.
As far as the menus go, it's quite similar to other LCD TVs, very intuitive and easy to use, in fact it was quite similar to LG's menu interface, so the learning curve is small.
Since this TV has the IPS technology, the viewing angle is extremely good, and the picture can be easily seen from virtually any angle, unlike older LCDs and plasmas which you'd have to be more or less in the center to see it properly.
It has built-in power saving features which you can set to turn it off automatically if there's no activity/signal for a pre-determined amount of time. In general it uses much less power than older LCDs (up to 25% less) so despite its size, it won't cost much in terms of electricity.
If it wasn't for the discolored white spot in the bottom right portion of the screen caused by the speaker's magnet, I'd give this TV a 5/5, hands down, other than that it's picture perfect. I highly recommend it, just beware of your speaker placement, and keep in mind that older DVDs, VHS tapes and older TV programming won't look so good through HDMI (use component or composite for the old school SD (standard definition), but if you have HD satellite, cable or blu-rays, then this TV will impress to say the least.
Know what you're buying here. Its not a plasma and the black levels will never be as deep as one, no LED will ever be. However properly adjusted this picture is fantastic and I am completely happy with the purchase. The CNET review was either really poorly adjusted or a defective model or the firmware was updated to fix the issues they were having. They also reviewed it as a $2500 set, not the $999.00 it was selling on here for. Make sure you update the firmware, adjust the picture with a calibration disk and enjoy.
At this point I have not used the 3D feature or the Apps and probably won't any time soon (if ever) so I can't really review that stuff. However the wifi connected with my router without issue. The overall interface is quite straightforward albeit a little slow.
Would I give this TV 5 stars if I bought it for $2500? No, but for a grand yes this TV is worth every penny.
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