Panasonic TC-P50V10 Plasma HDTV Now Shipping (V10 Series)

[MrBoylan]

Panasonic's latest assault on state of the art flat panel HDTV technology is now available online from authorized Panasonic dealers, featuring VIERA Cast IPTV features, Digital Cinema Color and an enhanced 24p Cinematic Playback feature.

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[zeilda]

Have heard good reviews about this device.

[David]

Thank you for your support and recommendations. Your reviews and recomendations are outstanding. Just received my TC-P54V10 from OneCall.com on a promotional. Though I had to wait a few weeks for delivery, it is well worth it. Customer service was excellent. WoW is the best description. THX display is outstanding right out of box. Used the CNET calibration and adjustment using the Spears & Munsil Blu-ray calibration DVD to tune settings. Picture is even more outstanding. TV is connected to my 805 Onkyo Receiver with audio out to receiver. Vira Link though not advertised identified my receiver and Dish V222 Receiver when turning remote on / off, a nice plus; however did not recognize the LG BD390 Blu-ray. But still learning how to set up set — who knows may get lucky. ViraCast audio only works using TV speakers. Hooked TV to receiver using audio optical out. Does not make any sense why -- Contacted Panasonic for solution they are researching settings.

Bottom line — based on my experience this last week — the TC-P54V10 is more than worth the extra few bucks.

[David]

Update -- Panasonic provided reply -- ViraCast audio only works using TV speakers.

[MrBoylan]

Update -- Panasonic provided reply -- ViraCast audio only works using TV speakers.

Strange because VIERACast audio works fine for me though the fiberoptic output.

I have the TC-P50V10 hooked up via fiberoptic digital out to my Integra preamp/processor (same company that makes Onkyo) and YouTube and Amazon Video-on-Demand content all come through the fiber optic connection with no problems.

I know there was a firmware update for the V10 recently. Did you let that run? And do you get audio from the on-board tuner? I have an antenna hooked up to the TV for OTA HDTV and this also comes through fine from the fiberoptic output.

-CB

[vern]

Chris, just wondering if you have found a proper set of values for the picture setting on the V10(50") model? I was trying to calibrate the tv last night after figuring out the speaker menu in the BD80. I realize it is not the time to calibrate since the tv is 3 days old, but thought what the heck give it a try. I was using the DVE disk. In the color calibration section, i had a good setting for red and blue, but it seems the TV and my settings could not get the green correct. As I understand it, when you look through the color card supplied with the disk, you should only see the color your looking through and some black bars. With the green I see shades of green and the black is not as dark as the blue and red panels. On the blue and red panels the picture I get is completely red or blue with no outlines of the other squares, just the black ones. Any suggestions?

[MrBoylan]

Chris, just wondering if you have found a proper set of values for the picture setting on the V10(50") model? I was trying to calibrate the tv last night after figuring out the speaker menu in the BD80. I realize it is not the time to calibrate since the tv is 3 days old, but thought what the heck give it a try. I was using the DVE disk. In the color calibration section, i had a good setting for red and blue, but it seems the TV and my settings could not get the green correct. As I understand it, when you look through the color card supplied with the disk, you should only see the color your looking through and some black bars. With the green I see shades of green and the black is not as dark as the blue and red panels. On the blue and red panels the picture I get is completely red or blue with no outlines of the other squares, just the black ones. Any suggestions?

We don't normally publish picture settings in reviews as there are sample to sample variations between TVs. If you check the CNET review you can see the settings they used:

Panasonic TC-P50V10 Flat-panel TV reviews - CNET Reviews

The picture settings are linked from page 2 of the review.

Good luck!

-Chris

[Daylightdon]

Viera cast works fine for me using the optical output connected to my receiver.
It worked before the most recent firmware update.

[sactown]

I've read in some places that if you run HDMI cables from 5.1 surround sound sources to the v10 and then run an optical cable from the optical out on the v10 to the receiver, you will lose the surround sound. Is this true? All I've read about 5.1 surround sound suggests that as long as the audio signal reaches the 5.1 decoder, it will pull the other channels from the signal and produce the surround sound. As I understand it, there is no way a tv can remove the 5.1 surround sound from the audio signal. In my case, I have a ps3 and a cable box connected to the v10 via HDMI cables. This setup is more convenient because I don't have to change the source on the receiver.

[MrBoylan]

Most TVs cannot pass through a Dolby Digital signal from input to output. The TV decodes the input signal from 5.1 to 2-channel PCM for reproduction on its own two speakers then passes through that 2-channel decoded signal over the fiberoptic outputs. The only time you will get a 5.1 Dolby Digital output from the V10's fiberoptic output is if you use the on-board ATSC/QAM tuner.

Samsung TVs work the same way. In fact the only TVs I have seen that behave differently are some VIZIOs (I think the XVT line) which have a menu option to pass through Dolby Digital or send out 2-channel PCM. It would be nice if all TVs had this option for exactly the case you describe but unfortunately most do not. HDMI 1.4 with its audio return channel will solve this but that's in the 2010 V series line (and it will still require a receiver with HDMI audio capability).

Your best bet would be to get a receiver that supports HDMI switching and HDMI audio decoding and use that as the hub for your sources with one HDMI cable out to the TV.

-CB