Panasonic Viera TX-P50ST50B 50 inch Full HD Freeview HD Plasma 3D Smart TV

Where do I start with this television?

It is simply, without doubt, one of the best pictures that I have seen in a television at this price!

The quality of the picture out of the box is nothing short of exemplary.

Standard Definition is great and High Definition is simply wonderful!

Where the TV really excels though is when playing Blu Ray discs. The clarity, sharpness, contrast and colour of the images produced by this television far surpasses anything that you can get on even the top end LED televisions that are on the market at the moment.

Blacks are really black (not wishy washy grey as they appear on a lot of LED/LCD tvs.

3D performance is also admirable on this TV. I've purchased some Samsung 3D glasses that bear the full 3d RF logo (a new 3D standard for TVs) and they work perfectly with this Panasonic TV. You just need to check to see if they are compatible with the TV before purchase and you can use any manufacturers 3D glasses (saving, as i did a LOT of money compared to the Panasonic equivalent).

This TV has a built in Media Server (DLNA compliant), which means that you can wirelessly (it also has built in WiFi) connect to your home network through your router and stream films, photos and music to your tv from any device (PC, Laptop, iPad, Android Device)connected to your network.

You can also play films, pictures and music from a USB stick when plugged into 1 of the 2 USB ports on the side of the TV.

In addition you can connect an external hard drive to the TV and record TV programmes (both standard and High Definition)either by recording as you watch or setting them to record via the Programme Guide. So, in effect you do not need a separate hard disc recorder.

There is so much to love with this TV, I could write pages and pages, but the bottom line is if you want a 50" TV for a great price and with simply outstanding picture quality then I defy you to find anything better out there at the moment!...as of October 2012 anyway!

After spending the last 4 months searching for a TV in this price band i decided with some trepidation to opt for the ST50.Having always had LCD/LED TV's a plasma was a big leap into the unknown for me. Thankfully my gut instincts were right. This TV is amazing.
A short explanation why.
Picture quality: Standard definition upscaling is superb with very little noise. This was a pleasant suprise considering the screen size.
Hi-definition pictures are awesome but Bluray is where this TV really stands out.
Contrast/Brightness: My lounge has massive bay windows which catch a lot of sunlight in the afternoon but the ST50 copes very well. Pictures are bright and punchy with only a minimum amount of reflection on the screen.
Black levels: Superb.Black really is black.
Motion: No issues to report. I watch a lot of sport/movies and the motion handling is great.
3D: Superb.Real depth to 3d images and no sign of crosstalk or other tech issues. Panasonic's 2012 glasses are lightweight and use RF/bluetooth.
Image retention: None so far(and i watch a lot of rolling news channels!).
Gaming: Superb. With a 16ms response time on game mode.(again no image retention after many hours of gameplay).
Sound: Good compared to some other manufacturers i could mention. Perfectly acceptable for every day TV use. Though as with all flat screens a soundbar is a must if you want to annoy the neighbours.
Online Content: Very good. Lots of apps and stuff. BBc i-player, YouTube etc...
Overall: Fantastic all round TV.