TV Reviews

  Samsung's 50" HP-S5073 may not be one of the high end plasma televisions that can be found on the market - but it makes for a great stepping stone for those who are slowly working their way up. This television has the important inputs and outputs that can be found on any of the flat panel plasmas which include SPDIF output, USB input, VGA input, S-Video input, HDMI, and component video.

For being on the lower end of the spectrum we are happy to report that you won't miss out on the picture quality. When hooked up to the high definition signal you will get a picture that is clear and sharp.

One of the best ways to watch your movies is by using the progressive video scan that the television supports. The only way to utilize this feature is to purchase a progressive scan DVD player - which will help to create a ‘flicker free' picture. In other words the picture will look much more clear when compared to watching it on a normal DVD player.

The price of the Samsung HP-S5073 ranges from $1,500 - $1,600. This is an amazing price for a television that is of this size and that has this picture quality.

The 50" Pioneer Kuro PDP-5080 is a 1080p model that can compete against some of the best. It was built to support any mode (HD, DVD, standard, etc) with a native resolution of 1,366x768 pixels. Usually we focus on coloring, black levels, and of course all of the other important features that can be found on your standard HD television. But there is something about the PDP-5080 that truly separates it from other televisions and we can't help but focus on it - if only for a little while.

Those of you who want cable but hate having to deal with the annoying cable box that comes with it will be happy to know that Panasonic has equipped it with CableCard - something that is rare to find in an HDTV. All you need to do is to purchase a special card from your local cable company and install it directly into the 5080HD slot on your television. Once the card is installed the television will receive both high definition channels (provided by the cable company) and digital cable.

Pioneer has definitely given this television enough inputs to work with. On the back of the panel on the television you will find a PC input (which has a max resolution of 1,366x768), component-video input, AV input, RF inputs for any antenna or cable, digital optical audio input, and much more. Trust us when we say that it has more inputs than the average HDTV. Did we also mention the side panel full of inputs? Also another great feature that it has is PIP (picture in picture) - which is something that is always great to have. It looks like Pioneer has outdone itself in the feature department.

Now that we have touched on the features it's time to take a look at the performance of the television. You may have to do a bit of tweaking when it comes to perfecting the color accuracy. Don't get us wrong, the television does a great job of bringing out the colors - almost too good of a job - but due to the imperfection of the color temperature the colors are often too saturated and look almost unreal at times.

The anti-reflective screen - which was built as a non-matte instead - did an excellent job of keeping out the annoying glares that can ruin your favorite movie or TV show. It may not be the best on the market - but it does a good enough job and can easily beat out most other televisions that are built with the non-matte screen. Unfortunately it can't top the effectiveness that a matte screen provides.

Now that we know how well we can watch in a lit room we were eager to see how well it did with the lights off - which of course is the most effective way of watching a great movie and getting that perfect theater effect at home. In order to effectively achieve this we had to put the television in Movie mode. The television is preset to lower the light output to around 40 foot lambert - which was effective. It also warmed up the color temperature to a good level - though because of the color accuracy (previously mentioned) it still had a hard time with some of the lighter colors.

The PDP-5080 does have deep black levels - but we were happy to see that this did not affect the images on the screen during any dark scenes. Nothing is more aggravating than when you are trying to watch a movie that has a very ethereal and dark look to it (horror) and you can't see anything that is going on because of the deep black levels of the screen. Pioneer has seen to it that we can make out everything no matter how dark the scene is.

The price range of Pioneer's Kuro PDP-5080 HDTV is $2,000 - $3,500. This is actually a reasonable price compared to other HD televisions of this size on the market. The quality of the picture is great - besides the mediocre color accuracy. Plus the fact that you have all of the best features and can hook any music device and camera to see and hear things up close is always a plus.

The Panasonic 65" TH-65PF9UK is the very first 1080p plasma screen to be built. Panasonic released this model not long after Sharp had released a 1080p LCD screen. The TH-65PF9UK proved to be a better designed screen than we would have thought. Most models that we have seen from Panasonic have had one problem or another with the picture quality that you would receive. Instead you will notice that all of the colors are realistic instead of being too dull or too bright.

Some models with high-def signals have a problem when trying to show the image during the dark scenes. More often than not the picture is unrecognizable, leaving you to wonder what is going on during an important part of your movie. However, we are happy to see that Panasonic has fixed this problem. During a dark scene we noticed that we could see every detail.

Panasonic has given us several modes to view what we are watching - which include standard, dynamic, cinema, and supercinema (they can be accessed through the menu). You will find the standard is always the easiest and best choice although cinema isn't so bad when watching movies or your favorite show.

The only option that most people will have a hard time with is dynamic mode. Dynamic mode will drastically change and enhance the brightness and contrast of the picture. You can only use this mode if your room is lit a certain way.

Another screen mode that you can watch in is PIP (Picture in Picture) - which allows you to watch two different pictures side by side and at the same time.

One of the unique features that this screen offers is the ability to add and arrange inputs to your direct specifications on where you want them. The screen has optional accessory cards - which means that it doesn't start off with many inputs. Some people may not mind this and will love to have the opportunity to arrange them in the way that they want. However, there are some of us out there who would prefer to have all the inputs that we need right away without having to worry about buying anything.

Panasonic has taken a risk with this feature. The inputs that it comes with are one composite, DVI, VGA 15 pin, RS232 port, and one BNC video component input.

The price range for the 65" Panasonic TH-65PF9UK is $5,700 - $8,500. It seems like a steep price - but you will get an amazing high-def picture that brilliantly shows off the colors, contrast, brightness, and dark levels that you would want from a good television.

The only downside is that you will have to spend extra money if you want to add more inputs and because it does not come with a stand or speakers you will have to spend more money on those as well if you opted to have them.