Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK 50-inch Plasma Reviewed

[Audioholics]

<A href="http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avhardware/panasonic-TH-50PHD8UKp1.php"><IMG style="WIDTH: 119px; HEIGHT: 100px" alt=[panasonicTH50PHD8UK] hspace=10 src="http://www.audioholics.com/news/thumbs/panasonicTH50PHD8UK_th.jpg" align=left border=0></A>Bragging rights. You want them, you know you do. We all do. Some small (or large as the case may be) part of our mind wants people to be impressed with our purchases, abilities, etc. If you are looking for a huge screen that is easy to use and will provide a stunning picture with a good signal and you don’t want to drop enough money to buy a car, the Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK may be the display for you.

[Read the Review]

 

[ned]

Thanks for the review. This would be great for people with FP with less than ideal light control situation.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Tom,

Nice review. It sounds like you really hate your job.
That is one heck of a bargain for under $2900 shipped (street price).
It's too bad it doesn't come with HDMI inputs. Are these just plug in style hookups, or is there more to it? Would you recommend buying the consumer version for $500 or so more with built in tuners, or did you find this unit adequate for tv and movies? Also, I thought I read or heard somewhere these commercial version units had better pq than the consumer version. Any truth to this?

 

[Tom Andry]

Luckily you can get the HDMI input for a nominal price increase. Unfortunately, I can't compare it to the consumer version as I haven't spent a great deal of time with it. Ray may have some information there. If he doesn't chime in soon, I'll give him a call and find out his opinion.

The PQ for movies was great. Really, really impressive. As I said in the review, the deinterlacing was pretty basic so I wouldn't recommend using this unit with a questionable signal (aka basic cable). With a relatively good quality DVD player or cable/satellite box, this unit would be superb.

As far as the hookups. If you are referring to the component or composite input, there was BNC adapter that was provided for the review. When you order it from Visual Apex, you should make sure they send you those as well.

 

[moverton]

Couple of issues with this review

1. The inputs are modular which in my opinion is a major feature, not a problem. You can plug in any combination you need, unlike consumer models that lock you into whatever combo they thought was most marketable.
Also, this was mentioned in the review summary but never really explained in the detail (unless i'm missing something) They do cost $75-$100 but that is nothing in the long run.
2. I have not noticed any problems with interlacing. This may be because I am running the signal from a HD comcast dvr or progressive dvd. I think most people with this display will be feeding it similarly.
3. another plus is they come with pc inputs unlike many consumer models.

In general, this display is an excelent choice for most people who are going to hook up hd receivers/dvd's. And why would you buy a hd tv if not? The lack of a tuner and speakers is also a good thing. Most built in plasma speakers are junk and if not used just take up space and look ugly. The tuner would never be used by 90% of people who would buy this tv so why pay for it.
These are exactly the same display panels as the panasonic consumer models, just with less useless junk, more flexibility, and a lower price.


Last peice of advice for anybody thinking about one of these. Look for a Panasonic dealer. These are commercial models so look for a commercial dealer, they are out there. The streeatprices.com type dealers are mainly scam artists (overcharge shipping, etc) and you can find very comparable pricing from a real dealer if you look. Look at the Panasonic site for a list of commercial dealers.

 

[bid98]

Also available at Costco

Great review. I've been interested in this model for a while. You have me sold.

This display is being sold on Costco's website for $2999.

Not a bad deal with their no questions asked return policy.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I thought it was worth mentioning...

The 9 series Panasonic plasmas will be out (according to Visual Apex) towards the end of July and they are taking preorders.

Why buy the old ugly plasma when the new ones are coming out?

I have heard, and have not confirmed, that the glass in both the commercial and residential plasmas is the same, but the color depth of the residential plasmas is deeper which indicates that the residential models use different processing - which may show up as an improvement in SD material. Yes, I use HD, but at least half our viewing is still stuck at SD stuff... and movies we watch on the projector.

It's a very fine line, IMO, between buying the commercial model instead of the residential model, and you gotta get the HDMI port - which a lot of places don't specifically advertise.

Anyone seen the newest Maxent displays... they are starting to look scary good.

 

[RLA]

Hello All

The HD8UK is an older generation 8 panel; current consumer Panasonic panels are generation 9. The differences in performance are not substantial between the two generations, but the newer 9 series is the better of the two.

Interlaced scaling on the generation 9 consumer panels is much better than that of the commercial division HD8UK.As mentioned previously consumer panels ship with HDCP compliant HDMI input. The consumer panels also ship with speakers and they all incorporate a tuner.

Personally I like the looks of the older 8UK better than the 50-PX600 and I also like the service menu functions better on the 8UK

The new 9UK is slated to begin shipping in July but only time will tell if this date is valid.

 

[Audioholics]

Why buy the old ugly plasma when the new ones are coming out?

CHEAPER!!!! lol

 

[RLA]

Why buy the old ugly plasma when the new ones are coming out

Didn't your momma teach you that it's what's inside that counts

Then your daddy said psst... if that doesn’t work try a couple Buds

 

[Tom Andry]

1. The inputs are modular which in my opinion is a major feature, not a problem. You can plug in any combination you need, unlike consumer models that lock you into whatever combo they thought was most marketable.
Also, this was mentioned in the review summary but never really explained in the detail (unless i'm missing something) They do cost $75-$100 but that is nothing in the long run.
2. I have not noticed any problems with interlacing. This may be because I am running the signal from a HD comcast dvr or progressive dvd. I think most people with this display will be feeding it similarly.
3. another plus is they come with pc inputs unlike many consumer models.

#1 - I don't think I said it was a problem (other than my review model did not have a digital input). I agree that the cost is nominal and said that a potential buyer should invest in it.

#2 - That is because your display is not doing the deinterlacing, your DVR and DVD player are.

#3 - Good point.

In general, this display is an excelent choice for most people who are going to hook up hd receivers/dvd's. And why would you buy a hd tv if not?

Thank you for summarizing my review so well. I'm glad we are in agreement.

 

[BruZZi]

From the review: " The TH-50PHD8UK has only one component... "

FYI: The VGA input on the Panasonic Commercial Displays (6UY / 7UY / 8UY / 9UK)
accepts Component Signals . All you need is a Component/VGA cable.

.

 

[RLA]

FYI: The VGA input on the Panasonic Commercial Displays (6UY / 7UY / 8UY / 9UK)
accepts Component Signals . All you need is a Component/VGA cable

Be careful using the VGA input with VGA>component breakout cable. I have experienced syncing issues with some of the panels. This may be due to input sensitivity difference on the VGA input.

 

[BruZZi]

Be careful using the VGA input with VGA>component breakout cable. I have experienced syncing issues with some of the panels. This may be due to input sensitivity difference on the VGA input.

I used a Component/VGA cable on my previous Panny TH-37PWD6UY for more than a year without any problems. And now I've been using the same cable (from AudioQuest) since November on my current TH-50PHD8UK again without any problems. PQ is the same on both the Component and VGA inputs.




.

 

[moverton]

My bad

Thank you for summarizing my review so well. I'm glad we are in agreement.

Sorry if my post came off negatively. As i wrote it i went back and reread your review and realized my first impression was wrong. The post wasn't meant as a pan of the review. I should have gone back and changed the subject line.

#1 - I don't think I said it was a problem (other than my review model did not have a digital input). I agree that the cost is nominal and said that a potential buyer should invest in it.

The reason I took issue with the review here was that it mentioned the inputs as a "con" in the summary and then never explained the reality.

Cons
No internal tuner
Extremely limited number of inputs
Optional HDMI/DVI-D inputs are additional

What I was trying to express was that in many ways this tv actually has more input possibilities than almost any consumer tv + some future profing because of the system panasonic uses. Seemed unfair to classify this as a "con" unless it was balanced with "super fliexible inputs".
I just wanted to make sure people didn't get the wrong "picture"