Panasonic VIERA S1 Series TC-P58S1 58-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV, Black

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review:

Review 6 to 10 of total 35

Extraordinary Price/Performance Ration,
by ~Zen~, 2009-12-14

I was enamored by the LCDs, especially the Samsung and was ready to get one, but decided to do some background research before decision and was disturbed by the reviews of motion blur even with 240hz and edge blurs on even the best backlit LCDs. Then read a lot of review where people complained about service and power system problems with Samsung and how they returned LCDs and exchanged for Plasma. I then tilted to plasma. I read some good reviews about Panasonic TC-P58V10 and other higher Panasonic models with THX that were reviewed in many reputable HD Home Theatre and technology sites and went to Best Buy to check it all out.

Best Buy's Magnolia Theater had the Panasonic TC-P58V10 which was a $1000 more than TC-P58S1 but one look at it and we freaked out. ESPN-HD was on and the text/numbers on the basketball player's shirts were blurred with pixelated edges and the overall resolution of 1080p was worse than my 7yo DLP 1080i. We almost decided to quit all purchase.

I was then directed to the TC-P50S1, the 50" version and was amazed how clear it was. And infinitely superior to TC-P58V10 and its THX upgrade models. I was tempted to get the 65" model, but the $1000 more from 58" did not add up. At $400 more for a 65" we'd have jumped at it, but I think Panasonic deliberately priced it this way - its an old pricing trick. We're very happy with the 58" model.

Like all Plasma, this one is best used in dark rooms. If you have a very sunny and bright room then stay with LCD as you'll only burn out the plasma on full power brightness and contrast. If you mostly use the tv for night time viewing then you're fine with this one in any kind of room. Don't be fooled by how good the LCDs look in the well lit showrooms, this Plasma is a real killer when you bring home. We use a dark home theater room so I actually had to reduce the brightness whether the room was dark/unlit or dim-lit. The tv comes with multiple visual settings that can all be reconfigured from default. The Cinema mode is green cast on default but can be tint adjusted, contrary to another review here on amazon that it cannot be adjusted. The Vivid and Game modes are very bright and not suitable for dark room viewing. The colors in 'Normal' has good skin tones but may seem a little brownish for some. 'Cool' is blue tinted and may suit most people who like certain crispiness and flashiness to their football HD shows. 'Warm' is too yellow/brown for any taste and is useless. There is also a Custom setting where you can create your adjustments. I sometimes have to switch between 2 modes when I flip from bluray to cable-HD. The THX optimized setting for several gray shades are too blooming and bright for most cable news and shows which does not contain the subtlety you'll find on good dvd films.

Save the money on expensive HDMI cables and get some regular ones at reasonable price. Save the money on calibration and get an old dvd such as Cars, Bug's Life, Indiana Jones or look up the THX certified list from http://thx.com/home/dvd/search.html that shows which dvd has THX Optimizer and run it. Some bluray dvd have THX Optimizers too. Look for the THX symbol on the back of the dvd case. The only thing that really needs adjustment is gray scales (that THX certified costlier models have) that'll take some time to configure. The colors are great out of the box and did not need any adjustment. Don't use the latest Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for testing as the movie is inherently dark toned and not good for calibration - same with Dark City. Latest J.J.Abrams Star Trek is excellent for testing as it contains many dark-light compositions and fast motions along with several shades of skin colors with various color casts on skin tones as they walk around the spaceship with bright colored lights flashing on the actors, as well as sunlit skin and natural outdoor lighting scenes. Animation movies are excellent for clean crisp edges and are very useful for calibration. Also use an old b&w film like Casablanca or Maltese Falcon to test b&w settings.

One of the technical reviews had concerns about black-white management, and since we watch everything from oldest film to latest I was concerned as we have a huge collection of b&w. So, I got Buster Keaton's The General on bluray and it was absolutely stunning. Better than going to the movie theater, although it was also an excellent transfer from original negative. There is not a single problem with large white areas with small moving dark objects, such as artic scenes from Planet Earth, as some technical reviews suggested. We've seen several Film Noire and the shades of black and gray are excellent. You'll get far superior black from this Plasma than even backlit LCD or LED. Plasma is inherently superior with no motion blur and the 600hz is just tagged on for comparison to LCDs and has little meaning. You won't see any motion blur on this plasma.

I don't have anything to say about the tv audio since I use analog 7.1 from the bluray player and do not use the tv's audio. You're not buying this tv to hang above the table at the nearest McDonalds or drunken Bar, so spend $300-700 and get yourself a 5.1/7.1 HTIB - home theater in a box. Don't waste on expensive speakers unless they are all of the same brand. Do not mix and match brands as the speakers won't have same frequency response. Audiophile speakers are not appropriate for home theater and are really only for purist stereo music in a room that's also acoustically designed with purist furniture, floor, ceiling and walls. Such expensive speakers are usually just stereo in conjunction with another set of speakers for 5.1/7.1 movie use. You can get great performance from HTIBs and they have well balanced speakers. There are some advantages to getting a Panasonic HTIB as it will reduce juggling remotes and auto-control with Viera between tv & HTIB. Sony and Onkyo have good HTIBs too. I'm not fond of Samsung's dvd player due to problems I once had so I am not recommending that brand.

Don't get carried away with high end Home Theater Plasma models that are reviewed by snooty upscale review sites. I was genuinely surprised by this model. Save the extra money and do yourself a favor with several bluray dvds instead.

Overall:

Excellent Color/Contrast/Blacks/Whites, clarity and richness
Excellent Price/Performance ratio among all Plasma - Unbeatable.
Absolutely Best of Class

 

Love it, Love it, Love it.,
by J. Maher, 2010-01-10

After spending many hours studying the different TV models, I had narrowed it down to a Samsung LCD and a Panasonic.
I was familiar with both TVs, but the big thing that it came down to for me was price and size, as I thought both of them had completely acceptable pictures. When the Panasonic dropped down below $1500, the price gap was just too big and I could buy a 58 in Panasonic for roughly a 50 in Samsung. The picture quality I still marvel at a couple months later, and I am glad that I did not shell out any more money for a TV, as this one does everything I could possibly want. Not only do blue ray disks look great on it, but I think the upscaling on normal DVDs is pretty impressive too. HD Cable looks great for sports too, and I don't expect to have to buy another TV for quite some time.

Minor quibbles: Many people have written about how they loved the white glove delivery. All they did for me was drop it off inside the door, and did not offer to set it up when my wife signed for it. I am really happy it worked well, as they never bothered to check. #2. The amount of electricity is pretty high, even though better than most plasmas. The backlights behind the TV flicker a little bit when I turn it on. We make sure it is off when not in use....we refer to turning the TV on as "firing up the death star". #3. The slot for SD cards is really cheap, and the software is slow and bulky. Mine will not even eject the card, and I have to jimmy it every time. Since it is more a novelty than anything, I am fine with it. I think the settings for watching movies is a bit off. It is pretty easy to set up though, but it took a little while till I could adjust it a little bit more to my liking. The HDMI slots are all on one side of the TV, which was opposite of how I had it planned. It is really kind of an odd spot I think.

Barring that, this TV is simply incredible. For $1500, this is one of the best purchases I feel I have ever made.

 

Veria system plasma is the bomb.,
by Hugh McPherson, 2010-01-23

We installed this behemoth in conjunction with a Panasonic Blu-Ray 7.1 surround system just before Christmas and it is unreal. We're bringing HD content from DirecTV and the quality is fantastic.

Our room is not darkened, but the monitor is very bright; completely viewable in the daytime. At night I like to turn off the lights for full effect. The rest of the room fades away and the brilliant colors wash over you.

Football is a real kick - you can read the tattoos on the players and the surround sound makes you feel like you're in the stadium, only in a more comfortable chair.

I REALLY love the Veria link feature. It allows the TV to turn the surround system on and off, THEN DirecTV's remote can be programmed to control the TV AND the sat box. so with one click the sat box, TV, and Surround come on - so handy for the wife!

Set-up was not bad, more challenges with the Internet to the Blu-Ray player, but I found you just need a router reshly reset to factory defaults to get it working (install security on the router of course after hook-up.)

All told, I got this unit as an open box, and the box wasn't even open from Amazon warehouse and could not be more pleased. You'll be surprised how big 58" is when you put it in your living room. I was thinking about a 65", but it was not necessary! My viewing distance is about 10ft from the screen and it's like you're at the movies.

Love it!

 

Panasonic Viera Plasma rules!,
by John Coulter, 2009-12-29

I've owned this item for a little over 1 month now and I am continually impressed by its picture quality. I cross shopped this item along with several current-gen 120Hz LCD's and the Plasma won out by a mile. Panasonic is legendary for their plasma picture quality and having owned a 1st-gen projection HDTV made by Panasonic, I was familiar with their build quality. The only missing item from this TV is the dedicated "THX" mode selection found in the G10 series, but I could not justify the jump in price to that model (especially due to the fact that both sets feature the same plasma panel). Adjustments for all picture settings are adequate and the set did not fail to impress right out of the box on "standard" mode.

Connectivity was a snap and everything has been working just fine. I have a PS3, Xbox 360, DISH HDDVR, component DVD player and a Pioneer receiver all connected to the set and controlled with my Logitech Harmony One universal remote. I'm running HDMI/component in with 1 optical cable out for audio. The set has performed flawlessly so far and I would buy another Panasonic product in the future.

If you are considering a BIG flat panel, do yourself a favor and compare this item to any LCD out there. I think you'll be very impressed with the picture quality and features for the price. Blacks are black as night and all of the colors really pop on this screen. Blu-ray is amazing on this TV (when you see "Cars" in Blu-ray on this set your jaw will drop!)

If you buy this set locally, opt for delivery/setup (or just buy from Amazon and select delivery/setup). The box this thing comes in is HUGE and the set is nearly impossible to maneuver around by yourself. The installation of the (foot)stand to the bottom of the TV is a 2 person job as well.

Sound quality from the TV speakers is adequate at best. Most people who have a set like this will probably have it connected to a receiver/home theater speakers, so that will not be a deal breaker. My old Panasonic had far better sounding internal speakers, but the base of that old projection set was large and heavy allowing it to house more powerful speakers. One of the many soundbar options may be a nice alternative to the typical receiver/home theater setup if space is an issue.

All in all I don't think you can do better for the size/picture quality/budget equation. There is a reason CNET rated this TV as the best big screen for the money in a recent review. [...]

Panasonic has kept another loyal customer!

 

Great product, fantastic image quality, super price,
by Blocknlot, 2009-12-04

We had the Panasonic Viera S1 Series TC-P58S1 for a over a week now. It just can't be beat! Panasonic quality, great picture, wonderful build quality. Truly a showpiece in your home. If you are going to purchase a TV in this price range it would be silly to buy a smaller TV. Its just so dramatic watching a BluRay DVD on a 58 inch screen in your home. We have had no problem at all, color and picture quality is correct. It comes complete with a nice back lit remote. The screen and quality feel of this TV will certainly make you glad you choose this TV.