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"Unbelievable Picture"
on by Hubbs12Pros + Picture quality this TV puts out is crazy good. Colors are bright and vibrant
+ 3D performance is very good
+ Built-in sound is quite good
+ Design and build is solid
+ Menus are fairly straight-forward and easy to navigateCons - There is no internet browser
Summary The picture quality this TV puts out is crazy good. Colors are bright and vibrant without being over saturated and unrealistic. Blacks are inky black, and shadow detail is great as well. One of the reasons I bought the GT30 over the ST30 is the THX mode which gives really good out of the box picture without any aftermarket calibration. If you're into tweaking the picture though, there are two professional picture modes that allow very in depth picture controls.
1080P Source Material with a high bitrate (such as blurays or Vudu HDX) look incredibly sharp and stunning, while not looking sharp to the point of unrealism as some LCD's look. 720P sources look very good as well if a bit softer. 480i/p sources look alright. I only spent a few minutes watching SD and the experience was unexpectedly unimpressive. Motion on the GT30 looks very smooth and realistic without displaying the terrible "soap opera effect" that 120/240Hz LCD's seem to suffer from.
I tried using the Viera Cast software that Panasonic builds into these Tv's and I found to be pretty laggy. It wasn't very responsive and I found the design to be a little on the ugly side. Vizio and Samsung have much more polished media platforms built into their Tvs. It's possible Panasonic will improve performance with firmware updates in the future. If I was planning on using Viera Cast I would mark my score down but I have a Media Center PC and PS3 that replace all the functionality Viera Cast offers.
3D performance is very good. So far I've watched Tron Legacy on 3D bluray and played some 3D PS3 games; the 3D picture is very immersive and THX color accuracy remains very good in 3D mode. I've had bad experiences with 3D crosstalk on a friend's Samsung C7000 LCD and it can get very annoying and distracting. Thankfully I haven't experienced any of that on the GT30 in a dark or light viewing environments.
I've heard some early reports of the GT30 exhibiting floating blacks when viewing material that changes from a darker to a lighter scene suddenly. I haven't experienced any of this. I watched Black Swan on bluray to test this and black levels remained dark and consistent throughout with no slight jumps in brightness.
I'm also very impressed with the design of the GT30. It's about as thin as my Motorola Droid and it looks stunning mounted on my wall. Panasonic has traditionally lagged behind the likes of Sony and Samsung when it comes to the design of their Tv's but they really stepped up their game with the GT30. Having a TV that looks almost as stunning when turned off as it does when turned on is an unexpected plus.
Overall the GT30 is an incredible TV that makes no compromises when it comes to picture quality. If you want to spend more money, the VT30 it will probably improve upon the GT30 in some way when it's released but I'm having a hard time coming up with things they could improve outside of their Viera Cast platform. (But If you will buy the TC-P50GT30 I suggest you have to check for best deal before you decide at: Cheap-hdtv-suggestion.blogspot.com/2011/11/tc-p50gt30.html )
Hope this help! -
"Great TV for Gaming"
on by UronacidPros blacks, color spectrum, a fair amount of options, internet connectivity, design, motion, input lag, well-built
Cons would like a few more picture settings
Summary This is the first plasma I've ever owned. I'm a pro gamer, and while this isn't my primary gaming monitor, I wanted a TV for my living room that had a great picture and low input lag.
My old Samsung LCDs had a cheap plastic feel to them. When I lifted this TV out of the box, I felt confident in the build quality. It's a heavy, well-constructed TV. I was smiling before I'd even turned it on. I guess you could say, "I was counting my chickens before they'd hatched", however I felt as if I'd been cheated with previous television sets and now I finally had something of value.
I looked all over the internet for reviews on gaming televisions. Initially, I wanted the VT30 or Samsung 8000 series plasma do to their high recommendations as good gaming TVs, but after reviewing the technical specifications of the GT30 it looked as if it were the same TV without the beautiful bezel that the VT30 offered. The 800.00 price difference from the GT30 & VT30 really helped narrow my decision down to the GT30. Also, customer reviews said the Samsung 8000 series plasma TV seemed to suffer from minor image retention.
I'm extremely happy happy with this TV. After turning some of the post processing effects (like Motion Blur Reduction), input lag wasn't even noticeable. I was kicking butt in Halo: Reach. Something I just couldn't do with my old Samsung TV.
If you're a gamer and you want a big screen TV that will suite not only the needs of your family but your gaming desires, then this one's for you.
Updated on May 19, 2011 -
"Gamma is not as bad as reported"
on by Dave_OCPros Very good picture, and measurements, when the correct test pattern source is used
Cons As to be expected, does not put out as much light as LED backlight sets.
Summary Cnet tests using windows patterns as source
See
"
We attempt to adjust all levels of gray, in 5 percent increments using window patterns
"
This will give very bad results on this set. Using APL windows will give much better results, meeting THX spec.
See http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=20675013#post20675013
for a discussion by one of the authors of the AVSHD pattern disk.
Updated on Jul 11, 2011
http://www.highdefjunkies.com/showthread.php?9401-Official-Panasonic-GT30-Thread-Including-a-Review-and-Report&p=254208&viewfull=1#post254208
For a comparison of Gamms using APL Windows vs. Windows source patterns -
"Great 2D and 3D picture quality, Colors, Black level."
on by SBrudzinskyPros Great 2D and 3D picture quality. Wide range of colors. Great deep black level. Excellent motion response on both 2D and 3D content. Simple setup. Inexpensive. Slim design and modern look. Well-ergonomically designed remote control. User friendly menu GUI.
Cons 3D Glasses and webcam for Skype not included and are expensive. Had to purchase them separately.
Summary This TV is a very good performer. Has an excellent 2D and 3D picture quality and smooth natural motion response. Provides me and my family with pleasant viewing experience. I'm happy with my purchase and would recommend to others! 5 stars.
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"Excellent picture quality. Vibrant colors & deep black."
on by Neuron0101011Pros Excellent quality of HD picture (broadcast as well as BD video). Vibrant colors and well-balanced contrast level. Deep black. Well-handled motion control. Nice slim design. User-friendly menu and navigation. LAN/Wireless Internet and "Viera" applications.
Cons No 3D glasses included. Shame on Panasonic. At least one pair of gasless can be given. "Standard" video setting very weak and its adjustment does not make much difference. I switched to THX mode and its settings make nice image quality enhancement.
Summary Overall outstanding plasma HDTV for its price. I have TC-P50GT30 for about 3 weeks (~ 40 hours of usage) and so far have no issues to report. I do not see any "darkness/brightness" fluctuations as some other reviewers reported. I guess you guys should let your plasma to pass a break-in period.
For those experiencing darkness-to-brightness fluctuation while viewing content in "Custom" mode, I would recommend to set "Gamma adjustment" to 2.4 or 2.6 (depends on your eye preference) and set AGC level (you can find it in "Pro Settings") to "0" or "1". This will stop automatic increasing the brightness of the dark scenes that might causes or contribute to perception of "darkness/brightness" fluctuation. I personally using THX mode and it does very good job with the quality of picture handling. Black level and colors In THX mode always remain dark and consistent.
Updated on Jun 14, 2011
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