Panasonic TC-P50UT50

Pros: Good picture out of the box, 3D effect and 2D - 3D effects are OK, TV sound is surprisingly good

Cons: Heavy, lack of connectivioty options, i.e. only 2 HDMI, no glasses. optional accessories are pricey

Summary: I've had this TV for a little over a month and so far I am pleased. This is the first plasma TV I have owned and it does take a little getting used to. LCD / LED are defenitely brighter and to me sharper. The color on plasma however seems very good. I have not done any adjustments to the settings and am very pleased. We are using the Cinema mode and have looked at Standard mode. I prefer Cinema. We've watched Avengers in 3D and the effect was OK, nothing eye popping but a pretty good sense of depth. We have also watched some movies in the 2D - 3D conversion and they too have been pretty good. We haven't noticed any ghosting. The sound from the TV speaker(s) is surprisingly good. Standard and HD picture quality while watching TV feed from satellite is also pretty good.

Like I wrote earlier this is my first plasma so I am somewhat concerned about image retention and burn in despite most every web site I have searched saying don't be overly concerned. Nonetheless on Day 1 we had an image retention issue after initially turning on the TV and doing setup; a ghost like image remained. The image retention however lasted only until I turned the TV off and back on again a short while later. Since then we have had no issues and have run the TV on all types of media. I do use the full screen zoom mode on letterbox movies and will for the first few months.

As written in my "Cons" section the accessories (mainly 3D glasses) are pricey. I got around this by buying Samsung 3D glasses (4100?) which seem to work fine but are not comfortable and do not seem to fit well over my son's glasses. For $20 we'll deal with them for a while and see about getting different 3D glasses later.

I have read the other reviews and am hoping that Panasonic has figured out the issues with the eight flashes, but we'll see what happens. All in all this is a very nice TV.