09 apr 2013, 23:46
#184649
AVForums skrev:
Panasonic VT60
SUMMARY – The Panasonic VT65B isnt the slimmest of flagship TVs but it's still a beauty and the reason for the added girth lies in practicalities as it houses front-firing speakers and hides the built-in camera. The speakers themselves are very impressive for a flat panel TV and we've no problem in having a relatively solid black bezel framing our pictures. A warm welcome awaits users in the shape of the new My Home Screen which provides the dual benefits of almost infinite customisability and refined navigation, thanks to some clever design choices. The new Panasonic options menus are more sprawling than in previous years and there's a lot more by ways of unnecessary picture controls but we're not complaining too vociferously given the inclusion of a fabulous suite of calibration options therein.
Those above mentioned calibration controls helped us extract reference accuracy from the VT65B but that's not the only reference thing about this TV, both motion handling and contrast performance are firmly from the top drawer and that's not just with Blu-ray disc this time, Panasonic has all but expelled any issues with motion on 50Hz content, at last, but there does remain the odd, and we really mean fleeting, spot of false contouring but that's just about out only complaint with the 2D pictures on offer. The 3D presentation is also tremendous with the improvements in the Focus Field Drive technology translating over in to the third dimension with improved motion and reduced crosstalk.
The VT65 is an absolute triumph for Panasonic and brings everything to the party one could possibly hope for – stunning dynamic range, steadfastly accurate colours and gloriously silky motion handling. With so many rumours circulating of Panasonic's imminent departure from the Plasma market, let's hope that party isn't a leaving do but we think they'd be crazy to give up on it at this stage when it, so obviously, has so much to give. Bravo Panasonic. Oh, and yes, they've done it again, Reference Status.
PICTURE QUALITY (2D) – With so many fabulous aspects of picture quality to choose from, it's difficult to know quite where to begin with this year's VT Series but let's highlight something that has seen vast improvement over recent Panasonic Plasma TVs – motion with 50Hz based content. Ever since Panasonic introduced NeoPDP to the World, they've had troubles in 'accommodating' the 50Hz signal within their 600Hz sub-field driving, which would often manifest as broken and multiplied edges to objects when under panning. We've seen gradual improvements since the 20 series but we could never say they'd cracked it – even the mighty VT50 would fall back in to the bad old ways when the vector processing was at full stretch – so it's with absolute delight that we can say, they've nailed it this time around. As a sports fan, this is manna from Heaven and I'll wave a cheery goodbye to the days of seeing 3, 4 and 5 halfway lines as the ball was hoofed up the field. Naturally, it's not only of benefit to sports, it applies to everything but it's with that kind of content where it's generally easiest to spot. The Panasonic VT65 is a benchmark for motion performance. End of story.
We've never had cause for complaint with the handling of 1080p24 content but it's equally gratifying to impart the fact that the best with Blu-ray's just got better. The benefits of the tweaked Focused Field Drive (FFD) make their way on to high definition disc too, and we were transfixed in reverence by The Hobbit Blu-ray, which looked considerably better at 24 frames per second than it did at the cinema in HFR. But it's not only the motion, it's the look and 'feel' of the VT65's picture that inspires, delivering the most analogue and film like experience we've seen since TVs went digital; LED TVs will never look like this and if OLED can't manage it either, we're in no rush for its almost inevitable replacement of PDP as the connoisseur's choice of TV display.
Speaking of OLED, it had also better make good on its claims of almost infinite contrast and cavernous black levels as the VT65 is imbued with such dynamic range that it can fair take the breath away. Apologies to regular readers – and it's almost over now so I won't keep harping on about it – but the Spartacus HD series really is a treat for the eyes (and not just for the candy), with its stylised colour palette underpinned by some great CGI and photography and it’s a categorical fact that this reviewer has never seen it delivered in such fine style – colours were deliciously rich and saturated, skin-tones wonderfully realised and shadow detail abundantly clear; probably a good point to mention that the VT65 is very neutral near black, with no visible colour tint and all the better for that. In fact, the beautiful nuance of the fine colour gradations starts at black and pretty much just keeps on going until pictures go very, very bright.
Away from the test patterns and software, we used Spartacus to test the effects of trying to force Rec 709 in to the Native Colour Gamut which only confirmed what we suspected, it really doesn't work unless you like all your actors to have suntans, even when they don't. We can see a superficial appeal, especially with colours at full saturation but that's not where most of the action is so we'd advise avoiding its initially enticing allure – television and film doesn't get made by accident, it gets made to standards and won't look as it's supposed to unless they're followed. Simple stuff really.
There has to be a catch, right? OK, there are a couple of things that could be improved but they're fairly minor. Despite the fact that Panasonic has seemingly managed to finally nail motion at 50Hz, we could – just ever so often – see instances of false contouring manifesting as magenta and green fringing to edges such as peoples' cheekbones or on objects of solid white. We'd put good money on the fact that most will never see it and instances are uncommon and usually very fleeting but it is there and at least it gives Panasonic something to work on for in 2014. The only other quibble some might have, is with detecting flicker in brighter scenes. We could see none at 'Low' Panel Luminance, a little with 'Mid' and lots with 'High' but there's a huge element of personal tolerance at play here so, as ever, we'd advise a demo to make sure you're not one of the unlucky few that does see it with Panasonic Plasma TVs.
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