I had been researching 3D TV for over a year before I bought this TV. Plasma was my voice, because the lack of deep blacks was something that was very noticeable to me on my last two TVs. I had been interested in the Panasonic GT25 series for a while, but the cost of Active Shutter Glasses and up-keep (battery, wear, etc.) prohibitive (this is a second TV in the bedroom).
The first thing I had ever heard of FPR passive glasses based devices was about a year ago. They were said to be the next best thing, but being a geek who has been burned before I was initially skeptical of the 3D effect would be very good. I was sure that there will be sacrifice in image quality for 2D, but I was actually very surprised by the picture quality (both 2D and 3D) on this TV. The unit simply can not be beat when it comes to picture quality and features for the low price (the same condition LG TV (albeit with 240 Hz and some extra bells and whistles) costs more than twice as much).
I've had an HDTV (this is my third) over the past 5 years, and this TV has the best image quality and features and cost less.
Advantages:
- Although this is an LCD panel black levels are actually quite good.
- PS3 and Xbox 360 on HDMI looks fantastic and there are several modes to adjust color temperature and / or brightness levels, hue contrast.
- 3D effect looks great with both games and movies. I have had the TV for just one day, so I have not had a chance to watch an entire movie length 3D yet. 3D game I tried including WipEout HD, which looks fantastic. I had tried this game before in a 3D Sony TV before and this looks as good while costing a 3rd.
- Lots of options for different settings such as Zoom has four settings (normal, wide, zoom, panoramic)
- Internet applications that are on Flickr, Facebook, Netflix, Vudu, Amazon Video on Demand, Blockbuster and lots of news stations. Not having to turn on my PS3 (for Netflix) or my computer (the Amazon Video On Demand) means energy saving).
- QWERTY keyboard on the remote control makes use of these web-apps for a game.
- Come with WiFi and Ethernet n both makes it very flexible. It has three HDMI ports and 1 component, 1 VGA port.
- It has the capacity to play music and view images from a USB drive (have 2-3 USB ports, I tried to connect my Western Digital Passport and it worked fine), but no movies. Photos app has a variety of transitions, making slide show and normal photo viewing high.
- The passive glasses are much lighter and more comfortable than Active Shutter Glasses I had tried before. I wear glasses so I have to wear them on top of my current and is much easier to handle than other glasses. I think you can get clip-on type attachments (generic black from Vizio) for glasses too.
Cons:
- Not that I can think of. TV has exceeded my expectations for its price. To Nitpick is 240Hz, or LED backlight that does not support PIP or POP. There are fewer opportunities in relation to television sets that cost more than twice as much.
- After several weeks of use I can definitely say that television is a bit slow to start compared to my old HDTV, if you have Internet applications (which is an embedded processor with an operating system that is about to start up), but there is a noticeable difference. Since this feature was not something I could test with other floor models, it might be just the norm for Internet enabled television.
UPDATE April 16, 2011:
- Confirmed that the movie playback from USB devices are not mentioned in the manual.
- I had a chance to see some more 3D content (Tangled 3D, Super Stardust HD, Mortal Kombat 3D demo, Killzone 3 3D demo) and played with some Web Apps as Vudu and Netflix, and everything looked good. I have not tried wifi n link that I have it connected via Ethernet. Vudu has a built-in test festure that tells you which format (SD, 720p, 1080p will be most suitable because they are priced differently, there are not many choices themselves, and the prices are quite high (4.99 -. 6 , 99 to 720p to 1080p rent) but they are sometimes better than Sony's PlayStation Network, especially for 3D movies.
UPDATE April 25, 2011:
- Added more information and my thoughts after a few weeks of use.
- I have also tried iZ3D with each setting, but could not get 3D (PC) to work over HDMI. Maybe it will work more than RGB, but for my setup HDMI looks and works better, it's not an option I would try.
- I would also add that the sound quality is really good at this unit depends on the source of the original material sounds clearly. I had to buy a Sound Bar for this TV (which in my bedroom) but I think I can wait until next version comes out in July instead of buying last year's model.
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