Why You Can Trust CNET Panasonic Viera TC-P54Z1 review: Panasonic Viera TC-P54Z1
Panasonic Viera TC-P54Z1
- Although still awaiting his Oscar for Best Picture Reviewer, David does hold certifications from the Imaging Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology on display calibration and evaluation.
Panasonic Viera TC-P54Z1
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Editors' note, March 3, 2010: Testing conducted on 2009 Panasonic plasma TVs, similar to this one, has revealed that black-level performance has become noticeably less impressive within what is typically the first year of ownership. As a result, we don't feel confident that the initial picture quality of this TV, as described in the review below, can be maintained over the course of its lifetime, and therefore find it difficult to recommend. Its Performance score has been accordingly reduced by one point to better indicate comparative picture quality after 1,500 hours of use. Click here for more information.
Separately, the Features rating has been lowered to account for changes in the competitive marketplace, including the release of new 2010 TVs. Aside from these changes to ratings, the review has not otherwise been modified.
The company that brought you our favorite television of 2009, the Panasonic TC-PV10 series, built much of the same excellent picture quality into its most expensive showpiece, the TC-P54Z1. Then it added wireless capability and squeezed the panel into an inch of depth, which helps justify the extra 2 grand cost over the 54-inch V10. The Z1's combination of picture quality, style, and features is enough to earn it one of the highest overall scores we've awarded to a TV at CNET, and the company deserves credit for advancing the plasma state of the art with this model. Of course, that state of the art is due for another advancement with the introduction of new 2010 models, including the TC-PVT25 series in a few months. None of those sets offers the thin, wireless chops of the Z1, however, so well-heeled style seekers might want to take the plunge anyway.
Design
Editors' note: Many of the Design and Features elements are identical between the TC-P54Z1 and the TC-PV10 series we reviewed earlier, so readers of the earlier review may experience some deja vu when reading the same sections below.
At 1 inch deep, the Panasonic TC-P54Z1 is the thinnest plasma TV available, beating the Samsung PNB860 series by half a pinky-breath (0.2 inch). How's that for bragging rights?
The most obvious difference between this flat-panel TV and most others isn't depth, it's the color. Panasonic bucked the industry-standard glossy black plastic finish for smart-looking brushed silver metal strips above and below the screen. To either side it placed glossy black vertical bands, which combined with the silver create the illusion of an even-wider wide-screen panel. The Z1 presents unique, classy overall appearance, which ably conveys the impression of high cost.
Silver, albeit plastic this time around, also graces the matching speakers and (nonswiveling) stand. The latter two are detachable, naturally, for custom-install purposes. The TV measures 56.3 inches wide with speakers attached, 51.3 without, and 35.2/32.3 inches high by 15/1 inches deep with/without the stand. The included tuner box for wireless access (see Features, below) is about the size of a standard DVD or Blu-ray player, the wireless transmitter resembles a small antenna, and the wireless receiver screws to the rear of the panel (increasing its depth by an inch and giving your installer an excuse to charge extra for cutting into your wall) and peeks out below the left side.
The remote control, which communicates with the tuner box via radio frequencies and thus doesn't require line-of-sight (standard infrared, or IR, control is also supported), also differs from step-down Panasonic clickers with its glossy finish and more extensive backlighting. In general we liked its layout, although we wish the main Menu key was as prominent as the trio of keys--Viera Link, VieraCast, and VieraTools--placed above the central cursor control. We like the feel of the remote's buttons, and appreciate the size, color, and shape differentiation. The remote cannot control other devices directly via IR commands, but it does allow some control of compatible HDMI devices connected to the TV via Viera Link (aka HDMI-CEC).
Panasonic tweaked its menu design for 2009. The same yellow-on-blue color scheme is in evidence (albeit a lighter shade of blue) and navigation is basically unchanged, but the main menu actually has a couple of icons now. Overall, it's still one of the more straightforward, basic-looking menus on the mainstream market, but we still wish the company would see fit to include onscreen explanations of selections. A new Tools menu showcases some of the TV's functions, including THX mode and VieraCast.
Features
Panasonic's most expensive plasma for 2009 has a predictably exhaustive list of bullet points on its spec sheet; however, the most remarkable is wireless connectivity between the panel and its source components. The external tuner box houses the Z1's HDMI, AV, Ethernet, and other necessary ports, and communicates with the display with the aid of a wireless transmitter. A matching receiver pipes signals into the TV's sole HDMI jack, and hence on to the screen and speakers. Line-of-sight is required between the transmitter and receiver, which are tethered to the box and TV, respectively, by rather short cables (one standard HDMI and a proprietary one for power). See the performance section for details on how the system worked in our testing.
Aside from connectivity, the Z1 essentially matches the features of the step-down V10 series. It can refresh the screen at 96Hz, which allows the TV to properly maintain the cadence of film when fed a 1080p/24 source--typically from a Blu-ray player (the refresh rate remains fixed at the standard 60Hz for non-1080p/24 sources). The Z1 also has a 48Hz setting, but we recommend using 96Hz instead since the 48Hz option can introduce flicker. (Here's where we mention that, like all Panasonic plasmas, the Z1's spec sheet includes mention of a 600Hz subfield drive. Our best advice is to ignore this spec--it has no visible bearing on picture quality, aside from a slight improvement in motion resolution that's extremely difficult to see.)
The Z1 models also offer THX Display Certification. When you engage THX picture mode, the Z1's color accuracy, shadow detail, and numerous other picture characteristics improve over the default settings without you having to make a bunch of adjustments. THX comes close to a "one-step calibration," but in the Z1's case it's not as effective as using the Custom mode and Pro adjust settings.
Digital Cinema Color allows the Z1 to show a wider color space than the traditional HDTV color space. Since Blu-ray Discs are produced in the HDTV color space, however, we prefer to leave DCC turned off--in fact, DCC is defeated and rendered nonadjustable if you select THX mode.
VieraCast, which debuted on the TH-PZ850U series in 2008, is Panasonic's interactive TV feature. It offers access to YouTube videos, photos stored on your Picasa account, stocks and headlines courtesy of Bloomberg, and local weather. It connects to the Internet via an Ethernet port on the back of the TV. Panasonic regrettably does not include wireless capability nor sell a wireless dongle, although, according to the company, third-party wireless bridges or powerline adapters will work fine.
For 2009, Panasonic has added the capability to access Amazon Video on Demand via VieraCast. The pay-per-view movie and TV service is integrated nicely into the television. It includes access to so-called high-definition content and can supplement or supplant cable or satellite PPV offerings with its significantly larger catalog. We also appreciate that, unlike some implementations of Amazon VOD, VieraCast lets you preview content before purchase. One downside of using the system is that it disables many of the TV's aspect ratio controls and doesn't allow access to the THX picture mode, but happily the other picture modes are all available and fully adjustable. The Z1 also offers the ability to interface with compatible networked cameras to use the system for household monitoring.
It's worth noting that at CES 2010 Panasonic announced new capabilities for its VieraCast system, including Netflix streaming and the capability to make voice and video phone calls via Skype. It's still unclear if and when the Z1 and other VieraCast-equipped TVs will receive the new upgrades.
Panasonic offers fewer picture adjustments than lot of other HDTV makers, but the Z1 includes more advanced adjustments, thanks to the Pro Setting menu, than step-down models. We liked that all five of the global picture modes, including THX, Studio Ref., and the dim-by-design Standard mode, are adjustable and that the sixth, called Custom, is independent per input. The company's Game mode is basically just a picture mode; it doesn't eliminate video processing like some other makers' Game modes. The Studio Ref. mode, which isn't found on step-down models, supposedly delivers an image closer to that of a studio monitor.
There are five color temperature presets, of which Warm2 came closest to the D65 standard. The Pro Setting menu, which is only available in the Custom mode, offers white-balance controls to tweak grayscale, although they're less complete (lacking control for green) than on other HDTVs. That menu also includes a gamma control and numerous other settings, and its presence really helped improve the TV's picture.
Adjustments available on all picture modes include a "C.A.T.S." function, which senses ambient light and adjusts the picture accordingly; a Color management toggle that made color decoding worse when engaged; a trio of On/Off settings affect video noise; and another lets you set theblack level (the Light option exposed the correct amount of shadow detail). The setting to control 2:3 pull-down happily affects both standard- and high-definition sources.
You can choose from five aspect ratio options with high-definition sources, including a Zoom mode that allows adjustment of horizontal size and vertical position. The Full mode can be made to match the pixel counts of 1080i and 1080p sources, without introducing overscan, if you select the HD Size 2 option from the Advanced menu (in THX mode this option is called "THX" and you can't disengage it). We recommend using this setting unless you notice interference along the extreme edges of the screen, which can occur on some channels or sources.
Panasonic also offers ways to avoid temporary image retention, aka burn-in, and address it should it occur. A pixel orbiter slowly shifts the image around the screen, and you can elect to have it happen either automatically or in user-set periodic intervals. You can chose bright or dark gray bars alongside 4:3 programs. And if you do see some burn-in, chances are the scrolling bar function, which sweeps a white bar across a black screen, will clear it up after a while. We appreciated that the VieraCast menu went into screen saver mode after a few minutes of inactivity.
While the company touts the Z1 series' power-saving chops, thanks to its so-called NEO PDP panel, in reality this is still one of the more energy-hogging TVs you can buy (see Power consumption below). The set's ECO menu only allows automatic turn-off functions; it doesn't offer a specific power-saving mode that affects power draw when the TV's turned on.
The TV lacks picture-in-picture and cannot freeze the image temporarily to catch a phone number, for example. However, It can accept SD cards with digital photos into a slot on the left side, which allows it to play back the images on the big screen.
Connectivity on the TC-PZ1 series, which is found on the tuner box, is excellent. There are four HDMI inputs: three on the back and one under a flip-down door on the front. Other back-panel connections include two component-video inputs, an AV input with composite and S-Video, and an RF input for cable or antenna. There's also an Ethernet port, a digital audio output, and an RS-232 remote port for custom installations. In addition to HDMI, the box's front panel offers a second AV input with composite and S-Video, a VGA-style PC input (1,366x768-pixel maximum resolution), and an SD card slot for digital photos.
Performance
As we expected given our experience with the step-down Panasonic TC-PV10 series, the flagship TC-P54Z1 delivered excellent picture quality. It equaled its line-mate in the important arenas of black levels and color accuracy, and though it fell short in video processing because of some strange (generally sporadic and subtle) video processing quirks, it delivered a distinct advantage in bright rooms.
Although THX was the most accurate picture setting before any adjustments were made, we discovered, as we did with the V10, that we could obtain better results on the Z1 by switching to Custom for our calibration. THX mode delivers more accurate primary colors than the company's other settings, along with very good gamma and grayscale performance (see the Geek box ). The downside of THX is a slightly dimmer image (30.65 footlamberts) and some color decoding issues that bring a greenish cast to the image.
Custom mode, on the other hand, doesn't suffer the greenish tinge and allows the TV to achieve our target light output of 40ftl. It also produced accurate gamma (2.27 versus an ideal of 2.2--the same as we measured in THX) and solid grayscale performance thanks to the Pro adjust settings. Compared with THX, Custom evinced less accurate primary and secondary colors (with the exception of magenta). In case you're curious, we did measure the DCC mode and found it, as expected, highly inaccurate by HDTV color space standards, so we left it turned off for our evaluation.
Said evaluation took place as a side-by-side comparison involving the Z1 and a few other high-end HDTVs we had onhand. From the plasma camp they included the aforementioned Panasonic TC-P50V10, the Samsung PN50B650, and our reference Pioneer PRO-111FD. We also included a pair of the best LCDs we've tested, namely the Samsung UNB8500 (the only one that approaches the Z1's lofty price point) and the LG 47LH90. We used the Blu-ray of "Whiteout" to help with comparative image quality tests.
Black level: Although not quite the equal of the Pioneer or the Samsung 8500 in this department, the Z1 matched the excellent V10 nearly exactly, and handily beat the other sets in our lineup at producing a dark shade of black. In other words, it ties for the third-best black levels we've ever tested in a plasma or LCD TV. Dark scenes, such as when Kate Beckinsale wakes up after her nightmare in Chapter 8, looked superb, with inky black areas including the letterbox bars, the shadows behind her head on the pillow, and the shape of Columbus Short in the foreground as he comforts her. Shadow detail, as seen in the strands of her hair against the pillow, looked as realistic as that on any TV in our comparison, including our reference Pioneer.
Color accuracy: As with the V10, the Z1 delivered color that bested other Panasonic plasmas but fell short of the most accurate displays in our comparison, namely the LG and the Pioneer. Its less accurate reproduction of green and cyan made areas like the plant in Beckinsale's apartment, the greenish walls of the research station, or the cyan-tinted shadows of the ice mountains appear more intense and less natural than our reference. The difference wasn't drastic, however. We also noticed that saturation on the Z1, though very good, suffered as a result of us backing down the color control to make up for the red push in Custom mode. In consequence, colors didn't seem as lush as we saw on the Pioneer, although they still had plenty of punch thanks to the Z1's deep blacks.
On the plus side Beckinale's skin tone, from facial close-ups to the introductory shower scene in Chapter 2, appeared nearly as good as on the Pioneer and better than on the Samsung 8500 (as long as we avoided the greening effect of Panasonic's THX mode). We also appreciated that dark areas stayed quite true and didn't veer off into excessive blue or green--it was the best set in our lineup, aside from its equal the V10, in this area.
Video processing: Our first order of business was to confirm that the 96Hz mode worked as advertised. It did, on all but one occasion. We tried our favorite test for proper 24-frame cadence, the flyover of the deck of the Intrepid from "I Am Legend," and the motion looked as filmlike as we've come to expect from displays that handle 1080p/24 sources correctly--just the standard rapid-fire judder of film without the hitching motion associated with 2:3 pull-down.
Once during testing, however, "Legend" caused the display to evince overt stuttering that looked like a much slower frame rate. It was unwatchable to our eyes, but fortunately when we switched out of 96Hz mode to another mode, then switched back, the Z1 behaved normally. It's worth noting that the V10 (nor other TVs we tested) never lapsed into similar stuttering, and also that we couldn't replicate this problem.
As expected, neither the 60Hz nor the 48Hz setting dealt with film-based material as handily as 96Hz. In 60Hz mode the tell-tale subtle hitching returned, and when we switched to 48Hz the flicker seen on the G10 and other so-equipped Panasonic plasmas was in full effect. For the full videophile experience we recommend using 96Hz mode on the Z1 (even if you have to re-engage occasionally it to get it to "stick") with your Blu-ray player set to output 1080p/24.
Motion resolution was the equal of other Panasonic plasmas and the Samsung 8500, with the Z1 resolving all 1080 lines of resolution in our test pattern. The display also successfully deinterlaced both film- and video-based 1080i sources. As usual, however, these resolution characteristics were difficult to appreciate outside of test patterns.
One other issue we caught was visible without resorting to test patterns, however, and it didn't occur on any of the other sets in our lineup, including the V10. It first popped up in the demo sequence from Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics, where the edges of the clouds next to an ascending helicopter appeared to break up into interference that resembled snowy video noise. We noticed it along the edges of other clouds in the sequence, and also in the edge of a building, and for whatever reason it was much more prominent in 96Hz mode than in 60Hz mode (although even in 60Hz, the effect was noticeable on the Z1 and not on the V10).
We never found as obvious an example in other program material, however. In "Whiteout," for example, none of the numerous clouds or other suspect areas showed the noise, although we did spot other subtle differences that may be related. They could best be described as very slight false contouring, where gradations between color and brightness levels appear separated by distinct edges (like a contour map for elevation) as opposed to perfectly smooth. We saw just a bit more contouring in areas like the blurry background behind Beckinsale's head at the 22:38 mark, the wall behind her at 25:22, or in parts of the PS3's menu, on the Z1 as opposed to the V10.
All of these video processing differences were either too subtle or too sporadic for us to consider them deal-breakers to anyone who's not a video quality perfectionist. We can't help but wonder if they have something to do with the wireless connection, but there's no way to tell for sure (our attempts at a direct comparison of wired vs. wireless were fruitless; see below).
Bright lighting: This is one area where the Z1 was clearly superior to other Panasonic plasmas we've tested, including the V10. Under bright lighting it dimmed in-room reflections better than any model in our lineup save the LG and the Pioneer. On the other hand it also preserved black levels better than the V10 and about as well as the Pioneer, albeit not quite as well as either the Samsung or the LG. All told the Z1 looked as good in a bright room as any plasma we've seen, although it still wasn't the measure of most matte-screened LCDs.
Standard-definition: The TC-PZ1 series was a mediocre performer with standard-def material. It resolved every line of the DVD format, although details weren't quite as sharp as on the Samsung, for example. It did a subpar job with moving diagonal lines and stripes on the waving American flag, leaving plenty of jaggies along the edges. Noise reduction was solid, on the other hand, and both Video NR and MPEG NR settings contributed to removing moving motes and snow from low-quality shots of skies and sunsets. Finally, the set properly engaged 2:3 pull-down to remove moire from the grandstands behind the racecar.
PC: With an HDMI source and set to THX mode the Z1 performed perfectly, resolving every line of a 1,920x1,080-pixel source, with no sign of edge enhancement or overscan. Via VGA the TV would accept a maximum resolution of 1,366x768 pixels, as the manual indicates, and naturally test looked softer, blockier, and generally worse than via HDMI. We'd love to see a full-resolution VGA input on a TV this expensive.
Wireless performance: In general the Z1's wireless connection performed perfectly. With good line of sight we noticed no obvious image degradation (unless you count the subtle video processing differences noted above, which may be caused by the wireless).
In an attempt to isolate those differences, we did try to compare what the Z1 would have looked like with a wired connection. We hooked an HDMI source directly to the lone HDMI input on the panel, skipping the tuner box. Unfortunately the panel had different picture settings in this setup, and didn't respond to menu commands, so it was impossible to perform a true comparison--and ultimately academic anyway, since no typical user would operate the TV without the tuner box and its wireless gear.
At times using one wireless placement setup--with the receiver and transmitter about a foot apart, facing one another--we would see a couple of horizontal white lines flash briefly on the screen, which happened maybe once or twice per half hour of viewing. Moving the transmitter eliminated the problem, and we didn't see this issue while using the recommended placement, with the transmitter across the room. When we moved briefly between the transmitter and receiver, for example to sit down on the couch, we didn't interrupt the transmission, although blocking line of sight for extended periods did.
| TEST | RESULT | SCORE |
| Before color temp (20/80) | 6470/6451 | Good |
| After color temp | 6553/6479 | Good |
| Before grayscale variation | 113 | Good |
| After grayscale variation | 104 | Average |
| Color of red (x/y) | 0.63/0.336 | Average |
| Color of green | 0.309/0.591 | Good |