When we first viewed the Panasonic TC-P65ZT60 at the 2013 CES, we were so impressed with the image we chose it as our Top Pick for Best HDTV. Panasonic calls it “ The Reference TV” and offers two plasma panel features unique to this model. The front protective glass is bonded to the front panel glass, and the anti-reflective filter is an upgrade from the one on its VT60 series models. The result: a fantastic looking image! Read on for all the details.

Basics

The TC-P65ZT60 is a 65-inch diagonal screen plasma HDTV. The series is also offered in a 60-inch screen size. Like other 2013 Panasonic HDTVs, it sports a glass and metal design. The front glass extends to the TV edges where it meets a metal trim strip. The underlying bezel is thinner than on the ST60 model we reviewed. Main ZT60 features include the Studio Master panel with no gap between the front glass and the plasma top glass (it’s unique to the ZT60 series), 3000 sub-field drive (each subfield lasts 1/3000th of a second), 1080p HD resolution in 2D and 3D, 2D-3D conversion, Electronic Touch Pen (an optional extra cost accessory), built-in Wi-Fi, VIERA Connect Internet access for Video-on-Demand movies and TV programs, games and other apps, and a web browser.

The ZT60 comes with two remote controls. One is a backlit full size model, and the second is a track pad with a microphone, permitting web search of video, text, or images via speech commands.

Two pairs of Panasonic active 3D glasses are also included.

The only dealer currently offering the TC-P65ZT60 is Magnolia department inside Best Buy brick and mortar stores. They are selling the TC-P65ZT60 for $4099.98. The 60-inch TC-P60ZT60 is also being sold by Magnolia-Best Buy for $3499.98

Audio

The ZT60 has two upper midrange/tweeters (5+5 watts) located at the bottom of the TV, angled to push the sound forward into the room. There is a rear-facing midrange woofer with 10-watts power output. The sound is acceptable but hardly up to the image quality of the panel. Purchasers of this TV should add at least a soundbar, but preferably a surround sound system.

Connectivity

The ZT60 has three HDMI inputs (one with Audio Return Channel), three USB 2.0, one component/composite jack using standard RCA jacks, an SD card slot, and an Ethernet jack. The ZT60 accepts AVCHD 3D/Progressive, SD-VIDEO, MPEG4, Motion, MKV, M4v, FLV, 3GPP, VRO, VOB, TS, PS along with JPEG/MPO photos and AAC, Apple Lossless/WAV, FLAC, and MP3 music files. We would have liked to see a fourth HDMI input (an expectation for HDTVs in this price range).

Picture Controls

The ZT60 has ten picture modes: Vivid, Standard, Home Theater, THX bright room, THX cinema, Custom, Cinema, EBU, Professional 1 (ISF Day), and Professional 2 (ISF Night). There is a copy feature that permits your picture settings to be transferred to each input. Also included are 10-point gamma control (only particular picture modes), motion smoothing (with accompanying soap opera effect), and 48 or 96 refresh for 24 FPS-based content (movies and some video).

Color Management, White Balance and other advanced controls are under the “Pro Settings” and are available in the Custom, Cinema, and ISF1, and ISF 2 picture modes. In the other picture modes they are grayed out.

The ZT controls include a nifty copy settings function that permits your pictures settings to be transferred to the other inputs at a push of a button.

3D

We tested for crosstalk and found none visible with Monster and Aliens church scene. We also auditioned Jurassic Park 3D. It was also crosstalk free and not bad looking 3D effects considering the movie was filmed in 2D and recently converted to 3D.

Power Consumption

Using the IEC test disc with the ZT60 set for THX cinema, we measured 360 watts.

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Picture Quality

We broke in the panel for 200 hours prior to testing using network TV signals. After reviewing all the picture modes and settings we settled on the two THX modes for most of our testing. While Custom permits complete control of all the ZT60s available settings, the THX default(s) are very close to optimal, providing near full ISF calibration accuracy at the push of a button. The latest THX spec covers 3D as well as 2D, meeting over 400 picture quality data points for an HDTV to achieve certification.

Using our Sencore window test pattern, the TC-P65ZT60 achieved 30.4 ft. lamberts brightness in the THX Cinema Mode and became our default. The THX Bright Room Mode measured 42.3 ft. lamberts, bright enough for almost day environments. The blacks (minimum illumination level) read .0011 ft. lamberts in either mode (this is so low it is scrapping the accuracy of our meter as well as requiring a very dark environment which meant covering up a number of equipment power on lights) to see this low level of black illumination. To confirm the depth of the blacks we made a side-by-side black comparison against the highly rated Panasonic TC-P65ST60 we recently reviewed. The minimum light level visually appeared as about half the level on the ST60 (which came in at .0020 ft lamberts in our review), confirming our meter reading.

The ZT60 creates a contrast ratio of 38,454.54 to 1 in Bright Room Mode and 27,636.26 to 1 in the THX Cinema Mode. We also performed adjustments in the Custom Mode. We obtained a maximum light output of 47.1 ft. lamberts.

The panel’s anti-reflective filter is the best we have ever seen, sucking up ambient room light and creating jet black blacks with very low to medium ambient light conditions. You’ll need to get the room really dark to see any illumination in the blacks. However there is a tradeoff, some brightness falloff above the panel which we noticed when we stood five feet from the screen. The filter performs two functions: It acts like miniature venetian blinds significantly blocking overhead light sources reflecting off the screen into your eyes. It also acts like an ambient light roach motel. Light can get in, but it doesn’t appear to get reflected back out off the panel’s internals, making black 2.35 bars appear dead black with the presence of ambient room light. No filter including the ZT60′s will even remotely kill a lamp or light source directly opposite the screen (and neither will any large screen TVs filter whether it’s on an LED LCD or plasma screen. The filter acts as an absorber of diffuse room light hitting the screen.

Color points were very close to the Rec. 709 HDTV standard using THX Cinema Mode. They measured as follows with the spec in parentheses: Red x.639 y.330 (x.640 y.330); Green x.300 y.610 (x.300 y.600); Blue x.015 y .056 (x.015 y .060). White measured at 20 IRE x.313 y.336 at 80 IRE x.314 y.335. There is a Color Management Mode in custom (and a few other modes) which permits fine tuning of the color points. There are also extended color modes, especially redder reds in extended modes.

Video processing aced all the standard definition and high definition HQV tests with one note. 3:2 pulldown required the setting in the “on” position; it would fail in the “auto” mode. This is not a problem because we would set the ZT60 to the 96 Hz mode with 24 Hz material, providing smooth pans.

All noise reduction and mixed video with film content tests passed as well as the other HD and SD HQV tests. We rate the processing on par with the best we’ve seen from other TV makers. Streaming video quality, while not near HD due to the low resolution of many on-line videos, is less visually offensive. Panasonic improved algorithms for streaming video, and it appears successful.

Viewing

We looked at a variety of cable TV, Blu-ray, and some streaming content. We were constantly impressed by the accurate dark detail reproduction, HDTV color, and the deep, deep blacks. The TC-P65ZT60, along with its bonded front filter glass, creates blacks that appear completely inky if there is just a slight amount of ambient light in the room. Its black level is the deepest of any 2013 (or 2012 model we tested). In The Dark Knight Rises, at 1:10:12 (the tunnel and fight scene with Catwoman), Batman and Bane serves as an example of the ZT60’s ability to provide very dark detail as seen in the costumes and tunnel details, while keeping high dynamic range with the bright lights lining the tunnel.

Conclusion

No other 2013 HDTV to date is capable of producing blacks this deep. There are no announced 2013 LED LCD HDTVs with full backlights and local dimming, so there is no competition on the horizon for this year. If OLED (the only technology capable of deeper black levels) ever reaches dealer shelves in the US this year (it is looking doubtful as LG and Samsung keep pushing back the introduction dates), the first generation models will be limited to 55  and are expected to sell for north of $10,000. No 55-inch TV provides as immersive “big-screen” experience as you can get with a 65-inch or larger TV screen.

The word that sums up the TC-P65ZT60 picture quality is extraordinary. It is the best display we have tested to date. As this is a very significant year for improvements in picture quality, especially with plasma displays, we have decided to hold the benchmark set by the TC-P65ST60 as the minimum performance level that warrants our top five heart rating. To maintain a level playing field amongst the different brands and models we will keep the same criteria for the remainder of the2013 model year. HD Guru awards the Panasonic TC-P65ZT60 ♥♥♥♥♥ (five hearts), our highest rating.
 

Disclosure: The TC-P65ZT60 reviewed is a manufacturer supplied production sample.

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Best Buy has an HDTV Buying Guide called HDTV Basics. It covers some of the questions that customers have about differences in HDTV technologies, what HDMI is, and other common concerns. However, it also provides and perpetuates a good deal of misinformation that can easily lead consumers to buy the wrong TV if they follow Best Buy’s advice!

To make sure our readers don’t fall into this trap, and so they can educate themselves, their friends and families, let’s look at the claims that should be put to rest.

Talking about Plasma TVs

Best Buy says plasmas are “a great choice if you like to watch TV in dark or dimly lit rooms,” and that they are the “least energy-efficient TV technology, with heavy, thick panels.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement of plasma from them. However, the truth is that with any plasma you can purchase today, they put out enough brightness as you need for virtually any room. Not just dark and dimly lit ones. Current plasma HDTVs have new anti-reflective screens they’re very effective at rejecting reflections and ambient room light. The filters found in the 2013 mid to high end plasmas by Panasonic and the high end 8500 Samsung plasmas are the best, most effective ones we’ve ever tested.

It’s true that plasma TVs are less energy efficient and thicker than some LCD sets, but that doesn’t make them gigantic energy-sucking behemoths. Even if you run your TV for a few hours a day over a full year, you’re only paying $15 to 20 dollars more a year in electricity over an LCD. And even over a decade, that’s not a large difference. Since plasma usually offers a better value on the initial purchase price you will never make up the difference in energy savings. Moreover, many plasmas are 1½ to 2-inches thick. The top model LED LCD sets may be about 1-inch deep. But since your TV stand is still 6 to 8-inches deep itself, and most wall mounts take up at least 1 to 2 inches, that 1 inch might look big on paper, but in reality probably won’t be noticed.

LED TVs

On the other hand, Best Buy happens to have much nicer things to say about LED displays. The buyer’s guide points out that an LED TVs “Produces plasma-like deep blacks and rich, bright colors,” and that they have a “wider viewing angle than LCD TVs, so more people can watch without losing picture quality.”

Here’s the thing. Since LEDs cost a lot more than your typical plasma, it would make sense for them to be better in critical aspects of image performance. But they simply are not. In addition, Best Buy calls them LED TVs which is terribly misleading. LED TV is not a separate technology. These are not LED displays like you see at football stadiums, arenas or in New York’s Time Square. They are LCD panels just like the ones in “LCD TVs” except they are lit by LED lamps instead of fluorescent lamps called CCFLs. They have the same viewing and off-axis color shift issues as other LCDs. To prevent consumer confusion, HD Guru refers to LED lit LCDs as LED LCDs.

The only LED LCD sets that can rival plasma in black levels are those with a full rear array LED lighting system and the ability to dim groups of LEDs, called local dimming. These were common when LED sets were first released, but now there is only one on the market: Samsung’s $40,000 4K model 85S9. Yet even this one can’t match a plasma TV under the best circumstances. Local dimmable LED sets are prone to issues like haloing and other side-effects from the technology. Most LED sets are only edge-lit, which makes them thin but doesn’t help with black levels in the same way.

No LCD screen, even if it uses an LED backlight instead of a fluorescent one, can compete with plasma on viewing angles. Most LCDs will wash out badly once you are 30-40 degrees off-axis, and the best might still look acceptable at 45 degrees off-axis. The only correlation between LEDs and off-axis viewing might be from LED sets using better performing LCD panels. They are more expensive, but it actually has nothing to do with LEDs themselves.

720p, 1080p, and 4K

 “4K Ultra-HD TVs represent the highest resolution and, thus, the new standard in picture clarity. 1080p HDTVs are ideal for 1080p content, like Blu-ray movies. For regular TV programming, a 720p HDTV will give you good performance because TV shows are not yet broadcast in 1080p” states the Best Buy guide.

Next, the Buyer’s Guide tries to break down 720p, 1080p, and 4K resolution. With 4K, there is currently no available content unless you buy a Sony display, and then you’re limited to the 4K content that Sony provides. Real 4K content won’t start being produced until the next HDMI standard appears, and a future update to the Blu-ray standard. These new standards are currently months or longer from becoming a new norm.

Furthermore, this is odd claim: “For regular TV programming, a 720p HDTV will give you good performance because TV shows are not yet broadcast in 1080p.” As we know, there is Pay-Per-View content available in 1080p. But the biggest fault here is failing to understand how 1080i HDTV content and deinterlacing works. Once deinterlaced, 1080i and 1080p are the same resolution. Any current HDTV will properly deinterlace a 1080i signal into 1080p.

1080i broadcast isn’t uncommon either. CBS, NBC, CW, Univision, CNN, NFL Network, Discover Channel, HBO, Showtime, TNT, USA, TBC, Comedy Central, and dozens more all broadcast in 1080i and will actually show a more detailed image on a 1080p set than a 720p one. We could give Best Buy the benefit of the doubt and say this was written a decade ago when this concept wasn’t well understood, but they talk about 4K so perhaps it is recent, and they are still perpetuating a myth on 1080i resolution.

 Cost

Best Buy provides a breakdown for what you should spend on your TV, but simplifies it too much. Spending more on a TV brings you an increase in features like picture quality or size, and so one price doesn’t fit all situations. For instance, you might need a smaller bedroom or office TV, but you want a high picture quality. Or you may need a SmartTV with all the new features and apps. For the same price still, you may be able to afford a much larger TV, but with fewer features and lower performance, if all that matters is size. Several tradeoffs are available into the same price category, but they certainly aren’t the same thing.

Instead of breaking down the recommendations by room, you should decide how important features like SmartTV, performance, and size are to you, and then choose a display accordingly.

Conclusions

Some of the advice from Best Buy is correct, but they really do perpetuate a lot of misconceptions in their Buyer’s Guide that should have been put to bed ages ago. Again, much of the advice seems to be slanted towards LED LCD models, which are newer and more expensive than plasma displays and LCDs, but don’t offer better performance most of the time. Many of the concerns Best Buy brings up are antiquated remnants of 2004 and don’t apply to a modern plasma display. Why perpetuate these myths?

Yet Best Buy is getting away with their LED-slanted guide because plasma doesn’t always look as good in a showroom. We say if you’re setting up a wall of 15 different displays and have incredibly bright store-like lighting in your home, of course, go with the LED LCD! Consumers at this point also have pre-conceptions about plasma, and it’s probably easier to suggest that LED LCD displays have all the benefits of plasma, but none of the drawbacks they might have heard about.

It would be harder to sell more expensive LED LCD sets when the biggest selling point is really that they are incredibly thin, and not that they offer better performance than plasma.

Sure, we’re big on plasma here at HD Guru, but that’s because to us, it provides the best picture for the best value for most people. Sometimes you might need an LCD or an LED LCD TV (i.e. screen sizes <42-inches) but we contend that it’s probably not because of the reasons that Best Buy lists for you. Take our advice and ignore theirs, and you’ll make a better choice when it comes to buying a TV.

Chris Heinonen

www.referencehometheater.com

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Yep, the Seiki SE50UY04 is an Ultra HD TV for $1,400. Don’t believe it? Here it is for sale on Amazon. It’s a 50-inch, 3,840 x 2,160, LED LCD, for the same price as a mid-range plasma or LCD.

Since the only other Ultra HDTVs we’ve seen have been of the $20,000 variety, to call the Seiki “disruptive” would be putting it mildly.

So the question on everyone’s mind… is it any good?

(Note, this TV’s resolution is 3,840 x 2,160, which is officially called Ultra HD, and colloquially called “4K.” I use the terms interchangeably throughout because saying Ultra HD all the time gets boring.)

Check out Gary’s first look on the SE50UY04.

As you’ve probably guessed, the SE50UY04 is a stripped down model. How stripped? Well, there are no smart TV features, no 3D, very limited picture adjustment options, limited scaling/processing, and none of the fancy gesture/voice/thought control nonsense of other 2013 TVs.

In theory, I like the idea of a “dumb monitor” TV. Roku and Apple TV streaming boxes are cheap and fantastic. I don’t care about 3D, and I can I never touch my TV’s remote anyway. However, the lack of decent processing is a bit of a concern.

Set’em up, set’em down

There’s nothing to visually distinguish this Ultra HD TV from any other 50-inch flat panel. In fact, its boxy design and minimal flourishes make it more similar to a bare-bones, inexpensive LCD. Oh, wait…

The menus are simple. There are picture mode presets, basic picture controls (contrast, brightness, etc), and color temp settings, but that’s it. No CMS, no detailed grayscale adjustments, no gamma adjustments, none of the things we’ve gotten used to in user menus these days.

The remote is, as you’d expect, a basic affair with small buttons and no backlighting. Since there’s no built in web browser or streaming apps, it doesn’t really need to be anything more.

After setup, I plugged in my cable feed just to see what kind of picture it creates “out-of-the-box.” Well, it does indeed create a picture.

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So many pixels!

I feel like I should pause for a moment and explain a few things. Resolution is not, has never been, and never will be the most important aspect of picture quality. In testing that I’ve done with multiple trained and untrained viewers, and in the opinion of TV reviewers and TV designers, contrast ratio is the most important. The better the contrast ratio, the more realistic the image looks. It appears to have more depth, and even more detail. After that, color accuracy, lack of artifacts, color temperature, all are important.

This isn’t to say that resolution is not important. Obviously 1080p (HD) was a big step up over 480i (SD). The issue is we’re limited by the resolution of the human eye. So with a 50-inch TV, you need to be sitting about 4 feet away to be able to resolve all the resolution this TV is capable. Most people sit a lot further away than that. Check out HDGuru contributor Chris Heinonen’s excellent 4K Calculator.

As the calculator shows, there is a range where you might be able to see more resolution than 1080p, depending on your vision, seating distance, and screen size.

If you’re not planning on sitting close to this TV, and are just looking for the best TV of 2013, I’ll save you some time. This isn’t it. To spoil the ending, this is a fairly average LCD that just happens to be Ultra HD resolution. With just about all content you can get right now, there are other, cheaper TVs that look vastly better.

There are a few other factors worth considering too. There isn’t any 4K content commercially available. This will hopefully change, but at the moment, you can’t go into a store and buy a 4K disc, nor can you go to Netflix and stream a 4K movie.

Further, the current generation of HDMI inputs only handle 3,840 x 2,160 up to 30fps. So even if the Seiki could do 1080p/3D, there’s no way to send 4K3D to anything at the moment.

Have I talked you out of 4K yet? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

So let’s presume you are planning on sitting close. Maybe you want to use this as a monitor, or are otherwise sitting four or so feet away. Or, maybe, for whatever reason you don’t believe the math and eyeball physiology. In that case, there are two radically different aspects to the Seiki’s performance, and both are worth discussing.

A window?

Seiki supplied a server with 4K content. As is the case with most high-resolution content right now, this was a lot of slow moving landscapes: Desert scenes, beautiful starry skies, etc.

Sitting on the front of my couch, the TV was 6.5-feet away. With my 20/15 vision (as verified less than a month ago), the level of detail was incredible. All the hyperbole you’ve read from other 4K coverage is understandable when you’re sitting close. If I leaned in, I could see even more detail (proving my point earlier about the resolution of the eye, FWIW).

From a limited, strictly resolution-based subjective assessment, Ultra HD on the Seiki is pretty awesome. It’s a lot like the first time I saw HD, in the long ago times of 2000. There is that “window into a world” aspect that is undeniably cool.

This is, of course, with pristine 4K content, of which there is basically none in the real world. I think we all have taken for granted how good TV processing has become, at least from the Tier 1 TV companies. If you send the Seiki a great 1080p signal, it looks OK. Anything worse, like the always ugly Grey’s Anatomy, and it’s a soft smeary mess. I’m sure many people will give it a pass on processing performance, because of the price. I suppose that’s a valid argument, but what you’re saying is that the Seiki really isn’t a $1,400 TV, because you have to get something with it for it to look right.

Thankfully, there are myriad products that can upconvert now. A lot of receivers will do it, the new OPPO BDP-103 and the OPPO BDP-105 will upconvert Blu-ray and external sources, and there are a bunch of Blu-ray players that do it just with discs. Samsung was kind enough to send over one of the latter, a $250 BD-F7500. It’s got all the important streaming features (see, told you you didn’t need them in the TV), plus the 4K upconversion.

So I put on Life of Pi as a 4K output from this player. This was a noticeable improvement in overall picture quality. I particularly like Chapter 21 of this Blu-ray, as it has a lot of great close ups, plus crazy colors and lots of contrasty shots. Close ups of Pi and Richard Parker’s faces, when they weren’t moving, perhaps looked a little more detailed than on a 1080p display, but not significantly. When they moved, the improvement was lost. When I saw this disc on an ST60 I reviewed recently, I remember being blown away by shot after shot. I got none of that here. This is due, in part at least, to the lower contrast ratio. Shots like the night sky at the end of this chapter, with all the stars, was flat, gray, and showed off the panel’s mediocre brightness uniformity (edges are brighter than the center). There’s none of the “wow” factor you’d expect. With 4K content you get that, certainly, but with anything else, the display’s negatives outweigh the slight improvement scaling to 4K gets you.

Because resolution aside, the SE50UY04 is still just an LED LCD, and not a great one. As such, it has all the positives and negatives that go with that technology.

The contrast ratio is annoyingly impossible to verify, as the dynamic blacklight is always active. Turning off the “DLC” or dynamic luminance control does nothing. This might actively adjust the gamma instead of control the backlight, but once I discovered it didn’t turn off the dynamic backlight, I turned it off (I always turn off any “dynamic” anything in my testing, they add nothing to the picture and are usually add their own problems).

I measured 74.38 footlamberts with a full white image, and 0.0018 with a full black image, for a dynamic contrast ratio of 41,322:1. It doesn’t look anything close to that good. With any bright object on screen, you get noticeable bands of light emanating from the edges (where the LEDs are). For example, if you put the menu up over a black image, there’s a gray band on either side of the centrally located menu out to the edges. Measuring that gray band as a better example of what “black” might be if the local(-ish) dimming was turned off, I got a “black” level 0.0245. This would mean a contrast ratio closer to 3,000:1, which is certainly in the ballpark of most modern LCDs. Since all of these numbers are pretty sketchy (measurement wise), I wouldn’t strongly stand by any of them. Subjectively, visually, it looks close to other TVs I’ve seen with a contrast ratio of around 3,000:1, plus the local dimming. In short, it’s not bad, but it’s not great.

Off axis performance is fairly typical, with the color washing out somewhat as you move to the sides. More noticeable is an increase in black level along the edges near the LEDs. Like the contrast ratio, it’s not bad: I’ve seen better, and I’ve seen worse.

Motion blur is definitely worse than other LCDs I’ve seen recently. Using the FPD disc, upconverted to 4K by the Samsung, at best the Seiki does “720” lines of resolution (the number on the disc). So this is something like 1440, far less than the 2160 possible. This bares out with content as well. Still or slow moving images look far more detailed than anything in motion.

Oddly, the SE50UY04 overscans severely with 1080p content. It’s pixel-perfect with 4K, though. A 1-pixel on/off pattern, sent as 1080p via BD, has the banding typical of overscanning. Sent 4K via the Samsung, it looks a lot cleaner, with no visible banding. This doesn’t seem to be perfect upconversion either. It’s more one white pixel, one gray pixel, and one (maybe two) black pixel(s), but you need your face on the screen to be able to tell this. This is a Samsung thing, though, not Seiki, just wanted to mention it.

Out of the box, color accuracy is decent, with the color primaries all matching their HDTV specs, though the secondaries (yellow, cyan, magenta), are each a little bit off correct. The levels (gamut luminance) aren’t great, though.

The same goes with color temperature. Out of the box, in the Warm color temp mode, the image is too warm, with way too much green.

However, there is a service menu (no I won’t give you the code). If you or a trained calibrator have the right measurement equipment, you can actually dial in the color temp to be pretty much spot on. Interestingly, after calibrating the color temp, the color points improve for some reason too. As you can see in the attached chart, the color points are spot on perfect. However, their levels are still a bit off, so color doesn’t look quite as natural as the color points themselves would lead you to believe. So add a professional calibration to the list of things this TV needs to perform its best.

One last place you can get 4K content is with a PC. Though not “officially” supported on my video card, the software that came with it allows custom resolutions. Sure enough, 3840×2160/24 worked like a charm and damn the text is tiny (you can adjust this in Windows). Massive screen real estate is cool and seeing high-res photos, full screen at higher-than-1080p resolutions is cool, though once again you have to be sitting really close to get any reasonable use out of anything. I tried out three games: StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm (no real improvement), Planetside 2, and Battlefield 3. The only benefit with the shooters is the ability to resolve distant targets better. If you’re sitting really close to the screen, enemies in the far distance that would have been too small to target are now “larger,” so you can see them better. When I moved my gaming PC to my theater, and had to give up my beloved (and now dead) Sony CRT monitor, stepping down to 1080p was a noticeable loss in my ability to target really far away targets. So this ability of 4K gaming is not lost on me.

The overall image however, isn’t radically better. This is another myth about 4K when it comes to gaming. The textures and polygons only scale to an extent. Jacking up the resolution doesn’t mean a corresponding increase in picture quality. The game looks the same, it just has finer edges, and the distance thing mentioned earlier. Better textures, more polygons, better shaders, better anti-aliasing, and so on would do more for the long-sought “photorealism” in games more than increasing the resolution alone.

It’s also worth noting that because the framerate is limited to 24 or 30 fps, the motion is far less smooth than what you’d get with a “regular” TV or monitor. The motion blur comes into play here too. Looking at the gravel at the starting area in the “Caspian Border” map in BF3, it’s very detailed, but as soon as you move the mouse, it blurs significantly.

Conclusion

I applaud Seiki for making a big splash, and coming out with what will probably be the most talked about TV of 2013. I’m sure there will be many who will buy this TV just because it’s 4K, and it’s $1,400. So yes, the Seiki does 4K and that is cool. If that’s all you want, by all means get one.

However, judged just as a TV, the SE50UY04 comes up short in many key areas. The motion smearing is terrible, the contrast ratio is average, off axis isn’t great, the colors look a little weird, the uniformity isn’t very good, and with anything but a perfect source, it looks really poor.

It’s as I said earlier: the SE50UY04 is a mediocre TV that just happens to be 4K. If all you want is that resolution, I’m not sure why you’d care about a review in the first place. After all, this is the only 4K TV even remotely close to this price.

If you’re just trying to find a great looking TV, spend the same money on a Panasonic TC-P55ST60. It’s got far fewer artifacts and a significantly higher contrast ratio. With most content, and at any reasonable seating distance, that higher contrast ratio will make it seem more detailed than the Seiki.

If our ratings included value, our score would be higher, but we rate strictly on performance. As such, the $1,400 Seiki SE50UY04 gets 3 out of 5 hearts.

Disclosure: The Seiki SE50UY04 reviewed is a manufacturer supplied production sample.

Geoff Morrison @TechWriterGeoff
Geoff’s book is now in paperback!

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No HDTV will look its best using the out of the box picture settings and that’s why a Blu-ray calibration disc like the Spears & Munsil 2nd Edition is worthwhile investment. With it , the user picture controls can be set properly to optimize the picture under your particular viewing conditions.  The details are after the break.

HDTVs picture quality out of the box varies greatly from one make and model to another, however they are never at the optimal setting. This is due in part to all viewing environments have different levels of ambient lighting.  Because of this and production variations of each HDTV, one can’t just copy the settings from someone else and not have the best image possible.

Beginners and Experts alike will want to start with the disc’s first section: Video Calibration.  This section handles setting the basic controls on your display or Blu-ray player, and makes sure the user controls are correctly set while explaining why they are important. The S&M disc aids in setting the following controls:

• Brightness and Contrast- These control the black and white levels of your display proper adjustment affects your TV’s contrast ratio. Proper adjustment makes the biggest impact in viewing, which is why we focus so much on black and white levels with displays., Getting these correct is incredibly important.
• Color and Tint- These controls are artifacts from analog color TVs, but on many displays they still need to be adjusted, as the default might be incorrect.
• Sharpness- Too low and you lose detail, too high and you’ll get artifacts instead of with more detail.
• Color Temperature- Typically you can only set this correctly with a specialized meter; the pattern on Spears & Munsil is designed to help you eyeball the closest to optimum choice.
• Colorspace- The colorspace defines how image information is stored and communicated between devices. The HDTV standard allows for different types of colorspaces, but some devices handle them differently. Set in your Blu-ray player, Spears & Munsil contains the only authoritative patterns I know of to set this correctly, and demonstrate clearly what your player or display might be doing wrong.
• Gamma- Gamma is how quickly a display moves from the darkest blacks to the whitest whites. If it is too high or too low, your image is either too dark, or too washed out. You can only optimally adjust gamma correctly with proper test equipment, but patterns on Spears & Munsil help you choose the correct value (typically 2.4) for your mid-tones. It isn’t perfect, but it is much better than randomly guessing.

Each pattern also has on-screen help, and there are extensive notes and instructions available online at the Spears & Munsil website.

With the exception of Color Space, most setup and test discs (Disney WOW, Digital Video Essentials) already have test patterns, so what sets Spears & Munsil apart?  First, the patterns are all designed by Spears and Munsil.  Instead of simply reusing the standard Color Bars test pattern, they have designed new Color and Tint patterns that are much easier to get to right setting.  Second, many of the test patterns are also available in 3D, an advancement for a consumer calibration disc.  As 3D glasses totally change all of these settings, you will need to create separate 2D and 3D settings.

Spears & Munsil  goes far beyond just these basic video settings.  Want to know are the correct settings for television’s deinterlacer?  There is a whole section of video processing tests to make sure the correct setting is used.  Trying to verify the correct screen aspect ratio that doesn’t crop pixels or introduce distortion?  Patterns for those are available as well.  Interested in testing motion resolution? S&M is the first consumer calibration disc to provide this test pattern.  Also included are advanced test patterns for users with specialized test gear. For anything you want to test or evaluate on a display or a Blu-ray player you will find the patterns on Spears & Munsil Blu-ray disc.  Many reviewers, including myself, have been using the first edition disc for years to push the limits of testing; the new edition’s test patterns continue to raise the bar.

Beyond video, there are sections of audio tests with tones to make sure that speakers are wired in phase, and to set the levels correct with a Sound Pressure Level (SPL) Meter. Most receivers now include a microphone and an automated setup routine, but those microphones are often inaccurate compared to a $30 Radio Shack SPL Meter or a $0.99 iOS or Android app. S&M also includes audio signals for setting speaker distances, however this can also be done with a tape measure.

A friend using an automated setup routine discovered that it set his left speaker was over 10 decibels louder than the right one, which means the left channel was more than twice as loud! Even if you utilize the automated setup and room calibration, it is worth the 10 minutes to verify the settings.

For every display, Blu-ray player, or other device that comes into my house, I use a copy of Spears & Munsil to help evaluate their performance. For $30, this disc it will help you get your setup as optimized as possible without purchasing expensive test equipment and is the next best thing to a full professional ISF calibration. We high recommended the Spears and Munsil 2nd Edition for anyone that wants greatly improve the image on their HDTV.

Spears & Munsil HD Benchmark and Calibration Disc 2nd Edition

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We don’t really miss the old picture tube or rear projection TV (RPTV) in our living room anymore. Those giant, 100+ pound beasts that dominated the room, with their own custom giant bookcases and other furniture meant to hold them. We tried to hide them away, but when you bought yourself that 70” RPTV that was the only thing people saw when you walked into a room.

Now we just go out with our ultra-slim flat panels and place them anywhere we want, or go ahead and mount them up on the wall to get them out of the way, and let them be in a room without taking it over. Getting that TV up and off its stand and on the wall, hanging free like a nice picture or mirror is easy enough that I can do it, and I am certainly not a handyman. However, before you go ahead and put it up on the wall, you’re going to need to do more than pick up a mount for $40 the next time you drop by Costco, so let’s look at everything you need to make that TV disappear onto the wall.

The Mount

The first thing you need is a mount, and there are two main types: An ultra-thin flat model, or one with arms so you may pull out and angle the TV called an articulating TV mount. The ultra-thin mount does what it implies, and gets the TV as close to the wall as possible, which is especially important if you bought that new LED LCD just because of how thin it is. An articulating model lets you swing the TV out from the wall and into the room, great if you want to have it hidden away most of the time, but be able to watch it more easily with a group of people by swinging it out. Now you can get articulating mounts that are as thin as 1.34” deep, so you can get the best of both worlds.

The two brands we recommend at HD Guru are Peerless and Chief. Cheaper mounts from other companies are available. However, cheap flat mounts don’t hug the wall. The Chief LSTU Thinstall Fixed Mount gets the TV just .39-inches from the wall and sells for $112 from AV Center via Amazon

Cheaper articulating mounts? We’ve run into one major problem: the display isn’t held perfectly vertical. Your display might meet the manufacturers recommended size and weight, but it will still tilt forward. Gary ran into this problem with a Sanus articulating mount. Cheap articulating mounts may also experience unwanted forward movement as they wear-in from normal use. We say stay away.

Peerless offers their SUA751PU Ultra Slim Full-Motion Plus Wall Mount and holds TV flat panel just 1.34-inches from the wall. It’s a little more expensive ($189.99 supports  TVs up to 55-inches)  than the crappy Sanus and others, but it works well is very well built, and you can get the TV almost against the wall. Chief offers the Thinstall line, and the larger TS525TU Chief Thinstall Wall Mount ($343.94 Av Center via Amazon) works for up to 58” displays while being only 1.5” away from the wall. Both of these swing out over 2’ away from the wall and include cable management, to keep your TV looking really nice when against the wall or pulled away from it. This provides you the most flexible option, and if you’re wall mounting a really thin LED LCD, you really want the articulating arm due to the inherent viewing angle issues that LCDs suffer from.

Another thing to note here is that your wall mount bracket should only install into studs. Not into wall anchors that are rated for 80 lbs. or something similar, but studs. Using anchors is a certain way to come home and wonder why the nice TV fell off the wall one day. They also are hazard if you have children in the house, as they may end up with the flat panel falling on them. If you’d rather keep your TV in one piece, find the studs.

Now that you have a mount, you’re done and ready to go, right?  No.  Here’s what else you need?

The Video Signal

What good is a TV on the wall with no signal for it? Since wireless HDMI still isn’t a totally unified standard, or as clear and reliable as hard wired HDMI, you’ll want to run a cable up to your display.  Now you have to run this in the wall, look for is a cable that is CL2 certified. Is an HDMI cable likely to burn down your house? No, not really. But there usually is no price difference, and then you aren’t breaking fire code, putting your insurance coverage at risk.

The second thing to consider is the size and weight of the HDMI cable. Yes, we know that all HDMI cables are the same as far as audio and video quality, but the same isn’t true of construction. Most long HDMI cables that are long are also heavy and thick to make sure that signal gets there fine. Because they’re heavy and long, they don’t make sharp bends well, and most thin flat panels only have a few precious inches from the connectors to the edge of the screen, and if you extend beyond that your wall mounting job looks bad. So how do you deal with this problem?

One option,  flat HDMI cables, such as the Cable Matters 35ft CL3 Rated Hi Speed HDMI Cable. Most are flexible enough to move away from the TV edge to be tucked out of sight. However, its flat profile makes them harder to use with cable management systems since they’re often too wide to fit correctly. The better option is a cable using RedMere technology. RedMere uses an integrated chip to enable the cable to operate over long distances, while being ultra-thin and limp, like cooked spaghetti. Note: these active HDMI cables only work in a single direction. They also have come way down in price,  adding 40’ RedMere cable from Amazon will run you under $60.

The one item we can’t warn you about enough is to test the cables before you install them, and before you finish up all the final install work. If a cable works at the start, the only reason it is going to stop working is because the hardware physically breaks, or if you install a RedMere cable the wrong direction. If you find out its bad after you’ve run it 35’ in a wall, it’s going to hurt a lot more than if you find it out after you open the box from Amazon.

So now we have a wall mount, and we have a cable, what next? If you are using the TV as a HDMI switch you will need an equal number of HDMI cables from your sources. (Alternatives are an external HDMI switch or a switching AV receiver). Typically sources are a cable box or DVR and a Blu-ray player for a Smart TV. If your new TV does not have Internet streaming, you can get it from a number of Blu-ray players or perhaps you will also want a media player such as a Roku 3

Installing a back-up HDMI cable in case a connector breaks or fails (it happens usually due to a mishap) is cheap insurance.

Internet Access

Many flat panel TVs still don’t have integrated WiFi. They might sell an optional adapter, but some of those stick out too far, ruining the look, or may interfere with the mount. WiFi is less reliable than an Ethernet cable. We recommend a “hardwired” connection whenever possible. Unfortunately Ethernet-over-HDMI hasn’t  caught on, so we still need to run that Ethernet cable from your router/switch to the TV if you want Smart TV functions, like Netflix, Hulu, Vudu and apps as well as firmware updates. Ethernet cables are dirt cheap, so you can pick up a 50’ one for less than $10 and run it when you run the HDMI cable. If your TV has WiFi and works perfectly, then you might feel fine skipping this, though for $10 to run it at the same time as the HDMI cable, I’d be likely to do it myself.

IR Repeater

Part of the joy of having your TV on the wall is that now you can put that stack of components away where no one can see them, and make the room feel like a regular room again. Now your TV is halfway across the room from your cable box and Blu-ray player, but still gets a great signal, but how do you control them? Add an infra-red repeater. They consist of several parts, the infra-red receiver that reads your remote control,  a transmitter box and infra-red emitters that are placed by the remote eye on your cable box, Blu-ray player etc. A Smarthome IR Repeater System from Amazon sells for $50.98

With an IR repeater, you simply install the IR receiver near or under the TV (Velcro may work) or wherever you want to point your remotes, and then that connects to a control box that then repeats the IR signal to your other components. The products use the same cabling as your earbuds so it is very thin and easy to hide, and because they’re just repeating the signal they are given there is nothing to program. Now you can keep the other components away behind doors, or even in a closet, and away from the room.

Surge Protector

Finally, somehow you need to get power up to your TV, right? This is also the hardest issue, since it involves running cable that actually could be a fire risk if done incorrectly, and if you’re like me you don’t like working with high voltage wires. One option is to get another outlet installed behind the TV, but that probably requires a licensed electrician, and costs a lot more than the other option. Or if you already have a power outlet behind where you’re putting the TV, then simply add this Panamax In-Wall Surge Protector and you’ll have your display protected.

For me, the easy solution is purchasing an item like this from Amazon to install behind your mount, and below it. It has a cable channel for the HDMI and Ethernet cables you already need to run, and it has no power until you connect it. It also can use your existing surge protector, so you don’t need to buy another one for it. If the included cable is too short for you, it is very easy to go to Home Depot or Lowes and pick up a longer in-wall power cable for it while still maintaining the simplicity of it. Look, if I can install this, which I have, then anyone can, and your TV will look great.

Your source components (Blu-ray, cable box etc. ) will need its own surge protector. If you have a DVR we recommend a small uninterrupted power supply (UPS) like the Tripp Lite 550U UPS. It’s $59.06 and will protect your DVR’s hard drive during short or momentary black outs.

Conclusion

Wall mounting your TV is a lot more than simply buying a mount and throwing it up there one afternoon. It’s not hard to do, but you want to make sure to plan ahead and buy everything you need before you start so you aren’t coming back in a week because you can’t use Netflix, or you have a power cable running down the wall. It’ll look like a professional did it, and you’ll have reclaimed that room from the TV for good.

Chris Heinonen

www.referencehometheater.com

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Since the winter introductions of 2013 HDTVs high prices have held, until now. This week we see the first price drops on select Samsung, Panasonic and LG models, aided by instant rebates and bundle offers.

2013 is a very good year for HDTV performance, as seen by the new benchmark set by the ST60 Panasonic plasma. It is the first HDTV to earn the top HD Guru rating. There are a number of other models currently undergoing testing in our lab and some look very promising.  Another HDTV review will appear this coming week.

Our sale list includes a free tablet bundle on a top Samsung LED 2013 model and a mail-in offer for a free touch pen from Panasonic on the ST60.

We also include three hot closeout deals on left-over 2012 Samsungs. The list appears after the break.

Samsung UN60F6300 60-Inch 1080p 120Hz Slim Smart LED HDTV Retail $2400 Now $1599.99 – 33% off

Samsung UN50F6400 50-Inch 1080p 120Hz 3D Slim Smart LED HDTV Retail $1700 Now $1197.99

Samsung UN55F6400 55-Inch 1080p 120Hz 3D Slim Smart LED HDTV Retail 2100 Now $1397.99

Samsung UN60F8000 60-Inch 1080p 240Hz 3D Ultra Slim Smart LED HDTV Retail $3700 Now $2897.99 + Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 Bundle

Samsung UN60F7500 60-Inch 1080p 240Hz 3D Ultra Slim Smart LED HDTV Retail $3400 Now $2597.99 + Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 Bundle
 

Panasonic TC-L58E60 58-Inch 1080p 120Hz Smart LED HDTV Retail $1600 Now $1499.99 Sunday $1399.99

LG Electronics 47GA6400 47-Inch Cinema 3D 1080p 60Hz LED-LCD HDTV with Google TV and Four Pairs of 3D Glasses Retail $1300 Now $1099.99

Samsung UN60F7100 60-Inch 1080p 240Hz 3D Ultra Slim Smart LED HDTV Retail $3100 Now $2397.99 Sunday $1997.99

Samsung UN55F7100 55-Inch 1080p 240Hz 3D Ultra Slim Smart LED HDTV Retail $2500 Now  $1797.99-28% off retail

Panasonic TC-P50ST60 50-Inch 1080p 600Hz 3D Smart Plasma HDTV (Includes 2 Pairs of 3D Active Glasses)  Retail $1150 Now $999.00 + Free Touch Pen (by mail)

Save on Remaining Samsung 2012 Closeouts

Samsung UN32EH5000 32-Inch 1080p 60Hz LED HDTV (Black) Retail $480 Now $349.99

Samsung UN40EH5000 40-Inch 1080p 60Hz LED HDTV (Black) Retail $750 Now $489.00-35% off

Samsung UN46EH5000 46-Inch 1080p 60Hz LED HDTV (Black) Retail $980 Now $599.99-39% off

All of the listed HDTVs are sold by Amazon direct and  offer a 14 day low price guarantee and 30 Day returns with free return freight on TVs. They stand behind their sales. Note: prices are correct as of posting and may change at any time, please verify with our links; Currently, most states do not collect sales tax on Amazon orders with the exceptions of CA, TX,  KS, KY, NY, ND, PA & WA. You always must pay sales tax (in states that collect it) when buying at a brick and mortar store. Should you buy an HDTV from on-line or from a retail store? Learn all the pros and cons in our article here.

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Configuring a Blu-ray player is a much harder task than you would think it should be. The menus are filled with different video and audio options, with very little mentioned in the owner’s manual about them. Most players now have guided setups when you first install them, but they either don’t explain most of these features, or don’t even cover them.

Making things worse, many manuals explain the options in ways that don’t help, like “Option X: Turns Option X on and off”. To go over how to correctly set these up, I’m going to reference a Sony BDP-S570 Blu-ray player and its menu options and how they should be configured. Most players will have the same options, though possibly slightly different names. Learn all the settings after the break.

TV Type: 16:9. Unless you’re running this on an SDTV it should be 16:9.

Screen Format: Original. Fixed aspect ratio will stretch 4:3 content to fill your HDTV. You can change it if you’d like, but everyone will look fat.

DVD Aspect Ratio: Letter Box. Otherwise it will crop the sides of the image if you happen to use an SDTV still.

Cinema Conversion Mode: Auto. This mode detects if you’re watching a film or video that happens to interlaced and deinterlaces it. Typically only concerts and some TV shows are interlaced on Blu-ray, but leave it on Auto.

Output Video Format: Auto. This will detect the resolution of your TV and set the Blu-ray resolution accordingly. Some have an option called “Original Resolution” or “Source Direct”, which outputs the content at the original resolution and not the ideal resolution for your TV. Unless you own an expensive video processor, don’t do this as your Blu-ray player probably has better video processing than your TV or receiver.

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24p Output: Auto. If your display supports 24p content, which most do now, it will send that out to it, as films are 24p. If it doesn’t support it, it will default back to 60p or 60i.

YCbCr/RGB/ColorSpace: 4:2:2 or Auto. Colorspace is a very confusing thing that thousands of words can be written on. Basically, all Blu-ray content is stored as YCbCr 4:2:0, but HDMI can’t use that format, so it has to be converted to YCbCr 4:2:2, 4:4:4 or RGB first by the player. Usually a player can do this without issue.

If you don’t know, 4:2:2 or Auto is the best choice. If you want to know for certain, you now can purchase the Spears & Munsil HD Benchmark and Calibration Disc 2nd Edition ($29.97), which has special test patterns to help you determine the correct choice. Likely they all will look identical, but some displays or Blu-ray players really work best with one. Some TVs and other components, like receivers, will do extra conversions on the signal from your Blu-ray player that make a choice besides 4:2:2 correct, but without test patterns like those on Spears and Munsil, it is really impossible to determine this.

HDMI Deep Color Output: Off. This is a more controversial setting, but no Blu-ray content uses Deep Color, and most displays aren’t designed to properly use it, or can’t display it, so shutting it off avoids possible problems, and under the current standard it has no benefit.

Audio (HDMI): Auto. Older receivers can’t process bitstreams and need PCM, but they will tell the Blu-ray player this, so Auto is the way to go.

Picture Mode: Normal/Standard. This called many different things on players, and is often separate from the other controls. Many times you can only access this with the options pop-up while watching a film, and not in the normal setup menus. Modes like Movie, Drama, Sports and so on lead to incorrect images from your player, and those adjustments should be made in the TV instead. Only the Normal/Standard mode will let your Blu-ray player produce a correct image.

Advanced Chroma: Off. This is a Panasonic setting, and while it fixes one problem, it introduces a larger one, and should remain off.

3D Output Setting: Auto. The player will detect 3D on your TV, use it, as running 3D on a 2D TV will often cause a blank image.

TV Screen Size Setting for 3D: Varies. Enter your screen size and some content will have automatically adjust the 3D depth.

This should cover the common settings in a Blu-ray player menu system, and how they impact a picture as well as the ideal settings. Most players have an automated setup that will do most of these, but it is always a good idea to check again and make sure that it configured them correctly for your system.

Chris Heinonen

http://referencehometheater.com/

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Copyright ©2013 HD Guru Inc. All rights reserved. HDGURU is a registered trademar

Panasonic’s ST60 models fall smack in the middle of their 2013 plasma line. Below it are entry level models and above it, the VT60 and ZT60 lines with a new drive system and every Smart feature Panasonic offers. The ST60 series is packed with the latest Smart apps, streaming services, Skype video (with accessory camera sold separately) a new GUI “home screen”, 3D and oh, the best overall image of any HDTV we’ve ever reviewed.

Read on for all the details.

Basics

The TC-P65ST60 (currently $2498 Amazon) is a 65-inch diagonal screen plasma HDTV. The series includes a 50-inch (TC-P50ST60; $999.99 Amazon), 55-inch (TC-P55ST60;$1349.99 Amazon ), and a 60-inch (TC-P60ST60;$1499.99 Amazon). All have a glass-and-metal design with a 2-inch depth. The ST60 features Panasonic’s “Infinite Black Pro” plasma panel, 2500 Focused Field Drive (each subfield pulse lasts 1/2500^th of a second),  1080p HD resolution in 2D and 3D, 2D-to-3D conversion, Electronic Touch Pen (an optional accessory), built-in Wi-Fi, VIERA Connect-cloud based access to Internet content for Video-on-Demand movies and TV programs, educational content, a rudimentary web browser, and a wide variety of other apps.

The ST60 has an anti-reflective coating bonded to the top glass. This appears slightly more effective than prior models.

The remote control is changed from last year. It’s not back-lit, but does include a dedicated Netflix key, along with repositioned buttons for menu and home, which took some getting used to after many years of similar remotes.

Connectivity

The ST60 has three HDMI jacks (one with Audio Return Channel), two USB, one component/composite jack (no dongles needed), an SD Card slot, and an Ethernet jack. The ST60 accepts AVCHD, MPEG4, Motion JPEG, MKV, MOV and other video files along with JPEG photos and AAC, FLAC and MP3 music files.

Picture Controls

Here is where Panasonic really stepped up to the plate this year. They now five picture modes and have added a 10-point gamma control. They also have a copy feature that permits your picture settings to be transferred to each input (a real time saver). There a numerous other settings for noise reduction, motion smoothing (with accompanying soap opera effect), as well as 48 and 96 Hz refresh for 24 FPS based content (film and some video based movies).

In addition there’s an app for Android and iOS phones and tablets that permit changes in picture settings including the 60’s built in color management system.

Smart Functions

There are new home pages to choose from. Several contain a small screen of your cable/satellite content, surrounded by apps. Panasonic includes several templates you can customize with your favorite apps along with weather, time and other information. We played with Amazon Instant to check out its streaming quality and chose the movie the Lincoln Lawyer in HD (one of our recent favorites). We found the HD quality very good: closer to Blu-ray than DVD, and the best we’ve seen from Amazon. We don’t know if the improved image is a result of Panasonic’s streaming and processing quality or Amazon’s, but we are not complaining.

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Power Consumption

Using the IEC power consumption test we measured 260 watts. While this is far higher than LED LCDs, the price difference for a top performing model will never come close to matching the energy saving realized during a TV’s lifespan.

Picture Quality

We broke in the panel for 200 hours prior to testing. We did this by running cable channels with light logos and only full frame content (no black bars). Using the “Custom” mode, we set the contrast at “83” producing a 100 IRE window pattern brightness of 29.1 foot lamberts. After the break-in period, we used full screen raster patterns at different levels to check for uneven wear (burn-in) or image retention (IR). None was observed. We rechecked our initial picture settings.

It’s worth mentioning that all plasmas regulate brightness via a circuit called “ABL.” This is due to the physical limitations on the TV’s power supply, along with energy consumption considerations. So the use of a window pattern for checking brightness more accurately represents how the TV will look with most TV programs and movies. Full white-screen programming is the exception rather than the rule (mostly only seen with ice hockey and skiing competitions).

So  we set the TV contrast for maximum brightness for daytime viewing, producing a white level of 45.5 ft lamberts on a 100% white window. We measured 0.0020 ft lamberts as the minimum light level with a full black screen. This tied with last year’s top-of-the-line VT50 black level measurement. The overall result is an outstanding native contrast ratio of 22,750:1. This remarkable contrast ratio really made the picture pop with a 3D-like quality using 2D content and mode.

We ran our upconversion tests using the HDV DVD and Blu-ray discs and the ST60 aced them all. Motion resolution was a full 1080 lines (per picture height).

Color accuracy was very good out of the box, with a red measurement of x=0.654 y=0.322; green x=0.289 y=0.601 and blue x=0.150 y=0.055. The color management system permitted near perfect settings of the primaries.

The Warm 2 color temperature setting came close to 6500K color temperature with an out-of-the-box reading of 6447K at 20 IRE, and 6314K at 80 IRE. Using our spectroradiometer for measurements, the built-in white balance controls permitted adjustment very near the ideal D6500.

We are currently updating our calibration software and plan to publish graphic read-outs of our results in the near future.

We ran through the 24Hz source settings. As in prior Panasonic models the 48 Hz output flickered like crazy and was not acceptable. The 60 Hz setting engaged 3:2 pulldown and passed all our tests. The 96 Hz worked fine except for certain scenes. Horizontal pans a particular seemed to have some stuttering. We believe this phenomenon is a function of the cinematographer picking a pan rate that is too slow to blur the image but fast enough to cause stuttering. It doesn’t seem to be a function of the TV, as we’ve seen this on other displays that do 96 Hz. In I Am Legend where the camera pans while Will Smith hits golf balls off the USS Intrepid, stuttering can be seen on the tail of the jet alongside him.

Audio

The TC-P65ST60 uses two tweeters and a rear facing midrange woofer. We don’t like sound emitting to the rear when the TV is on a table stand without a wall close behind. Fortunately, many folks choose a sound bar or surround sound system. Panasonic tells us this model (and higher series) now incorporate audio return channel (ARC) that will permit up to Dolby 5.1 sound to be sent from the HDMI sources connected to the other two HDMI inputs (such as a DVR and a Blu-ray player).

3D

We briefly checked out the 3D performance looking for crosstalk using the outside church scene in Monsters vs. Aliens. There was no double image, a test result we’ve only encountered previously with the testing the 84-inch UHD LG. We found the new active shutter glasses lighter than the prior model but a little tight when wearing our eyeglasses beneath them.  Two pairs of glasses are supplied with the TV.

Viewing Evaluations

This is where the TC-P65ST60 really blew us away. Our latest favorite Blu-ray disc, Skyfall showed off many of this HDTV’s attributes. Let’s begin with low level detail. While maintaining the lowest black level, we could still make out the outlines of the bricks in the shadows at 16:12. The bright lights and colors Shanghai building at night and the deep dark water with the ripples clearly visible against the night skyline begins at 41:36 and continues to the Macau night shots. Bond getting off the boat on to the dock with the yellow and red lanterns is truly an intense, stunning image. We like the red accuracy and noticed it on Severine’s red dress in the Macau casino. Skyfall was shot on video, not film, at 24fps, making all the night scenes grain free. This is a must have disc for anyone that wants to see the high quality images this HDTV is capable of producing.

We viewed other content including some cable fare and again and again were totally impressed with its magnificent performance.

Conclusion

The icing on the cake of this HDTV’s performance is its remarkable value. While we do not consider price in our final rating, the TC-P65ST60 is simply a steal. Let’s compare it to an LED LCD HDTVs with local dimming, the only types of LCDs that offer performance in the same ballpark. There are only two local dimming LED LCDs remaining and they are both 2012 leftovers. The 60-inch Elite Pro60X5FD (review) is $5,500 at Magnolia/Best Buy. The 65-inch Sony  XBR65HX950 (review) sells for  $5,198  on Amazon direct (click link for details).  Compare those with the $2,498 for this TV from Amazon direct . The smaller screen size ST60s are even less expensive with the TC-P55ST60 55-inch currently offered by Amazon direct for $1350 with free shipping.

While Panasonic has a new VT60 and upcoming ZT60 with the promise of even better images, the TC-P65ST60 sets a benchmark for HDTV performance with excellent color, high quality signal processing/upconversion, deep inky blacks and detailed motion resolution. HD Guru awards the TC-P65ST60 ♥♥♥♥♥ (five hearts) our highest rating.

Disclosure: The TC-P65ST60 reviewed is a manufacturer supplied production sample.

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Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV, or “4K”) packs four times the resolution of regular HDTVs. Until this week, they also came with ultra high prices.

The first models, introduced late last year, cost $20K-$25K. Samsung is offering an 85-incher for $40K. Sony’s 55-inch UHDTV is $5,000.

This week, Chinese TV maker Seiki (pronounced SAY-key), began shipping a 50-inch UHDTV for just $1,500. At Seiki’s NYC press meeting today they demonstrated it using UHD  content. We got to check it out.

The question on everyone’s mind: How sharp did it appear? It’s so detailed; it’s  more like looking through a window than a TV. Think of it as an iPad Retina screen on growth hormones.

The low cost TV manufacturer revealed to us how they make a UHDTV (3840 x 2160 resolution) at a fraction of the price of the Korean and Japanese TV makers. The Seiki SE50UY04 uses a Chinese LCD LED edge-lit, 120 Hz panel made by Chiemei (CMI).The Chinese have been pouring billions of dollars into LCD panel factories and the development of super high resolution screens. They have latched onto LCD panel manufacturing and UHD because they can be made in many different screen sizes. The highly touted OLED (organic light emitting diodes) screens have never been demonstrated beyond 56-inches and continue to be delayed due to the inability to mass produce them at affordable prices. Full HDTV Plasmas (1080p) TVs have never been offered in screen sizes below 42-inches, making it unlikely a cost effective 50-inch UHD model can be produced.

A Seiki executive told HD Guru they will be offering other UHD TVs this year: a 65-inch version in Q3, and a 39-inch version for Q4. These are aimed to to coincide with the expected arrival of the Playstation 4, which is anticipated to play some content in UHD resolution.

The CMI UHD LCD panels are shipped to Seiki’s factory in China where they build the circuit boards, mold the cases and assemble the TVs. To keep costs down Seiki makes all of its TVs very bare-bones. This means no built-in Smart TV features such as Netflix, no video camera for Skype and gesture control, no 3D, and no voice control. Many of these features can be found in LG, Sony and Samsung UHDTVs.

While the lack of features isn’t a huge deal (Roku streaming boxes are inexpensive and excellent), there are also no gamma, gray scale (for color temperature calibration) or color management system adjustments. This is a potentially much larger deal, as these three adjustments can radically affect a TV’s picture quality. We hope Seiki will consider adding these since all are software, not hardware, based and should not add much (if anything) to the cost of the TV.

Seiki also developed the algorithms needed to upconvert high definition and standard definition content to UHD resolution. They showed us Blu-ray disc content to prove the TVs capabilities.

The SE50UY04 is currently available from Amazon. It is also expected to arrive in the near future at brick and mortar stores such as HH Gregg and Sears, according to a Seiki spokesperson.

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Currently there is no commercially available UHD content. Seiki used a desktop PC with a 4K video card and stock demo footage fed to the TV via a supplied HDMI cable. Sony plans to sell a 4K media server this year; however they say the unit will only work with Sony TVs. The aforementioned Playstation 4 should work with any UHDTV. Satellite and cable are looking into UHD broadcasts, but we don’t expect them to begin until late 2014 or beyond. So why buy a UHD TV now? To be future proof… sort of.  Current HDMI specifications only allow up to 30 frames per second at UHD resolution, precluding frame rates of 60 Hz that are currently employed in 720p HD broadcasts by ABC, ESPN, Fox and others.

For a spec sheet on the SE50UY04 click here

For the Amazon link click Seiki SE50UY04

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Less than one week after Sony announced its 55-inch Ultra High Definition TV will retail for $5000, Chinese TV maker Seiki Digital  just introduced a 50-inch UHDTV that is street priced at $1299.99. It is available now for purchase. The Seiki UHDTV has an LED LCD edge lit panel with a rated 120 Hz refresh.  More details after the break.

The Seiki’s model number is SE50UY04. Screen resolution is 3840 x 2160, four times the HDTV standard.  Specifications include 3 HDMI inputs as well as analog RGB. Both types inputs permit the viewing of native UHD content, however it is limited to 24 Hz, 25 Hz (for Europe) and 30 Hz sources (according to their spec sheet). The current HDMI standard does not permit the viewing of content with higher refresh rates and the next generation of HDMI chipsets that will accept higher refresh source material will not be available until later this year.

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The big issue for all UHD potential buyers is the lack of native UHD resolution content. Seiki purchasers have no access to any native UHD (4K) content.  Sony will be offering a 4K media player this summer for $700 complete with 10 UHD movie titles included, however according to a Sony spokesperson, the player will not work any other brand of UHDTV.

Sony, Panasonic and Samsung are now offering  2013 model Blu-ray players that will upconvert native 1080p movies to UHDTV resolution.

Seiki Digital is a division of Chinese TV builder Tong Fang Global. They own and operate several TV factories in China and according to its website they have an output capacity of 10 million TVs a year.

Seiki Digital plans to show members of the press its UHD TV next week. If it goes off as scheduled, we’ll report our “hands-on” experience. The TV is currently available for purchase from Tiger Direct.

Click for the Seiki SE50UY04 spec sheet and the Tiger Direct SE50UY04 webpage.

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