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| Picture Quality | |
| Value For Money | |
Panasonic Viera TC-P65S1 Review
The Panasonic Viera TC-P65S1
The Neo PDP panel is one of Panasonic’s latest innovations, which cuts down energy consumption in half. increases brightness and helps to create eye-popping black levels. You can find it on high-end Viera models or more affordable ones like the Panasonic Viera TC-P65S1, which has many other great things to offer.
Design
The design of the Panasonic Viera TC-P65S1 is fairly simple, but stylish enough. A large power button, an indicator light and the Panasonic and Viera logos blend in nicely into the glossy black bezel, which has rounded corners and curves at the bottom just above a thin silver strip. The speakers are cleverly hidden while the matching stand, though still lacking in swivel capability, provides maximum support.
Unfortunately, the clicker that comes with it fails to impress. Although most of the buttons are easy to distinguish from each other because of their unique shapes, sizes and colors, none of them are backlit and you’ll have to look a bit harder to spot the tiny Menu button. The on-screen menu sports the same yellow-on-blue color scheme, but has more rounded edges and extra icons. Explanatory text, like those found on Samsung and Sony models, is still absent.
Screen/Picture Clarity
As mentioned previously, the TC-P65S1 creates not just outstanding black levels, but infinite blacks, which, combined with excellent shadow detail and rich colors overall, creates amazing images. Because of its wide viewing angle, these images remain equally superb no matter where you are seated in the room. It has a full 1080p resolution and a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, as well.
As for video processing, the TC-P65S1 delivers line of 1080p and 1080i content, and though it falls short when processing film-based sources, the problems are hard to discern for ordinary viewers. Its 600Hz Sub-field Drive guarantees smooth frame transition and excellent motion resolution so images remain crisp even when the action picks up.
Features
Videophiles may find the picture controls of the Panasonic Viera TC-P65S1 lacking, although four adjustable picture modes, three color temperature presets and five aspect ratio options are provided. There are also built-in mechanisms to treat and prevent screen burn-in. Three HDMI inputs are provided, as well, along with two component-video inputs and an SD card slot on the side for easy photo sharing, although a PC input and a standard analog audio output are not.
Without interactive features and less than extensive connectivity, the Panasonic Viera TC-P65S1 may fall short of expectations. Still, these can be overlooked in favor of its breathtaking picture quality, especially for those who are only looking forward to spending countless hours watching their favorite shows and movies. And if you count the fact that the TC-P65S1 is one of Panasonic’s least expensive full 1080p HDTVs with a Neo PDP panel, you might just find yourself looking at a great bargain.
<< Click HERE to Read The Latest Panasonic Viera TC-P65S1 User Reviews >>
Here it goes:
I purchased this Panasonic from Amazon, this is my third time ordering a Plasma through Amazon and have not been disappointed yet. Delivery is always outstanding through Pilot Freight. Each delivery they are professional and ensure the complete setup is working properly before they depart. All items below I ordered through Amazon. I did purchase the Panny when Amazon and Panasonic was advertising this 65″ monster with their blu-ray player with $300 off purchase price so I purchased the TV and Blu-ray for $2289.00 one outstanding deal!
I just completed my Media Room in my ROG and purchased the following:
- Polk Audio RM705 5.1 Home Theater System/Polk Audio RM6751 Satellite Speakers/Sanus Systems Wms5-B Wall Or Ceiling Speaker Mounts
- In my opinion these speakers are the best value for the sound quality I was seeking. When using the Sanus mounts the Polk
speakers must be mounted upside down for a ceiling install. Sanus mount kit comes with everything to install speakers. I
wish however Polk would of designed the mounting holes on top or bottom of speaker housing to accommodate wall or ceiling
installation.
- Yamaha RX-V863BL 735 Watt 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver
- This is an outstanding receiver, up converts HDMI signals to 1080P/HD receiver, does it all. This is my second Yamaha receiver
and still Yamaha has to work on their remotes, they are painful to program to control all devices.
- D-Link DGS-2205 5-Port 10/100/1000 Desktop Switch
- Purchased this switch to connect my PS3 and Roku Netflix player to one RJ-45 cable. Worked excellent easy to setup.
- 3 Port Smart HDMI Switch by Game Infinity
- Ordered switch just in case, but did not have to install. However I did test switch in my family room setup and worked as
advertised no issues. Comes with remote also and auto switches fine.
- PlayStation 3 Slim
- Although I received a free blu-ray player with my 65″ Panny I felt a PS3 was essential. Best value for the money now with the
$299 price tag and Netflix is teaming with Sony to Stream Videos if you have a Netflix account.
- Yamaha YDS-11SL Universal iPod Dock for Select Yamaha Home Theater Receivers
- Easy to install receiver detected docking station and IPOD, no issues.
- Logitech Harmony Adapter for Playstation 3
- Easy setup, plug and play
- Logitech Harmony One Advanced Universal Remote
- I gave up on the Yamaha receiver remote and ordered the Harmony One. Outstanding remote, it does take time to setup. I was
pleased with Logitechs database, they have over 5,000 electronic components available to program this remote. If it cannot find
your component, the Harmony One can learn the IR signal and you can actually type in the control feature into the software
provided to maintain the same functional capability as the original component remote.
I hope this helps anyone thinking of setting up a Media room, I am by no means an Audiophile or expert in electronics. I am very satisfied with room. I don’t think I will be spending money at the Movies any further.
Enjoy, do not hesitate to purchase this Panasonic.
The TV is great as I expected and lives up to consumer reports recomnendation.
What impressed me most was the two young men that Amazon.com sent to deliver and unpack & test the TV. They were polite,professionable,helpful and took the box and packing with them so I didn’t have a mess to deal with. THANK YOU
I needed to upgrade from my Samsung DLP (issues with the digital board). I did the research, and originally was looking at another Samsung until I came across the Panasonic. Excellent reviews online and through Consumer Reports, and I couldn’t pass up the deal from Amazon! Free shipping, no tax, $300 off if you bought a $175 blu-ray player, and a free blu-ray of Snow White.
The tv shipped quicker than expected, and the picture looking amazing! Plasma still beats LCD, and you can’t beat it price wise compared to LED.
I bought this TV essentially from my research to find an affordable TV with a large screen (over 60 inches). Result? For the money, this is a very good value. While I can’t agree with some of the other reviewers who gave it 5 stars and called it the best out there, it is a quality set that most will be happy with. One of the main cons, but to be expected from a screen this size, is as one other reviewer stated non-hd shows do look much worse on this TV than on any other TV I’ve seen. Also keep in mind, if you are planning on placing this on a wall this TV is quite heavy. It certainly is over 150 pounds.
Got the PS65S1 just in time for baseball playoffs and love it! HD sports on this look fantastic and the picture in general is great. Delivery was great, they brought it in and set it up on my stand which is good because this is a heavy TV.
The only issue with a screen this size is when you watch non-HD shows they look even worse. Watching a non-HD football game was a chore.
We chose this TV because of the size, I have a 16×23 room, and it fits it perfectly.
All in all am very happy with this purchase, my wife and I are totally happy staying home watching HD sports and Blu Ray movies on it.
When I was comparing the 50″ S1 version to other LCD TVs at Sears the Pana S1 whites looked less bright. But the S1 and the LCD TVs had the same contrast ratios, so I finally asked the salesman if he could turn up the contrast on the S1, when he did it looked just like the LCDs, which had white whites but other colors were washed out (they were really too bright, but I think that is how they are getting people to buy them).
So I got the Pana 65″ TC-P65S1 from Amazon and at home it is amazing! Now the factory contrast setting was set to 100% and it was way too bright, with it at 28 it seems to be perfect in a dark room. Got the Pana DMP-BD80K player with it and I am amazed at how well it upconverts DVDs (480p) they look great on this TV from 10′, and of course 1080p BDs look amazing! In addition, the Pana S1 can control the Pana BD80 blueray player through the HDMI cable, so you only need the TV remote to control both. And the speakers are actually pretty good. Just remember that to clean the glass dilute dish soap 1/100, and I just used a damp microfiber cloth without soap. Too much soap may be a problem for the excellent anti-reflective coating on the glass.
Mounted it on the wall with the Sanus VMPL3-B tilt wall mount others have mentioned, it fit perfect and had all the hardware needed, went into three studs to anchor it. With the tilt brackets (it also comes with low profile brackets) you have just enough room to connect a HDMI cable to the back.
Got it through Amazon, the Pilot delivery guys helped unpack it and waited for me to turn it on before having me sign. This TV in the box is heavy, by by its self two guys can lift it without too much problem.
Delivered today. Watched it for 30 minutes then heard a “pop” and picture was gone. TV done. In my opinion now junk regardless of price paid. For this price regardless of value nothing should fail that quickly out of the box. I can not recommend regardless of what I wind up doing with it as I never had problems with my Sony’s or Sharps
Gorgeous 65″ picture out of the box. I don’t understand discussions about calibrating the color, because Phillies red, Eagles green and Giants blue were like being in the stadium. Upgraded my cable to HD and set up a 7.1 Dolby IIz surround system, and I never want to leave the house.
UNBELIEVABLE price. I needed a 65″ screen for a 20′ x 20′, with good anti-glare since lots of windows on the other three walls surrounding the TV. When I started shopping a year ago, lesser models were $6000. This has everything you need and more. Through Amazon with the special offer, I got this TC-P65S1 with a free Panasonic DMP-BD80 blu-ray player for LESS than $2300 (delivered). The major feature missing from this S1 compared to the top-of-the-line V10 is Viera Cast internet access (youtube etc), but that feature was part of the “free” blu-ray player (though no real interest in this anyway).
SIZE MATTERS. You will love this TV!
Its a nice tv.. its truly heavy though, glad I had them carry the thing up… but love it. U’ll need two other people in order to mount it on the wall since its so heavy, but it is really thin so that is really nice…
I originally had a maxent plasma 1080i/720p 50″ tv and went to a Sharp 1080p 65″ LCD. THe sharp was very nice, but… you just cannot beat the picture quality of plasma. After a year with the sharp LCD, I sold it to a relative and went with this pany plasma 65″. I don’t know what it is, but the picture on a plasma, and especially this plasma, is always stunning. LCD is good… Plasma is best.
Very happy with this set. Just hope it doesn’t fall off the wall because this set is heavy. The 65″ LCD took 2 people to handle/mount/lift. THis set takes 3. Make sure you hit those wall studs when wall mounting. Out of the box it worked and looked great. Just set the video to “cinema” and turned on SS sound, that was it. No need to mess with service tweaking and things you shouldn’t do, like so many others insist on doing. Got it directly from Amazon, thank goodness, was the last one left. Probably ok to buy from one of amazon’s partner’s but I prefer directly from amazon. These things are selling like hotcakes. No wonder why…
My husband and I did alot of research prior to purchasing this TV - we looked at more expensive and less expensive ones, this one is priced in the middle and we couldn’t be more satisfied (just wished it had more than the 2 HDMI connections in the back, the one the side sticks out to much without a right angle adaptor. The price through Amazon and the delivery process was outstanding!
Words couldn’t begin to describe this beauty in my living room. I received this product four days ago and I couldn’t be any happier. It arrived thru manna’s white glove delivery; they unpacked the TV; I checked it for any screen cracks– there were none; I hooked it up and turned it on and it was just mind-blowingly beautiful. Blacks were real blacks as opposed to LCD screens and its sheer size practically fills your whole visual field. It sits right by my french windows where there is ample ambient light– there is some tolerable glare but it’s not as obnoxious as most people complain about. This TV is actually an upgrade from my 55-inch Hitachi plasma (which by the way is still in good working condition for three years now). I have been hunting this TV for about a year now and finally decided to take the plunge on Black Friday; I ordered it thru amazon with no sales tax and no delivery charge. I could not get a better deal than that even if I buy it from BB. I watched my favorite bluray movies including Planet Earth, Star Trek, Harry Potter series and Matrix– the colors look so real, they practically pop out of the screen. ESPN HD is a glory to behold; football never looked this real and in-your-face. I’m so glad I decided to buy a plasma as opposed to an LCD screen (LCD colors are oversaturated to the point of being cartoonish). I pretty much stick with the HD channels because the regular ones look awful on the 65-inch screen. This TV dramatically transformed my living room into a home theater I can proudly show off to my friends and family. Don’t hesitate, buy it!
Had this unit for about 4 weeks now and love it. Its my 4th Flat Panel TV, still have the other 3 as well, just upgraded to the 65″. Panasonic cant be beat, I have had really good experience with their products, from TVs to wireless phones, just good stuff. Be careful the price fluctuates wildly, its been had for $2100-$2400 with free Blueray DVD player so wait for a deal, prices should go down, not up (supply and demand I guess). If you can get one, pull the trigger you wont regret it. Only thing I wish is that it had more than 3 HDMI inputs.
First let me say Amazon you are awesome! I ordered this tv the Sunday before Christmas and expected it to get here on Dec 28. To my surprise the delivery company called three days later and delivered it that same day.
Secondly, THIS TV IS AWESOME!!! When it was delivered I opened the box to check for damages and I got nervous about the huge size. After a neighbor helped me get it upstairs to the media room I ascended to video heaven. My seating is 12-13 ft from the tv and 65in is the optimal size for this distance. Since the tv is so big I had to order a special wall mount (which I haven’t received yet)but that hasn’t stopped me from enjoying it. It took about 30 minutes to attach to the stand and hook up to my existing sound system (Onkyo receiver w/ 7.1 Atlantic Technology speakers). If you are going to use the stand make sure you have a heavy duty wide console to put it on…and if you have small children I recommend you attach it to the console. I noticed the back/bottom of the stand has screw holes on it, which I assume is for attaching it.
Picture quality is excellent. Don’t listen to all the so called experts who say it is too green, too red, etc. They don’t know what they are talking about. After making a few changes to the picture defaults,contrast, color, etc)the tv was ready to go. The sound on the tv is good for everyday watching but if you are watching a HD action or drama movie or tv show you really need to hook it up to a home theater sound system…..in order to achieve total audio/video bliss.
If you have been looking for a 65 in plasma…this is the one for you.
I am extremely happy with this purchase. The set came with a free Panasonic Blu-ray player also! You would be lucky to purchase a 52″ 120hz LED backlight LCD at this price and you would not get nearly as good a picture (or Blu-ray player).
I was concerned that 65″ might be too big for our space as we sit about 10-14 feet from the screen but it is great.
Standard TV is a little grainy but this is exaggerated because by contrast the HD is so clear and sharp. The set provides plenty of options to customize the picture to your liking. The preset options (standard, cinema, games and vivid) are very good if you don’t want to play with customizing the picture. I have found myself surfing so I can watch only HD channels as I want to enjoy the full HD experience!
There are only 2 HDMI inputs on the back, the 3rd is on the side. HDMI seems to be the default HD hookup method now so the other component video inputs don’t seem as useful. It depends how many devices you want to hook up.
The internal speakers are reasonable but you should, at the least, get a minimal set of external speaker to use with any large screen set. I have external mounted speakers and there is a strange echo effect if you use the internal speaker with the external ones. It is worse if you use the ’surround’ setting for the internal speakers. It could be my room ???
The stand is very solid and significantly more stable than the stand that come with the Samsung 63″ set (the other large Plasma option). I opted not to wall mount as I am using the set in a corner and it is a heavy unit to mount (150lbs) if you want a wall mount swivel.
On DIrecTV there is a strange phenomenon when you change channels such that the picture first jumps to a ‘zoom’ format momentarily before resolving the picture. It is not a show stopper but it does annoy. I am not sure if this is a DirecTV issue or a Panasonic issue. I have read that DirecTV does have delays when you switch channels because they only process one channel at a time when you change channels. Again it is more annoyance than issue. Still a small price to pay to be rid of the high cost, poor performance and horrid customer support of cable!
I would Highly recommend this set. Sears had a great sale around Xmas but they sold out in a day and would not honor their advertised sale price (even though they did not state in the ad that it was limited to stock on hand). Shame on you Sears! Instead I purchased from Video Only and they were cheaper, better service and have free delivery and setup!
Bigger is better. Go for it!
I was a bit reluctant to buy this without seeing it, but all the reviews said it was good and I couldn’t beat the price. I am glad that I bought it. Great picture, easy setup, simple menus. This is a huge screen and the 1080p picture is fantastic!!! I replaced a 50″ Pioneer 720p with this 65″ Panasonic and I am very very happy with this purchase!!!!
I bought this 65 inches plasma several months ago. I can say that the good reputation from other people is absolutely correct. I am quite happy with this, and slso my wife and sons. I added 7.1 ch Yamaha AV receiver and sounds also good. There is no disadvantage comparing with 65 inches LCD. Maybe 65 plasma is better than 65 LCD.
Plasma shows same quolity viewing from any angle. Excellent to fast moving pictures. I strongly recommend 65 Plasma to all the big screen lovers.
Only one dissatisfaction: When this big Plasma arrived at my home, delivery guys carried it into my basement AV room and opened package for me. Also they offered to set up the display on my theather fanuture, but we could not find the support stands in the box. I thought shop mistakenly short shipped parts. But, the fact is “support stands are not incluede in 65 inches display”! I found this fact when I read the manual throughly, and it is written in small letters. Other smaller size displays include stands. I bought the stands separately, and they arrived at my home two weeks later. I set up this heavy device by myself. A cause of fault is mine, but I hope Panasonic should clearly note this matter on the brochur information, or includes these stands in every model.
I have been researching for over a year to buy a large plasma to replace my 60″ Sony rear projection 720p LCD television. The TC-65S1 is the value series of Panasonic’s 2009 Plasma line-up. The only other 65″ plasma Panasonic currently offers is their top-of-the-line V series at a significant premium. Samsung offers two 63″ plasma sets - the PN-63B650 and the more featured laden PN-63B590. The 2010 models are just beginning to be announced.
I saw the Samsung PN-63B590 at Best Buy and HH Gregg and liked the picture but was concerned by a loud buzzing issue that apparently affects a small percentage of Samsung’s B-series plasmas. I also wanted to buy as large a screen as possible knowing that TV’s tend to look smaller once you get used to them. I viewed the TC-65S1 at HH Gregg but bought through Amazon when they offered a 12-month, no interest and no payment promotion.
The TV was shipped through CEVA and they delivered on the promise date. I was worried that they would bring a large tractor trailer into my neighborhood, but they had the set on a normal sized delivery van. At my request, the two CEVA guys carried the TV around to the back of my house and put it in my daylight basement. They popped the top off the box and plugged the set in to make sure it turned on before they left. It was a painless process.
With the help of my wife and daughter, I removed the TV from the lower portion of its box, attached the pedestal stand and put the whole unit on a OmniMount G362 60″ Stellar TV stand that I also purchased through Amazon. The top shelf of the OmniMount G362 stand is rated for 250 lbs. so it is plenty stout enough for the 65″ Panasonic. I got the stand in gloss black which matches the overall look of the TV.
Out-of-the-box, the picture quality was very good. It looked much better in my home than it had looked when I viewed it in the store. I think most people will be able to find a pleasing picture after adjusting the picture pre-sets and the controls in the user menu. This TV does not have as many picture adjustments as its big brother, the TC-65V10, but it also costs [...] less. For movie watching, I have the sound running through my home theater system, but for regular TV watching, I just use the built-in speakers in the TC-65S1. The TV speakers sounds OK to me.
The knock on this TV in the enthusiast forums is that the picture pushes green. I knew that going into this purchase, but to be honest, I thought my set looked pretty good with the factory settings. I followed the plasma break-in and calibration advice from various threads on the AVS Forums [...] and actually improved the picture by making tweaks the service menus. The AVS Forums are a great resource for all your audio and video needs.
There are no perfect televisions. All makes, models, and display technologies compromise on one thing or another. The TC-65S1 is a great value because at 65 inches it is big enough to give you an immersive movie or sports experience, it throws a great picture right out-of-the-box, it is a popular model so there is a ton of information about it including calibration tips and service menu tweaks on the AVS Forum, and it can be had for less than [...]. Is it the perfect televison? No, but until they make one, the TC-65S1 will keep you smiling.
First, thanks to all of you who have reviewed this TV. I had been looking for a large screen TV for months. Going back and forth from Plasma to LCD and the newer LED’s. After extensive comparisons and in store viewing I went with Plasma. Lots of technical research and readings of online reviews and it finally came down to Samsung or Panasonic. Based mostly on owner’s reviews I purchased this TV at Best Buy for 2199.00. Absolutely no regrets. The big beautiful and stunning picture you get speaks for itself. The sound(when set to surround) was better than I expected based on the reviews. However I do recommend connection to a good surround sound system and a Blu Ray player for the perfect TV experiance. Colors are beautiful and life like and on screen controls are more than enough to tweak the pic to your own taste. I’ve had the TV for a week and B-Ray discs could not look or sound any better. Standard DVD’s also look great. I really don’t think you need calibration on this TV. I would suggest using the 200.00-300.00 calibration cost on a good Blu Ray player or a good sound system. If I could I would give this Panasonic model 10 stars. If you want a big screen TV and can have it in a room where you can control the light I highly recommend the 65″ S1. I don’t think you’d be sorry.
Picture quality compares well with other 58+inch plasmas. If you catch one of the sellers on the right day, the price can be unbeatable.
My only concern is that owners have begun reporting degredation of black level over time (see [...] reviews). I have not read similar complaints about comparable sets. As I have not been witnes to these changes over time, I cannot attest to such claims. Furthermore, when viewing the set at the store (a set presumably running for hours-days-weeks) I did not notice any clear difference (albeit the display wasnt utilizing high quality media). Nonetheless, from the content in the forum(s), this may be a known and predictable event with the panasonic plasmas.
At any rate, if you’re like me and end up purchashing a new tv every 2-3 yrs this may not matter. In the end, and until I see a loss of black level, Id still say this set is in the top 2or3 for cost-size-quality combination.
For the last six months I have been studing the different large screen HDTV’s online and at different stores to replace our Sony KDL60XBR950 720p HDTV. After deciding on the Panasonic Viera TC-P65S1 65″ 1080p Plasma I found my best price at Vann’s through Amazon.com. I then ordered the HDTV and three each of the Mediabridge Ultra Series-6′ High Speed HDMI Cable-Version 1.3 Category 2 Certified-1080p-Blu-Ray-PS3 also sold here at Amazon.com. I received both orders before a week had passed. I used the High Speed HDMI Cable on both my FiOS STB and my LG Model: BD370 Blu-Ray Disc Player. I then used the easy to follow instructions to set-up the HDTV by putting the picture mode on standard and adjusted the contrast, brightness, color, tint and sharpness to tone the picture down to our liking. Both my wife and I were truly amazed at the 1080p Blu-Ray DP picture showing the movie “Full Metal Jacket” on this 65″ Plasma. It looked as though you were actually there in the jungle with them…truly amazing!!! Then we viewed our HD programming through the FiOS STB and this also was a truly great picture. After only having this set for a few days we couldn’t be more happier with our purchase and would recommend this set to anybody who wants a quality large screen 65″ Plasma for a very reasonable price.