For the Money the Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK is the best HDTV Plasma Monitor

This plasma is one of the least expensive 50 inch brand name flat panel TVs and has solid video processing with 2:3 pull-down and independent memory for each input. There are numerous picture adjustments with customizable inputs.

Although this is one of Panasonic’s industrial models, which means it’s a no frills flat panel, for the money it’s still the best HDTV plasma monitor available. The Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK is not really a TV. It’s just a monitor with limited connectivity options and a very basic design.

The Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK measures approximately 48 (H) by 29 (W) by 4 inches (D). It’s all screen, with an inch and a half of black masking and a charcoal-gray frame between the edge of the picture and the edge of the panel on all sides. The plasma weighs 95 pounds.

Although the Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK has limited connectivity it has all of the connections you'll need to hook up a DVD player, HDTV satellite or cable box. This no-frills plasma offers more picture adjustments than its more expensive consumer cousins, the TH-50PX50U and the TH-50PX500U. That’s one of the reasons we feel it’s the best HDTV plasma monitor offered by Panasonic.

These are the downsides to the Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK: limited input selection, no digital input, no backlit remote, no aspect-ratio control with HD sources, no tabletop stand, no speakers.

Notable Features: Panasonic’s resolution (1,366x768) allows it to display every detail of 720p HDTV. All incoming signals, including standard TV, DVD, HDTV, and computers, are scaled to fit the available pixels.

This HDTV plasma monitor has a dual-tuner PIP (picture-in-picture), POP (picture-outside-picture). This is one of the most flexible PIPs available. It has the ability to show almost any two inputs, including PC and HDTV sources, simultaneously.

The Panasonic TH-42PHD8UK has four choices of aspect ratio for standard-def, but none for HDTV sources. When using non-HDTV sources the options include “Full”, which stretches the picture evenly to fill the screen; “Just”, which stretches the sides of the picture to fill the screen; “Normal”, which properly displays a 4:3 picture; and “Zoom”, which crops the top and bottom of the picture to fill the screen.

The Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK presents numerous screensavers for preventing and removing image retention (burn in). It also has several power-saving modes, including a peak brightness limiter and standby-mode power saving.

This HDTV plasma monitor has independent input memories which make it easy to calibrate this flat panel for various sources. The color temp controls include Normal, Cool, and Warm. The Panasonic TH-42PHD8UK plasma TV has numerous screensaver and power-saving options.

Connections: The Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK can connect to a total of four sources. It ships from the factory with three inputs: a fixed, VGA-style PC RGB input; a removable board with composite- and S-Video ports (only one is usable at a time); and a second board that can accommodate RGBHV or component-video sources.

If you want to use the component or composite input with a standard DVD player you'll need inexpensive BNC-to-RCA adapters. The VGA input can handle PC resolutions up to the full 1,366x768 at 60Hz. The Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK removable boards, however, can help offset the scarcity of inputs. There's an unoccupied fourth slot that can be filled with an optional input board.

Conclusion: For the money the Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK is the best HDTV plasma monitor on the market today. It's color accuracy is excellent because of its color decoding. Like all Panasonic plasmas its depth of black is excellent. This contributes to more powerful color saturation.

Overall this HDTV plasma monitor delivers spectacular picture with a no frills price. The Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK is the class of the 50-inch plasma pack. The PanasonicTH-50PHD8UK plasma TV’s excellent black-level performance, clean video processing, extensive picture adjustments and customizable inputs make it the best HDTV plasma monitor in its size.