Performance
In all the Panasonic TC-PV10 series delivers the best picture quality of any flat-panel TV weve tested so far this year. Its deep black levels are it biggest strength, and its color reproduction was accurate enough, especially given the extra controls, to satisfy all but the strictest videophiles. Said videophiles will also appreciate the V10s ability to properly handle 1080p/24 sources.
Black level: The V10 exhibited the best black level performance weve seen on any flat-panel HDTV aside from the G10 and the Pioneer. In extremely dark scenes, such as the partial eclipse and night sky at the beginning of Chapter 20, or the shadows along the twilight temples in Chapter 21, the black areas and letterbox bars were darker than any of the other displays in our comparison, with those two exceptions: blacks were basically the same on the G10 and visibly deeper on the Pioneer, and compared to the LCDs and the Samsung plasma the V10 was easily darker. As usual, with deep blacks came a picture with more pop, realism, and impact in both dark and brighter scenes, and the improved light output of the V10 in custom versus the G10 in THX made the V10 seem a bit more impactful in our darkened home theater.
Shadow detail was also excellent. Under the starlit sky in Chapter 21, the steps and statues of the temples, as well as the underside of the rock formations under the starlit sky, looked natural and no detail was obscured. The V10 was equal to the G10 and Pioneer in this regard, and again outdid the other displays.
Color accuracy: Overall color on the V10 was quite good, although by no means perfect. The color decoding of Custom mode overaccentuates red a bit, so we had to back the color control down quite a bit to compensate and prevent skin tones from looking too ruddy. As a result, saturation wasnt quite as lush as on our reference Pioneer, but it was still as good or better than the other models, as evinced by the vibrant colors of the tribesmen in Chapter 7 for example. Skin tones like the faces of the subway riders looked natural as well, thanks in no small part to the V10s accurate grayscale. This scene also revealed the greenish tinge of the G10s THX mode, and in general we preferred the look of the V10s Custom.
The V10s primary and secondary colors in Custom mode were not perfect, and according to our measurements Green was the biggest offender--a difference that was visible in the rice paddies and grass in Chapter 4, which looked slightly more intense and less natural than we saw on our reference display (although the difference was subtle). The blue sky reflected in the lake in Chapter 8 also appeared a bit too dark, an issue we blame on the too-blue secondary color of cyan.
Video processing: The V10 was superb in this category. Our first order of business was to confirm that the 96Hz mode worked as advertised. It did. We tried our favorite test for proper 24-frame cadence, the flyover of the deck of the Intrepid from "I Am Legend," and the motion looked as filmlike as weve come to expect from displays that handle 1080p/24 sources correctly--just the standard rapid-fire judder of film without the hitching motion associated with 2:3 pulldown. We saw similar success in the camera moving across the airplanes and oil fields in Chapter 16 of "Baraka." For the record, we engaged the 60Hz setting and the hitching returned, and when we switched to 48Hz the flicker seen on the G10 and other so-equipped Panasonic plasmas was in full effect. Maybe it goes without saying, but for the full videophile experience we recommend using 96Hz mode with your Blu-ray player set to output 1080p/24.
Bright lighting: The V10 and G10 share the same antireflective screen. It did a solid job attenuating ambient light and glare in our bright room--not quite as good as the Pioneer or Sony, but clearly better than the highly reflective Samsung. The V10 did not preserve black levels in the bright light as well as any of the other non-Panasonic displays.
Standard-definition: The TC-PV10 series was a mediocre performer with standard-def material. It resolved every line of the DVD format, although details werent quite as sharp as on the Samsung, for example. The V10 did a sub-par job with moving diagonal lines and stripes on the waving American flag, leaving plenty of jaggies along the edges. Noise reduction was solid, on the other hand, and both Video NR and MPEG NR settings contributed to removing moving motes and snow from low-quality shots of skies and sunsets. Finally, the set properly engaged 2:3 pulldown to remove moirЁ¦ from the grandstands behind the racecar.
PC: With an HDMI source and set to THX mode, the V10 performed perfectly, resolving every line of a 1920x1080 source, with no sign of edge enhancement or overscan. Via VGA the TV would accept a maximum resolution of 1,366x768, as the manual indicates, and naturally test looked softer, blockier and generally worse than via HDMI. Wed love to see a full-resolution VGA input on a TV this expensive.
In all the Panasonic TC-PV10 series delivers the best picture quality of any flat-panel TV weve tested so far this year. Its deep black levels are it biggest strength, and its color reproduction was accurate enough, especially given the extra controls, to satisfy all but the strictest videophiles. Said videophiles will also appreciate the V10s ability to properly handle 1080p/24 sources.
Black level: The V10 exhibited the best black level performance weve seen on any flat-panel HDTV aside from the G10 and the Pioneer. In extremely dark scenes, such as the partial eclipse and night sky at the beginning of Chapter 20, or the shadows along the twilight temples in Chapter 21, the black areas and letterbox bars were darker than any of the other displays in our comparison, with those two exceptions: blacks were basically the same on the G10 and visibly deeper on the Pioneer, and compared to the LCDs and the Samsung plasma the V10 was easily darker. As usual, with deep blacks came a picture with more pop, realism, and impact in both dark and brighter scenes, and the improved light output of the V10 in custom versus the G10 in THX made the V10 seem a bit more impactful in our darkened home theater.
Shadow detail was also excellent. Under the starlit sky in Chapter 21, the steps and statues of the temples, as well as the underside of the rock formations under the starlit sky, looked natural and no detail was obscured. The V10 was equal to the G10 and Pioneer in this regard, and again outdid the other displays.
Color accuracy: Overall color on the V10 was quite good, although by no means perfect. The color decoding of Custom mode overaccentuates red a bit, so we had to back the color control down quite a bit to compensate and prevent skin tones from looking too ruddy. As a result, saturation wasnt quite as lush as on our reference Pioneer, but it was still as good or better than the other models, as evinced by the vibrant colors of the tribesmen in Chapter 7 for example. Skin tones like the faces of the subway riders looked natural as well, thanks in no small part to the V10s accurate grayscale. This scene also revealed the greenish tinge of the G10s THX mode, and in general we preferred the look of the V10s Custom.
The V10s primary and secondary colors in Custom mode were not perfect, and according to our measurements Green was the biggest offender--a difference that was visible in the rice paddies and grass in Chapter 4, which looked slightly more intense and less natural than we saw on our reference display (although the difference was subtle). The blue sky reflected in the lake in Chapter 8 also appeared a bit too dark, an issue we blame on the too-blue secondary color of cyan.
Video processing: The V10 was superb in this category. Our first order of business was to confirm that the 96Hz mode worked as advertised. It did. We tried our favorite test for proper 24-frame cadence, the flyover of the deck of the Intrepid from "I Am Legend," and the motion looked as filmlike as weve come to expect from displays that handle 1080p/24 sources correctly--just the standard rapid-fire judder of film without the hitching motion associated with 2:3 pulldown. We saw similar success in the camera moving across the airplanes and oil fields in Chapter 16 of "Baraka." For the record, we engaged the 60Hz setting and the hitching returned, and when we switched to 48Hz the flicker seen on the G10 and other so-equipped Panasonic plasmas was in full effect. Maybe it goes without saying, but for the full videophile experience we recommend using 96Hz mode with your Blu-ray player set to output 1080p/24.
Bright lighting: The V10 and G10 share the same antireflective screen. It did a solid job attenuating ambient light and glare in our bright room--not quite as good as the Pioneer or Sony, but clearly better than the highly reflective Samsung. The V10 did not preserve black levels in the bright light as well as any of the other non-Panasonic displays.
Standard-definition: The TC-PV10 series was a mediocre performer with standard-def material. It resolved every line of the DVD format, although details werent quite as sharp as on the Samsung, for example. The V10 did a sub-par job with moving diagonal lines and stripes on the waving American flag, leaving plenty of jaggies along the edges. Noise reduction was solid, on the other hand, and both Video NR and MPEG NR settings contributed to removing moving motes and snow from low-quality shots of skies and sunsets. Finally, the set properly engaged 2:3 pulldown to remove moirЁ¦ from the grandstands behind the racecar.
PC: With an HDMI source and set to THX mode, the V10 performed perfectly, resolving every line of a 1920x1080 source, with no sign of edge enhancement or overscan. Via VGA the TV would accept a maximum resolution of 1,366x768, as the manual indicates, and naturally test looked softer, blockier and generally worse than via HDMI. Wed love to see a full-resolution VGA input on a TV this expensive.