Pros: A massive screen. Good grayscale tracking, and accurate gamma settings. Calibrates well.

Cons: The primary and secondary colors (color gamut) are inaccurate. Extremely expensive.

To Buy or Not To Buy? A novelty product for the "money is no object" consumer. Yet, you can get 85-inches for a lot less money with a front projection home theater. Like so many HDTVs currently on the market the primary and secondary colors are far from accurate. However, a Lumagen Radiance video processor mated with this set would give a calibrator the tools to improve the performance in this area so I would highly recommend that combination.

Panasonic takes the size prize with their new TH-85PF12U 85-inch plasma. The company does make a 103-inch panel , but I don't consider it a real product mostly due to its astronomical $60,000 price tag.

Also extremely expensive, the 85PF12U has a price tag of $30,000 . At this price, I expect the panel to perform extremely well, and it does in most regards. However, like all the current Panasonic professional plasma panels, the color gamut (primary and secondary colors) are not even close to the Rec 709 specifications for HDTV color space. Note: If you do win the lottery and cannot live without one of these behemoths, you can get accurate color gamut by mating it with a Lumagen Radiance processor that has an excellent CMS (Color Management System) feature and will help improve the color space issue.

Contrast Ratio: Light output is quite good on this monster sized panel, which is an issue I was concerned about prior to calibrating the set. Blacks are quite good as well so consequently, contrast ratio is very good on this panel.

Color Accuracy: Color decoding is spot on, and the grayscale tracking is quite good. Where the overall color accuracy suffers is in the color gamut or with the primary and secondary colors, which are far from accurate. However, unlike much less expensive flat panels with this issue, it is far easier to justify spending the $3,500 on a Lumagen Radiance processor in order to address this problem.

Wrapping Up: This set is a novelty item and may attract consumers who need to have the biggest flat panel out there, but for most of us mere mortals it is simply way too expensive at $353 per inch! If money is no object, and if you have a big room where a front projection system is not an option, the Panasonic TH-85PF12U may just fit the bill. 

Official TweakTV Calibration Report for the Panasonic TH-85PF12U

Keywords: Panasonic TH-85PF12U, biggest plasma, best plasma, large TV, largest HDTV

Manufacturer Notes:

A stunning 85" high definition professional plasma display that delivers the elegance and superb image quality for any installation - whether it's in a boardroom, classroom, hotel, restaurant, or digital signage environment - while providing full integration in an automated environment.This 12-series HD plasma display - the TH-85PF12U will be the first of the professional displays to incorporate NeoPDP technology, enabling the display to be larger, thinner, lighter, and more energy efficient. Approximately the size of four 42-inch displays, the TH-85PF12U is only 3.9" (99mm) thick and weighs approximately 286 lbs (130 kg). Power requirement for this unit is 120V AC.The professional plasmas are known for their world class image quality and the TH-85PF12U will be no exception. The unit will have an improved contrast ratio of 40,000:1 (2,000,000:1 dynamic) and the ability to display the equivalent of 6,144 steps of gradation, providing deep black levels and accurate colors that will give the image a higher level of depth.The versatile 85 will be able to support a wide range of applications. Large enough to display a life size image of a person, the unit will also incorporate multi-function slot architecture to support just about any video input signal that may be required.