Pros: Good blacks, and much more light output capability than on the earlier G10, G15, and V10 series panels.

Cons: No motion smoothing processing for 1080p/24fps Blu-ray, and not 3D capable.

To Buy or Not To Buy: Excellent  value for the money. Very good performance coupled with excellent connectivity, and a good feature package. Highly recommended!

I recently got my hands on a Panasonic TC-P50G25 plasma for calibration, and I was pleasantly surprised. The THX mode was capable of really good light output, which is in sharp contrast to last year’s G10, G15, and V10 series panels that were all severely limited in light output capability in the THX mode, the most color accurate mode in the panels. This means the G25 series sets have far greater Contrast Ratio potential than the earlier models, which is an extremely important performance parameter. Color fidelity in the THX mode continues to be nearly spot on the Rec 709 specifications, but the Warm 2 Color temperature associated with the THX mode does require the grayscale to be calibrated in the Service Menu as it is distinctly minus blue, which appears as reddish green especially in darker scenes.

Contrast Ratio:  Contrast ratio is excellent on the G25. On the unit I calibrated, I got 42 fTLs of peak light output. With the G10, G15, and V10 series panels 29 or 30 fTLs was the maximum light output the panels were capable of while in the THX mode. This was sufficient for a darkened home theater like environment. However, a 25% increase in light output with slightly deeper blacks translates into a significant increase in contrast ratio, which adds a lot of pop and snap to the image. Gamma was also excellent measuring a near ideal 2.27, which ensures good shadow detail as it allows the panel to reproduce many shades of gray as it ascends out of black.

Color Accuracy: Color accuracy in the THX mode is excellent. The primary and secondary colors measured nearly spot on to the Rec 709 specifications. Please see the CalMAN Pro PDF file for the details. Color decoding is accurate. The one area of color fidelity that is not perfect and needs correction is the grayscale, which measured significantly minus blue. This will render dark grays a greenish red, which was also an issue with last year’s G10, G15, and V10 series panels. This is one of the main reasons professional calibration is necessary even on flat panel sets with THX certification.

Video Processing: This panel also sports the 600Hz Sub-Field Drive video processing the company claims improves clarity. Unfortunately, the G25 series does not offer a 24fps compatible processing option so 1080p/24fps will be displayed at 1080p/60. For true 1080p/24fps compatible processing, you have to step all the way up to the flagship VT-25 series. The processing does have 2:3 pull-down for motion artifact elimination from film based sources from your satellite and/or cable service.

Wrapping Up: Carrying a list price of only $1,499, the Panasonic TC-P50G25 is an outstanding value in the 50-inch plasma category.  Contrast ratio by virtue of improved blacks and light output in the THX mode is excellent. Color accuracy is also quite good in the THX mode, and superb with professional calibration. I do wish we had a compatible processing setting like 48Hz or 96Hz for 1080p/24fps Blu-ray playback, but this is a minor performance parameter, and certainly not a deal breaker. The lack of 3D capability does not concern me at all at this juncture as there simply isn’t enough content available right now. The TC-P50G25 is a TweakTV recommended plasma panel.