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215 of 224 people found the following review helpful.
Recommend the ET5 Series for Best-In-Class Picture, 3D and IPTV
By "D"
I bought this TV for a very bright room with lots of sunlight, as this IPS LED seemed brighter than any plasma display, and without the energy draw or heat of a plasma. I'm exceptionally happy with this great TV on many levels.Highlights of why I like this television:I have seen the future and it's clearly LED. The picture quality of this LED TV is top-notch. The brightness and the colors are fantastic, showing a truly stunning picture with an extremely wide viewing angle from the sides that really is a hair away from 180°. It's also very bright, noticeably brighter than a plasma TV. While it's not quite as good at displaying pure black and picture uniformity in comparison to high-end videophile plasmas that costs thousands more, it's really not far off. It's the best I've seen from an LCD/LED set and as good or better than mainstream plasmas.From reading Internet forums, I appear to be the one person on the planet who prefers motion interpolation, which Panasonic calls "Motion Picture Setting" and this TV allows four settings: Off/Weak/Medium/Strong. Basically, I prefer life-like video, with natural motion that feels like I am watching in-person on a stage or set rather than film or video, and "Strong" pretty much delivers that. 1080p HD sources look like I'm watching a play with the action unfolding live in front of me. For sports, the experience is unrivaled and truly pulls you into the action. Or, if you hate this so-called "Soap Opera Effect" and prefer traditional film/video movement, then you can turn this feature off. And if you need very fast response, there's also a Game mode.I was completely unprepared for being blown away by this TV's 3D picture. I've played with 3D TV before, but somehow other TVs with bulky electro-mechanical active shutter 3D glasses always let me down due to the flicker, which distracted me from enjoying the 3D effect. I tried an LG passive 3D TV last year, and the effect was "dulled" compared to active 3D TV so I wrote off the whole 3D-at-home thing as immature technology. Not any more. The state-of-the-art has apparently changed in one year. This TV is the best of both worlds (active-like effect/passive-like ease and no flicker) and comes with four pairs of lightweight passive polarized 3D theater glasses (TY-EP3D10), and frankly, the effect is amazing with none of the flicker of active glasses. I watched several Blu-ray 3D movies along with my cable company's 3D channels and 3D VOD. All I can say is... wow. It's not only very watchable, it's incredible. Movies are flat-out fun. Sports on ESPN 3D are amazing. Interestingly, the TV has a 2D-3D conversion function which is really quite good; although it lacks the deep depth of native 3D content, whatever magic it uses to turn 2D into 3D is remarkably effective. I had no idea passive 3D TV could be this good.The TV has a good array of inputs: 4 HDMI 1.4 ports with ARC, 2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 set of component (Y/Pb/Pr) or composite video & analog stereo audio RCA connectors (via included proprietary adapter), 1 PC VGA connector, 1 coax RF port, 1 SDXC card slot, and 1 Fast Ethernet jack. WiFi is built-in, with no dongle required, and therefore does not take up a USB port. The TV's black stand and black/clear frame are attractive, making it look stylish in my living room. And the glossy black remote is very nice, with illuminated buttons.Internet TV is via Panasonic's smart TV system called VIERA Connect. It's simple, and has applications included for subscription services like Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu Plus, MLB.TV and others. I stream videos from Amazon Prime and it works great with high quality HD. Another standout is the Skype app, which requires the optional TY-CC20W camera with inbound calls integrated into the watching experience. Audio and video Skype calls can be received or dismissed while watching something else, and the overall Skype experience is simple and straightforward with very high quality video calls. Outbound calls require going into VIERA Connect, and then launching Skype. Perhaps initiating an outbound call while watching other content could also be similarly better integrated in the future with fewer button presses?Sound is very good for a flat screen TV, and is certainly more than I was expecting. Don't expect miracles, the integrated speakers are small and on the bottom of the frame facing down, and compared with an external sound bar or home theater system they're missing bass and some midrange. But, for a panel TV, the sound is really very good.Quibbles, as overall it's still an outstanding TV:The digital audio out (TOShttp://amzn.com/dp/B00752RABS/?tag={komponelektr-20} optical) doesn't pass through everything, as surround sound (DD/DTS) does not get passed from HDMI connections (silence or static instead) and audio from Skype is not passed at all (probably for echo-cancellation reasons). In both cases the TV speakers still work if enabled.The VIERA Remote App on iOS slow and clunky, although I suppose it's nice to have it as an option. It makes the iPhone vibrate with every remote button press. I found it not a particularly useful gadget compared to the normal infrared remote.By default, the TV shows sponsored banner ads upon startup (VIERA Connect Banner) and in the VIERA Connect app selection screen. I suppose this pervasive advertising is the future of digital media, but it seems unnecessarily intrusive on your own TV as it's turning on. You can disable the startup advertisement, and move the VIERA Connect ad app to another app page with seldom-used applications. However, if you disable the startup banner ad, and you try to use IPTV in the first 15 seconds or so after turning the TV on, you get an error message saying the TV needs an Internet connection.The DLNA Media Player isn't quite full-featured enough to be the primary home network media player for me, even though its user interface is fast and simple. The first major flaw is that while it plays many media formats, such as MKV/H.264, it doesn't support some exceptionally common media formats like AVI files ("Cannot read file"). What is perplexing is the FAQ on the Panasonic web site says certain AVI files are supported. It may not be that AVI is the actual problem, but any media in any container encoded with MPEG-4 Visual such as DivX/Xvid/Nero Direct/3ivx/QuickTime 6 video codecs ("Cannot read file") and that just happens to be the most common format for AVI video. Also, media encoded with a DTS audio codec plays without any audio ("Audio format not supported"); it would have been nice if digital audio would at least be passed unmodified through to the digital audio out port. Other formats trip it up as well. I tried a media file that contained two audio tracks (one in German, the second in English) and while the menu appeared like one could choose which track plays, it only displayed and played the first track. The second major flaw is that it immediately begins playing the highlighted video in a preview window as you move up and down your list of media, including its audio, which is not only annoying but also places a burden on the media server if the media needs transcoding. This might be the case, for example, if you configure your DLNA Media Server to transcode AVI/MPEG-4/DTS files in order to even have them play at all with this TV's media player.The only complete miss on this TV: I found the web browser pure misery to use with the included infrared remote. While I could fumble through navigation using the VIERA Remote App from my iPhone, I couldn't get any site with video to work. It's one of the worst overall web browsing experiences I've ever encountered. In my opinion, the web browser is essentially unusable unless used as an instrument of torture. In such cases, I suspect it would be effective in extracting information from the most hardened target. ("I'll talk, just make it stop!")But, the issues are minor compared to the positives: the best-in-class plasma-beating picture, 3D quality and great IPTV functionality. Overall, this is a great TV.
204 of 221 people found the following review helpful.
a lot to like, but....
By JoshJosh
I picked this TV to replace an older Samsung LCD; my primary uses are games, sports, and the occasional movie. I used it for 2 weeks steadily.This TV was easy to set up - it found my Wi-Fi network quickly and offered a firmware update which installed without hassle. The remote is easy to use and the menus are responsive. The settings are, unfortunately, few, as it seems to lack advanced picture controls (white balance and the like). However, working with what I had, I used the Disney WOW Blu-Ray to calibrate. The end results turned out to be very similar to "custom mode."The picture quality was good. Colors are great and I found motion handling to be very good. I didn't notice any "soap opera effect" - motion looked good to me. The one issue is that the default black setting ("Dark") crushed like crazy - no details could be found in dark scenes, and it was impossible to calibrate games (you know - "move the cursor until you barely see the logo"). Changing it to "light" resolved the issue, though.I don't have much to say on sound quality - it seemed loud and clear, but lacking "punch." I use a cheap Sony sound bar, and the sound on the TV definitely wasn't even close to that. Thankfully, the TV has an optical out so setup was not a hassle. I plugged in my cable box, PS3, and 360 to the TV through HDMI and routed the optical cord to the sound bar.This is my first 3D TV so I was eager to try out the 3D. Panasonic thankfully includes four glasses, which were a good side and fit comfortably even over my regular glasses. I am not well-versed on the difference between passive and active sets but this looked good. Some games looked great (Killzone 3, Super Stardust), some looked muddy and undetailed (Gears 3, Resistance 3). The TV even has a weird 2D-to-3D mode which can turn regular content into 3D. I tried it with a basketball game and it wasn't bad, though I wouldn't use it that much.Game support was just fine. With game mode turned off, games were pretty choppy and tore a lot, but with game mode on, it was smooth and responsive. I don't have a way to accurately measure lag but it seemed very good to me - 1-2 frames at most. The games I played looked good and Street Fighter was responsive - no complaints at all there.So. Good gaming, good picture, good 3D. Everything's great, right? Unfortunately not. The big problem with my set was banding, which is basically issues with uniformity in the backlight. The light is not distributed evenly which causes vertical bands to show up. Make no mistake - this is noticeable in certain content, and it detracts from the experience. Soccer matches and games with bright vistas (think Crysis or something like that) look dingy. It's gross, and unfortunately a dealbreaker. The set was returned.I'm not happy about it, but this is an inevitability when margins are so tight and competition is so fierce. I mean, most people probably won't notice it, but I do. It's quite possibly that I just got a bad panel, but it's possible I didn't. In my research, this appears to be a common issue with all LEDs, from all manufacturers. So just be careful when you consider this or any other TV.
99 of 107 people found the following review helpful.
Perfect SmartTV- just add a few whistles
By gadgetinSJ
Just purchased,found it on sale for $999. It is the ET5 series from Panasonic. This series features passive 3D (not of great interest to me) and some of the best Smart TV functional (of great interest to me) functionality of all TVs in the price range.Let's start with the screen: Perfect size for our living space of roughly 10-15' from screen. It has great color and life like tones. I popped it into passive mode, just to check out some 3D action and I think it flowed very nice. I have yet to see any ghosting or issues with movement. I chose LED over Plasma, as Plasma tends to have more glare and our living space is bright.I was most interested in the Smart functions. I was looking for a TV that would allow for a QWERTY keyboard to make searching for movies and browsing the net quick. However, with the exception of a few Panasonics from 2011, there were few TVs that have a QWERTY keyboard. With the exception of a few high end models, there was nothing that fit the bill. Until I found the ET5 series.It not only has a free app from Panasonic (this TV is compatible), but it also allows you to use the keyboard on your iphone/ipad/android to type in things. ADDITIONALLY, (Panasonic does not advertise it very well and Best Buy sales guys are clueless), but you can use some USB wireless keyboard devices as an input device.What makes it stand out:1. Panasonic Viera remote compatible with Iphone/Ipad/Android control2. Can use 3rd party mini wireless keyboards3. Easy wifi or ethernet connectivity4. Bright, vivid screen5. Excellent value for the priceWhat could be better:1. It only has 2 USB ports (could be expanded?)2. The basic remote it comes with really is generic. I need a remote that can learn functions (so as to replace existing remotes) and has a keyboard for easy entry.Hope this helps!
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VIERA Connect -- More Fun Comes Via a Cloud Service
Personalization
Communicate with Family and FriendsThe social networking TV app allows you to access social network sites and communicate with your loved ones while watching TV. Watch live sports games while upping the excitement by chatting with your friends as the game unfolds. Record an original message and set it as your answering voice message. Callers can record messages onto an SD Card (min. 512MB required), while you are away. *Skype camera not included with TV purchase
The ET5 series has DLNA compatibility and built-in Wi-Fi which gives you even more layout flexibility.360 Backlight ScanningBy increasing the panel refresh to 120Hz with a 3-phase backlight system, crystals are more active and responsive than 120Hz standard systems to minimize image softening under motion. 360 backlight scanning allows for smooth images, without flicker, even in fast-moving scenes. Afterimages are thoroughly reduced by finer blinking. 
