The Good

Plasma TV’s have come down so much in price over the last few years, if you haven’t made the switch over to widescreen or HD yet, now is the time.  The Samsung 51″ PN51D450 Plasma TV is not a full 1080p set, but you might be fooled into thinking it was.  The actual resolution is 1360 x 768, so you’re really only losing 300 or so pixels in height as compared to the 1080 model (which costs about $150-200 more).  I decided that instead of a 42″ for around $450-500 this 51″ was way more television for the money, at the price I paid.  I couldn’t be happier with this plasma TV.  It seems just as crisp and sharp, with vivid colors as the 42″ model.  There doesn’t seem to be any loss of quality do to the increased size. Even DVD’s playing via the component cable hookup on my old 480p dvd player look amazing.  Once I pick up a blu-ray player or PS3 that will upconvert them to 1080, they should look even better.  The digital tuner in this TV, and in all Samsung televisions is incredibly strong.  I don’t even subscribe to cable or satellite tv, because in my area I can pick up all of the major networks with a simple set top antenna.  Hook an antenna into the back of a Samsung, and you’ll get 720 and 1080 broadcasts all day.  1080 broadcasts look better than 720, of course.  They are being downsized or downsampled to fit the 1360 x 768 resolution.  Just like when you take a large photo, and downsize it in Photoshop, it gets sharpened.  That’s why I can live without the 1080 resolution – you’ll have to see it to understand what I mean.  Don’t think that you need the 1080 model for the best quality with this one, trust me on that.  Save your money, unless you absolutely have to have 1080.  Sports look amazing on this set, with an over the air HD broadcast, whether it comes in through the network broadcast as 720 or 1080.

The Not So Good

The inputs/outputs are lacking a little bit.  You have two sets of component in with audio, and two hdmi ports.  There is also a usb side port, which is nice for showing photos or listening to music.  They have removed the VGA port which is a little bit disappointing.  The audio out is only available as optical, which is also kind of a pain.  I’ve simply run my audio out from my individual accessories, the dvd player and audio out from my computer, into my home stereo system.  If your stereo system or home theater system has optical inputs then you should be all set.  For the price I paid, I really can’t complain.  I ended up buying this set for the same regular price of most 42″ sets.

Conclusion

Despite the lack of inputs and outputs, this is a really solid set at a very affordable price.  I’m amazed by the increase in quality and in size having gone from a 32″ picture tube set, to this one.  Having a friend that owns a large TV repair business, he recommended for flat panel TV sets Panasonic and Samsung, LG in third place, and then don’t even consider anything else.  Obviously this is just an opinion, but coming from a guy who knows televisions inside an out, it’s one I know I can trust.    You can’t go wrong with the Samsung 51″ PN51D450 Plasma TV.

Additional Specs & Info

• Slimmer bezel and more picture with Plasma +1
• ENERGY STAR Compliant
• 600Hz Subfield HD Motion Performance
• View Photos and Listen to Music from a USB

Todd Arena

is a graphic designer that morphed into a full time stock photographer. Founding member of ArenaCreative.com Stock Images.

     

Tags: 720 vs 1080, flat panel tv, gaming, gaming tv, hdtv, plasma tv, review, samsung, samsung 51" plasma tv, samsung pn51d450, set top antenna, test video games, video game tester

This entry was posted on Friday, December 2nd, 2011 at 9:55 AM and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.