A new way to measure

Usually depth is expressed as a certain number of units thick. For example, railroad ties are 4" thick. But Panasonic's new flagship TV will change the way you look at depth. This stunning screen has such a narrow profile, you'll want to measure it in "inches thin," or "inch thin" to be more accurate. That's right, Panasonic's new pride and joy is only 1.0" thin. That's narrower than even LED LCD flat panels by about half an inch. Look at it sideways and you may not be able to see it. Having such a narrow profile gives it a sleek, refined look that other HDTVs just can't match. The thinness is all just part of an even larger design scheme to ensure that the TC-P54Z1 will look great, off or on, in your living room.

The other parts

If the unbelievably tiny depth is one part, what are the other parts of the design? Well, first of all, the included stand is designed to appear just as minimalist as the TV's side view. It uses a sleek design to complement the TV's classy aesthetics, so form is just as important as function for this stand. But that's just the beginning. The speakers are just as thin as the panel, but also narrow in width, and color-matched. But the actual sides of the bezel are black, so they look like a part of the screen. This makes the speakers look like the bezel sides, so they help to give the TC-P54Z1 the appearance that the picture and sound are all coming from a single sheet of glass. But that's where things get interesting. Unlike most TVs, the speakers can be removed from the TCP54Z1 and placed farther out to act as surround speakers. If you're worried that the panel will look ridiculous without the speakers, fear not. Without speakers, the screen seems to be edge-to-edge, which is also really stylish. You can even choose to wall-mount for an even more minimalist design. And the final piece to the puzzle: the TC-P54Z1 can stand on its own, component free. Curious how? Read on, and you'll learn.

As promised

OK, here's the explanation you're looking for to tell you how a TV can be useful without having any components hooked up. You may want to sit down first, though. Are you ready? OK. It's wireless. Here's how it works: the TCP54Z1 includes a wireless transmitter and receiver. The receiver connects to the TV, and the transmitter is connected to your receiver or components. The transmitter can be placed up to 16'-32' (maximum distance depends on angle of placement) away from the TV, so you can have your Blu-ray player, cable box, DVR, and any other components placed across the room. The transmitter will then send both audio and video (all the way up to 1080p) to the receiver, which the TV will then play. Being free of the components furthers its minimalist style by allowing it to stand on its own, cable-free (except for the power cord), to act as a work of art in its own right. This effect is even further enhanced with wall-mounting. Since a TV spends most of its time turned off, it's imperative that it look great itself. With the TCP54Z1 from Panasonic, you just can't go wrong in that aspect.

Certifiable

However, as important as it is that a flat-panel look great while switched off, do you really want a TV that doesn't look great on? Of course not. Rest assured, the TC-P54Z1 looks even better on than off. After all, it is a Full HD 1080p display with 600Hz refresh rate and 40,000:1 native contrast ratio. That kind of amazing display blurs the line between reality and video so completely that you won't even know a line existed. Here to back up that claim is a group known as Tomlinson Holman's eXperiment. This group, known better as THX, was formed in the 1980's as a project headed by George Lucas and Mr. Holman to independently test theaters to ensure adequate sound quality. After all, Mr. Lucas wanted people to hear every detail of Indiana Jones' quests. Since then, though, THX has expanded into other fields, including testing home audio equipment and even a few individual celebrity home theaters. They've also expanded to picture. Panasonic is proud to report that their flagship model sports THX certification. With this honor, you can trust that the TC-P54Z1 will reproduce video with the utmost fidelity for an unmatchable picture in your home theater.

600Hz?

It wasn't a misprint when we said the TCP54Z1 has a 600Hz refresh rate. You might have heard of 60Hz, 120Hz, or 240Hz, but whether or not you have, there's a good chance 600Hz will be foreign technology to you. Here's how it works. Films are shot at 24 frames per second. TV is shot at 30 frames per second. This doesn't come out evenly on traditional displays that showed 30 or 60 frames per second. But 120 frames per second (Hz) does show it evenly. This makes for smoother motion throughout your shows. 240Hz and 600Hz have the same leveling effect as 120Hz on the different content rates. So does it really matter what you choose between 120Hz, 240Hz, or 600Hz? Well, yes and no. For most people, they will look about the same. But the distinguishing eye can see a noticeable improvement. Since there are more frames shown per second, the amount of time black screens are shown in between each frame is drastically reduced, so the 600Hz TV will actually appear much smoother than the "slower" refresh rates. If you're picky about your picture, you don't want to settle for less.

Night and day

The contrast ratio of the TC-P54Z1 is another point of pride for Panasonic. There are two different contrast ratios you may hear about: dynamic and native. Dynamic measures the darkness of the screen while the whole screen is black, then the brightness while the whole screen is white and compares them. Native contrast ratio measures the darkest black and brightest white that can be simultaneously displayed, so it's much more valuable for telling you how the contrast will be when watching your TV. That's why, although you may see 1,000,000:1 contrast ratios proclaimed, making the TCP54Z1's 40,000:1 seem paltry, the Panasonic will likely trump the other model. In fact, its dynamic ratio is over 2,000,000:1. The native ratio of the TC-P54Z1 is really astounding. Many LCD HDTVs can only manage 1,000:1 native ratios. What does all this mean to you? Well, the TCP54Z1 will be able to produce deep blacks, stunning whites, and vibrant colors everywhere in between. This adds a new layer of realism and depth to your video that you may find startling.

The widest variety

With the many inputs on the TC-P54Z1, you can connect a wide variety of components to access a wide variety of content. But the widest variety of content won't be accessed through a Blu-ray player, VCR, or cable box. The widest variety of content for your TCP54Z1 comes from a single cable being plugged in. You see, with an ethernet connection, your Panasonic TV can access a vast array of internet content, no other components needed. Using its VIERA CAST interface, the TCP54Z1 can access Amazon Video on Demand, YouTube, Picasa, Bloomberg TV, and weather from around the world. So, with the press of one button, you can access millions of different videos, photos, news, stocks, and even local weather information. And best of all, if more content offerings become available, VIERA CAST will automatically update to display them. One note, though: some content, including some videos from Amazon VoD require purchase.

You've got the control

HDMI is currently the best cable available for home theaters. It can carry 1080p video with 7.1-channel lossless audio simultaneously, and still have plenty of bandwidth to spare. Well, with a Panasonic TV, you can put some of that extra capacity to use. VIERA Link, on many Panasonic TVs, allows you to control any compatible components connected via HDMI using the TV's remote. That could be a Blu-ray player, digital camcorder, DVD recorder, or a wide variety of other electronics. It can even control Panasonic network cameras!

Think that sounds good? Check this out.

Hopefully by now, it's pretty clear that the TC-P54Z1 looks really, really good. But since when is the picture the only part of a movie? Dialogue, music, sound effects — does any of that sound appealing? Then why listen on woefully underpowered speakers? The TCP54Z1 has some pretty great audio enhancements to match the gorgeous picture. First of all, the speakers themselves are pretty neat. Each detachable surround speakers has two separate cones. The first in each is 7W cone. Advances in sound technology let this cone produce bass sounds as low as 100Hz, a feat not matched by many TVs, without increasing the profile of the speaker. Each speaker also has a 3W cone to back up to main cone. This provides 20 total Watts of power, compared to four or five Watts on many HDTVs. Better yet, BBE ViVA HD3D sound technology is used to create an immersive, three-dimensional soundscape. This TV's starting to sound might appealing. Don't wait 'til they're gone.

What's in the box?

Your purchase includes a wireless transmitter, wireless receiver, tuner box, detachable speakers, and of course, the TC-P54Z1.

Comparison Specifications

• 54" screen class (54.1" diagonal screen size)
• 16:9 native aspect ratio
• Wide viewing angle
• ENERGY STAR certified
• 4 HDMI inputs (3 tuner, 1 monitor); 1 HDMI output (tuner)
• 2 component video inputs, 2 composite video inputs, 1 S-Video input, PC input, 5 analog audio inputs, LAN port, RS-232C port
• BBE ViVA HD3D sound
• 2 detachable speakers with single 7W cone plus single 3W cone each (20W total)
• Includes stand; VESA compliant
• Includes RF remote control with VIERA Link capability including network camera capability

Additional Specifications

• Super-thin profile with matching speakers
• Silver finish with black bezel sides
• WirelessHD-compatible with included transmitter and receiver
• VIERA CAST-enabled via ethernet connection
• 600Hz sub-field drive
• 40,000:1 native contrast ratio (>2,000,000:1 dynamic)
• THX-certified display
• 24p cinema playback
• Wide color viewing angle
• Reproduces bass down to 100Hz

Manufacturer Specifications

• BBE ViVA HD3D sound
• VIERA image viewer
• VIERA tools
• Game mode
• 100,000-hr panel viewing life
• Deep Color
• x.v. Color
• Professional setting mode
• Dimensions without stand: 56.3" (51.3" without speakers) W x 35.2" H x 14.9" D
• Weight without stand: 70.6 lbs (67.3 lbs without speakers)

Dimensional Specifications

• Dimensions with stand: 56.3" (51.3" without speakers) W x 32.3 H x 1.0" D
• Weight with stand: 83.8 lbs (80.5 lbs without speakers)

Panasonic TC-P54Z1 Warranty Details

1-year manufacturer's limited parts and labor warranty

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