Head to head: Full HD 50in plasma

But in the nick of time plasma has finally solved the riddle of how to fit enough plasma cells into a sensibly sized screen without it having to cost a small fortune. And to prove the point, we've got our reviewing hands on affordable new models from two of the high street's biggest brands. But which is best?

Overview Price comparison: Panasonic TH-50PZ700 More info: Panasonic Size: 1266(w) x 802(h) x 95(d)mm Weight: 43kg Native aspect ratio: 16:9 Resolution: 1920x1080 Claimed max contrast ratio: 5000:1 Claimed max brightness: N/A Connections: Three HDMI inputs, three Scarts (2 RGB), component video input, composite video input, S-Video input, D-Sub PC input, stereo audio output, headphone jack, stereo audio inputs, RF input, digital audio output, CI slot Panasonic TH-50PZ700 As one of the most vocal brands when it comes to championing plasma over LCD as the best big-screen technology, Panasonic really needed to get the affordable full HD nut cracked as soon as possible. And with the 50PZ700 it's done it in style. Not that the outside reveals much about the 50PZ700's inner talents. It's robust and its lines are clean, but there's nothing particularly futuristic or stylish about it. Its connections offer more of an HD clue, including as they do three HD-friendly HDMI sockets and an SD card slot capable of playing both JPEG photo and AVCHD video file formats. It turns out too, that the TV's video processing has been souped up slightly from Panasonic's non-full HD plasmas, with new 12-bit processing allowing a potentially greater colour palette and more shadow detailing. Another handy 'full HD' touch is a mode for showing HD sources on a perfect pixel by pixel basis, without any of the overscanning that tends to be used for pushing the messy edges of many standard definition broadcasts off the side of the TV's visible screen. This should allow HD sources to appear cleaner and sharper. In other ways though, the processing is the same V-Real Pro system that's delivered such likeable picture results with the rest of Panasonic's current range. The only chink in the 50PZ700's armour to this point is its lack of full compatibility with the 1080p/24fps format output by some premium Blu-ray and HD DVD players. It will take 1080p 60 and 50Hz okay, but with the pure 24fps format the picture appears without any sound. Not really a problem if you're using a separate sound system, but still… So does the addition of full HD resolution make Panasonic's already impressive plasma picture quality better? The short answer is yes. But not by all that much. The expected full HD benefits with HD sources are certainly apparent. Which is to say that detail levels seem even higher, noise levels seem even lower, and colour blends seem even more subtle thanks to the greater pixel density on offer. There's also slightly more naturalism to the 50PZ700's colour palette, and that traditional Panasonic strength of impressively deep black levels appears largely undiminished by the demands of the smaller pixels. With a decently potent soundstage from the speakers to accompany the generally outstanding pictures, the only areas of weakness to report about the 50PZ700's performance are slightly underwhelming standard definition images, and one or two moments of motion judder. Which means the bar has been set pretty high for Samsung. Overview Price comparison: Samsung PS-50P96FD More info: Samsung Size: 95(d) x 739(h) x 1289(w)mm Weight: 44.8kg Native aspect ratio: 16:9 Resolution: 1920x1080 Claimed max contrast ratio: 15000:1 Claimed max brightness: 1200cd/m2 Connections: Three HDMI inputs (v1.3); Two Scarts (1 RGB); component video input; composite video input; S-Video input; D-Sub PC input; Stereo audio output; headphone jack; stereo audio inputs; CAM slot; RF input Samsung PS-50P96FD Samsung is one of a dwindling number of brands still giving plasma and LCD equal support at big screen sizes. But does that mean its plasma efforts are more half-hearted than Panasonic's? Judging from the outside of the brand's first full HD plasma set, the PS-50P96FD, the answer would appear to be no. It's every bit as gorgeous as Samsung's other current flat TVs. It hits the spot connections-wise too, joining the Panasonic in having three HDMIs for digital HD connection, though it doesn't have the SD card slot that the Panasonic does. The 50P96FD does, however, steal a march over the Panasonic by accepting all forms of 1080p sources via its HDMIs, including the 24fps format so important with the advent of Blu-ray and HD DVD. Even better, the HDMIs are v1.3 affairs rather than v1.2 as carried by the Panasonic, enabling them to handle such 1.3 specific features as Deep Colour (which provides an enriched colour palette from compatible source discs) and automatic lip-synch correction. In place of the Panasonic's V-Real Pro image processing, meanwhile, the 50P96FD has a combination of Samsung's Digital Natural Image engine (DNIe) with its emphasis on boosting colours, black levels, motion and contrast; plus a Natural True Colour system that uses 18-bit processing to produce a claimed 18 quadrillion hues. We can't verify this, alas, because we can only count to around 8 quadrillion. Set the 50P96FD to its 'Just' aspect ratio (a 1:1 pixel mode for direct transposition of full HD sources to the screen's 1920x1080 resolution), and it really does deliver terrific results. As with the Panasonic, all of the expected full HD benefits are clear to see, as HD sources look rich with fine textures, remarkably free of video noise, and enhanced by extra subtleties of colour blend and detail. Surprisingly Samsung's new set also runs the Panasonic very close in terms of black level response, showing that the Korean brand has finally overcome what's traditionally been one of its plasma weaknesses. And actually the Samsung's colours arguably look slightly richer and more saturated than the Panasonic's. A slightly blurry look to really fast motion on the Samsung perhaps leaves the Panasonic as marginally the better HD performer of our two contenders. But it's an incredibly close call, and one that you might argue is more than counterbalanced by the Samsung's £1,100 cheaper price point… Final verdict One thing that's abundantly clear from these two full HD plasmas is that the technology has definitely managed to achieve the necessary resolution without spoiling other areas of traditional plasma picture quality. Both screens produce excellent pictures which better (with HD sources) those produced by lower-resolution plasma TVs - and which better, in our opinion, those produced by most full LCD TVs. Given how impressive they both are, though, you can imagine how difficult we found it to pick an overall winner. On the one hand you've got the Panasonic with its marginally - but only marginally - better picture quality, while on the other you've got the Samsung with its more glamorous design and higher, more HD-friendly features count. But in the end we've let one other key factor, price difference, help us to our conclusion. Had the difference in price between the Panasonic and Samsung models not been particularly great - say, £200-£300 or so - we'd probably have gone for the Panasonic on sheer picture quality grounds. But when we asked ourselves if the Panasonic was a whole £1,100 better than Samsung's PS-50P96FD, the answer we got was a resounding 'no', leaving the Samsung as the best all-round proposition - at least for people who don't have an unlimited supply of hard cash. AVR Glossary