The Panasonic Viera TC-P54VT25 is an outstanding Active 3D Plasma TV. The VT25 is a 54” Plasma that is sure to bring a home theater experience unmatched by many others out there. With so many accessories and impeccable 3D viewing the Panasonic Viera TC-P54VT25 is arguably the best TV in its class.

3D
The TC-P54VT25 is an active 3D TV. Like the different types of scanning methods, there are two methods of 3D out there right now: active and passive 3D. Most movie theatres right now use passive 3D. Passive 3D is the least expensive use of 3D, however, is the also the least advanced of the two phases. Passive 3D can use two different type of glasses: polarized(which are the ones you are finding in theatres now) and anaglyph(the glasses that use the red and blue filter). With the polarized glasses the 3D is showing you one vertical and one horizontal picture to bring you the 3D. The anaglyph glasses use color to separate the images and can lose color in the process. The new active 3D uses LCD lens shutter glasses. These glasses are battery operated and use a infrared signal to sync to the content being viewed. The shutter glasses with their new technology and having to be powered are considerably more expensive and heavier than their predecessors. The experience they provide does outweigh those cons though. The shutter glasses bring you 3D by showing each eye a separate image. The only downfall of this system is by showing these images separately, the frame rates per second are cut in half. For instance: say an TV is displaying 60 frames per second, these glasses allow only 30 frames to be seen. Most of the time you will not notice this happening unless the content is being run in slow motion. With the TC-P54VT25 this is not a problem that you will see with its powerful 600Hz sub field drive. The Panasonic Viera TC-P54VT25 does come with one set of shutter glasses that can cost you in the area of $100 for a set separately. Overall this TV has incredible 3D capabilities over just about any 3D TV on the market.

Accessories/Ports
The Panasonic Viera TC-P54VT25 has joined many of the other new HDTVs out there by providing online content free of a PC unit. With the Viera Cast a person can watch videos on Youtube, pictures on Picasa, and get financial and weather updates. The Viera Cast also has a web menu that self updates as new content becomes available. With Panasonic’s Viera Link a person can operate multiple AV units with just the Viera Remote that is provided. Making it ever so increasingly easy to connect all you electronics. The TC-P54VT25 did very well in setting up their ports. Coming with 4 HDMI (1 side), 2 Composite (1 side), 2 Audio (1 side), 1 PC, 2 Component, 1 Digital Audio, 2 USB, and a LAN port for an Internet connection, Panasonic not only had multiple hook ups in mind, but ease of access too. While the use of component cables can not be really phased out until interlacing is, the use of HDMI cables are becoming more commonly used. The reason for this is because HDMI is the only cable that produces progressive scan. The HDMI cable also brings sound to the TV, thus eliminating the need for a separate audio cord(unless using an external audio device). Panasonic has done an exceptional job on their progressive online ability and external jacks.

Overall the Panasonic Viera TC-P54VT25 Active 3D Plasma TV is very arguably the best 1080p 3D Plasma TV available on the market. From the Active 3D and the BBE ViVA sound to the well designed setup of jacks and the Viera Cast for Internet use this TV has a lot to offer. The price of the TC-P54VT25 averages the low $2000 range. Compared to other similar TVs that size the TC-P54VT25 price is very competitive. Especially for what the TV offers.