Fujitsu was the first to market a plasma TV in the United States, but one of the last to recognize that flat-panel TVs have become a design element. The company’s TVs have in the past looked more appropriate displaying "Flight 209 delayed. Scheduled departure time 7:45 a.m. New departure time 7:45 p.m." than depicting Jeremy Piven’s five o’clock shadow in the latest episode of Entourage. But the company now offers consumers a choice between silver and gloss black cabinet finishes, and has gently rounded the bezel for a more stylish look.

Like other Fujitsus, the new 50-inch P50XTA51’s feature package includes a number of installer-friendly bonuses, such as eight user-definable picture memories and an ambient light sensor that tones down the brightness for nighttime viewing. Around back, the input panel includes a decent connector complement, with a single HDMI digital video input, dual component video inputs, and a single RGB input for computer hookup. There’s a slot for a digital CableCard, and the set provides both high-definition and standard-definition over-the-air and analog cable TV tuners.

Otherwise, the feature set is fairly common. So let’s get into what matters most: the picture.

We get the best results when we use the P50XTA51’s Natural video mode. After we calibrate the set’s picture controls, it provides near-ideal color reproduction, very closely hugging a 6,500-degree-Kelvin color temperature in the whites and lighter grays, and shifting only slightly toward red in the deepest blacks. Red and blue primary colors are virtually spot on, and the green is only slightly more intense than ideal. Having the right colorimetry assures proper color tone over the entire palette, and this is one area where plasma display panels are generally superior to their LCD flat-panel counterparts.

Unlike many TVs, the P50XTA51 does not have separate low- and high-level adjustments for red, green, and blue drive; it has only global adjustments for the three colors. Fujitsu argues that a correctly designed display should exhibit even grayscale response out of the box, and that a single global RGB adjustment should be sufficient for color temperature fine-tuning.

Fujitsu touts its "Advanced Video Movement II" picture-processing feature, which encompasses a number of elements including film-cadence detection and interleaving correction, along with noise reduction and edge-enhancement processing. Using test DVDs, we find the P50XTA51 rather slow to detect and correct for the 24-frames-per- second timing of film-originated material; it takes about two seconds or so. But once the processor locks into the timing rate, the resulting picture is stable and artifact-free. With video-originated test patterns and clips, the Fujitsu provides reasonably good deinterlacing, although we found that the anti-jaggies adjustment control can introduce visible "tearing" if not set correctly. While not up to the deinterlacing prowess of the better outboard scalers and the best displays, the Fujitsu’s performance in this regard is decent—its flaws are the kind you see on test patterns but seldom notice in normal operation.

And then comes the "acid test," where we feed a special 1920-by-1080 high-definition test pattern that features single-pixel height and width lines into the Fujitsu. This test reveals the set’s internal processing proficiency at dealing with very fine picture detail, and its ability to reformat the sharpest high-definition image to match the screen’s native resolution (in the P50XTA51’s case, 1366 by 768 pixels). Here, the Fujitsu provides a perfectly downconverted rendition of the test pattern, with razor-sharp delineation in both the horizontal and vertical axes, absent of any "ringing" or line-doubling artifacts that are the norm with flat-panel HDTVs.

Once the TV is adjusted and calibrated, we find it puts out a healthy 50 footlamberts of light, more than sufficiently bright enough for daytime viewing even in a sunny, well-lit room. The Fujitsu provides a dazzlingly colorful picture with nary a trace of banding or gradation artifacts, even in dimly lit scenes. With animation, gradation artifacts can be especially bothersome, but we notice no such problems at all. Highly saturated colors, such as neon lights, are rich but exhibit no visible halo effects.The remote control is not up to par with the set. The unit Fujitsu supplies is a cheapie like those supplied with off-brand warehouse-club televisions, and using it is quite a chore. But the company’s website provides all the control codes your installer needs to automate the set with a touchscreen controller or some other advanced remote.

With a bright, colorful and crisp picture that looks equally good with both standard- and high-definition sources, Fujitsu’s P50XTA51 delivers where it counts. Have your installer calibrate the television and program a deluxe remote control for you, then sit back and enjoy a superb picture.

DESCRIPTION
Plasma 50-inch video display with integral ATSC/NTSC tuner and detachable speakers. Mounts on optional stand or wall bracket

DISPLAY CAPABILITIES
Native 16:9 panel operations in both 4:3 and 16:9 modes. Accepts 720-line progressive HDTV, 1080-line interlaced HDTV, 480-line progressive and 480-line interlaced signals, plus RGB WXGA computer video (1366 x 768 pixels)

RESOLUTION
1366 x 768 pixels

CONNECTIONS
Two component video inputs, one S-video input, one composite video input, HDMI digital audio/video input, DB-15 connector for RGB computer video, two RF inputs for TV tuners, three RCA stereo analog audio inputs, CableCard slot; RCA stereo analog audio output, Toslink digital audio output, DB-9 connector for RS-232C serial control port, spring clips for stereo speaker outputs

DIMENSIONS
28.6 x 53.3 x 3.9 inches (hwd)

PRICE/CONTACT
PRICE: $6,499
CONTACT: plasmavision.com, 888.888.3424