DECEMBER 2, 2005
Product Review
By Cliff Edwards
Panasonic's Plasma: Almost Picture-Perfect
Its 42-inch flat-screen model delivers impressive clarity -- with both high-definition and analog programming -- at a reasonable price
There's a war going on right now in the flat-screen digital TV realm, and consumers are likely to be the biggest winners as prices for full-featured high-definition TV sets fall rapidly.
That's especially true when you consider Panasonic's 42-inch TH-42PX50U plasma set. The unit, which carries a $2,800 price tag, has a native resolution of 1,024 pixels by 768 pixels. That lets it be tagged as a high-resolution model, even though purists will note you still do not get all the detail offered by newer 1080 models. Most consumers, however, won't be able to tell the difference -- and will be delighted with the amazing picture clarity that puts some of Panasonic's big competitors to shame.
LIGHT AND SHADE. Out of the box, the set's color required little calibration. I felt it was close to the right balance by looking for the same natural tones you'd see on people in real life. The TV has three color presets for contrast and brightness: vivid, standard, and cinema, as well as warm, normal, and cool color temperatures. Still, professional installers recommend adjusting color temperatures and calibrating gray scale at the outset.
Watching DVDs of Alexander and Blade: Trinity, the TV displayed rich, inky blacks with aplomb. Fast-action scenes produced minor artifacts, or "jaggies" common to most plasmas, but not so noticeable I could complain. There were moments, however, when the transition from very dark scenes to lighter ones produced a splotchy after-image for a fraction of a second.
High-definition images from a DirecTV (DTV)-TiVo (TIVO) high-definition satellite box and Comcast (CMCSA) HD sources were so clear and crisp that, at some points, it almost felt like characters would jump out of the screen. Using an off-air antenna, local broadcasts of high-definition baseball and football games alone may offer ample reason to upgrade your set to an HDTV.
FEWER FEATURES. Even more impressive, the TV really seemed to shine when displaying the analog-TV fare still common to many U.S. households. Such pictures usually look lousy on most HDTVs. Panasonic offers 2:3 pulldown technology to convert film-based content from 24 frames a second to the 30 frames a second common to television.
Like most new sets, it has a CableCard slot, so you can ask your cable provider for a card that lets you do away with an additional set-top box. Unfortunately, with the current generation of CableCards, you lose a guide, and it's more difficult to order pay-per-view. (Many HDTVs now are offering built-in guides to get around this problem.)
To maintain margins in the fiercely competitive pricing environment, Panasonic saved a few bucks by skimping slightly on the set's looks. Speakers are mounted below the screen, which sports a black bezel to highlight the strong contrast ratio. No complaints there, but the silver molded-plastic stand looks and feels cheap compared to earlier models. And the underside of the unit looks industrial and unfinished -- something you're unlikely to notice if you hang the 76-pound TV on the wall, but few people seem to be doing that.
THE RIGHT CONNECTIONS. What's more, the company dropped the picture-in-picture technology it had in the 2004 model, meaning you can't watch two programs at once. It also cut out what I suspect is a very rarely used VGA input for connections to computers. Such cost-cutting brought the retail price down to less than $3,000, vs. $4,500 a year ago -- and you can find it online for even less.
While the picture often can be a matter of taste, one of the more important decisions you'll have to make when buying an HD-ready set involves the TV's connectivity to other devices. I always recommend buying a set with at least one, and preferably two, high-definition multimedia inputs. You can cut down on cable clutter with HDMI, which sends uncompressed high-definition video and audio down a single cable.
Because of its secure content protection, many future devices, such as Sony's (SNE) PlayStation 3, set-top boxes, and next-generation DVD players, will include HDMI, and it's better to try to future-proof your set now.
OUTSTANDING PERFORMER. The TH-42PX50U offers one HDMI connector, two high-definition component video inputs, and one antenna/cable input for HD. It also includes two rear S-video and composite video inputs for standard-definition sources, as well as a set of monitor outputs. Again probably to save money, there are no side or front inputs for easy connections to camcorders or videogame consoles.
The silver remote is well thought-out, with glow-in-the-dark buttons. It lacks, however, keys to directly access the multiple inputs on the unit.
While there are some noticeable omissions from the Panasonic TH-42PX50U that make it less than ideal for people worried about future connectivity, it's an outstanding performer in terms of image quality -- and at a price that won't break the bank. Few would be unhappy adding it to their home theater, or using it as a second set in the bedroom.
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