Panasonic TH42PE50 user reviews
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User reviews2
Jonathan Crookes 31 December 2005
Good: Fabulous colour reproduction and contrast. Great for TV and DVD.
Bad: Average EPG.
Comment: I recently bought one after extensive research and auditioning at various high-street stores. Time and time again, and in different shops, this set stood out as having the best picture quality on display!
Not sure what the complaint about the resolution is. Aren't all SD & ED 42" plasmas 852x480 pixels in resolution? Don't forget, this is perfect for NTSC material, and very good for PAL.
Also, the complaint about colour and contrast is totally wrong. On the contrary, the outstanding colour reproduction and contrast really gives the picture a 3D-like depth. This is the real strength of this set. Far, far better than the washed-out LCDs, and much better than most other plasmas.
Connectivity is fine. Three Scart sockets and HD Compliant component. Dedicated S-Video is missing, along with a composite-video (not missing much there though), but these are implemented in the Scart sockets. No DVI or HDMI, but why should there be? Connectivity is not an issue for me.
I think the reviewer was obsessed about the HD thing. Sure, HD is the future, but for many people this is several years off yet. Better to get (and enjoy) a television that excels with the material we use now rather than think about what we'll be using in 2012.
The pinnacle of standard and enhanced definition television! But don't pay the £1,800 SRP. Street price of £1,350 (including a Panasonic DVD recorder) makes it a great deal.
armin schmid 4 September 2005
Good: Black levels
Bad: See above
Comment: This is by far the fairest test I read so far.
For eight generations now Panasonic sold NTSC panels to us customers in PAL countries without even trying to integrate DVI or HDMI compatibility with 50Hz frame rates. Even the PV 500 HD panel lacks this feature. You won't be able to connect a PC or Mac as a home theatre center and drive the panel with its native resolution at 50Hz, so all kind of motion artefacts and judder will be introduced with 60Hz US frame rates.
You can read about this awful situation over in the plasma section of the British avforum and at beisammen.de in Germany.<br><br>
No, and Panasonic will not sell a panel to me as long as they treat customers in Europe or Australia as second-class citizens.