Panasonic Viera TH-46PZ85 review

Performance
Starting at the bottom, Freeview performance was generally good. The 46-inch TV we're looking at here has a size disadvantage over the 37-inch, 720p Panasonic Viera TH-37PX80B we looked at previously, and we did think the quality was slightly lower on this screen.

But Freeview wasn't designed for this size of TV and for the most part, there weren't any serious problems. We did need to reduce the brightness and colour settings to get a more lifelike image. On the default settings, Countdown looked like an episode of Teletubbies, and that's not a reflection on Carol Vorderman's makeup.

For a test of upscaled DVDs, we took a look at Blade and everything looked great. We certainly appreciated the increased bitrate available on DVDs over that of Freeview. There was plenty of detail, even in the darker scenes, which is good news in Blade since an awful lot of it takes place in fairly murky lighting.

Blu-ray also looked brilliant. The opening scenes and credits of Casino Royale had their usual charms. We also bunged on the most ridiculous movie since Armageddon -- Dragon Wars. In this movie, where dragons fight helicopter gunships, we were very pleased with the picture quality. While the acting was off-putting, that's hardly Panasonic's fault.

There was a time when we wouldn't have suggested plasmas as being good companions for games consoles, but with improved resolutions, we love the natural motion and sharp graphics. Our favourite waste of time, Burnout Paradise, looked amazing. Once again, we toiled away many minutes in order to evaluate how the game looked.

We couldn't discuss the performance of the 46PZ85 without mentioning the Intelligent Frame Creation. Designed to generate frames to increase film to 100Hz, IFC is supposed to help smooth the motion and it does a good job. The simple truth of these picture processing systems is that if you don't like the slightly jerky film look, they can be very good at removing it. The Panasonic system is the most natural we've seen; with these modes you'll usually get some picture artefacts.

Sound quality is often left until last, but it's equally as important as pictures. We're thrilled with the performance of the sound on this TV. Bass was big and bold, with crystal clear dialogue. Even the virtual surround sound system managed to make sounds appear to be coming from somewhere some distance from the TV. It's easily some of the best built-in sound from a TV we've heard for some time.

Conclusion
We think the 46PZ85 is a great TV that excels in HD movie playback, gaming and upscaled DVDs while still managing to produce a good Freeview picture. We do think the Freeview performance is lacking, especially in comparison with the job the Toshiba Regza 52Z3030D did.

Overall, this TV remains a sensibly priced 1080p TV with great performance and more than enough features to keep everyone happy. Competition can be found in the 1080p Pioneer TVs, but their prices don't suit every pocket.

Edited by Shannon Doubleday