Panasonic Viera TX-P42S10 review

This TV seems to balance SD and HD performance perfectly. Everything we threw at it was displayed with skill and precision. We found ourselves wanting to spend more and more time with this TV, purely because it's such a pleasure to watch.

The Intelligent Frame Creation system is one of the more subtle picture-processing modes we've seen. When watching video, you can't even tell the mode is engaged. Even so, we still think this TV handles motion better than most of the competition, and that means it gets a big thumbs up from us, no matter how the set achieves it.

We do have one small gripe about Panasonic TVs. Although the simplicity of their menus is very welcome, it means you don't get a massive amount of control over the TV. Some options are also very hard to find. For example, the Intelligent Frame Creation and overscan modes are both tucked away in 'set-up', rather than in the more logical 'picture' menu.

Sound from the built-in speakers is good, but not ideal for watching movies. If you're using this TV for simple, day-to-day TV viewing, you'll be more than happy. Film fans will want to get some sort of external speaker system, though.

Conclusion
It's possible to buy the Panasonic Viera TX-P42S10 for significantly less than £1,000 and we don't have anything bad to say about its performance. If you want a TV with more bells and whistles, then a Samsung or LG model is more likely to interest you. For day-to-day use, and enjoying HD movies and TV, this really is a lovely set. In fact, we'd really rather not give our review sample back.

Edited by Charles Kloet