Panasonic Viera TH 42PZ80U 42 1080p Plasma HDTV
Panasonic Viera TH 42PZ80U 42 1080p Plasma HDTV
When it comes to Color depth, the Plasma screen offers the most vivid color and contrast than virtually any flat-panel TV. Panasonic 1080p capable plasmas match the most advanced Pixel Resolution and image-processing technology with an ability to beautifully reproduce fast-moving images. So every detail is rendered with amazing clarity, and all the action is delivered with unbelievable fluidity. 1080p also delivers amazing color reproduction resulting in impressive contrast and beautiful, natural colors. What you get is warm, accurate skin tones, deep blacks, gorgeous greens, breathtaking blues and vivid reds for color that's as rich and bold as life itself. GalleryPlayer allows you to enjoy the world's finest High Definition art and photography on your Panasonic HD plasma TV. Use the free GalleryPlayer Software to purchase and Download the images you like, and then play them on your Panasonic HDTV right from your PC. Sign-up is easy and free. Plus, you get a free collection of high definition images to enjoy right away in your home or office. Share your JPEG photos taken with a Lumix or any SD-compatible Digital-Camera on your Panasonic plasma using the built-in SD card slot. Simply insert the SD card, which is about the size of a postage stamp, into the SD slot on the TV and enjoy a photo slideshow with Photo Viewer. For added convenience, EZ Sync HDAVI Control lets you operate all of your Home Theater components by pressing a single button on your TV's remote control. 16 - 9 (Widescreen) Aspect Ratio G11 Progressive 1080p HD Plasma Display Panel Type Motion Adaptive 3D-Y/C Digital Comb Filter Two Full-range (L,R) Speakers, 20Watt (10% THD)(8ohms, 70Hz-17kHz) Integrated ATSC Tuners ATSC / QAM / NTSC Receiving System SD Card Slot, Photo Viewer Input Ports - 3 x HDMI (1 Front), Analog 2 x Audio Input (for HDMI), 3x Composite Video (1 Front), 2 x S-Video (1 Front), Audio Input (1 Front) (for Video), 1
User Ratings and Reviews
3 Stars Great Picture, Trouble With Volume Control
This is our first plasma tv, and we love the high def. We do not use separate speakers, just the ones built into tv. The volume varies wildly from between stations. The volume will be fine on one station, and when we switch channels the volume is just blaring. Since we switch bet channels during commercials, this is a real distraction. We have a cable box that must be used with hdtv and must use remote f/cable co, not tv remote. Don't know if this is the cause. Haven't seen many other comments here on volume control, so not sure if it is tv and other posters haven't encountered because they use separate speakers, or it has to do with remote used from cable company. Certainly would rate much higher if speakers and volume control worked better.
UPDATE: I contacted Panasonic and they resolved the problem quickly and professionally over the phone. Just needed an adjustment to the audio on the tv so that tv and cable box would coincide. I've had such bad customer service for other products I almost didn't call them, but very pleased with customer service. Would increase stars to 4 or 5 now.
5 Stars Best Bang for your Buck! Awesome HDTV
I bought the TV as an upgrade from my 26" Sharp Aquos. I did a lot of research and came to one conclusion; Panasonic will be my best bang for my buck and it had a series of consistent great reviews from a range of models (80O, 80OU, 85O, 85OU, etc) on various websites like amazon and cnet. Lets just say the Pani blew the Sharp out of the water. This TV is comparable to, and maybe even better in picture quality than my parents 42" Fujitsu Plasma that is 3-4yrs old that cost them way more. I use the TV predominantly for watching sports and playing video games. The black levels and HD quality is immaculate. It's almost as if I'm receiving a new signal from Direct TV, that's how noticeably better the picture is. I have the color's turned down below 50 as recommended for the first 80-100 hours, and the picture is still amazing.
Sports in HD are flawless with no motion lag as I experienced with my LCD, and video game play is smooth with crisp colors. I have a Wii and Xbox 360, both look stunning. The TV has now drawn me towards a Blue Ray player purchase which will probably a PS3. Another great feature of the TV is the 3 HDMI and 3 Component inputs. My 3 will be full: Xbox 360, Direct TV box, and a soon to be PS3. The Wii only has Component which worked out great.
The TV itself looks great too. The solid black frame, and very sturdy stand. Although, the only downfall is that the stand is not a swivel like on most LCD's, but I plan for a wall mount anyways. The built in speakers are decent... I had the TV temporarily in my bed room, and the they were more than sufficient. But realistically, any kind of speaker system would be better. Couple great features; 1) TV is compatible with Yamaha or Onkyo theater systems. 2) As a review here has already mentioned, the set comes with some display "reset" patterns to cure most burn-in issues you might face.
A final recommendation from a review I read here on Amazon and from what I've read at the Panasonic website is to break in your TV correctly. I'm a big fan of treating electronic's with.... lets say respect. A few quick tips for new plasma owners and to increase longevity and picture quality:
- Keep the Picture (contrast) and Brightness levels under 50 for the first 100 hrs. This helps the phosphors become "tempered" and in turn not so easily susceptible to bun-in and image retention. As I said, I've yet to experience either.
- Watch everything in Just mode (full screen) for the first 100 hrs for the same reasons listed above
- After the first 100 hrs you can turn things up & start watching things in letterbox, here are some recommended levels someone on amazon posted:
Picture: +70
Brightness: +48
Color: +44
Tint: -3
Sharpness: 0
Color temp: Warm
Color mgmt: Off
x.v.Color: Off
C.A.T.S.: Off
*I know this sounds a bit ridiculous or a bit much, but it will be worth it in the end.
My final comment is that, I highly recommend using Amazon. This was my first purchase from here after hearing nothing but great things from friends and family. The purchase was flawless, I knew what I was getting, since I researched and even went to stores like Bestbuy to see the TV. They use a distribution company for delivery, and they call you with a 4-hour time window before they deliver the TV. They also unpack it so that you can inspect for damage and also turn it on to verify that it works - if anything is wrong they take it right back. None the less, I am thoroughly satisfied with the product, service, and purchase from amazon.
5 Stars Great Buy, great set
Have had the set for about 6 months. It is an extraordinary buy at its new price, and gives a picture as good to my eyes as my buddy's 3 year old Pioneer Elite 40 inch plasma. It does far better in reproducing motion than any LCD I've seen, and has good sound, color balance, and contrast. The locking powercord feature works well. Unless one gets a really good Blu-Ray player, the resolution of this set is quite adequate. I use a top-end Arcam upsampling DVD player with this, and the results are quite filmlike. I have never seen any chroma issues. Before I bought this, I was a diehard Sony CRT guy, but I have to say Panasonic really seems to be hitting lots of plasma home runs. GREAT Set!
5 Stars Love at First Sight
Is it possible to fall in love in under a week? I did -- with this TV. Surely I'm smitten because I'm new to this wonderful world of High Definition. But, after lots of research and going back and forth between all my options, I'm convinced I made the right choice.
Of course, the first decision to be made by anyone making the leap to High Def is whether to go plasma or LCD. To my eye, the plasma produces more natural images. Even in the big-box retail centers, the plasmas consistently looked better. The fact that this TV was going into my basement family room (plasmas have the edge in darker areas) secured my decision to go plasma.
But which plasma? There certainly aren't as many plasma choices as there are LCD sets out there. That made things a little easier. But should I go 720p or 1080p? I finally narrowed my choices down to several Panasonic and Samsung models that were conveniently displayed near each other in my local Circuit City store.
I really could discern little difference in the picture quality among them. But the store is the last place to expect your new love-to-be to perform. You need to get her into your man cave. So it was with a certain degree of uncertainty that I made my final decision.
I was ready to go with a Samsung 720p, which was a couple hundred dollars cheaper. But I opted for the TH-42PZ80U. The Panasonic was always at the top of my short list, but I felt I really did not need the extra resolution, considering that there is no cable content yet that broadcasts in 1080p and that I don't have a Blu-Ray player.
But the salesman convinced me to go with the Panasonic because of its good reputation for quality and to get ahead of the technological curve. For a couple hundred bucks, this made sense. And, deep down, it's what I wanted to hear.
While the regular digital channels are nothing special, I intend to use this TV almost solely for Hi-Def and DVDs. The 1080i signals broadcast by Comcast are stunning. Moreover, the DVDs I play on my Toshiba XDE-500 upconverting DVD player I bought recently look wonderful when upconverting to the TV's 1080p (24 Frame) resolution.
The contrast on this set is out-of-this world. The colors are so lifelike and easily tweaked. Of course, make sure you use HDMI connections to get the most out of any HD set you buy.
Like any case of love, it's easy to be taken in by dazzling looks and quick responsiveness. That said, I suspect that I will have a long and lasting relationship with my Panasonic. I just hope my wife understands.
5 Stars Excellent Picture, Excellent Value
This is an excellent television for both new users of flat panel HDTV technology and the experienced customers. The display is very vivid and the TV has all the amenities (Save one to be mentioned shortly) that one could want in a television.
Pros: 3 HDMI slots, 2 Composite HDTV connections, 2 standard A/V connections, and S-Video. SD card slot for viewing photos from a digital camera directly on the unit, great for parties. Excellent for the top of the line video game consoles with it's game mode.
Cons: If you are inexperienced with plasma TVs, image retention can be an issue. Always observe proper measures to avoid plasma image retention. Don't leave the channel tuned to a digital weather channel or any other channel or video game that features graphics that stay on the screen in the same location for extended periods. That said, the TV does include some anti-retention features (pixel orbiting, scrolling white bar). No headphone jack for quiet listening, it's only a minor thing, not surprising that it got overlooked. The S-Video jack is tied in to A/V 1, as opposed to having a separate input, meaning if you use S-Video, you have one less A/V input. The screen can be quite dark at times using the default settings, but brightens up considerably when manual adjustments are made (I think that has more to do with it being a plasma TV than the actual TV itself, plasma TVs are notoriously darker than LCD).
Overall, the pros far outweigh the cons, and the TV is an excellent value to boot. Congrats to Panasonic for yet another year of quality flat panel TVs.
