Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ85U 42-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV

3 Responses to Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ85U 42-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV

1. J. Abraham says:

   October 18, 2011 at 12:08 am

   228 of 229 people found the following review helpful:

   
   So good I bought two !!!!!!, July 18, 2008

   By 

   J. Abraham –
   
     

   Amazon Verified Purchase(http://www.amazon.com/gp/community-help/amazon-verified-purchase/188-5126040-4449335', ‘AmazonHelp’, ‘width=400,height=500,resizable=1,scrollbars=1,toolbar=0,status=1′);return false; “>What’s this?)

   This review is from: Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ85U 42-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV (Electronics)

   UPDATE. A couple links dedicated to this set:
   Owners forum: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1000479
   Break-in FAQ: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14472276#post14472276

   Just a short review as there are so many already.

   I spent approximately 3 years researching displays. No it didn’t take me that long to figure things out, I was basically waiting for the technology to meet my expectations at a given price point.

   After exhaustive research I narrowed things down to Plasma and then further down to either this set or the Samsung A550. The reason I picked the Panny over the Samsung, to be succinct:

   - better black levels
   - reliability (reportedly a bit more stable than the Samsung’s, though they have gotten better)
   - anti-reflective coating (the Panasonic has the Samsung thoroughly beat)
   - IR (image retention) resistance, Panasonic is supposedly on the cutting edge for this

   That said, I’ll comment a bit on the Panasonic image specifically; it is stunning. First, the scaler (the hardware that handles different source material like standard definition broadcast, etc.) in this thing is top notch. I am truly impressed with what it has done with standard cable (and of course HD cable looks great). I was under the impression that few if any modern displays could handle SD well, frankly because I hadn’t seen evidence of it. I was wrong, there have been a few times that I had to look hard to tell I was watching Standard Def (CNN puts out an especially clean broadcast in my area). Secondly, HD content; doubly stunning! I’m running both HD Cable and a PS3 Blu-ray. I figured I’d be buying many of my movies again in Blu-ray….wrong. Certainly true HD content has the edge but the upscaler combined with this set is jaw dropping, Pixar DVDs are quite amazing.

   Now a few comments about Plasma vs LCD:

   No doubt LCD has it’s place, some people simply want a very “punchy” and extremely bright display. This is especially useful for daytime/bright room viewing. However, the drawbacks are considerable:

   - motion lag/bur: if you see it (and I do) it’s VERY distracting
   - black levels clearly not up to par, which greatly affects the overall picture quality

   On the other hand Plasma pluses:

   - no motion lag
   - industry standard black levels
   - extremely realistic/film like experience

   A few words on Image Retention & Burn in:

   These are not the same thing though the terms are often used interchangeably. Image Retention is the result of a static image (any image that doesn’t change for extended periods; video game displays, station identification, etc) to remain on the screen even after you’ve changed images. This is a temporary problem and one that is easily erased by viewing full screen for short periods where all the pixel locations on the screen will get some activity. Frankly I’ve not seen even one instance on my set. Burn-in is the extreme, unfixable version of this, leaving a static image on the screen for many hours (all day) or always watching all your content letterboxed will certainly lead to burn in. It’s easy to avoid. The Panasonic is especially immune to this and even has many safety features built in to prevent it (pixel shifting and auto off if a screen remains unchanged for an extended period).

   Finally a few quick tips for new owners, gleaned mostly from the AVS forums and partly directly from Panasonic’s own website:

   - 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:
   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

   One final note for those on the fence: Don’t go by what you see in the stores, what is displayed in no way exemplifies what these sets (any brand really) are capable of. My picture is light years better than anything I ever saw at Best Buy (including this very set). Delivery from Amazon/CEVA was a breeze by the way, took one week from ordering to door.

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2. Rian says:

   October 18, 2011 at 12:22 am

   86 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

   
   My first HDTV and blown away by it, March 29, 2008

   By 

   Rian (Cape Town, South Africa) –

   This review is from: Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ85U 42-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV (Electronics)

   I recently decided that it’s time to upgrade to an HDTV, and I did a lot of research before settling on this model. I’m not an A/V expert, but I am an enthusiast, and I can tell you that this TV is simply amazing. I highly recommend it. I can’t get very technical, but here are just a few thoughts on why I rate this TV so highly:

   In the end, the quality of the picture is what it’s about. I run Panasonic HDMI cables from a Comcast HD DVR through my Denon 850 receiver (1080 passthrough). The clarity, color and vibrancy of HD channels are breathtaking. These new Panasonic models increased the contrast ratio considerably, and I do think it makes a big difference. Even SD programming looks good on the set.

   I also have an SD DVD player hooked up with component cables, and even though it’s not an upconverting player the picture is still amazing.

   Daytime viewing is good, although it does look better at night with less light. The new anti-reflective screen on this model does a great job, but this is still a problem I don’t think any Plasma TV has solved completely yet. If I leave our living room light on it does reflect on the screen (but it looks better in the dark anyway…).

   I’m still in the first 100 hours so I’m in the breaking in stage, but I haven’t seen any signs of image retention. It sounds like the new models made big strides in this area as well.

   The on-screen set-up menus are intuitive and easy to use — didn’t have to open the manual once.

   My final comment is about Amazon.com’s part in this. I order it directly from Amazon (make sure you check who the seller is), and the experience was flawless. 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 – if anything is wrong they take it right back!

   I highly recommend this TV, and there’s no reason to buy it in a store – use Amazon!

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3. P. Harris says:

   October 18, 2011 at 12:25 am

   52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

   
   The HD picture on this plasma TV is outstanding – mesmerizing!, April 19, 2008

   By 

   P. Harris (San Francisco Bay Area) –
   
     

   This review is from: Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ85U 42-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV (Electronics)

   We purchased the 42″ 2008 Panasonic plasma 1080p model TH-42PZ85U about 5 weeks ago, after about 2 weeks of almost non-stop comparing of different sets at various stores. We’ve watched it during bright glary daytime conditions and dark room evening hours. We’ve watched HD channels and SD (standard-def) channels, and HD-DVD movies. We’re familiar with the amazing picture quality of High-Def because we’ve had a Fujitsu plasma for the last 5 years, which was excellent. The Fujitsu developed an un-repairable problem with it’s power supply circuit panel.

   To summarize, the picture quality of the Panasonic TH-42PZ85U plasma is absolutely outstanding! It is stunning! It’s mesmerizing. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It was great in the store, but even much better under home conditions, without bright store spotlights, with good cable HD service, and without having to share a TV signal with 83 other sets.

   In doing the visual research at various stores, I was attracted to LCD sets because of their incredible brightness and bright colors. Under the bright store lights, the poor plasmas looked like dim, lost souls next to the super-nova LCD’s. However it soon became evident to me that LCD’s had more of an artificial look to the images, especially the human face. Faces on LCD sets looked more plastic and flat, without real-world color gradients. They looked more like a poster. Faces on plasmas looked real, with real texture and color gradations, with a 3 dimensional quality. Other scenes on LCD’s also looked more 2 dimensional. On plasmas, the same scene had depth and a 3-D quality. I had read about this, but didn’t understand what it meant until I saw it with my own eyes.

   The TH-42PZ85U is more than bright enough at home, even during a bright sunny day with lots of direct light coming in from our patio. The brightest picture mode, called “vivid” is too bright for even those conditions under its default settings. The default color setting is also way too strong and a bit too green. But after adjusting down the brightness and color strength, and adjusting the color tint a little away from green to red, the picture is truly outstanding. In the evening we use a picture mode called “cinema”, which is soft yet sharp, beautiful and so real you think you are in a movie theater. When “cinema” mode is not bright enough for our inside lights, we change it to a mode called “standard”. Each of the modes can be adjusted as you wish, and then retains that adjustment when that mode is chosen later.

   Regardless of the picture mode, with an HD signal, the picture is incredibly sharp, smooth and non-grainy, and the quality of the colors is great and realistic. I see no motion artifacts, even when watching fast moving action such as in a basketball game. There has been no burn in of any type, even temporary. The blacks are super black, there are lots of gray shades in the dark areas, and the whites are very white. To make blacks even blacker, there is a “black level” setting under the “advanced picture” menu. It gives a choice of “light” or “black”. I like it better set to “light” because “black” takes away a little from the gray shades. Even on “light”, the blacks look almost as black as the bezel that surrounds the glass panel. This plasma TV has a 3-dimensional quality that just seems to make images pop out.

   We have a small room (about 14×10). Two of the chairs are on either side of the TV, within 4-5 feet of the TV. The 1080 resolution screen resolution really pays off from this close distance. Even from 4 feet, when we are on channels with strong HD signals, the screen is totally smooth, with no graininess, screen-door effect, or ghosting or other artifacts. It is just as bright from an extreme side angle as from head-on.

   As good as a general cable 720p signal looks, even more outstanding is the signal from our (now obsolete) HD-DVD player, which actually puts out a 1080p signal. I was watching Planet Earth on the new Panasonic plasma. The picture quality is incredible.

   There are a few things about the TV that are not outstanding. Standard definition programming is very ordinary, not very exciting. I wonder if the 1080 screen resolution of the TV makes standard definition signals look even worse? The built in speakers are so-so, not great. It doesn’t matter to us because I put the audio through a surround sound receiver and external speakers. The anti-glare capability of the screen is average. During sunny days we can see some glare from the sunlight outside our patio sliding doors, although the reflection is muted and dimmed.

   Overall we are thrilled with this plasma TV. Even though we have had a plasma before, the picture quality is so outstanding we can’t seem to pay attention to the program we are watching. We are just mesmerized by the quality of the picture we are seeing.

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