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- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 39 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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45 out of 46 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Perfect for geeks and the value-obsessed"
Pros: Truly great picture; solid cabinet; beautifully minimalist
Cons: Deep blacks become subltly, unexpectedly brighter, then darker again
Summary: While in shipping, my TH-42PHD8UK took a hit to the back, side of the cabinet, leaving a superficial dent in the metal. My TH-42PHD8UK still works fine, which has impressed me mightily. This truly must be an industrial model and not a consumer product.
(On that note, I'm afraid I cannot recommend Butterfly Photo as a place to buy this TV: it took many e-mails and phone calls from me to finally get them to give me the *correct* shipper and tracking number, only to have the plasma sent to New York state rather than Massachusetts, the state where I live... I finally got the TV, but with superficial damage, from having been in the shipping pipeline for so long.)
I'm also comforted to see the phrase "made in Japan" on the case, as opposed to "made in China" or "made in Korea". It makes me think of my KitchenAid mixer that's still made in the USA, despite most KitchenAid products being made in China: Panasonic must want to still make its flagship products closer to home, rather than farming the work out.
The picture is gorgeous on this TV, and I suppose my monster cables were a wise purchase: another reviewer noted that his low quality cables really degraded the picture.
As another reviewer noted, if you are particularly picky about picture quality, and cherish deep, rich blacks, you'll notice the plasma "cheating" every so often, by turning the blacks a bit grayer to presumably hit some "high note" that is elsewhere on the screen. If you want to see this black/grey shift in action, watch The Godfather on DVD, and you'll really see this plasma doing its black/grey shifting thing, in its attempts to bring you the best picture possible.
As a fan of deep, rich blacks, I wish this wouldn't happen (I'd rather the screen sacrifice brightness to preserve blackness), but that's the only criticism I have of the picture. And I should note that a room-full of other people watching The Godfather on this TV with me didn't notice the shifting at all. The blacks are still better than most tube TVs I've seen, and the color balance and crispness of the picture are breathtaking.
This plasma screen comes with nothing, which you will hate if you seek one-step setup, but which you will absolutely adore if you are a geek or a value seeker. When you buy this plasma screen, you will have to buy a stand for it, and you will likely want to invest in extra input cards and some pricey cables. To my mind, it's all worth it. And I'm so, so glad that there are no ridiculous clock-radio speakers on this plasma, and no silly cable tuner. And thank, you, Panasonic, for making the cabinet graphite black, instead of the cheesy silver that is making a comeback in consumer electronics. I've already got a stereo, and I've already got a cable box. This plasma screen takes care of the picture, and assumes you've got the gear to take care of everything else.
- 1 reply to this review
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The review mentions upgrading to add inputs and outputs not available on this model. What boards are available and costs to upgrade Panasonic's TH-42PHD8UK to their TH-42PX50U? Thanks, Richard
