- Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 21 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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21 out of 21 people found this review helpful
5.0 stars
"Give this model a serious look before plopping down an extra grand for the higher res PHD model"
Pros: Flawless picture, I mean truly perfect. Who needs HDDVD when normal DVD's can look this good. Star Wars Ep III has unbelieveable detail, you can see the fibre in clothes...
Cons: Because the picture is so sharp, you notice film transfer flaws. Ex: the DVD of Snatch such as the beginning and ending scene, you can see smears on the film stock, sign of a lazy Assistant Camera!
Summary: Ok seriously, so I also toiled over which plasma to buy. I could afford a certain amount of money but I really didn't want to take a major hit of $3k for my setup. So I did all the research I could, well beyond simply Cnet including many other reputeable review sites, and even got the $.02 from my local high end A/V shops in Santa Monica, LA, and Hollywood (though none of them were happy to admit that edtv's look better on sd dvds but more on that below).
Here's the lowdown, the Panasonic industrial line 8 series run (this years) both PWD and PHD models have the most accurate and consistent picture quality across all possible sources (dvd's, sd tv, hd tv, and all lighting scenarios). The PWD (edtv) models compared to the PHD(higher res) models have the same picture producing circuitry that have won them acclaim, the only difference is the Resolution. Therefor, they all have the best picture quality right now out of all plasmas (quoting from research, not me ranting on my favorite tv). So what about the difference in Resolution and picture sharpness? Well it comes down to your viewing distance. Personally, my living room is setup so that we watch from 12.5 feet away with our love seat getting about an 8 foot viewing distance. From this distance, you honestly won't be able to tell the sharpness increase in HD programming from the higher res (note it's not even full HD) PHD to the PWD edtv. I've read estimates that at around 7 feet or further from the display, you can't tell a difference in sharpness and I've tried this test in a showroom I found that had both the PWD8uk and a PHD both in 42 inch models, both displaying HD content and the estimation is very close. If you do get closer than 7 feet or so, yes you can tell a slight difference, beyond that, there was no discernable difference.
If you primarily watch DVD's (this is more of what we do with ours), then pay attention to this. Although the difference is almost negligeable, dvd's will actually look BETTER on this PWD8uK than the step up PHD. This is because 1) the edtv is closer to dvd's native resolution so no need for extra scaling where you will have to double up on information and 2) edtvs can have slightly greater contrast ratios. I never read why this was but it was just a known fact.
So do the math, better DVD performance, the same HD TV performance from 7 feet or beyond (get out the measuring tape) and about a grand less. I paid $1499 + $165 for the stand + $275 for the speakers and my total hit was ~$2100 including tax and I was able to find it in stock at an internet chain that happened to be located right near by so I could avoid shipping dangers and costs. $2100 for honestly, the best picture quality I have ever witnessed before, along with my 4 year old Polk speakers, my setup finally warrants the title of, true home theatre. Watching high quality transfer dvd's through this tv is like sitting inside a Panavision super 35mm camera, looking through the film gate at all the action, wow.
- 1 reply to this review
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I want to buy this one, but don't want to hassle with shipping. I am in Southern California and would like to know where you were able to find yours. Please help.
Panasonic TH-42PWD8UK:
