What Hi Fi Sound and Vision
24 NOV 2008
Panasonic TH-42PZ800
Yet another fine Panasonic 42in. If you’re a fan of the brand, or simply can find a good deal, it’s well worth a look
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It’s something of a surprise to learn that
Panasonic produces no less than seven different 42in plasma TVs, including this model, the TH-42PZ800. Talk about covering all bases…
The ’PZ800 includes pretty much every feature in Panasonic’s locker. It’s a Full HD set with 1080p resolution, and includes the company’s premium ‘Intelligent Frame Creation’ picture processing, which aims to achieve ultra-high resolution.
It also sports an upgraded version of Panasonic’s ‘Real Black Drive’ black-level enhancer, which claims to endow this set with a 1,000,000:1 to contrast ratio, although that’s a ‘dynamic’ rating that should be taken with a large pinch of salt: the real-world ‘native’ rating is 30,000:1.
The ’PZ800 has a fine digital tuner, and off-air pictures are excellent. There’s just a shade of noise and grain to some textures, but overall, the image has all the vibrancy and definition you could reasonably expect from Freeview.
Assured HD performance The good news continues with Blu-ray. The Panasonic handles 24fps signals properly, ensuring judder-free motion, even with rapid shifts of camera, and its high resolution means it can deliver optimal results with 1080p images.
The most vivid results come with discs with clean transfers, such as
Apocalypto, but the image isn’t quite so clean with a darker disc:
Blood Diamond’s night-time sequences tax the ’PZ800, and while it rises to the challenge, we’ve seen 42in Sony TVs that offer even more sparkle.
You should still give this set serious consideration, though. It has great overall performance, an excellent specification (4 HDMIs!), and it even sounds great.