LCD/Plasma/other: Your Review (Use other sticky for questions)

[Brats]

Panasonic TH-42PH9BS Panel

42" Plasma Panel with three slot in boards

Connections - Only VGA, S-video and a Japanese RF connection as standard. Other boards are added seperately (up to 2 of HDMI, Component, DVI, Scart).

I only bought an HDMI board as all other connections go to my amp. Both HDMI pictures are perfect going through the amp, with very deep blacks and very lifelike colours. My Wii going through component suffers a tiny amount of softness from the amp converting the signal, but is otherwise excellent with no overscan.

The flexibility of the panel is amazing. Everything is tweakable, but there are a number of preset styles for those that don't want to tweak every single gamma setting. After three hours of tweaking, I got the set perfectly matched on the DVE Hue and Chroma test cards, the first set I have ever managed this.

There is a notable delay of the picture against the audio via HDMI. I can't check if this is cuased by the amp as I don't have any speakers for the panel. My amp has an audio delay setting for each seperate HDMI input, so I was able to adjust these perfectly.

I can't comment on the 360 as I don't have this connected.

Being a commercial screen, build quality is first rate. I got the seperate pedestal which is equally well made. The silver finish is like a brushed metal. here are handles at the back for easily lifting, although these can be removed if desired. The screen weighs 29kg and the stand around 10 kg. Fitting the input boards is the same as simple as removing the metal cover and screwing the new board in place.

One thing is that when the panel is receiving a 720p or 1080i image, the aspect ratio is fixed at 16:9. This means that any non-anamorphic DVDs when upscaled are not shown full screen. Luckily I only have a few non-anamorphics, but some gems like Barry Lyndon have borders all the way around. There is a zoom feature, but it's crap.

Another thing is that it won' accept a 480 or 576i image over HDMI, which meant I had to switch my Wii over to 480p 'blind' as my amp does not upscale (which was interesting).

Overall I'm very happy. If you have a decent amp that can handle multiple HDMI unputs and can upconvert other signals, then this is ideal as you only need one HDMI input and you are sorted. The picture quality is excellent (as good as the PX600 plasmas, but with more options and better build quality) and the TV is as discreet as a 42" screen can be, with only a thin silver bezel and no speakers or buttons on show.

[charlesr]

I've just bought the same TV as Brats above, except I went for the charcoal finish. To add my two cents:

Normal DVDs upscaled on XBMC look fantastic.
I've yet to try HDDVD/Bluray.
360 looks fantastic.
Sky looks pap because you can now see the compression rubbishness because it's a big screen. There's noise reduction you can apply, which I've now got switched on on the scart input (each input has it's own options) which helps.

I've turned on the wobble - it moves the edge of very light to very dark areas imperceptibly to avoid burn in.

If you walk up to it, you can hear the 3 fans spinning, but I can't hear it from the sofa (7 feet).

It accepts component through the vga port, so if you need a component input but don't need a vga input, then there's no need to splash out on the component board - a vga>>component lead will do the trick.

N64 via RGB looks pretty cool too.

[Papercut]

Panasonic Viera PH42PZ70B

The good -

- first 'affordable' 1080p 42" plasma
- great image quality, 1:1 pixel ratio (no scaling) for 1080p/1080i
- reasonably flexible inputs
- ideal for a PS3 or HDMI 360

The bad

- 1080p over HDMI only (not vga or component)
- I've had trouble with dead pixels, but no one else in the world seems to have
- blu-ray devotees with too much free time will bemoan the lack of 3:3 24fps

Details:

The PZ70 is placed between the PZ700 and PZ750 (which may not be released in Europe). The 700 and 750 have an additional HDMI port, and the 750 is likely to have a few more features.

The PZ70B has freeview, and it is wide - the speakers add a couple of inches to either side, for the full height of the unit. The sound quality is not great, but fine for TV viewing. It comes bundled with the pedestal, but you can wall mount it too, angled or flat.

Otherwise, it is quite similar to previous Vieras. They've reintroduced overscan disabling to the domestic models, which is perfect for 720p and 1080p. Overscan can be disabled/enabled for each source, which is very useful. It has exactly the same auto-aspect ratio twitchyness with F Zero GX as previous Panasonic Plasmas (leave it at 16:9). No picture in picture or side by side unfortunately, which was the main thing I missed compared to a commercial panel. I'm not 100% sure it has a pixel orbiter either, possibly not with overscan disabled. Inputs are 2 x hdmi, 1 x component, 1 x analog vga (sharing audio in with component), 2 x scart (both RGB, one is also s-video), and an av/s-video in on the side. It has a sd slot for displaying images too, which is quite nice.

The 700 and rumoured 750 model have one more HDMI port and can play video off SD Card. Otherwise, pretty similar. The 70 can do 24fps as 3:2 pulldown to 60Hz, the 700 can't do 24fps at all, and the 750 is rumoured to be able to do 24fps at 72Hz.

There is a thread discussing how the PZ70 handles 24fps here:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=626390

The one huge drawback with the PZ70B is that it cannot do 1080p over component or VGA - it has to be HDMI. Which makes a newer 360 basically essential, although 1080i over component is still good. Otherwise, it is a great gaming Plasma.

[Anpanman]

Sharp LC37XD1E

First a bit of background.
Initially I was looking at a 720p panel but got this 1080p set for the silly price of ?675 delivered from Dixons ? not including another almost ?25 back from Quidco.
Reason for this is that the TV had been discontinued as a new model range was released by Sharp including 100hz models.
Therefore there didn?t seem much point in doing a review as you can?t really buy them anymore though I suppose secondhand ones will become available at some points so here goes.

Because of the impulse buy I didn?t even know what it looked like but after getting it out the box my jaw almost dropped ? by crikey it?s a looker!
Black gloss finish all over apart from the very lower edge which houses the speaker grills which are all silver with sort of a wave effect in a silver beading running the complete lower edge of the TV ? beautiful and not cheap looking at all.

Basic specifications
Brightness: 450 cd/m
Screen life: 60k hours
Response rate: 6ms

Inputs
EXT1: RGB scart
EXT2: Scart
EXT3: S-Video/phono plug inputs
EXT4: RGB/PC
EXT5: HMDI/audio
EXT6: HDMI
There is also an antenna connection, RS232 and Common Interface Slot.

Picture quality
I don?t have such a testing or critical eye as others may have as I simply put the set on and have more or less left the default settings on the preset ?Dynamic? picture mode which has all the assistance modes like ?TruD?, Noise Reduction etc all on.
The only thing I have done is turn on the auto brightness setting which dims the screen if you turn the lights off.

So that said, I certainly don?t have any problems with the TV, there are no pixel problems and the picture is excellent.

Standard Definition
Using our cable TV box the picture varies dependant on what the broadcaster is allowing for bandwidth and as such varies from pretty poor JPEG banding to actually very good indeed though without the detail associated with a real high definition broadcast.
Our daughters V-Tech console though is poor though it only uses the phono plug inputs and I imagine the resolution is something like 320x200 so you cannot expect the quality to be great and of course a three year old isn?t going to be hassling you about picture quality.

High Definition
Connected to the PS3 without problems and have had no picture issues whatsoever. I?ve heard only good things about the Sony panels with response rates of 8ms so it?s no surprise that this Sharp is good for fast paced gaming action.
Images look crisp and clear, colours vibrant and blacks when they need to be ? black.

Issues/other info
I?ve really only seen very good reviews about this TV though one review did mention that the sound wasn?t very strong in the bass area.
I would agree with this though I think if you want a good sound from your films or games then you are going to be using a surround kit anyway.
The 42? model has a 15w x 2 output compared to the 10w x 2 arrangement of the 37? model and does have a bit more ?oomph? according to reviews.
In addition the 42? has four 100x40mm speakers whereas the 37? has two plus another two at 100x20mm.

I?ve also seen on another review where particular praise was given to the 37? model regarding black reproduction.
One maybe interesting bit of info gleaned from the manual may have the answer, the 42? set has the following screen type;
Advanced Super View
Whereas the 37? one has the following screen type;
Advanced Super View & Black

Overall, very happy so far with the TV though admittedly we aren?t exactly power users as the only inputs are from our NTL/VM box, the PS3 and the daughters V-Tech learning console.
We don?t have any additional DVD/VHS machines, don?t have an aerial so can?t comment on terrestrial channels from that or indeed the built-in Freeview decoder.

[MonkeyWrench]

LG 32LC56

32" LCD with Freeview

16:9 ratio, 1366x768 res, 5000:1 contrast ratio, 8ms response time

Connectivity

• 2 x HDMI
• 2 x Scart
• Component
• PC Input
• Digital Optical Out (5.1 Home Cinema System)
• S-Video

Review

I've been toying with the idea of getting a HD TV for a while, but couldn't really justify the purchase as I had a decent 28" Panasonic CRT which was doing a sterling job. However, having recently purchased a PS3 and with the dust settling on the HD format wars I decided to venture out into the world of HD displays. As I had such a good experience with my CRT TV I started to look at Panasonic sets, with the 32LMD70 at the top of my list, which looked to be a decent set at a reasonable price. With my mind set I began looking around for the best price and ended up at Richersounds, with credit card primed I gave my local store a call to check they had stock. After being briefly quizzed by the sales guy I was recommended the LG 32LC46, which I was told supported 1080p (ideal for the PS3) and featured better speakers and colour representation, all for the same price. A quick search around the net backed up the claims and so in the space of an hour my mind was changed. I eventually ended up getting it from Comet for just under £400 after they price matched Dixons, and furthermore I actually ended up with the slightly better 32LC56 model by mistake, which is almost identical to the 32LC46, except it features a couple of extra speakers.

Anyway, on with the details...

SD content/Freeview
SD content and Freeview was a bit of a worry for me. Some of my friends and family have got half decent LCD sets and SD content can look a bit ropey, especially Freeview with its sometimes poor quality broadcasts. So when tuning it in I was expecting the worse, but I ended up pleasantly surprised. Once I had tweaked the picture settings it didn't look half bad (by default the colour, brightness and contrast are way out). The set features a filter which cleans up some of the bad mpeg compression artifacts, so you end up with a totally serviceable picture and not a steaming pile of pixelated mess. Standard DVDs look pretty decent too through both the Xbox 360 and PS3, although upscaling on the PS3 resulted in a darker image so I'll probably stick to the normal res.

HDMI - PS3/Blu-Ray
As you'd expect from a HD display it looks bloody marvellous, that is after I had altered the colour/contrast/brightness which again by default was way off the mark. Games look great in both 720P and 1080P and Blu-ray movies looked pin sharp and vibrant.

Component - Xbox360
Obviously the image quality isn't as sharp as it would be with HDMI, but it's only really noticable when on the dashboard, once you fire up a game and things start moving it looks great. Can't really see much difference between running at 720P and 1080i, so I've just been running in the latter.

Overall
I've only had the TV a week or so now, but during that time I couldn't be anymore happy with it. For quality versus price there aren't many sets that can compete.


Pros

+1080p support
+Decent sound (for a non-surround sound)
+Price
+Plenty of inputs

Cons

-Freeview is missing a few features, such as telling you what program is on when you switch channels.

http://uk.lge.com/products/model/detail/lcdtv_32lc56.jhtml

[capcom_suicide]

Sony KDL-32V4500 RRP: 699 (Look online for £550)

32" LCD with Freeview

16:9 ratio, 1366x768 res, 33000:1 contrast ratio, 8ms response time, Bravia2, Pictureframe mode, USB Photo mode

Connectivity

• 3 x HDMI
• 2 x Scart
• Component
• PC Input
• Digital Optical Out (5.1 Home Cinema System)
• S-Video

Review

Stunning.

The colours and blacks are way better than my Pioneer, and after I adjusted the PS3 settings to the same as suggested in the AVforums W4000 thread, the results have blown me away. 1080P source at 24fps, from 1.5m is just fantastic. Skin tones and blacks are the best I've seen on any TV. I guess that 33,000:1 contrast ratio helps!

SD processing is very impressive too, I wonder if it actually helps in this area that the TV is only 720p.

Computer use with the digital input (Nvidia 7800Gt over HDMI-DVI) is even sharper than the VGA port and again it performs far better than expected. I don't see the need to swap between "Video/Text" modes, but the option is there if you need to oversharpen a bad PDF or something.

The picture frame mode is aslo fun, the TV comes with 6 preloaded full HD images to try and they really do look incredible, even with the downscaling to 720 Native.

This really is an awsome TV, and with the included HD Tuner I think you get one hell of a lot of features for the price.

I don't believe that 1080p is a sensible choice for 32" and I could reccomend this TV to anyone who wants high quality at that size. It's a good looking TV with fantastic easy Cross Media interface and it's full to the brim of features.

I also tried looking for clouding. If I turn off the lights and have backlight to full I see some white smoke on the screen. At backlight nill/+1 then the screen is just black. Is it normal to see some white patches on MAX backlight? I run at nill so can't see them during operation anyway, but am interested in this as I see lots of unhappy W4000 owners complaining.

I also much prefer the Bravia2 engine to the Bravia 1 + 100Hz option of another TV I bought last year for my mum: 32D3000. Visiting her on Sunday I immediatly had to turn off motion enhancing - it made TV shows look like they were filmed on a handycam!! I can't understand why people like this feature outside of sports TV. Odd.

Gaming is absolutly spot on, with no noticable lag, and eye popping colour reproduction. The TV supports all resoultions and does a very good job scaling 1080p images. The sweet spot for games is 720p, the screens native resolution, and it shines here. 360 Image over HDMI was noticably better than VGA, which seemed to lack the colour depth of HDMI. PC Inputs over VGA are fine, so this seems to be an Xbox issue.

Anyway, great TV, great price & happy customer here!

Pros

+1080p support
+Amazing Blacks
+Amazing Colours
+XMB interface
+24 FPS for Blu-ray
+Price
+3 HDMI inputs
+No noticble lag makes for great gaming
+1 to 1 pixel mapping for PC
+Supports most resolutions and inputs around today!

Cons

-SOund is average, but similar to other 32" TVs
-Hard to find TV in the UK
-Some will prefer the 1080p W4000. I couldnt see a difference...

TV LINK

[Lyris]

Is it normal to see some white patches on MAX backlight?

Yes, the MAX backlight setting is ridiculous and will make everything look so scroched out, the fact it makes cloudy patches visible is the least of its problems

Unless you're watching TV outside in the sun.

[[email protected]]

Panasonic TH42PZ80B

Following on from Papercut's post I recently bought one of these screens. The PZ80 is the next gen PZ70. I had been waiting patiently for a commercial version [changable boards and no tuner] of this screen but it doesn't look like it will materialise. It has all the same specs as the 70B but can handle 24fps without any issues. It still requires HDMI for 1080p resolution but my Dell Laptop and most gfx cards come with either HDMI on board or a HDCP complient DVI socket and DVi-HDMI cable. This screen has 3 HDMI inputs one of the front which I often use to play games on my laptop.

The picture quality is outstanding however some channels the high resolution of this screen makes them look poor. With Sky HD watching footie on the TV is amazing compared to many 720p HD ready screens (notably LCD's]

The most outstanding part of this TV is the price. Nearly 7 years ago I paid ?4500 for a Panasonic Plasma TV 1024x768 res (no HDMI). This screen I picked up from John Lewis with a 5 year Warranty for ?750 (after pricematch). Full HD Plasma is now affordable for all and substantially better than LCD counterparts. This and its larger 46, 50 and 65" versions are gaming heaven.

My setup-> SkyHD HDMI1
PS3 HDMI2
Xbox 360 VGA
WII Component
Laptop HDMI3

Audio into AMP.

Panasonic Viera PH42PZ70B

The good -

- first 'affordable' 1080p 42" plasma
- great image quality, 1:1 pixel ratio (no scaling) for 1080p/1080i
- reasonably flexible inputs
- ideal for a PS3 or HDMI 360

The bad

- 1080p over HDMI only (not vga or component)
- I've had trouble with dead pixels, but no one else in the world seems to have
- blu-ray devotees with too much free time will bemoan the lack of 3:3 24fps

Details:

The PZ70 is placed between the PZ700 and PZ750 (which may not be released in Europe). The 700 and 750 have an additional HDMI port, and the 750 is likely to have a few more features.

The PZ70B has freeview, and it is wide - the speakers add a couple of inches to either side, for the full height of the unit. The sound quality is not great, but fine for TV viewing. It comes bundled with the pedestal, but you can wall mount it too, angled or flat.

Otherwise, it is quite similar to previous Vieras. They've reintroduced overscan disabling to the domestic models, which is perfect for 720p and 1080p. Overscan can be disabled/enabled for each source, which is very useful. It has exactly the same auto-aspect ratio twitchyness with F Zero GX as previous Panasonic Plasmas (leave it at 16:9). No picture in picture or side by side unfortunately, which was the main thing I missed compared to a commercial panel. I'm not 100% sure it has a pixel orbiter either, possibly not with overscan disabled. Inputs are 2 x hdmi, 1 x component, 1 x analog vga (sharing audio in with component), 2 x scart (both RGB, one is also s-video), and an av/s-video in on the side. It has a sd slot for displaying images too, which is quite nice.

The 700 and rumoured 750 model have one more HDMI port and can play video off SD Card. Otherwise, pretty similar. The 70 can do 24fps as 3:2 pulldown to 60Hz, the 700 can't do 24fps at all, and the 750 is rumoured to be able to do 24fps at 72Hz.

There is a thread discussing how the PZ70 handles 24fps here:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=626390

The one huge drawback with the PZ70B is that it cannot do 1080p over component or VGA - it has to be HDMI. Which makes a newer 360 basically essential, although 1080i over component is still good. Otherwise, it is a great gaming Plasma.

[Gradius]

I have just bought the 50 inch version of the above telly. I'm not going to write a review but i will say i am over the moon with it.

I'll put some pics in the gaming set up thread.

[Lyris]

The most recent of my reviews (which are now for HDTVtest.co.uk) is the Panasonic S20 Plasma series, of special interest to us because of the very low input lag (only 16ms!)

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/panasonic-tx-p50s20b-tx-p42s20b-20100511647.htm

Playing games on this thing is wonderful.

[Nijo]

Oops, wrong thread.