Panasonic TC-P42U2

Back in the early days of HDTVs, your primary buying choices are split between plasma and LCD displays. This is hardly the case for some of the top manufacturers since the introduction of LED displays which are advertised as brighter, thinner, and more energy efficient. This makes them better than LCD displays in just about every angle but some manufacturers are not willing to let go of the plasma architecture. Panasonic is still marketing plasma displays even after 3D HDTVs made their debut back in early January 2010. Some of their plasma displays happen to be 3D ready which allows some of their non-3D models like the U2 and C2 series to be much more affordable. The Panasonic TC-P42U2 is most notable for being the smallest and most affordable 1080p plasma display.

Panasonic TC-P42U2

Features

The TC-P42U2 is a bit smaller than the 50-inch version and since there are no other larger versions, the TC-P42U2 is a good choice for you if your preferred viewing distance is 6 to 12 feet. It is superior to the similarly designed TC-P42C2 because only the TC-P42U2 has the 1080p resolution so Blu-ray titles and the latest video games look their best. The 42-inch portrays the pixels far better than the 30-inch models so noticing the benefits of a higher resolution is a real treat.

The Panasonic TC-P42U2 is a plasma display too and while it is not as thin as the LED displays, the 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio really makes the visuals stand out. LED models are a bit better, but compared to the LCD models, it is a vast improvement. Plug in a Blu-ray player or a gaming console or both in the 2 available HDMI ports on the back so you can see how nice the visuals pop out with decent deep blacks. You can also turn on the “Game Mode” if you are fond of playing on your favorite home console to further improve the look of dark environments. If you need to plugin other HD devices like digital camcorders that have an HDMI port, you can still plug it in the third HDMI port on the side.

No matter what you use the display for, energy consumption is on the conservative end hitting the Energy Star 4.0 certifications making the TC-P42U2 one of the greener plasma products in Panasonic’s arsenal. The TV should function perfectly fine for the first 30 years assuming that you watch TV 8 hours a day. After that point, the brightness levels are reduced by 50%.

Technologies

Aside from the 1080p resolution, the TC-P42U2 is quite similar to its C2 counterpart in terms of internals. There is a 600 Hz Sub-field drive that improves the motion image quality. This is most notable if you watch sports or action-packed movies and shows. If you have seen budget 1080p LCD models in action, you will notice too that the TC-P42U2 shows fewer aftereffects thanks to this technology.

Extra Features

The most common to watch movies on the big screen is to hook up the Blu-ray player or gaming console since they support movie playback too. But this is not necessary if you only intend to view photos on your high-resolution display. You can leave the other devices off because there is an SD card reader built right into the display so next time you want to show photos to others, you can just take out the memory card from the camera and insert it in the slot. As long as the card is a standard SD card, you can use the VIERA Image Viewer to see how nice the photos look on your 42-inch plasma display. With no USB port present, it is the only way browse through the photos.

Small home theater setups normally use two HDMI ports and possibly other component and composite inputs. It is always best to leave the HDMI port on the side free so you can plug a camcorder or other portable device that uses HDMI. It is even better if that device has the Panasonic brand and VIERA Link logo so you can connect the device and easily control it remotely using your TV remote.

Bottom Line

The Panasonic VIERA TC-P42U2 goes for about $750 but it is likely that it can be purchased for an even lower price in some outlets since it has been around since early 2010. The display quality is nothing too special but it is above average compared to the cheaper LCD displays and the energy savings make it a display that won’t be upgraded for a long time.

Average User Rating:
Actual User Reviews:

• “Compared to many other sets, this one looks great, especially for the money. Per CR, reliability for Panasonic hd tvs is excellent too. Sound from the tv speakers is good enough for most shows I watch, but of course it sounds better with my home theater speaker setup. The color looks great on mine with minimal adjustment and the overall picture is excellent with an HDMI signal and through my component dvd. Contrast and Brightness levels seem to be good in our den. It’s missing USB and VGA ports though which I knew prior to sale since I had done my homework online. Overall a great tv at a great price. ” – DS Meyers (Atlanta, GA)

• “Love it, easy to set up easy to adjust, good direction manual… great picture, sound is not bad considering how small the speakers have to be to fit into the set. You just need to adjust the sound to it make much beter than the default settings. I would recomend this set to anyone who wants a great HD TV at a reasonable price…” – cavemanjack (USA)

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• “This is my first HDTV purchase and I’m very happy with it. A friend suggested I go with Panasonic as I’d get the most bang for my buck, and she was right. The stand was easy enough to assemble and the set looks and feels well-constructed and appropriate for any room decor. The menus are user-friendly and initial setup was a breeze; an explanation is shown for every available option, so people who aren’t familiar with funny acronyms don’t need to look through the user manual.

The video quality is outstanding. I tested it first with my PS3 and the colors really pop out at you. I was worried that the plasma would be too dark, but it handles both bright and dark colors exceptionally well. Nothing looks washed out or too black. The only complaint is that the screen brightness can be overpowering with the Game and Vivid settings (I’m more a fan of the latter, but it depends on the game), but the brightness can be adjusted and the adaptive lighting seems to work well enough. I would have liked an overall gamma setting, but you can tweak the video to be nearly perfect with the tv options and the video source’s settings. Also, the anti-glare works well enough that I can keep one set of curtains open while viewing and the picture doesn’t suffer.

Next, I connected my laptop through its HDMI output. 1680×1050 resolution seems to work the best as 1920 left the desktop looking too small and making it easier to notice the pixels, and anything smaller doesn’t fit just perfectly. I think these are issues with my laptop giving the tv strange resolutions that it’s not used to, but these aren’t enough to detract from the quality of the tv. I tested a few games at 1280×960 and they looked better than they do on my laptop’s screen (anything less than 1680 on my computer is fuzzy). As mentioned before, small portions were cut off of the left and right sides but it was only enough to notice while on menus. I’ll definitely be using this tv as a monitor for schoolwork. Movie quality is great with compressed video files, so I’m sure the blu ray will be amazing.

I’m satisfied with the connections in the back of the tv. I’m only using it for HDMI and occasionally the RCA at the moment, but the optical audio out is convenient if go that route for speakers (I’m not sure if this is standard now but I like it). Overall, I’m very happy with the tv and would buy it again. The price you pay is well worth the quality you get out of it. Aside from a few minor issues and poor speakers, it’s a great HDTV.” – tequilapickles (USA)

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