Panasonic VIERA X1 Series TC P42X1 42 Inch 720p Plasma HDTV
The new X1 Series Plasma HDTVs are ideal for sports, movies and gaming, with crisp, focused images during fast-moving scenes. Watch Fast-Moving Scenes with Clear, Vivid Resolution, 600Hz Sub-field Drive produces crisp, focused images for sports, dramatic action, and all other fast- moving scenes. Your full-HD movies and games never looked sharper. Share Your Digital Photos on the Big Screen, VIERA Image Viewer provides a better way to share your digital photos. Just pop your SD memory card into the handy slot, and instantly display your digital photos for friends and family. Network Your AV Devices, Quickly and Easily, with VIERA Link, you can control your compatible Panasonic DVD recorder, Blu-ray Disc, player, home theater sound system and HD camcorder, all with a single remote and helpful on-screen menus. Aspect Ratio – 16 – 9 Native Resolution (Number of Pixels) – 786,432 (1,024 x 768) Pixel Pitch (H x V) – 0.900 x 0.675 mm Moving Picture Resolution – 720 lines or more Shades of Gradation – 4,096 equivalent Aspect Control – Normal, Just, Zoom, Full, H-fill Panel – G12 Progressive HD Plasma Display Panel Screen Coating (Filter) – new AR (Anti-Reflective) Filter Progressive Scan 24p Playback (2 – 3) Deep Color Motion Adaptive 3D Y/C Digital Comb Filter Sub Pixel Control Motion Pattern Noise Reduction Audio – Speakers – Full-range x 2 (L, R) Number of Speakers – 2 Audio Output – 20 W (10% THD) (6 ohms, 150 Hz – 16 kHz) Surround Sound Inputs & Jacks – Integrated ATSC Tuner VIERA Image Viewer – Y (JPEG playback) HDMI Input – 3 (1 side) Analog Audio Input (for HDMI) Composite Video Input – 2 (1 side) S-Video Input – 1 Audio Input (for Video) – 2 (1 side) Component Video Inputs (Y, PB, PR) – 2 Audio Input (for Component Video) – 2 Digital A
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Panasonic 42″ 720p Plasma
I actually purchased a Panasonic plasma in June of 2007 but feel compelled to review it now that I have owned it for so long. First things first. Plasma is the best thing going. The key element in picture quality is black level retention and no LCD tv with it’s bright backlight shining towards the viewer from behind the screen can EVER produce the deep blacks necessary for color accuracy and a life like picture. I think LCD’s are very nice and have one in my bedroom but it does not compare to the plasma, especially the poor viewing angle. Back to the Panasonic. They rock the plasma industry with the best and most reliable sets at the most competitive prices. I have dual tuner DVR HD set top box and Sony blu-ray player. Let me tell you the picture still amazes me every time I watch it even after two years. I have seen blu-ray run through newer 1080p models and truthfully people if 1080p is better, my 50 year old eyes cannot tell the difference. So save yourself a fortune if you are buying your first HDTV. Purchase this 720p Plasma at around $900. I paid $1,400 for mine and it was worth every penny. And even though I have a sweet 7.1 home theater set up I still am amazed at the volume output and rich sound quality these nearly invisible speakers built into the Panasonic can produce. Be sure to use the surround feature on the menu and it is quite impressive (with the exception of too little low end). Remember, LCD tv’s are very bright (almost cartoonishly so) but bright does not equal accurate or natural. The plasma is superior and you will come to appreciate that in the long run!!
3 Stars Good Value
I bought this TV a few weeks ago and am still getting accustomed to its features and quirks. It is a second large screen TV in my home, placed in the bedroom. Granted, it is large for a bedroom, but our viewing distance to the TV warrants a larger image. This TV came home with me because of the combination of reviews here and on Consumer Reports, and the price point. Despite these good things going for it, rather than elation at my purchase, my experience thus far has been somewhat on the disappointing side.
My setup is very basic: standard def cable TV and DVD player. At first the cable TV hookup was via coax cable. The picture was nothing to write home about, less sharp than on my old 27 inch conventional TV. The first program I watched was “The Wizard of Oz” on TBS. The image was extremely dark, annoyingly so. Colors were very good, but I could not get around the degree of darkness in the dark scenes. Attempts to improve the brightness/ lower the black level were met with frustration; I couldn’t.
Reading info online subsequently pointed out you can only access the black level when “external devices” are plugged in. That means bump the connections up to S-video or component. (I would of course go to HDMI if I could, but my current cable box does not support it). Once I connected the cable via S-video, I was able to adjust and reduce the black level. That helped, but it is important to note the limited adjustment of black levels on this set: is either dark or light. That’s it; there are no gradations, nothing in between. That level of flexibility is inadequate. Compared to the flexibility of settings on my 46″ Samsung LCD, this unit falls far short in that area.
Sound on the unit is fine. I had no expectations that the TV’s audio would compare to that from even modest external speakers or home theatre setup. If I need oomph I need only move to my living room where a decent home theatre setup awaits. To its credit, there is the capability to ratchet the volume range a few notches beyond normal. This is valuable with my cable setup, as there are programs or times of day when the sound inexplicably drops and I have to crank it close to the max to hear it.
I watched a standard DVD on an older DVD player hooked to the TV via component cable. The image was fine, no complaints. After rearranging DVD players to hook a newer, up-converting player to the plasma via HDMI cable, the picture it produced was as good as I could have hoped for: clear, sharp, good color rendition and good black levels. Without a 1080P set side by side, I did not feel the 720p video capability on this set was a compromise. Higher end sources (digital cable, Blu-ray) might make a difference, but without a 1080p set right next to it in my home, I can’t compare, and so I don’t feel as though I have lost anything at 720p. That said, I do feel the image is much richer and more alive on my LCD. Despite favoring the LCD image, I went for this plasma due to the combination of reviews, larger screen size and lower price when compared to a 40 inch LCD. It was a stretch to convince my wife we “needed” this set; explaining an additional $250 expenditure given how little we watch TV in the bedroom would have been my undoing.
The specs for this set show it to have an anti-reflective screen filter. I find this helpful. However, the glossy black bezel surrounding the screen is highly reflective, so whatever reflections are not caught on the screen are bounced back from the bezel; disconcertingly so. The stand is also gloss black, and any specks of dust that land on it show very clearly.
Overall, and so far, the set meets my minimum criteria. It is a lower-end unit in Panasonic’s line, provides very good standard picture and sound, but there are important adjustment capabilities missing. While my situation did not warrant it, if this is going to be your main TV, spring for the extra $250 or so and buy the next level 1080P plasma or LCD set. The cost difference to bump up in quality and features will long have been forgotten in a few months’ time, you will future-proof your TV-viewing for a few years, and you will have a better set.
5 Stars Excellent TV
I bought the Panny TC-P42X1 to replace a relatively new Toshiba LCD for our bedroom.
This Panny is an outstanding tv in every respect. What I especially like is the strong volume this thing puts out. I could barely hear the Toshiba whereas this Panny can blast you out of the room at 60% volume setting.
This Panny is our 2nd plasma, the 1st one is still going strong in the family room. I will never own another LCD, they just don’t compare. If you have any doubts, just go to any showroom and press/depress the screen of each with your thumb, as if to leave a thumbprint……then make your choice.
4 Stars TV is good, but shipping is not.
Yes. 720P is enough. 42 inch is also enough for me (less than 3 meter distance).
CONS: But the channel scan is not perfect. 1st, each time you scan auto, the previous result is remove all. Because now is digital TV broadcast, so you may not scan all channel at one time due to antenna direction(if you haven’t cable service). That’s a problem for me. Sometimes I could found channel 4 and 11, but now I couldn’t while almost 44 channel are scan out.
Shipping is not so good. Pilot customer service seem to lie to me. They didn’t call me by shipping date. I called the customer service and she said they already called me but no answer. But my wife stayed in home all day, and there is answer system with my home phone. I really doubt they always play this tricky. Also the guys take the TV into my living room and mount the TV. But they left the package box.
5 Stars Great Plasma Buy
Excellent picture and features and great price. Although I still prefer my JVC rear projection TV for its picture and size, this TV is an excellent choice for a smaller room than our den. The only downside to this TV is the 720P limitation which would be an issue if you want to use it with Blueray or other high definition sources. On the plus side, it has an SD card reader that allows you set up a slide show with digital pictures. This TV replaced a smaller Vizio LCD TV and has a much better picture than the Vizio.
