Do You Really NEED High Def?

Author's Rating:

Pros: Fantastic picture, nice remote, stylish bezel, price.

Cons: Not HD, but does that mater when a TV looks this good? No media box.

The Bottom Line: 
Perhaps the best value in Plasma TVs on earth. And with a price this low and picture this good it's a damn fine value PERIOD.

Author's Review
When a TV looks this good, the question presents itself: Do you really NEED high definition? When the 42PD25U/p is examined carefully the answer becomes a little vague.

This Panasonic Plasma just looks so freak'n good, even with standard progressive DVDs you might just opt to save a few $$$$ and forget HD entirely. When we got this TV in our store (at the recommendation of our wholesaler) we were hard pressed to come up with a definitive answer ourselves.

The 42PD25U/p is, strictly speaking NOT an HD TV. It has all the features you expect in an HD set, NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuner with PIP, 16:9 widescreen format, Dolby Digital/PCM out, etc. It lacks a DVI input though, in favor of HDMI. The panel has a native resolution of 852x480 pixels, and
the TV's video processing hardware up (or down) samples all inputs to 480 progressive, also know as "Enhanced Definition". The results, especially at this low price point, are stunning.

One of Panasonic's newest designs this Plasma boasts an almost absurd 4000:1 (claimed) contrast ratio (thanks to a new dark cell masking technique) and a billion color decoder. Images on screen, despite being ever so slightly
less sharp than true HD are spectacularly deep and dynamic, with phenomenal black detail and extreme highlight extension. Also, Panasonic's proprietary video processor does a better job of smoothing interlaced inputs than some stand-alone video processors that cost as much as the whole 42PD25U/p!

Simply put, I believe this to be the best value in Plasma TVs that currently exists. I think a really good CRT direct view will still out-perform it as far as contrast and color detail, but at the expense of the Panasonic's svelte
wall-mountable design and 42" picture size.

Beyond the nearly supernatural picture quality, the 42PD25U/p offers a nice lighted universal remote, with a stylish and rugged brushed aluminum top, handy front panel a/v and computer inputs (VGA input is on the front panel
ONLY), and a built-in SD/MMC card reader for showing digital slide-shows on screen without connecting your camera or computer. The built in speakers are adequate, but not special, and when you are spending this much on a TV,
you really should invest in a good quality audio system to compliment it.

The Panasonic's menus are well laid-out and easy to understand, they also offer a wide range of picture and audio adjustment, no mater what the input source (one of the things that knocks Samsung DLP tv's and many others
down a notch in my book is the inability to adjust color when a digital HD, or computer source is used).

This TV just plain rocks! Some buyers who are looking for wall mount applications may be turned off by the fact that Panasonic's new panels (including the HD version of this TV, the 42PX25U/p) don't offer an external media box. This means that all inputs connect directly to the back of the
panel. This has the potential to create a wire bundle as big around as your arm. The Pioneer panels' external media box does simplify wall-mounting significantly, but until Pioneer updates it's panel technology the Panasonics
have them solidly beat.

10/9/2004:

A Recent price drop makes this set an even harder to beat deal! MAP is now set at only $2,999!!! Less reputable online sources have the 42PD25U/p listed as low as $2,195 but you take your chances buying from those sorts of places, remember Panasonic CAN and HAS refused to honor the waranty on products purchased from non-authorized dealers.

2/4/05

As a note to those on even tighter budgets or with space limitations; The 37" model 37PD25U/P offers all the performance of the 42" in a smaller package and at a price as low as $2,300! As an electronics retailer I see a lot of TVs and these Panasonics are a truely a value not to be missed. There just isn't ANYTHING at these prices that offers the picture quality or feature set that these Panasonics do.