richardjyoung
Member
These are the reflections of a newbie who having combed the pages of AVForums is one very delighted customer.
My last flat screen, a Toshiba Regza 37RV555D was not delivering the goods. HD Sports looked way inferior to the pictures seen on a pub panel. And then the on off switch broke. Time for an upgrade.
Horses for courses. I want as natural picture as possible and really dislike the garish cartoon colours which comes with an over saturated picture. It was trial and error with the Tosh to get the red turned down but no matter how much I tried the picture never looked natural.
Having read many reviews the plasma positives of better handling of black gave an impetus towards the Panasonic G20 screen series.
The TX-P42G20B has many favourable reviews. See AVForums.com - Panasonic TX-P42G20 Plasma HDTV Review
Panasonic TX-P42G20B review from TechRadar UK's expert reviews of Plasma and LCD TVs
The pictures looked great on a visit to the very friendly Pansonic Centre and for me better than the Sony - less saturared and more natural
So I have taken the plunge and 48 hours later I am DELIGHTED. If anything expectations have been exceeded. Why?
1. Believe me a 37" looks far bigger in a sitting room than a shop. Upgrading to the smallest plasma screen offered by Panasonic, 42" was a risk. Please to report that visually there is not much difference in the foot print.
2. Not as heavy a I feared
3. Some complain the look is dull. For I'd say more timeless and classic. Thin too. An elegant addition
4. The build feels so much classier than the Tosh. The on off button feels like it will withstand a million switching on and offs
5. Ease of set up. Out of the box and connected to a) a traditional TV Arial b) an HDMI cable from an AV amp connected to a Virgin+ HD box c) Ethernet cable into a powerline network Amazon.co.uk: powerline network to connect to the internet
Switched on and bingo. All terrestrial stations picked up. Switch the TV to HDMI 1 to get the signal from the AV amplifier that handles things like the Virgin Media and Playstation
6 Quality of picture. Wow. I must admit I thought the THX screen setting would be best but at first I was wrong. Out of the box normal setting with a Standard Definition (SD) picture for a terrestrial TV source was great. The signal via Virgin is significantly better. Cricket on Sky Sporst 1 HD was excellent. Could not test the screen using Freestat HD as not yet broadcast in our area.
7. No flicker. Some users report seeing a flickering screen. Not for me
8. No hum. Some users report a hum noise. Not on this TV
9 No blurring of motion on sports of film. Big selling point. You can see the finest detail as a cricket ball is hit for four ie not blurring that I can see
9. Fine tuning. This is not a deal breaker. Many users will be delighted with the out of the box settings. But they are missing a trick. A major point to consider is how much time you are prepared to invest changing the settings. Not rocket science and half a day understanding THX standards pays great dividends. The best starting point for me was Avforums Video Tutorials eg What is a great picture YouTube - Tutorial - What is a great picture!
I used the settings suggested by other users on the site
Contrast 33 (clicks from the left).
Brightness 31.
Colour 30.
Sharpness 0.
R-Gain +15.
B-gain +2.
R-Cut -9.
B-Cut +1.
All enhancements OFF.
Gamma 2.4
I then fine tuned using THX certified calibration screens. eg Digital Video Essentials [DVD] [2003]: Amazon.co.uk: Artist Not Provided: DVD
I am lucky enough to have a friend who already owned the above calibratoin DVD and came round and helped fine tune.
Ok we lost a few hours but if you like tinkering with settings this was great fun
Now when watching a blu ray disc like Serenity there are times you feel you are looking out of a window. BBC HD is amazing. The quality is stunning
10. Internet. OK it is a closed garden but YouTube and Skype are there. Hopefully more to come. My wirless Microsoft keyboard worked by just plugging into the USB connection
11. External recording facility but not explored as the Virgin + box does this for me
12. Picked up media streaming ie we can view the pictures and video stored on my pc downstairs on the TV. Should save some photo processing.
Bad points:
The sound. Oh dear. Distinctly average but not a problem for me as an AV amp (Onkyo) and speakers (Kef) drive the sound system
Outrageous price for the Panasonic TYCC10W Skype Enabled Camera And Microphone: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo
And I honestly cannot think of another fault.
OK it is not obvious about how to get to the Professional 1 and 2 screen to set up advanced screen settings Menu > Set Up > ISFccc ON > Picture Mode Pro1 or 2
Final thoughts
I had high hopes for the Panny. They have been greatly exceeded. The TX-P42G20B pictures is outstanding straight out of the box without any adjustments. With a few hours research, atch AVForum tutorials, a test screen dv and a willingness to change advanced settings you can get as near to perfection as you are ever going to get on a £800 TV.
If you are looking for cartoon characters, look at an LCD
Me: Im sold on Panasonic plasma. Rating: 6 stars.
My last flat screen, a Toshiba Regza 37RV555D was not delivering the goods. HD Sports looked way inferior to the pictures seen on a pub panel. And then the on off switch broke. Time for an upgrade.
Horses for courses. I want as natural picture as possible and really dislike the garish cartoon colours which comes with an over saturated picture. It was trial and error with the Tosh to get the red turned down but no matter how much I tried the picture never looked natural.
Having read many reviews the plasma positives of better handling of black gave an impetus towards the Panasonic G20 screen series.
The TX-P42G20B has many favourable reviews. See AVForums.com - Panasonic TX-P42G20 Plasma HDTV Review
Panasonic TX-P42G20B review from TechRadar UK's expert reviews of Plasma and LCD TVs
The pictures looked great on a visit to the very friendly Pansonic Centre and for me better than the Sony - less saturared and more natural
So I have taken the plunge and 48 hours later I am DELIGHTED. If anything expectations have been exceeded. Why?
1. Believe me a 37" looks far bigger in a sitting room than a shop. Upgrading to the smallest plasma screen offered by Panasonic, 42" was a risk. Please to report that visually there is not much difference in the foot print.
2. Not as heavy a I feared
3. Some complain the look is dull. For I'd say more timeless and classic. Thin too. An elegant addition
4. The build feels so much classier than the Tosh. The on off button feels like it will withstand a million switching on and offs
5. Ease of set up. Out of the box and connected to a) a traditional TV Arial b) an HDMI cable from an AV amp connected to a Virgin+ HD box c) Ethernet cable into a powerline network Amazon.co.uk: powerline network to connect to the internet
Switched on and bingo. All terrestrial stations picked up. Switch the TV to HDMI 1 to get the signal from the AV amplifier that handles things like the Virgin Media and Playstation
6 Quality of picture. Wow. I must admit I thought the THX screen setting would be best but at first I was wrong. Out of the box normal setting with a Standard Definition (SD) picture for a terrestrial TV source was great. The signal via Virgin is significantly better. Cricket on Sky Sporst 1 HD was excellent. Could not test the screen using Freestat HD as not yet broadcast in our area.
7. No flicker. Some users report seeing a flickering screen. Not for me
8. No hum. Some users report a hum noise. Not on this TV
9 No blurring of motion on sports of film. Big selling point. You can see the finest detail as a cricket ball is hit for four ie not blurring that I can see
9. Fine tuning. This is not a deal breaker. Many users will be delighted with the out of the box settings. But they are missing a trick. A major point to consider is how much time you are prepared to invest changing the settings. Not rocket science and half a day understanding THX standards pays great dividends. The best starting point for me was Avforums Video Tutorials eg What is a great picture YouTube - Tutorial - What is a great picture!
I used the settings suggested by other users on the site
Contrast 33 (clicks from the left).
Brightness 31.
Colour 30.
Sharpness 0.
R-Gain +15.
B-gain +2.
R-Cut -9.
B-Cut +1.
All enhancements OFF.
Gamma 2.4
I then fine tuned using THX certified calibration screens. eg Digital Video Essentials [DVD] [2003]: Amazon.co.uk: Artist Not Provided: DVD
I am lucky enough to have a friend who already owned the above calibratoin DVD and came round and helped fine tune.
Ok we lost a few hours but if you like tinkering with settings this was great fun
Now when watching a blu ray disc like Serenity there are times you feel you are looking out of a window. BBC HD is amazing. The quality is stunning
10. Internet. OK it is a closed garden but YouTube and Skype are there. Hopefully more to come. My wirless Microsoft keyboard worked by just plugging into the USB connection
11. External recording facility but not explored as the Virgin + box does this for me
12. Picked up media streaming ie we can view the pictures and video stored on my pc downstairs on the TV. Should save some photo processing.
Bad points:
The sound. Oh dear. Distinctly average but not a problem for me as an AV amp (Onkyo) and speakers (Kef) drive the sound system
Outrageous price for the Panasonic TYCC10W Skype Enabled Camera And Microphone: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo
And I honestly cannot think of another fault.
OK it is not obvious about how to get to the Professional 1 and 2 screen to set up advanced screen settings Menu > Set Up > ISFccc ON > Picture Mode Pro1 or 2
Final thoughts
I had high hopes for the Panny. They have been greatly exceeded. The TX-P42G20B pictures is outstanding straight out of the box without any adjustments. With a few hours research, atch AVForum tutorials, a test screen dv and a willingness to change advanced settings you can get as near to perfection as you are ever going to get on a £800 TV.
If you are looking for cartoon characters, look at an LCD
Me: Im sold on Panasonic plasma. Rating: 6 stars.
