Hello everyone,
So my Panasonic TX-P42G20 plasma arrived on saturday morning (just in time to watch us get Mullered by the Germans!) and i thought i would post my thoughts on it after having a few days with it, so here goes!
First off i was a bit worried when i found it was being delivered via City Link after a few horror stories on here but it was stored correctly in the van vertically (i helped it off the van) and arrived in perfect condition although the remote had come free and was loose within the box. It had caused no damage though so no harm done, phew.
Out of the box, and first impressions are very good indeed. The back of the tv is made completely from metal which installs confidence even if it is required for a plasma tv, and all the connections are solid and well placed with none of the fear of pushing through to the screen like i had with my Sony lcd's. The most impressive thing is the build quality of the entire tv as it all feels solid and very well put together and again a clear step up from the sony lcd's i have had previously and even the stand has an air of quality about it, the styling i rather like also but that is a matter of taste as to most it may well appear a little bland.
So down to picture then and upon turning the tv on there was no trace of flicker, no image retention issues but a very slight hint of phosphor trails during fast panning shots which i expect to lessen over time. There is a bit of buzzing emitted from the tv when you are close to the screen and it's certainly noisier than an lcd but from where i sit i can hear no trace of it. The picture quality i have to say is just flawless across all sources and is a joy to watch with all the noise and picture issues i had with lcd's not present atall and SD is handled brilliantly with a lovely natural image, and with bluray the picture only improves further with stunning colours, rich detail, natural motion and lovely dark inky blacks that reveal every bit of detail. I'm truly impressed with the picture although initially plasma seemed a little duller compared to lcd but now my eyes have adjusted it seems alot more natural.
There are so many menus on this tv however and i've not calibrated beyond some minor tweaks as i have no idea where to start so i stuck with the issf pro and THX modes which delivered lovely images out of the box. The menus are a bit badly laid out with so many different options it's hard to remember where you saw a particular feature, that then prompts lots of frustrating scrolling through the various menus but a bit of familiarity with the menu's should solve that and as i said before they are very comprehensive.
Sound from the tv's speakers is as you would expect with them being no substitute for a home cinema setup but for just watching a bit of tv they are quite good but as ever there is no real bass in evidence but the sound is better than average imo. Had a quick look at the online content on the tv and you get a Skype beta, YouTube, Eurosport, Dailymotion, ace trax (movies on demand), news and weather etc which is all nicely laid out and quick to connect. As for gaming it's a joy to play with so much less lag and all games benefit from this, the game mode i'm not so sold on though as it introduces overblown colours and contrast but with any other setting the picture quality is brilliant making for tempting long sessions!
So to sum up before this goes on any longer lol i am exremely happy with the 42G20 and so glad i never bought another lcd, this tv is clearly a step up from the sony ex503 and has a more premium feel to it. I love the plasma screen and doubt i would ever go back to lcd now unless it was a premium set, so a big thank you to everyone who suggested it!
....
(imagine a smiley there)
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