PanaSync/ProTM P50
PanaSync/Pr oTM P50 Specifications
CRT Screen Size Dot Pitch Surface Viewable Display Area (HxV) Factory Preset Full Scan Input Video Signal Sync Signal H-Sync V-Sync Modes Connector & Cables Video Input Mac Adapter Power Controls Front Panel 15" CRT (14.0"/35.6 cm Viewable Image Size) Flat-Square 0.27mm Silica Anti-Glare and Anti-Static Coating 10.70" x 8.03", 13.4" diagonal 11.25" x 8.44", 14.0" diagonal (typical) RGB analog (0,7 Vp-p, 1.0 Vp-p with Sync-on-Green, 75 ohms) H/V separate (TTL), H/V combined, or Sync-on-Green 30-70kHz 50-180Hz 1 Factory Preset, 7 Reservations, 13 User Memories One 15-pin Male Mini D-Sub on attached cable (4.92'/1.5 meters) Available-Free of Charge One UL 3-pole (CEE 22 type) (5.91'/1.8 meters) Left Select key, Right Select key (manual Degauss wo/OSD), Left Adjust key, Right Adjust Key, Power Switch (On/Off) LED power indicator Green=On, Yellow=Power-saving mode Contrast, Brightness, Recall (Factory Setting), H. Position, H. Size, V. Position, V. Size, V. Pincushion, Side Pincushion Balance, Trapezoid, Parallelogram, Color Temperature (9,300 + 8 MPDCD/7500K/6550K/ 5000K/User Color), OSD Position, Display Frequency (H&V), Video Level (0.7/1.0 Vp-p), Rotation, EXIT, Language (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian & Japanese), Monitor Self-Test (w/no Signal Input) 86MHz (typical) 1,280 dots x 1,024 lines 60Hz NI FCC Class B, Max. 1,280 dots x 1,024 lines 66Hz NI FCC Class A, Max.* 32-95F 5%-90% Non-condensing 14.6" (W) x 15.0" (H) x 16.2" (D) 26.9 lbs (Typical) UL, CUL=CSA, DHHS, HWC, TCO'92, MPR II, FCC Class B, CE, IC-B (DOC B) VESA DPMS/Energy Star 90 to 264V AC (50 or 60Hz), Automatic 85 Watts (Typical) <30 Watts <30 Watts <5 Watts 3 Years Limited Parts & Labor, 1 Year On-Site Replacement (see your dealer for details) Windows '95 Plug & Play 24-hour/7-day customer service 48-hour Swap Program
On-Screen Adjustment Menu 1,280 x 1,024 Maximum Resolution NI MPR II Certified
Indicators On-Screen Menu
Video Bandwidth Resolution (HxV)
.27mm Dot Pitch Silica Anti-Glare and Anti-Static Coating 48-Hour Swap / 3-Year Limited Warranty
All product/brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Specifications subject to change without notice. Product may be subject to export control regulations. Copyright 1997 Matsushita Electric Corporation of America. All rights reserved.
Operating Conditions Temperatur e Humidity Dimensions Weight Approvals Power Consumption Supply On Standby Suspend Off Warranty Other

O n l i n e

S p e c

S h e e t

Panasonic Computer Peripheral Company Division of Panasonic Communications & Systems Company Unit of Matsushita Electric Corporation of America Display Monitors Division Headquarters: 2 Panasonic Way, Secaucus, NJ 07094
w w w. p a n a s o n i c. c o m / a l i v e
*This monitor may only be used in a commercial, business or industrial environment at resolutions above 1,280 x 1,024 60Hz.

Review Roundup by PC Magazine: How to Buy a Plasma TV

How to Buy a Plasma TV

ARTICLE DATE: 03.31.06 SPEC DATA By Robert Heron Pioneer Electronics offered the first plasma display panel to consumers in 1997, and the public immediately embraced the idea of owning a thin and flat television that you could literally hang on a wall. Prices for plasma TVs have reached a historic low, and for larger screen sizes, plasma displays offer the best value among thin and flat televisions. They are an ideal choice for quality home-theater viewing, and selecting the right one is a matter of understanding your needs and staying within your budget. Modern plasma displays are capable of producing very dark blacks, making them well suited for viewing in dimly lit environments. They also excel at handling video containing quick motion. For sports and action-movie fans, there is no better flat-panel display technology available today. Making critical image comparisons under typical store lighting is difficult at best. Pay attention to shadow detail, particularly within faces. Look for natural, smooth shadow transitions that don't sacrifice detail in the darkest portions of the image. Plasma displays that claim a 60,000-hour lifespan (the time until they are half as bright as a new unit) are typically using the latest generation of plasma panels. These panels provide a smoother transition between finely graduated light and dark detail than older designs do. Another quick check for evaluating a plasma display's ability to display black is with letterboxed movies. If the black bars in the movie appear dark-gray instead of inky black, the unit's brightness may be set too high or it may be using older technology. A good way to start narrowing a list of potential plasma display purchases is to determine the screen size that suits your space requirements and budget. Common plasma display sizes range from 37 inches to 65 inches (screen measured diagonally), and the larger ones usually cost more. There are commercial models as big as 80 inches, but few people are willing to spend a six-figure sum for a TV the size of a queen-sized bed. LCD TVs measuring 65 inches cost twice as much as similarly sized plasma displays. Resolution is another factor in the cost and image quality of a plasma display. For pixel-based display devices like plasma televisions, native resolution refers to the number of unique pixels provided along the display's horizontal and vertical axes. For displays 50 inches and larger, the native resolution matches or slightly exceeds the resolution delivered in a 720p HDTV broadcast signal. Pioneer recently announced its PRO-FHDI 50-inch plasma display, which will offer 1080p native resolution (1,920 by 1,080 pixels), effectively doubling the number of pixels offered by current 50-inch panels. The more pixels a display offers for its screen size, the closer to the screen a viewer can sit without noticing the display's pixel structure. For plasma TVs smaller than 50 inches, things get slightly more complicated. Their resolution ranges from 852 by 480 pixels (enhanced definition) to 1,024 by 1,024 pixels. Any widescreen TV that offers at least 720 lines of vertical resolution is considered a high-definition display. Horizontal resolution is not factored into that definition. Many 42-inch HD plasma displays provide a native resolution of 1,024 by 768 pixels. These and smaller displays have lower horizontal resolution than the 50-inch and larger models; that is offset somewhat by their smaller size, but smaller plasma TVs will lose some image detail when formatting a widescreen HDTV picture into their native resolution. Another important aspect to consider is integrated features, particularly A/V inputs. Digital video input provides the best image quality with plasma displays, and a connection called HDMI has become the de facto standard. HDMI's primary advantage over DVI (offered on PCs and older HDTVs) is that it can carry audio and video signals over a single connection. HDMI is a common connection offered on upscaling DVD players and HD set-top boxes. A plasma display that offers a single HDMI input will limit your options over the long term. Most new plasma displays provide two HDMI inputs, and I advise you not to settle for less. Component video input offers the best image quality among the analog video inputs provided on TVs today. If you want an integrated over-the-air TV tuner or CableCard slot, make sure that the display you are considering offers those features as well. Where the A/V inputs on a plasma display are located is yet another key consideration. While most provide the A/V connections on the back, some models offer external boxes that incorporate the display's A/V inputs. Which is better is mostly a matter of personal preference, but one advantage of housing the A/V connections in an external box is that the inputs can be located closer to the A/V components that will feed into them. Also, external A/V input boxes reduce the number of cables connected to the rear of the display, simplifying cable management. But most plasma displays that have an external A/V input box cost more than ones with integrated connections. Most plasma displays include stereo speakers. Though a decent surround-sound setup will provide a more compelling listening experience, the speakers bundled with most plasma displays are typically easier to set up and use. Some displays have side-mounted speakers, which make the unit wider and may mean the difference between a perfect fit or doing without. Some inexpensive plasma TVs have permanently attached speakers, which you may want to avoid for aesthetic reasons. Finally, consider where you make your purchase. Many online retailers can offer a lower price, but unless they are manufacturer-approved resellers, the company will not honor the factory warranty on the unit. If in doubt, check the manufacturer's Web site or contact it directly. Below are four plasma televisions I recently tested. Two, the Dell 5001C and the Vizio P50 HDM, are 50-inch plasma displays, and the NEC 42XR4 and the Panasonic TH-42PX50U are 42-inch units. The P50, the least expensive one, has set the standard for the features and performance you should expect from future lowpriced challengers. Read on to find out if one of these plasma displays will fulfill your viewing needs without taking over all of your living space. Compare the products in this roundup

Dell W5001C

REVIEW DATE: 03.14.06 BOTTOM LINE: The Dell W5001C, the company's first 50-inch plasma display, is a disappointment. Viewing HD video via component input or HDMI produced a picture that was vertically squeezed, and shadows and other dark detail in the videos we watched were marred by severe color shifts. PROS: Good sound quality. CONS: Picture is vertically squeezed when viewing HD video via HDMI or component video input. Component and most other analog video inputs introduced noise and other artifacts into the picture. Severe color shifting noted in dark scenes. COMPANY: Dell, Inc. SPEC DATA Price: $3,799.00 List Screen Size (Diagonal): 50 inches Video Inputs: Composite, HDMI, RF, S-Video PC Interfaces: Analog VGA Native Resolution: 1366 x 768 pixels Supported EDTV and HDTV Resolutions: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i Built-in TV Tuner (Type): NTSC, ATSC Rated Maximum Viewing Angle: Horizontal: 160 degrees Rated Maximum Viewing Angle: Vertical: 160 degrees Rated Contrast Ratio: 2100:1 Individual Settings per Input: Yes EDITOR RATING: By Robert Heron The Dell W5001C 50-inch High Definition Plasma ($3,799 list) represents the company's first foray into 50inch territory. Unfortunately, the results were disappointing. Image quality with most analog sources was noisy, and all inputs introduced color errors and other artifacts into video containing dark scenes. Worst of all, HD video viewed via component input or HDMI produced a picture that was vertically squeezed, resulting in flattened imagery. The W5001C offers above-average audio quality for a TV, but we've seen better deals on similarly sized plasmas that deliver the picture quality you'd expect from a high-definition display. Setting up the W5001C was simplified by a factory-attached table stand. A pair of tall, slender 20-watt (40 watts total) stereo speakers can be attached to the sides of the TV or mounted on the included table stand. Dell has a history of building its plasma TVs with above-average quality audio, and we found that the W50001C's speakers produced a pleasingly warm sound with good bass response for TV speakers. The remote control bundled with the W5001C is a slender, backlit design that's comfortable to hold and operate with one hand. It took some time to get used to the location of its menu-navigation controls, at the top of the remote, as the circular control pad in the center is used for channel and volume adjustments. The remote provides no learning or other universal control functions, but we had no trouble programming our Harmony 659 remote to work with the W5001C. The W5001C's 50-inch screen provides a native resolution of 1,366 by 768 pixels. The main A/V input block is centered on the rear of the display along the lower edge and includes two HDMI inputs, two sets of component inputs, and a VGA input for PC use. A secondary A/V input block conveniently located on the right side of the display provides S-Video and composite video inputs. The W5001C features integrated digital and analog TV tuners that were effective at receiving our local broadcast stations. Its lack of a CableCard slot shouldn't be a concern for most people. For PC use, the W5001C's VGA input offered the best viewing experience with detailed imagery and no sign of overscan (picture stretched beyond the edges of the active portion of the display). Digital PC input is possible using a DVI-to-HDMI cable, but full-screen, progressive resolution support is reduced slightly, to 1,280 by 720 (720p) pixels. This resulted in an overscanned picture that lacked the clarity of TV's VGA input. Unfortunately, HD input (PC or video) via HDMI or component video produced an image that was stretched horizontally, making the picture look vertically squeezed (incorrect aspect ratio). This problem appeared at both 720p and 1080i video resolutions, and the W5001C's lack of image-size controls left us no way to compensate for the flattened picture. We were disappointed with the W5001C's out-of-the-box picture quality. Blacks were grayish, and there was obvious banding (false contouring) in videos containing scenes with finely graduated light-to-dark transitions. The picture improved after calibration, but the banding persisted. In addition, a reddish-purple color was apparent in shadows and other dark portions of the picture. This clearly inaccurate representation distracted from the viewing experience. The W5001C is a classic case of where the lab results don't tell the whole story. It produced an impressive ANSI contrast ratio of 953:1, and its image uniformity ranked among the best we've seen. Color-gamut measurements revealed an overemphasized green that was shifted slightly toward blue. Blue was slightly lacking, but this is common with most televisions. Color-tracking measurements revealed blues were overemphasized at the dark end of the scale while greens were underemphasizedthe cumulative result being a reddish-purple color that correlated well with our subjective viewing experience. In comparison, the Vizio P50 HDM produced a slightly lower contrast ratio and similar color-gamut results, but color tracking was very consistent, with none of the distracting errors we saw on the W5001C. On the HQV Benchmark DVD, which provides a good measurement for how well a particular high-definition TV will look when viewing regular television, the Dell W5001C scored below average. This is partly because it has no noise-reduction controls. The HQV test for noise reduction in scenes containing motion uses a static shot of a roller coaster track with a background containing mostly blue skies and clouds that are laden with noise artifacts. Every time the roller coaster entered the frame, the W5001C would cause the noise artifacts to pulse, as if some ineffective form of noise reduction were enabled and disabled repeatedly. The Vizio P50 had its own issues with motion-adaptive noise-reduction, but it provided user controls that helped it score well with the other HQV noise-reduction tests. In addition, the P50 did better at suppressing the jagged-edge artifacts that can occur when deinterlacing is not properly performed. On a positive note, the W5001C's 3:2 pulldown function engaged quickly, preserving detail and minimizing moir artifacts in the HQV test's film-sourced racetrack scene. We talked to Dell about the color problems we encountered with the W5001C, and the company is aware of the issues. It is trying to figure out how to resolve them, by either a firmware update or combination of settings to minimize the problem. The Dell W5001C's overall image quality was a disappointment, an almost unforgivable thing in a highdefinition display. The unit's decent TV tuners and audio performance were completely overshadowed by its inability to scale HD imagery properly when using HDMI or component-video inputs. The color shifts we noted in shadows or other dark detail were an additional distraction that sealed the W5001C's fate. The Vizio P50 HDM is another 50-inch plasma TV that lists for more than $1,000 less than the W5001C, and it provides consistently good image quality. Which one would you recommend to a friend?

Sub-ratings:

Image Quality: Value: Usability:

Benchmark Test Results:

Calibrated using the display's front controls HDMI video input @ 720p Objective Testing (higher is better): VESA Uniformity (black): 92.9% (excellent) VESA Uniformity (white): 96.4% (excellent) ANSI contrast ratio: 953:1 (excellent) More plasma display reviews:

NEC 42XR4

REVIEW DATE: 03.22.06 BOTTOM LINE: The NEC 42XR4 offers the best picture quality of any 42-inch plasma TV we have seen to date. But its premium price doesn't include many extras, the remote is near-useless in the dark, and to get the most out of it you'll need to have it professionally calibrated. PROS: Exceptional image quality. Comprehensive display control options. CONS: Remote lacks backlight. No extras bundled in. Pricey. COMPANY: NEC Visual Systems Division SPEC DATA Price: $3,995.00 Street Screen Size (Diagonal): 42 inches Video Inputs: Component, Composite, HDMI, S-Video PC Interfaces: Analog VGA Native Resolution: 1024 x 768 pixels Supported EDTV and HDTV Resolutions: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i Rated Maximum Viewing Angle: Horizontal: 160 degrees Rated Maximum Viewing Angle: Vertical: 160 degrees Rated Contrast Ratio: 1001:1 Individual Settings per Input: Yes EDITOR RATING: By Robert Heron The NEC 42XR4 ($3,995 list) is the most impressive a 42-inch plasma display panel that PC Magazine has tested to date. It doesn't include many extras, and its advanced picture controls demand professional setup, but with some tweaking, this TV's accurate and faithful video reproduction is a pleasure for the eyes. Except for the power cord and remote control, all accessories for the 42XR4, such as speakers and mounting hardware, must be purchased separately. The benefit of this la carte arrangement is that owners don't pay extra for things they may not want or use. The downside, of course, is that they must consider their setup needs and purchase the appropriate hardware for the display. For our review, NEC provided the remarkably sturdy PXST2U ($292 list) swivel table stand, which offers about 10 degrees of rotation left and right (20 degrees total). This is definitely not a plug-and-play display; securing the 60-pound 42XR4 onto its new perch is best accomplished with the aid of a second pair of hands. Comfortable handholds on the rear of the 42XR4 helped reduce the risk of damage to the display (or to the people lifting it) during setup. The 42XR4's thin black bezel has a matte finish, which helps suppress the reflection of ambient light sources. Silver trim outlining the edge of the display was attractive yet not distracting. The on-display controls located under the left side of the 42XR4 are slightly recessed into the frame, keeping them out of sight but still accessible. A small power indicator light on the bottom right edge was appropriately unnoticeable unless you looked for it. The included remote control is a slender, comfortable device with relatively few buttons. The remote performed flawlessly when we tried it from various angles and distances, but as it has no backlight and the keys don't glow, it's pretty hard to use in dimly lit environments. All A/V inputs on the 42XR4 are grouped on a downward-facing block on the rear of the display. The selection of connections includes two HDMI inputs, a pair of component video inputs, and a VGA input for PC use. The tight clearance between the inputs and the top of the table stand required our premium cables to make a 90-degree bend close to the connection. But this configuration did prevent the cables from being visible from the front of the display. The 42XR4 is officially labeled a monitor, since it lacks a television tuner (DTV or otherwise). For cable and satellite set-top box users, the lack of a tuner is mostly irrelevant. But an integrated DTV tuner would have been a useful inclusion for those who enjoy the superb quality of digital broadcast television. The 42XR4 has a native resolution of 1,024 by 768 pixels. That means that it has 150,000 fewer pixels than a standard 720p broadcast signal. In general, 42-inch plasma TVs such as the 42XR4 are considered high-definition displays, since they offer at least 720 lines of vertical resolution. Horizontal resolution is not a factor in the established definition of what counts as "HD." After connecting our standard and high-definition sources, I found the 42XR4's default brightness (black level) settings caused the darker details of the picture to disappear into the background. Color saturation appeared good, but the monitor's default color temperature resulted in whites appearing a bit cool (bluish). The default picture settings for displays are rarely optimal (except for standing out on a store shelf), so increasing the 42XR4's brightness and adjusting the color temperature preset to low returned the lost dark details while producing the most natural-looking imagery to my trained eyes. The 42XR4's menu system appears bland when compared with some of the more colorful interfaces we've seen on other consumer televisions (Samsung's TVs spring immediately to mind), but though the simple text menus lack visual appeal, they are easy to read and navigate. And for professional calibrators and videophiles, the 42XR4 offers an advanced menu that provides a comprehensive set of image controls that are second only to those on the Brillian 6501mPB in terms of available options from a user-accessible menu. Contrast ratios, certainly the most abused statistic in the world of consumer televisions, are calculated by measuring the light output of a white test pattern and dividing the result by a similar measurement of a black test pattern. By itself, this dynamic range calculation doesn't reveal how bright an image a particular display will produce, nor if the display's representation of black will appear inky dark or have more of a grayish glow. Interestingly, the specs for the 42XR4 listed on the company's Web site don't include contrast-ratio information. But after calibration, the 42XR4 produced an ANSI contrast ratio of 1,001:1, the best among all displays (plasma or otherwise) that we have tested to date. Impressive black-level measurements (0.15 Cd/m^2) were responsible for that outstanding result, and only in a pitch-black room (like our test lab) would you notice the slight glow of video black on this display. Compared with the Panasonic TH-42PX50U, a more affordable 42-inch plasma TV, the 42XR4's black levels were almost three times as dark, improving the perception of contrast in the picture, particularly in dimly lit viewing environments. When you are viewing letterboxed movies, the black bars will appear black instead of dark-gray. Prior to calibration, the 42XR4 exhibited a slight greenish tint in the darkest portions of the grayscale, with the image becoming more bluish toward the bright (white) end of the scale. I also noticed greenish dark grays in the black bars of letterboxed movies such as The Fifth Element. These color-tracking errors were corrected using the 42XR4's advanced menu features, and post-calibration, the display's response was admirably consistent. The 42XR4 is better than most displays "out of the box," but proper calibration, including black-level and color adjustments, transform a relatively good plasma TV into one that grabs your attention with its natural-looking imagery. More important, the necessary controls were accessible from the user menus and didn't require a trip into the arcane world of a display's internal service menus. Considering that 42-inch high-definition plasma displays have lower resolution than 50-inch (or larger) models, the 42XR4 was better than other 42-inch plasmas we have seen at scaling video into its native resolution. HDMI video input provided the best overall imagery; component video input introduced slight amounts of noise with 720p and 1080i signals. The 42XR4 passed aspect-ratio and geometry tests with all resolutions and inputs. This means a video image of a circle will appear circular and not flattened or otherwise stretched, as we saw recently with the Dell W5001C. Overscan with widescreen video formats was less than one percent, which is very good. I use the HQV Benchmark DVD to evaluate a display's video-processing performance when displaying standard definition (480i) contentsimilar to traditional broadcast television. The 42XR4 managed a good HQV result by providing excellent noise-reduction abilities without softening image detail. Deinterlacing was also impressive, with no noted jagged edges in the synthetic portions of the test or in the video clip of the waving flag. The classic racetrack scene that uses film-based video (24 frames per second) revealed that 3:2 pulldown engaged quickly, preventing distracting moir artifacts from appearing in the grandstands. This indicates that the video processor is throwing away half of the visual information. The beginning of chapter 12 of the DVD movie Gladiator is a great check for 3:2 pulldown problems, as the slow panning shot of the bird statue with its horizontal lines can turn into a jagged, blurry mess if not properly processed. The 42XR4 handled this challenging scene perfectly. The 42XR4 is a 42-inch plasma display that, post-calibration, delivered the most impressive imagery that we have seen from any plasma TV in its class. Subjectively, both DVD movies and HDTV appear pleasingly correct, with accurate colors and detailed imagery. The 42XR4 strikes me as a great plasma display that was designed for professional installation. The la carte accessories and the advanced menu options (which can be hidden when not in use) are ideal for customizing the display to its owner. Yes, the 42XR4 costs more than most other 42-inch plasma displays, but I have yet to see a 42-inch TV come this close to image perfection. Continue Reading

Post-calibration results HDMI video input @ 720p
Objective Testing (higher is better): VESA Uniformity (black): 87.5% (good) VESA Uniformity (white): 94.2% (very good) ANSI contrast ratio: 1001:1 (excellent) Compare the HDTV's mentioned above side by side More plasma display reviews:

Panasonic TH-42PX50U

REVIEW DATE: 11.03.05 BOTTOM LINE: The Panasonic TH-42PX50U is a capable entry-level plasma television that provides impressive imagery when displaying DVD video, but it lacks the resolution required to show the finer details of HDTV. PROS: Good color quality right out of the box. Appealing style. Well-designed remote control. CONS: Only one digital video input. Non-removable speaker. Limited image-scaling options. Lacks advanced color controls. No picture-in-picture options. COMPANY: Panasonic Matsushita Electric Corporation of America SPEC DATA Price: $2,999.95 List Screen Size (Diagonal): 42 inches Video Inputs: Component, Composite, HDMI, RF, S-Video Native Resolution: 1024 x 768 pixels Supported EDTV and HDTV Resolutions: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i Built-in TV Tuner (Type): NTSC, ATSC, CableCard Rated Contrast Ratio: 3000:1 Individual Settings per Input: Yes EDITOR RATING: By Robert Heron The Panasonic TH-42PX50U ($2,999.95 list) is the latest iteration of the company's entry-level 42-inch highdefinition plasma television. The appealingly styled TH-42PX50U offers a quality viewing experience right out of the box, but there are competitors that offer comparable image quality and more digital input options. The TH-42PX50U has a native resolution of 1,024-by-768 (non-square pixels), so it isn't a high-definition device in the truest sense, since it doesn't have enough pixels to draw a 1,280-by-720 (720p) HDTV image. Nevertheless, 1,024-by-768 remains a common resolution for "HD" plasma TVs of this size, and it will be at least another year before we see a 42-inch plasma TV with native 720p resolution. Setting up the TH-42PX50U involves some minor assembly of the included table stand. We'd recommend a second pair of hands when hoisting the 76-pound TV onto its perch. Handholds on the rear of the display make the task easier. A matte black bezel (2.75 inches wide along the side and 1.5 along the top and bottom) complements the television's silver finish. A fixed stereo speaker enclosure positioned below the active portion of the display incorporates control buttons and an unobtrusive power-indicator light. A/V connections are centered on the rear of the display and include one HDMI port, a pair of component video inputs, and a CableCARD slot. Integrated ATSC/NTSC tuners allow for reception of over-the-air digital TV and analog broadcasts. The lack of DVI or VGA inputs is somewhat disappointing. An LCD or larger plasma TV that offers higher resolution would better serve people who plan to use a TV as a PC display. The absence of a second digital video input (DVI or HDMI) is also limiting. Owners of multiple video components that support digital output will either have to pick which one to connect to the single inputor add a costly switcher. The remote control, however, ranks as one of the best we've seen. The slender shape makes it easy to operate with one hand, and its face isn't overly crowded with buttons. We're pleased that every button is fully illuminated by the backlight and clearly labeled. The remote can control up to six additional A/V components when programmed using codes provided in the manual, but offers no learning function for use with unlisted devices. We were also pleased with the default picture quality, and three presets (standard, cinema, and vivid mode) provide a quick way to optimize the picture for lighting conditions. The automatic color-management did a fair job of maintaining proper color and tint levels, but our objective tests later showed we could achieve better color accuracy by disabling the feature and manually configuring the color settings. Subjectively, DVD movies appeared crisp and detailed, and we found little difference in the resulting image when feeding the display 480i component video or a 720p signal via HDMI from our upconverting Denon DVD-3910 DVD player. As expected, image quality using the integrated over-the-air HD tuner was quite good. The tuner was sensitive enough to pick up all of our local stations with ease, but we were disappointed that the only channel listing provided was a favorites list you have to configure manually. In addition, there are no image scaling/stretching options for HD content. This is fine for widescreen HDTV, but content with a 4:3 aspect ratio that is broadcast in HD gets sandwiched between pillar bars along the left and right sidessomething that even the manual warns may cause "permanent after-image" if displayed for an extended period. Our results with the challenging Silicon Optix HQV Benchmark DVD tests revealed the TH-42PX50U's video processor to be quite adept at suppressing MPEG and video noise artifacts without sacrificing image detail. Deinterlacing standard-definition video into the display's native progressive format resulted in well-defined detail, with only a hint of flicker in one of the more challenging test patterns. Film-mode detection (enabling 3:2 pulldown) was slower than it should be, but effective once enabled. In the lab, we found that the not-quite-HD resolution prevented the set from fully resolving the finer details of our 720p and 1080i test patterns. Further visual examination using over-the-air broadcast HDTV confirmed the sacrifice of some image detail when displaying HD content. Compared with the native 1080p (1,920-by-1,080 progressive) resolution of the Westinghouse LVM-37w1 (stay tuned for our review of this display), HD imagery on the TH-42PX50U appeared softer and less distinct. One obvious example came from a close-up of a person's face: The Westinghouse display revealed fine wrinkles and blemishes, whereas the Panasonic gave the person's skin more of a smoothed, made-up look, with fewer apparent flaws. In another examplea tennis matchalthough the net at midcourt looked fine on the Panasonic, but the Westinghouse's high resolution also revealed the net's fine structure, including its knots and twists. Our luminance uniformity measurements revealed no major shortcomings. Bright and dark results were just above average among the plasma TVs we have reviewed to date. The average contrast ratio when tested with a checkerboard pattern was a respectable 279:1 (HDMI input). In comparison, the Editors' Choice 42-inch Dell W4200HD Plasma TV delivered an impressive average contrast ratio of 506:1, with a slightly better dark measurement and brighter whites. But the W4200HD's uniformity was slightly worse than that of the TH-42PX50U. Although the TH-42PX50U provided better color quality right out of the box, the W4200HD delivered a picture that was just over 20 percent brighterbetter for viewing environments with high levels of ambient light. Though the Dell/Panasonic comparison is almost too close to call, our previous review of the Maxent MX-42XM11 is a good reminder that the most affordable plasma TVs typically sacrifice features and performance to achieve their low price. Dell and Panasonic plasma televisions provide relatively good default picture quality (more so with Panasonic), and metrics such as contrast ratio change little after basic display calibration (properly set brightness, contrast, and color settings). The lower-priced Maxent lacks an over-the-air tuner, and performing basic calibration reduced its measured contrast ratio by two-thirds. The Panasonic TH-42PX50U is a good choice if you need a plasma television with an integrated CableCARD slot, and you can get by with a single digital video input. The Dell W4200HD lacks CableCARD support, but provides more digital and PC-friendly video inputs and has removable speakers. As they both cost the same, the decision comes down to your technical needs and your sense of aesthetic appeal. The TH-42PX50U is an ideal display for DVD movies, but neither it nor any other 42-inch plasma TV we have seen can reveal the finer details of HDTV. Compare the plasma displays mentioned above side by side Don't miss the Panasonic TH-42PX50U's Ratings and Test Results.

Benchmark Results:

Factory default display settings Component video input @ 720p Objective Testing (higher is better): Measured Contrast Ratio: 279:1 (good) VESA White Uniformity: 93.8% (good) VESA Black Uniformity: 86.4% (good) More plasma display reviews:

Vizio P50 HDM

REVIEW DATE: 03.09.06 BOTTOM LINE: The Vizio P50 HDM is the least expensive 50-inch plasma display I've seen to date, and I came away impressed by its good overall picture quality and selection of A/V inputs. Although not perfect, its few flaws are easier to accept knowing that it's an amazing value for a true high-definition plasma display. PROS: Excellent value. Good image quality with standard and high-definition video. Clean, easy-to-navigate menu system. CONS: Slight banding artifact (false contouring) in dark scenes. Some scaling issues with 1080i video sources. COMPANY: V, Inc. SPEC DATA Price: $2,599.99 List Screen Size (Diagonal): 50 inches Video Inputs: Composite, HDMI, S-Video PC Interfaces: Analog VGA Native Resolution: 1366 x 768 pixels Supported EDTV and HDTV Resolutions: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i Rated Maximum Viewing Angle: Horizontal: 170 degrees Rated Maximum Viewing Angle: Vertical: 170 degrees Individual Settings per Input: Yes EDITOR RATING: By Robert Heron Contrary to what TV manufacturers tell you, true high-definition (1,280-by-720) plasma displays start at 50 inches. The Vizio P50 HDM ($2,499.99 direct) is the least expensive I've seen to date, and I was pleased by its attractiveness and imagery. The picture quality wasn't flawless, and the set lacks a couple of noncritical features found on more expensive HDTVs, but it is an amazing value for a modern high-definition plasma monitor. I unpacked the P50 from its white and orange box to reveal an HD display bordered by an attractive glossy black bezel complete with a factory-attached, oval-shaped table stand that's removable for wall mounting. On-display control buttons on the lower right side of the monitor are easy to access and operate. Volume was ample, for TV speakers, from the permanently attached units below the screen, but the sound became a bit tinny and harsh at maximum levels. The slight dog-bone shape of the remote makes it quite comfortable to hold and operate with one hand. The buttons lack a backlight and don't glow, so use in dimly lit environments is a challenge. The remote can control additional A/V devices such as DVD players and cable boxes, using a list of component codes you'll find in the manual but can't learn functions for devices not listed there. All A/V inputs face down and are centered on the back along the lower edge. Input connections include two for HDMI, a pair for component video, and one VGA for use with PCs. The P50 is technically an HD monitor; it lacks an integrated digital television tuner and has no CableCard slot as a result. For those with cable or satellite settop boxes, the lack of a tuner isn't much of an issue. But the recent FCC mandate requiring TVs 25 inches and larger that are sold in the United States to include digital tuners suggests that an updated model may soon replace the P50. The set's native resolution is 1,366 by 768 pixels. In use with a PC, the VGA input allowed full access to the display's native resolution, providing crisp, attractive imagery with no signs of overscan (stretching of the picture beyond the edges of the display's active portion). Connecting a PC to the monitor using a DVI-to-HDMI cable limited us to a slightly lower progressive resolution of 1,280-by-720 (720p) and introduced just a hint (less than 1 percent) of overscan. Unlike the Dell W5001C plasma television, the P50 properly displayed 720p video whether using HDMI or component video inputs. The 1080i video sources, though, were stretched vertically (the opposite problem the W5001C had), resulting in an improper aspect ratio. The error was not as severe as with the W5001C, but the P50 has no image-resizing functions that could correct the problem. The display produced an ANSI contrast ratio of 638:1 in our lab measurements, the second-highest, behind the Dell W5001C, I've recorded to date. Both displays exhibited remarkably similar white measurements and impressively dark black levelsproducing some of the best results I've seen from plasma displays at any price. But note that contrast ratios, which are certainly the most-abused statistic in consumer televisions, are calculated by measuring the light output of a white test pattern and dividing the result by a similar measurement of a black test pattern. By itself, this dynamic range calculation doesn't reveal how bright the image will be from a particular display, nor if the display's representation of black will appear inky dark or have more of a grayish glow. The P50 color gamut was similar to the W5001C's, with green overemphasized and blue slightly lacking (typical of most consumer televisions). The green emphasis can make a half-dead lawn look livelier or the turf of your favorite sporting arena pop, but I didn't find the effect distracting or unpleasant during my subjective viewing tests. Unlike the W5001C (thankfully), when I measured color tracking, the P50 was a consistent performer from minimum to maximum intensities, showing no color-shifting anywhere on the scale. Light- and dark-screen uniformity was average among the plasma displays I've seen. I use the HQV Benchmark test DVD to evaluate a display's video processing performance when displaying standard definition (480i) contentsimilar to traditional broadcast television. With the limited amount of highdefinition programming available to most viewers, the HQV benchmark test provides a good measurement of how well a particular high-definition display will look when viewing regular television. The P50's Faroudja DCDi video processor helped it post the second-best HQV result of all displays I've tested to date. Granted, the average score of the units I've tested using HQV is about half the total possible, but the P50 was about 20 percent above the average. The results benefited from menu settings that let you adjust digital and motion-based noise reduction. Digital noise reduction is critical for suppressing artifacts common to DVD video and other compressed digital video formats, and the P50's medium setting performed admirably without noticeably softening image detail. The motion-based noise reduction worked well, but at its medium setting it introduced a trailing ghost image of the moving roller coaster in the test's amusement-park scene. For film-based (24-frame-per-second) video, common with many DVD movies, 2:3 pulldown engaged quickly, preserving detail and suppressing potential moir artifacts that appear in the grandstands of the racetrack scene. The Vizio P50 HDM impressed me with its attractive design and good image quality when using 720p and PC video sources. Its lack of a digital tuner and its scaling issues with 1080i content make it best suited for use with a set-top box that provides content scaled to the display's preferred 720p resolution. But perhaps what's most important is that Vizio has delivered a good 50-inch plasma monitor that sets the bar for the features and performance you should expect from future low-priced challengers.

Calibrated using the display's front controls HDMI video input @ 720p Objective Testing (higher is better): VESA Uniformity (black): 77.8% (average) VESA Uniformity (white): 86.9% (average) Average contrast ratio: 638:1 (excellent) More plasma display reviews: Copyright (c) 2006 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.