The Best Plasma Television is the Panasonic TH-42PHD8UK

Asking me which is the best plasma television is a difficult question. Many plasma TVs deserve honorable mention, however I would be remiss if I didn’t select the overwhelmingly best rated plasma television on the market. Pretty much which-ever electronics magazine that rates plasmas will give this TV the top marks.

Why Does this Plasma TV rate the Best?

First of all, Panasonic has made great improvements over last year’s fantastic TH-42PHD7UY model. They replaced the Super Real Gamma System with the Advanced Real Gamma System, improving brightness levels. Panasonic also improved the remote control with a simple design and on/ off buttons for each input. There also was a slight drop in power consumption as well. Great features for the best of televisions!

The product half-life span increased to 60 000 (most people watch about 2 500 hours per year) due to an improved cell structure and lower power requirement. The new model also includes an added HDMI input to the composite, component, VGA, DVI, and HDMI optional input cards as well.

Key points…
- great flesh tones
- good gray scaling
- dominant deep black levels
- interchangeable terminal boards for upgrade

The TH-42PHD8UK comes standard with PC Input, Audio Input (for PC), Serial Control (RS-232C) Input, BNC Component Video/RGB Input and Audio Input, BNC Composite Video Input, BNC Composite Video Output, S-Video Input, and Audio Input (for Video). There is an available slot for an optional terminal board. Or, you can remove the standard boards and mount up to three optional boards.

• Up to 3,000:1 contrast ratio - Real Black Drive System and Deep Black Filter provide deeper, richer blacks and enhances image clarity and realism
• Up to 2,048 shades of gradation (4,096 shades via HDMI or DVI connection) - New Advanced Real Gamma System and up to 14-bit signal processing provide superior performance at brightness levels where the human eye sees best
• Full time 3.62 billion (maximum 8.52 billion) displayable colors
• Up to 15% brighter images - Multi-Facet Asymmetrical Configuration Hyper-Pixel (MACH) Panel features bounded cell structure, new phosphor material, and optimized gas composition ratio to improve light-emitting efficiency and intensity
• Up to 60,000-hour panel life - MACH Panel boasts a long service life of 60,000 hours
• 1,024 x 768 resolution
• 1080/60i, 1080/50i, 1080/24p, 1080/24sf, 1080/25p, 1080/30p, 720/60p, 720/50p, 480/60p, 480/60i signal compatibility
• VGA, SVGA, XGA, SXGA, UXGA (compressed) PC signal compatibility
• 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
• Over 160 degree viewing angle
• Flexible A/V and IT system configurations - composite, component, RCA, BNC, PC, RGB, SDI, HD-SDI, HDMI, DVI-D w/HDCP, Twisted-Pair Cable, and IEEE 802.11b terminal boards available
• Adaptive Gain Control - raises contrast while suppressing noise by detecting and boosting only the image edges, resulting in high contrast and high signal/noise ratio
• Motion Picture Noise Disturbance Reduction - detects motion patterns that tend to generate noise and makes adjustments to maximize image quality without diminishing the quality of stationary background objects
• 3D Color Management System - reproduces vibrant colors and natural skin tones
• Active Interlace/Progressive Conversion System - reduces interlace to progressive conversion noise that often occurs when reproducing tiny movements, resulting in better vertical resolution
• New Advanced Dual Picture Mode - simultaneously display images from two different sources in Picture And Picture, Picture Out Picture, Picture In Picture, and Video Over PC modes
• 4x Digital Zoom - divide the screen into zones and enlarge images up to 400%
• Built-In Video Wall Processor - set up 2x2, 3x3, or even 4x4 multi-screen plasma walls
• New Remote System Monitoring Command - displays status via RS-232C
• Enhanced Screen Saver Functions - White Bar Scroll, Screen Reversal, Side Panel Adjustment, Wobbling, Peak Limit Mode
• Newly developed phosphor boosts resistance to static-image burning to the same level as CRT displays
• Energy-Saving Functions - Display Power Management Signaling, Auto Power Off, Power Save Mode, Standby Power Save Mode
• New IR Remote Control features direct input select buttons, a Power Off button, and ID control of multi-screen systems
• New bottom-mounted button controls
• Fanless quiet operation
• Host of stands and mounting options available
• Networked MPEG-2 player available
• Plug-in computers available

Screen Size (inches) 42
Aspect Ratio 16:9
Native Resolution 1024 x 768
Displayable Colors (billions) 3.62 (full time), 8.58 (maximum)
Contrast Ratio Up to 3000:1
Viewing Angle (degrees) More than 160
Real MACH System Yes
Real Black Drive System Yes
Dimensions (H x W x D) 24.0'' x 40.2'' x 3.5''
Weight 69.4 lbs

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