Saturday, November 8, 2008

Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ800U 42-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV

With its 2008 Panasonic Viera Plasmas, Panasonic brings an astonishing 1,000,000:1 contrast ration to the table. advanced pixel resolution and image-processing technology with the plasma TV's natural ability to beautifully reproduce fast moving images, so every detail is rendered with amazing clarity, and all the action is delivered with a high degree of fluidity.

What's New This Year?

  • Super Contrast--native contrast ratios on the PZ85, PZ800 and PX 850 series are 30,000:1, double last year's 15,000:1.
  • Dynamic contrast ratios are up to 1,000,000:1.
  • new anti-reflective filter; lead-free "Tough Under Force" panel is resistant to impacts and scratches
  • Built-in SD card slot with Photo Viewer/Gallery Player software
  • x.v. Color and Deep Color (HDMI 1.3 features)
  • 24p native reproduction
  • Game Mode auto-adjusts image quality suitable to games and includes anti-image retention
  • Viera Link is now compatible with Onkyo and Yamaha home theater systems
  • At least 3 HDMI inputs on all models (4 on PZ800 and PZ850 series)
  • THX Certification on PZ800 and PZ850 series

Which Viera is Right For You?

Click here to see a comparison of step up features on each Viera series.

One Sheet of Glass Design

Beautiful, elegant, and functional -- a single pane of glass covers the entire front of the television, including the bezel. This design reduces or eliminates the "halo" effect that can occur around lettering and logos with traditional 3-pane designs

Amazing color reproduction

The incredible black reproduction of a Panasonic High-Definition Plasma TV results in impressive contrast and beautiful, natural colors. So you'll get warm, accurate skin tones, gorgeous greens, breathtaking blues and vivid reds. For color that's as rich and bold as life itself, look to a Panasonic Plasma TV.

Consistent brightness from any angle

A Panasonic Plasma combines anti-glare and anti-reflection technology with the natural light-emitting properties of plasma, to give you a super-wide viewing range with a crisp, beautiful image from almost any angle.

Smooth, graceful motion

When you're watching sports or movies with fast-motion graphics, you want a TV that can keep up with the action. With over 900 lines of moving picture, self-illuminating plasma displays eliminate afterimages in fast-action scenes. So whether you're watching a sporting event or an action-packed movie, you'll always get the most impressive viewing experience possible.

24p native reproduction

Movies are shot at 24 frames per second. Unfortunately, TVs operating at 60Hz can only refresh 20 times per second, which means they must drop every fifth frame. With its 2008 Viera PZ85, PZ800, and PZ850 models, Panasonic introduces 24p native resolution, which means 24 frame per second movie content is reproduced frame for frame exactly, making for true-to-source smoothness of motion.

1,000,000:1 Contrast

The Panasonic's Real Black system (a pre-discharge suppression system) and improved panel production processes combine to reproduce outstanding blacks with superb contrast. Each image is richly expressive, from bright scense, like scorching desert landscapes, to dark cave scenes. Compare the image produced by conventional HDTV on the left to the Real Black image produced on the right

More Colors

Viera HDTVs support the xvYCC color profile (Extended YCC Colorimetry for Video Applications), or "x.v. color" for short. Standard RGB color space allows the display of a portion of the colors that are viewable to the human eye. The next generation "xvYCC" color space actually offers an available range of colors that exceeds what human eyes can recognize.
  • Next-generation "xvYCC" color space supports 1.8 times as many colors as existing HDTV signals
  • Lets HDTVs display colors more accurately
  • Enables displays with more natural and vivid colors

deep color eliminates visible color banding

Deep Color

Where x.v. color expands the available range of colors your HDTV can display, Deep Color increases the number of colors your HDTV can display within that range, for smoother transitions from color to color.
  • Lets HDTVs and other displays go from millions of colors to billions of colors
  • Eliminates on-screen color banding, for smooth tonal transitions and subtle gradations between colors
  • Enables increased contrast ratio
  • Can represent many times more shades of gray between black and white.

Connectivity

Viera flat panel HDTVs interact with an array of high-definition devices and services, making it easy for consumers to access and enjoy content as never before. As of 2008, Viera Link is compatible with Onkyo and Yamaha home theater systems.
Videos and stills recorded on SD cards can easily be viewed via the SD slots on Panasonic Blu-Ray Disc players and Viera HDTVs. Viera Link means easy connectivity via HDMI cables. Finally, consumers can easily operate their Blu-Ray Disc players, DVD recorders and home theater systems with a single remote control device.
SD Cards Viera Link


Equipped with an RGB input terminal, VIERA can connect with your PC and serve as a large-screen monitor. 4 HDMI inputs to connect all of your devices directly to your television.
network with PCs Easy connectivity with HDMI ports

long life

Long Life

Panasonic plasma panels are rated to last 100,000 hours, which is about 30 years of regular or 11 years of non-stop usage before the brightness of the display is halved.

Blu-Ray disc player

Get Full HD with Blu-Ray Disc Players

A Panasonic 1080p plasma television is able to render 1920x1080 pixels, but standard DVDs have a resolution of just 720x480. Blu-ray discs output true 1080p High-Definition resolution and have a storage capacity ten times greater than standard DVDs, so no pixel gos to waste.


Which is the Right Viera for You?



Screen Size
Measured
Diagonally
1080p
Full HD
1920 x 1080 pixels
Native
Contrast
Ratio
PC Input
THX
Cert
24p
Speakers
HDMI
Inputs
One Sheet
of Glass
Design
Swivel
Base
Shades
of
Gradation
H.264
Codec
Digital
Cinema Color
Studio
Reference
Mode
Pro
Setting
Menu
Serial
Port
Standard Features
TH-42PX80U
42 inches

15,000:1



2
3


4,096





  • 480 Hz Sub-field Drive Technology
  • Anti-Reflective Filter
  • Viera Link HDAVI Control
  • Built-in SD Card Slot w/Photo Viewer
  • Deep Color Technology
  • x.v. Color
  • 3D Color Mangement
  • Sub-Pixel Controller
  • Motion Pattern Noise Reduction
  • Anti-Image Retention Mode
  • Game Mode
  • Scratch and Impact Rsistant Panel
  • 100,000 Hours to Panel Half-Brightness (>30 years @ 8 hours/day)
  • Lead-free Panel
TH-50PX80U
50 inches

15,000:1


2
3


4,096




TH-42PZ80U
42 inches check 20,000:1



2
3


4,096




TH-46PZ80U
46 inches check 20,000:1


2
3


4,096




TH-50PZ80U
50 inches check 20,000:1


2
3


4,096




TH-42PZ85U
42 inches check 30,000:1 check

2
3


4,096




TH-46PZ85U
46 inches check 30,000:1
check

2
3


4,096




TH-50PZ85U
50 inches check 30,000:1 check

2
3


4,096




TH-42PZ800U
42 inches check 30,000:1 check check check 4
4
check check 4,096




TH-46PZ800U 46 inches check 30,000:1 check check check 4
4
check check 4,096




TH-50PZ800U 50 inches check 30,000:1 check check check 4
4
check check 4,096




TH-58PZ800U 58 inches check 30,000:1 check check check 4
4
check check 4,096




TH-46PZ850U 46 inches check 30,000:1 check check check 4
4
check check 5,120 check check check check check
TH-50PZ850U 50 inches check 30,000:1 check check check 4
4
check check 5,120 check check check check check
TH-58PZ850U 58 inches check 30,000:1 check check check 4
4
check check 5,120 check check check check check
TH-65PZ850U 65 inches check 30,000:1 check check check 4
4
check check 5,120 check check check check check

Customer Review: A great buy!
This is the second Panasonic plasma HDTV that I have bought. I bought my first one back in 2006. That one is great and the picture and quality are fantasitc. But my new Panasonic Viera TH42PZ800U 42" plasma 1080p blows my old one out of the water. Granted my new plasma is 2 years newer than my first, but the picture and colors are great. I also bought a Blue-Ray player (Panasonic of course) and the DVD's play great on the plasma. For the money, you can not go wrong with this Panasonic model. So in short, if you are in the market for a new plasma HDTV, you should definitely consider buying this plasma (or another Panasonic plasma).
Customer Review: Quality blows me away
I decided to spend a little more on this model. In addition to the improved picture quality, card reader and extra HDMI input I chose this because it was crafted from a single sheet of glass and had a swivel stand (the tv sits in a corner and allow us to swivel to face the kitchen if we need). I did a lot of research on TVs and knew I wanted a Panasonic plasma from the outset. The picture quality is excellent (colors and blacks are extremely well defined), menu's easy to navigate and the THX certification was noticeable when you switched - particularly on DVDs. All in all a great price for this TV and a solid, good looking performer.


Shopping today is very different from the way it was. In the olden days you walked into a store and either bought what was on the shelf or whatever some sales person recommended. That worked because the selection was limited, you could still trust a brand, and sales people generally knew their products (which is often not the case anymore today). But times have changed. If you think of buying something as expensive and complex as, for example, a home theater system, you'll want more information than a bored sales associate at an electronics store is likely to give you.

People often talk about Web 2.0. It is a term that loosely describes the use of the Web for information sharing, social networks and web-based communities. Web 2.0 means websites where people contribute, generate content, help each other, and share experiences and opinions. Blogs are a Web 2.0 phenomenon, as are the customer reviews now commonly found attached to product listings. Have you noticed that today, when you want to buy something and look it up on the web, there are not only sites that only offer customer opinions and reviews, but that company websites have them also? If you go to a department store website it's not uncommon to find dozens of customer reviews and ratings with products, whether it's something complex like DVD recorders, DVD players, or even just a hair drier.

These ratings are reviews are very useful, and I applaud companies for including them (not all of them are positive). I often make a buying decision after I read what a number of other people have said about a product. I rely on those opinions so much that I often look up ratings and opinions on my iPhone while I am in a store. That works, but it can be a bit cumbersome and it's really better to do your research at home. But that is where you run into another problem: the Web has become so huge and commercialized that it's often difficult to find genuine information as opposed to sites with tons of ads and almost nothing of substance. If you think of setting up a home cinema and want to learn about the latest projectors, video switches and 1080p HDTVs, it's frustrating to have to sift through dozens of sites without getting good information.

The secret is to know where to look. There are sites that combine product reviews, product news, and just general product information in numerous categories. They may include YouTube videos explaining and demonstrating products, link collections to products and reviews of interest, RSS feeds, and more. The key is that it's all in one place so you can learn about products, see them, see what others have to say about them, and then also get an idea about costs. For complex, expensive items like home theater systems, educating yourself as much as you can is essential and can save you a lot of money.

The web is a wonderful thing. I knew next to nothing about home theater systems before I bought one myself. Research and a few dedicated websites on the technology helped tremendously.

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web.
Learn more about Home Theater Systems.

Panasonic Plasma TV 37 inch

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