The TH-42PWD7UY is a digital 42" 16:9 aspect ratio Plasma TV. Dark details are superb with its 4000:1 contrast ratio.
1 This is the best EDTV around !
It is almost 2 weeks since I have had this TV & I love it every bit.
Performance
As claimed by the manufacturer, this TV truly brings to life, all imaginable colors. Many times, I just want to freeze the frame to enjoy the picture postcard like scenes.
This unit is exceptionally quiet. Contrast is awesome & so is the brightness. It is more than you need. In fact, I had to reduce the brightness to below default value. While watching Wide Screen DVDs, it is guaranteed to give you a Cinema like experience.
Watching conventional channels (analog & digital), this TV offers the best value for your money. While I do not subscribe to HDTV programming, I have watched HDTV on a similar Panasonic EDTV TV at a friend's place & I may I add - the clarity was breath taking. Features such as "Side bar Adjust" allow you to watch non-wide screen programs in "Normal" view without worrying about the over-sensitized "burn-in" issue by constantly refreshing the side bands.
Bottomline - Is it worth paying an extra $1000 for a HDTV unit when this EDTV can come so close. Answer - Not unless you want to piss your $$$ away.
Design
Simple & sleek is how many of my envious pals described this TV. I spent an extra $600 to buy an Italian design Bello PVS-4260 stand which matches perfectly with this design. Hence, I did not have to deal with cumbersome wall mounts or other ugly TV stands that take away appeal of the Plasma.
Connections
I have an Onkyo home theatre receiver, a DVD player, Replay TV, Analog cable, Satellite Dish receiver & an Xbox. I feed my analog cable & satellite to my Replay TV. The combined output from Replay TV is fed as one of the component video (RYB) inputs to Onkyo. I connect my DVD player to Onkyo through the other component video input. Now, the component output from Onkyo is fed to the Plasma display's Video 1. I had to buy 3 BNC connectors & as many component video cables from RadioShack to make this connection. Finally, my Xbox uses S-Video of Video 2 of the Plasma. Across the board, for audio, I used Red-White cables from my audio sources to Onkyo.
Finally, since this model lacks a built-in TV tuner, I was wondering about how to hook up my analog cable (over the wall). I even contemplated buying an external TV tuner. Luckily, I did not have to do that as realized that my Replay TV was capable of tuning
analog channels.
Drawbacks
* Analog cable signal might not have the best clarity. Recommend you to get a cable box or a satellite receiver to enjoy this Plasma.
* Very few input ports to connect display. Problem solved if you have a good home theatre receiver already.
2 Excelente compra
De varios plasmas, este es uno de los mejores, si lo desea para ciudades con altitudes superiores a los 5.000 pies los recomiendo, lo uso actualmente a 8.800 pies de altura y funciona a la perfeccion.
Imagen (DVD Movies) excelente 5
Imagen PC 4
control remoto 1 (No muy estetico, mejor usar uno universal)
Para aquellos que desean usarlo en High Altirudes tambien recomiendo los plasmas de NEC que estan probados hasta altitudes de 9.000 feet.
Highly recomended, excellent for high altidudes (I'm using one at 8.800 feet, and works perfect).
