Panasonic TH-42PZ80U 42" Plasma TV
Panasonic - TH42PZ80URelease Date: Mar 2008
The TH-42PZ80U VIERA Plasma 42"(41.6" Diagonal) TV from Panasonic can be the cornerstone of your home theater. This stylish screen features at full 1080p resolution with a native contrast ratio of 20,000:1 for crisp, detailed imagery. With its 3 HDMI ports, this plasma screen is ready for all your H... Read More gear with one-cable pure digital connections. The SD slot will allow for instant slideshows in widescreen of your favorite JPEGs. The TH-42PZ80U also features VIERA link HDAVI control of your other HDAVI Control equipped components when connected via HDMI. The anti-reflective filter allows for viewing in rooms with abundant ambient light. A special Game mode is available for when using this plasma screen with your gaming system. Minimize
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Summary of User Reviews
Number of Reviews: 6Positive Reviews: 100%
Negative Reviews: 0%
Positive Review
Reviewed by: 06-Jan-09
Strengths: Not enough space for all the compliments I have!
Weaknesses: none
Summary: This Panasonic plasma is, in a word, awesome!! It has the clearest, most defined picture I have ever seen. I could not be any happier!! I have it connected to 4 Polk audio 40 studio monitors for surrounds and a PA center channel with Polk Audio 60 floor stands up front and a Yamaha sub... all driven by a Harmon Karmon 7.1 amp and I am in audio/visual heaven!The price and service at 6th Avenue are both the best as well!!!!Buy it... you wont find it cheaper and you wont be sorry!
Positive Review
Reviewed by: peteraz on 02-Jan-09
Strengths: No motion blur. Color shading is accurate and not "cartoonish" as I have seen on some LCD TV's.
Weaknesses: Less luminance then a good LCD screen, but we don't care because we watch TV mostly in the evening anyway.
Summary: We are very satisfied with the picture and sound quality of this flat screen TV. I am less satisfied with some of the broadcaster's version of HD. The broadcaster HD signal quality varies widely. The picture quality on Blue Ray disks also vary, that was very disappointing to me. I am not a fan of the digitization of the video signal, I see artifacts all the time which bother me. I prefer using the analog input cables for best picture, unfortunately the analog inputs are destined for extinction so get one of these while you can.
Positive Review
Reviewed by: Charles98765 on 03-Aug-08
Strengths: 1080P capability, very good picture performance, good deep blacks, negligible digital artifacts, good sound quality, nice selection of menu adjustments, remote button size large (see below)
Weaknesses: Menu adjustments should be displayed longer on screen before going back to the main list format to make adjusting the picture easier (annoying but useable), no PIP capablity but (see below)
Summary: Strengths (continued): and easy to use and finally low price. - Weaknesses (continued): understandable at this price, takes a second or two to change channels but shorter than others, not much wrong with this TV! - This is our first flat screen full HDTV. We have had analog Sony XBR (27 and 32 inch) CRT TVs. When I compared the picture performance of this plasma (after break-in and calibration to our older CRTs I was pleasantly surprised at the significant performance improvement while using only a 480i and 480p DVD players. I used 3 test dics to calibrate and evaluate 1) Video Essentials 2) Avia Guide to Home Theater 3) HQV Benchmark DVD (from www.hqv.com) - The blacks of the plasma were almost as black as our calibrated CRTs but much better than our other LCD computer monitors. The smoothness and detail of the test disk (480i) material and movies (480i) was excellent. The color accuracy was significantly better than our CRTs (little or no red push - exaggeration). The geometry and convergence distortions (something that always bugged me on our CRTs) were completely eliminated. The calibrated picture brightness was more than adequate even for a normally light room with daylight coming from behind the plasma. The anti-reflective coating on the plasma significantly reduced reflections, but does not completely remove them - far better than a CRT, possibly eliminates 50-75% of reflections (an LCD screen does better in this one area). For some reason 480i DVD playback was better than 480p playback with my players, possibly because the 480p player is a rather inexpensive Magnavox DVD/VCR combo (> $100 at Target). This was noticeable in the "jaggies test" (disk #3). I did not evaluate 1080i/p DVD playback because I do not have a DVD player with that capability, yet. However, over the cable 720p and 1080i performance was excellent. - Overall, picture performance "A". This TV delivers an excellent value. I believe this "plasma" has better inherent performance than "LCD" and "CRT" (with the exception of black level - very close) TVs. No regrets and much satisfaction! Definitely check it out for yourself!
Positive Review
Reviewed by: mdphilps on 24-Jun-08
Strengths: It's a Panasonic! Movies look great on it. 3 HDMI inputs. Great contrast. 1080p
Weaknesses: Glare, glare and more glare! Remote is not the best
Summary: I love this TV. Everything from SDTV to HDTV to DVDs to HDDVDs look great on this display. 3 HDMI inputs (2 rear, 1 front) come in handy. It was easy to unpack and get up on the wall. Also it was easy to do the initial on-screen set-up. My only complaint about this TV is the glare. I knew by purchasing a plasma that I would get some glare, but the TV is in a room with a bunch of windows so to watch it during the day I have to shut all the blinds and still it is not perfect. If you have a dark room without much daylight, go plasma.....if you don't I'd think about an LCD. Their a little more expensive but they might work better in a well lit room
Positive Review
Reviewed by: 24-May-08
Strengths: Black levels, color accuracy, 1080p, 3 HDMI ports
Weaknesses: Graininess when stretching 4:3 aspect movies
Summary: Standard definition tv looks very good all things considered. Upconverted DVDs to 1080p look excellent, but in a few instances when watching a movie in 4:3 aspect and then zooming it in to fit, it has a noticeable grainy look to it. Colors look vibrant and blacks and shadows are reproduced clearly. I have noticed no green phosphor trails or image retention. Xbox 360 looks very good as well. I highly recommend this HDTV
Positive Review
Reviewed by: bartender23ck on 11-May-08
Strengths: 1080p, very bright for a plasma, panasonic name
Weaknesses: None so far
Summary: I love movies and sports so I went with a Plasma over a LCD set. I replaced a 1.5 year old 720p 42" Panasonic plasma with this 1080p unit, mainly for use with a media center pc. I loved the 720p unit and the 1080p is just a nice. I did have a red flashing light (power led) issue when I first got the TV but I left the unit unplugged for a day and all seems well now. I did hear some people had issues with the power board on some other units.

