What Hi Fi Sound and Vision
22 MAY 2009
Panasonic TX-P42V10
The 40-42in screen customer is spoiled for choice; here's another worth consideration
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The correct verb here is 'bristle'. The Panasonic TX-P42V10 is bristling with features. Try these: Freesat TV tuner alongside the usual Freeview and analogue; a 600Hz, 'pro' version of Panasonic's Intelligent Frame Creation; THX picture certification; DNLA connectivity; 'NeoPDP' panel that uses half the power of the 2007 Panasonic range... Heck, at 8cm it's even fairly shallow by Panasonic's standards.
The Panasonic remote control and on-screen menus are familiar, and they're as straightforward as ever. Set-up is simple: the tuners tune quickly and comprehensively, and tweaking the picture and sound settings to suit your specific requirements is easy.
TV reception, generally a Panasonic strength, is impressive. Analogue pictures are a little grainy, but Freeview reception is solid and Freesat images look a treat.
Black tones are deep and glossy, whites bright and clean, and the colour palette – though on the warm side – is wide-ranging and vivid.
Movement is handled confidently, and textures are generally convincing.
Slightly disappointing with Blu-ray
The set upscales DVD pictures well, too – all the merits of the TV images are retained, but with additional motion stability and superior edge definition. Only Full HD 1080p Blu-ray images disappoint, and even then only slightly.
The Panasonic doesn't retrieve quite as much fine detail as the best of its rivals, and consequently lacks a touch of insight into skin-textures and the like. Depth of images also suffers accordingly.
Sound is poised and brawny by flatscreen standards, and as befits a plasma the '42V10 is dark and even when idling – though that 'one sheet of glass' design reflects more than some.
This is a competent TV by any measure; find a good deal and it becomes even more compelling.
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