panasonic th-42pa20 review

Picture courtesy of Pete Thorp.

Average Ratings
Image Quality	8.6/10
Sound Quality	7.6/10
Features	8.2/10
Ease of Use	8.8/10
Value for Money	8.2/10
Reviewer Rating	7.8/10
Overall Rating	7.5/10

78% Recommended7 out of 9 Reviews

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Review of Panasonic TH-42PA20 Plasma Television

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By tell it like it is 2 on 25th Jul 2005

tell it like it is 2's Ratings
Time Plasma Television Owned	1 - 6 Months
Image Quality	8/10
Sound Quality	8/10
Features	10/10
Ease of Use	10/10
Value for money	10/10
Overall value	9/10
tell it like it is 2's recommendation

Good Points

Picture
Style
Has all the video input feeds from antenae, 2 s-video inputs (not counting the one in front panel display), 3 video input feeds (not counting the one in front panel display), 2 sets of component feeds, dvi even an crt feed (front panel, for those who would like to use their plasma as a computer monitor).

Bad Points

Sound

General Comments

Panasonic TH-42PA20 - Ok maybe the sound isn't the greatest coming from a tv, but let's face it, the people at Panasonic have put their resources at picture quality with this model and suceeded. Also I don't know of anyone who purchases a plasma without having it hooked up to their entertainment system.

Onward to image quality. I split the difference because brocasters cannot bring the same image quality as you would get off a dvd even in HDTV.

Worse yet is the analog signal, which represents 95% of the signals you currently get is sub-par even by analog tv standards. But that is not why I bought this plasma.
To be more specific for ratings on image quality:

Dvd - 10/10
HDTV broadcasted in 16:9 ratio - 9/10
HDTV broadcasted in 4:3 ratio - 8/10
Analog - 4/10

Yes you do have different modes to expand the the size of the picture.
In Full Zoom mode - 90% is viewable and even in HDTV the picture gets blurry if it in 4:3 format to begin with. In Partial Zoom Mode -95% is viewable. In Stretch mode - (If you can put up with people looking short and wide) 90% of vertical is viewable.

In closing the question is why did I then buy a Plasma?
1- For watching DVDs
2- For watching shows broadcasted in HDTV
3- Because my living room has no room for a regular TV 27" minimum, but my wall had lots of room.
4- Because LCD TVs do not come in 42" or larger
5- Because my dog cannot lick or paw the screen, and toddlers cannot touch it.

And why out of all the plasmas did I choose the Panasonic?

Before I purchased it, I looked at the letters of an ad that was playing on the screen that all the other makes were hooked on the same dvd recorder. Apart from the LG plasma which was significantly pricier, the Panasonic was just as sharp and crisp.