Panasonic TH-42PWD8UK 42-Inch Plasma EDTV | 
| Brand: Panasonic
Category: CE
List Price: $1,799.99
Buy New: $1,245.00
You Save: $554.99 (31%)
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 28650
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Display Size: 42
Shipping Weight (lbs): 86
Dimensions (in): 0 x 0.4 x 0.2
MPN: TH-42PWD8UK
Model: TH-42PWD8UK
UPC: 037988240890
EAN: 0037988240890
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Screen Size (inches)- 42 | | • | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | | • | Native Resolution- 852 x 480 | | • | Displayable Colors (billions)- 3.62 (full time), 8.58 (maximum) | | • | Contrast Ratio- Up to 4000:1 |
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| Accessories:
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The TH-42PWD8UK comes standard with PC Input, Audio Input (for PC), Serial Control (RS-232C) Input, BNC Component Video/RGB Input and Audio Input, BNC Composite Video Input, BNC Composite Video Output, S-Video Input, and Audio Input (for Video). There is an available slot for an optional terminal board. Or, you can remove the standard boards and mount up to three optional boards.
Amazon.com Product Description
This 16:9 widescreen plasma set a bright display that will look good in any room, on any wall or on any surface. It comes standard with both basic video and PC inputs and is easily expandable to accommodate a variety of different sources. pbImage/bbr Panasonic's Multi-Facet Asymmetrical Configuration Hyper-Pixel (MACH) panel features new materials and technology that improves the light-emitting efficiency and intensity of their plasma screens. The result is a deeper contrast ratio (up to 3,000:1 in dark areas), 2,048 shades of gradation (4,096 shades via HDMI or DVI connection and optional accessory board),3.62 billion full-time displayable colors. It is compatible with a whole host of HD signals, from 1080i to 480p./p pThe TH-42PWD8UK also uses a host of Panasonic image improving features. Adaptive Gain Control raises contrast while suppressing noise by detecting and boosting only the image edges. Motion Picture Noise Disturbance Reduction detects motion patterns that tend to generate noise and makes adjustments to maximize image quality without diminishing the quality of stationary background objects. The Active Interlace/Progressive Conversion System reduces interlace to progressive conversion noise that often occurs when reproducing tiny movements, resulting in better vertical resolution. /p pbConnections/bbr The TH-42PWD8UK features both flexible A/V and IT system configurations. Built-in video connections include S-video, BNC, and component. Accessory boards expand your possibilities to include SDI, HD-SDI, HDMI, DVI-D w/HDCP, Twisted-Pair cable, and IEEE 802.11b. Have the set do double duty as your PC monitor, too, since it supports VGA, SVGA, XGA, SXGA, and UXGA PC signals and comes with a common PC monitor port. The Remotes System Monitoring Command feature allows users to control their TH-42PWD8UK via RS-232C interface. If you really want to get fancy, a built-in wall processor allows you to array TH-42PWD8UKs in 2x2, 3x3, or even 4x4 multi-screen video walls./p pb37-inch Wide Screen/bbr A general rule of thumb for selecting the right size television screen is that the screen width--not its 37-inch diagonal measurement--should be between three and five times the optimum viewing distance, such as the distance from the TV screen to where your eyes are while sitting on the couch. Less than that and you may be distracted by the scan lines of the picture. More than that, and you may lose the detail of your TV. Based on this guide, the TH-42PWD8UK is ideal for viewing distances of nine to 15 feet./p pbOther Features/bbr Panasonic's new Advanced Dual Picture Mode simultaneously displays images from two different video sources or a video and PC source. 4x Digital Zoom allows you to divide the screen into zones and enlarge images up to 400%. The set also features enhanced screen saver and energy-saving functions./p pbWhat's in the Box/bbr TH-42PWD8UK plasma TV, remote control unit, battery, band, power cord, warranty, and operating instructions book/p
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Works extremely well with 1080i or 720p signals! October 31, 2007
R. Chi (San Francisco, CA USA)
I've been pretty happy with the performance of the TH-42PWD8UK. I've had it for over a year now. Picture quality from DVD using component cable is very good, and has been what I am using it mostly for. I never feel the need for HD. DVDs looks awesome, as this unit is the native resolution of DVDs. I won't be far off to say that none of the HD sets in the store looks better than this one. br / br /But the reason I am writing this review is my surprise finding of how well it scales 1080i or 720p image when fed such signals. I recently got a Samsung HD tuner, and naturally I set the output to 480p, my TV's resolution. I also tried a Panasonic DVD recorder with HD-tuner, and the picture quality was about the same as the Samsung, very good. br / br /However, while tweaking some settings on the Samsung, I changed the output setting on the back of the unit to 720p and 1080i. I was expecting the TV not to display anything, but much to my surprise, a proper image is displayed. Even to my bigger surprise, the picture looks noticeably sharper and more detailed!! How can that be? The set is not HD! I pondered this for a while and came to the conclusion that the TV must have a much better scaling algorithm than the Samsung tuner. br / br /With HD tuner sending a 1080i signal, picture quality looks astounding! My friend was looking to buy a Panasonic 50" plasma, and came by to take a look at my TV. Both he and his wife were stunned by the picture quality and how it looks better than all the HD units they've seen. Anyway, I am extremely happy with the performance of the scaling algorithm on the TV. If you have HD source, set it to 1080i output and enjoy! You will not be disappointed. br / br /One thing that still puzzles me a bit is why HD materials look sharper and more detailed than DVDs, and I am talking about good quality DVDs here. Since this set is the native resolution of DVD, theoretically it's as good as it will get. HD material should look the same as DVDs, since the end result of what you see, IS 480p. br / br /I wonder if I get an upconverting DVDs, and send the unit a 1080i signal, whether it will look better than the standard DVD. In theory it shouldn't, since scaling 480p to 1080i and scale back would not gain you much, but does it? I guess when my current DVD player dies I'll get a new one and find out.
Great Value - Best Buy - No brainer ;) October 12, 2006
S. Shah (Chciago, IL USA)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is an excellent plasma TV. I have it for little more than 6 months and I am happy that I bought this baby! br / br /I did research for about 8 months before I bought Panasonic TH-42PWD8UK. First thing, look @ at consumer reports or any website for reviews on Plasmas - on top 10 list more than 50% will be from Panasonic. This company knows how to dig plasmas. Second part is you need to decide about your needs - what exactly you are looking for. In my case, I wanted a plasma that's slim slick. I ddin't want any speakers associated with the plasma for two reasons - the OEM speakers are NEVER decent quality I didn't want huge looking thing on my wall. This plasma is basically industrial/commercial display - no speakers, no stands. And that was perfect for me as I can just hang it on the wall (I had to buy seperate wall mount). br / br /Another thing to keep in mind - this EDTV not HDTV. To be frank, I still can't understand the hype for HDTV. I don't have HDTV cable so for me it didn't matter. The quality I think equal to or better than HDTV (compared to HDTV plasmas what I had seen in retail stores). br / br /This TV doesn't have any stand or mount so you need to buy something on day 1 - otherwise you won't be able to put it anywhere. I bought the mount from CostCo and happy with that. br / br /For the connections - look @ the other review over here - there' all possible technical details on that one so I won't bore you with those. br / br /In the end, I will say this is a great plasma with awesome picture quality. If you are buying plasma, get yourself decent home theatre system too. Your A/V receiver can handle all the connections to your cable box, DVD, VCR, CD player etc. And finally, get yourself one of the fancy Logitech/harmony universal remote too. I got harmony 880 and love it. Tip - Plasma on wall, nice slick speakers with high output and 1 universal remote to manage everything will impress anyone anytime - including yourself!
Great EDTV Plasma! July 11, 2006
ACNY (NYC)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is a beautiful TV. I've had it for 6 months and I am very happy with it. For one, the minimalism of it. I just wanted a monitor. I didn't need a tuner since I have a HD cable box and I didn't need speakers since I have a great surround sound system. Also, I find it distracting that consumer versions of flat screens have all that stuff attached, as one reason people like flat screens are the aesthetics. I think the EDTV picture is excellent, and I feel comfortable I made the right decision to not jump on the HDTV bandwagon right now. I am constantly comparing my EDTV to friend's HDTVs and I think their picture is totally inferior, whether it's DVD or regular television or even an HD broadcast. It's a great buy and a great upgrade from a CRT. Very happy.
 Great TV..that needs a few extras July 9, 2006
Matthew A. Hogarth (British Virgin Islands)
Great TV. Much more affordable that HDTV and it looks pretty much the same. So much so, I bought this TV twice and may buy two more. Make sure you decide if you're going to mount it on the wall or put it on a stand and buy these accessories at the same time that you are buying this tv. You may also need some adapters BNC to RCA etc. All in All...I great buy.
Picture so good you'll forget about HD June 13, 2006
Joshua G. Feldman (New York)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I bought the TH-42PWD8UK after exhaustive research and dozens of showroom screenings. To be blunt, these Panasonics have (both the HDs and EDs), by far, the best picture you can have in your home and I'm delirously happy with it. There are a bunch of caveats and issues, though. The flat screen TV decision cuts across a mess of issues: br / br /1) Plasma versus LCD. LCDs look better in the average showroom because they have smaller pixels (finer grained picture) and brighter backlighting. Plasma's hidden strength is their rich blacks and more vivid colors. In real life you sit back 8 feet or so from the screen - so the pixel size issue disappears. The brightness issue disappears in real life too - where I, like most folks, do most of my viewing in evening or night hours in a partially lit room. Plasma's strengths in dense blacks and vivid colors equates to a greater image dynamics - more akin to film than regular television. Once you start to spot it, LCDs look a bit washed out by comparison. Plasma's vividness can be a dual edge sword. Sometimes flesh tones can look too pink. Panasonic gets this right - better than most other plasma screens. Rear projection and front projector units can't compete for vivid picture or image contrast (not to mention angle of view - the big drawback of rear projection BTW). br / br /2) HDTV versus EDTV. HD has higher resolution - but only HD broadcasts can take advantage of it. All the rest of the content you throw at it (DVDs, regular TV broadcasts) must be upsampled. (EDTVs have to upsample regular broadcasts too BTW). Resampling can introduce artifacts (blocky shapes). The quality of resampled images varies quite a bit among different manufacturers and is the reason why you shouldn't necessarily go cheap. EDTV is designed to have the same resolution as DVD - and DVDs look amazing on the 42PWD8UK. HDTVs can actually look inferior to EDTVs on DVDs and regular broadcasts because of the upsampling issue. HD content looks pretty darned good on the 42PWD8UK too - even though it must be downsampled. I spent a good long time looking at an HD demo on the HD and ED models of this monitor and found the difference surprising subtle. I haven't regretted the decision so far. Obviously the only major reason to go with HD is that you have HD channels on cable or satellite, and plan to go to blue-ray or HD DVD soon. If these moves are not immenent for you - then don't pay extra for HD. By the time HD fully penetrates, prices will have dropped a lot and it will be close to time for a new TV anyway. br / br /3) Consumer versus Commercial line. The 42PWD8UK is from Panasonic's commercial line. That's why it is sold without a stand, speakers, and without a tuner (and has such a low price). Stand or wall mount is your choice - but you must budget to buy one or the other. I found a Panasonic brand stand for $185 and it's great. Most folks have external cable or satellite boxes so the internal tuner you buy with the consumer line model is wasted money. The fact that HDMI interface is a cost added option is a non-issue with EDTV - since you will not benefit from the higher resolution of that interface. The 42PWD8UK comes with three inputs standard: BNC coax digital composite, Component Video (the three R-G-B cables), and computer SVGA. Trust me - Component Video is good enough. The inclusion of SVGA is awesome too - for those who have a computer in their home entertainment system. As for speakers - a big screen like this screams out for a good surround receiver and 5.1 (or 6.1 or 7.1) channel audio speakers. If you don't invest the extra $500-$1000 that a decent 5.1-7.1 audio setup will run you you are really cheating yourself. Immersive audio is hugely important in home theater and will really augment the great picture you'll get with the 42PWD8UK. Given that you own your own home theater audio setup - or will be derelict if you don't get one - the issue of the 42PWD8UK not including speakers is irrelevent. br / br /4) Panasonic versus the other guys. Short and sweet - there's no better picture at anywhere near the price. At the high end only Hitachi and Pioneer compete. Interesting offerings like HP end up just being rebranded Panasonics. Cheaper units like Philips (much as I normally like their stuff) look too pink on flesh tones and have inferior black detail. Don't get a cheaper HDTV just because it's HD! The resolution difference is negligible compared to overall image quality. Image quality is where the 42PWD8UK rules - and isn't that really the bottom line here?
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