Brief Comparison Of Popular 42 Inches Plasma Televisions
October 4, 2008
Walking past a TV store, one’s attention will certainly be captured by the Plasma TVs on display in the window. What a great treat to the eye that would be, to see the TVs, standing elegantly, basking in the admiration of the on-lookers. With the big giants of the plasma market, like LG, Samsung, Pioneer, Philips, Panasonic and Toshiba, constantly striving to bring out the best plasma models, laden with the latest technologies, consumers will always find themselves in great dilemma while making a choice.
A brief comparison of 6 most popular plasma TVs is made below, hoping to help consumers in their decision making process. Our contenders are - Pioneer PDP-428XD plasma TV, Samsung PS42A457 plasma TV, Panasonic TH-42PX80B plasma TV, Philips 42HF7444T plasma TV, LG 42PG3000 plasma TV and Toshiba 42WP46P plasma TV.
| Physical Features Attribute/Name | Pioneer PDP-428XD | Samsung PS42A457 | Panasonic TH-42PX80B | Philips 42HF7444T | LG 42PG3000 | Toshiba 42WP46P |
| Screen diagonal measure (inches) | 42 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 42 |
| Dimensions W x H x D (mm) | 1040×679x115 | 1055×667x 96.2 | 1020×727x327 | 1240×680x104 | 1040×674x84 | 1273×710x137 |
| Image Aspect Ratio | 16:9 | 16:9 | 16:9 | Not provided | 16:9 | 16:9 |
| Weight (kg) | 30 | 26.8 | 28 | 42 | 25.5 | 25 |
| Display
Attribute/Name |
Pioneer PDP-428XD | Samsung PS42A457 | Panasonic TH-42PX80B | Philips 42HF7444T | LG 42PG3000 | Toshiba 42WP46P |
| Resolution (pixels) | 1024 x 768 | 1024 x 768 | 1024 x 768 | 1024 x 768 | 1024 x 768 | 852 x 480 |
| Screen brightness (cd/?) | Not provided | 1500 | Not provided | 1200 | 1500 | 1000 |
| Image contrast ratio | 16,000:1 | 30,000:1 | 15,000:1 | 10,000:1 | 20,000:1 | 3000:1 |
| Display Formats | 720p | 720p | 720p | 720p | 720p | 480p |
| Connections
Attribute/Name |
Pioneer PDP-428XD | Samsung PS42A457 | Panasonic TH-42PX80B | Philips 42HF7444T | LG 42PG3000 | Toshiba 42WP46P |
| HDMI | 3 (ver 1.3) | 3 (ver 1.2) | 3 | 2 | 3 (ver 1.3) inputs. 1 Port PC Mode - SIMPLINK 1/2 Port | Nil |
| SCART | 3 RGB | 2 | 2 RGB | Nil | 2 (1-Full and 1–Half) | 3 (2-RGB and 1–S-Video) |
| VGA/PC | 1 | 1 D-Sub PC input | 1 | 1 | 1 RGB input and 1 audio | 1 |
| Headphone | Nil | 1 | Nil | 1 | Nil | 1 |
| Composite | 1 | 1 audio + video | 1 | 2 (1–audio + video, 1– video) | Nil | 1 |
| S-Video | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Component | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| RF | Nil | 1 | Nil | Nil | 1 | 1 |
| Audio output | Nil | 1 optical | Nil | Nil | 1 optical | 1 audio line-out |
| Others | 1 USB port, 1 CI slot, RCS audio output | 1 RJ-45 input, 1 RJ-12 input, 1 SmartCard Xpress | 1 RS-232C, CI Slot, USB 2.0 port | 1 Subwoofer output, 2 audio line-in |
Audio
| Pioneer PDP-428XD | Samsung PS42A457 | Panasonic TH-42PX80B | Philips 42HF7444T | LG 42PG3000 | Toshiba 42WP46P |
| 2 stereo SRS; SRS Focus; TruBass with sub woofer | 2 Down-firing SRS TruSurround XT speakers | 2 stereo speakers | 2 Virtual Dolby Surround stereo speakers | 2 SRS TruSurround XT/Clear Voice Speakers, with Dolby Digital Decoder Invisible speakers | 2 integrated NICAM stereo speakers with BBE High Fidelity Sound and Bass Boost |
Colour (Appearance)
| Pioneer PDP-428XD | Samsung PS42A457 | Panasonic TH-42PX80B | Philips 42HF7444T | LG 42PG3000 | Toshiba 42WP46P |
| Black, simple yet stylish | Black with a silver tinge at the bottom | Piano black | Silver frost, Black deco | Black glossy | Black and silver titan |
What’s special about these plasma TVs?
Pioneer PDP-428XD Kuro plasma TV - “Kuro” means “black” in Japanese, and this TV, true to its name, gives rich black levels. Pioneer has implemented the “true matrix imaging with deep waffle rib structure” technology, which plays an important role in producing bright and crisp images, while reducing any blur. The i-CLEAR drive, employed in the plasma TV, enables reproduction of the most subtle colour differences. The in-built Intelligent Brightness Control, automatically adjusts the screen brightness in accordance with room lighting and on-screen lighting. The TV features a Movie Mode as well, that does a good job in displaying lifelike movie images. Also noteworthy, is the menu system of the TV, which is well designed and easy to use. The Kuro Link HDMI CEC feature enables controlling the AV devices connected to the TV with a single remote control. The HD plasma TV also includes Colour Temperature Control, Picture-in-Picture, TeleText, integrated Freeview and Analogue Tuners, a user-friendly Electronic Program Guide and noise and flicker reduction routines.
Samsung PS42A457 plasma TV – This plasma TV incorporates the DNIe+ technology, which enables portray clear pictures with fine details. The Colour and Motion optimizers employed in the TV, produce images that look true to life. Also doing a great job are the Contrast and Detail Enhancers, which create great colour depths. The Filterbright technology implemented in the plasma TV, removes unwanted reflections by absorbing external light that approaches the screen and transmitting its internal light, thus achieving rich contrast levels. There are 3 modes offered, for cinema, sport and games respectively, to make picture quality suitable to the viewing content. Clear, fluid motion pictures are achieved with the 100Hz picture processing technique, that has been employed in the plasma TV. The HDMI CEC functionality called Anynet+ by Samsung, allows easy control of the AV devices connected to the TV, with a single remote control. A wide viewing angle of 175° is presented by the screen. The HD plasma TV also includes a 3D comb filter, digital noise reduction techniques, a clock, sleep timer and anti burn-in technology, all performing their jobs with great fidelity.
Panasonic TH-42PX80B plasma TV – This plasma TV employs techniques like Real Black Drive system, 24p Playback and x.v. Colour standard to achieve great picture quality with brilliant colours. The Real Black Drive system enhances contrast, 24p Playback allows film-like reproduction of pictures and the x.v Colour provides a large palette of colours. A rare feature that this TV provides, is the power on/off button, which could turn out to be a good power saving option. Another rare feature is the SD card slot, for displaying pictures from your digital camera. Like the plasma TVs discussed above, this one too supports HDMI CEC functionality, thus avoiding confusion while handling multiple AV gadgets. The HD plasma TV promises great black levels and very low noise levels. If you are a games freak, then this TV would surely impress you with its judder-free graphics quality. This plasma TV comes with integrated Freeview Tuner and Colour Temperature Control as well.
Philips 42HF7444T plasma TV – Philips too, is no way behind in the race. Philips 42HF7444T plasma TV also incorporates a basket full of features for delivering great picture quality and performance. The Pixel Plus feature focuses on enhancing analogue broadcast signals. Cinema like images are produced by the Digital Crystal Clear technology. Other features like Smart Picture Control, Luminance Transient Improvement, Colour Transient Improvement, Contrast Enhancer and Video Noise reduction techniques contribute to displaying clear images, with good black levels and natural looking colours. This HD plasma TV supports both PAL (2:2 pulldown compensation) as well as NTSC (3:2 pulldown compensation) encoding systems. A 3D comb filter is employed for filtering out the brightness and colour details in the incoming video signals.
LG 42PG3000 plasma TV – Here is a tough contender in the plasma arena. Throwing a glance at the lengthy features list of this plasma TV, we have the 100Hz processing technique, Dual XD Engine, Vivid filter, Colour Temperature Control, TeleText, Clock, Sleep Timer, built-in digital Freeview tuner, 3:2 as well as 2:2 pull down compensations, 3D Noise Reduction techniques and modes like Picture mode, AV mode and Expert mode. Phew!!! The 16 bit panel of the TV enables displaying pictures with large gradation of colours. The HDMI CEC functionality - Simplink, makes way for ease of control of AV devices connected to the TV. An eight day Electronic Program Guide, which is user friendly and well laid out, is also available. The HD plasma TV is also equipped with an integrated Freeview tuner and a 3D comb filter.
Toshiba 42WP46P plasma TV – Toshiba has kept things simple, yet efficient here. This EDTV comes equipped with a digital comb filter, Colour Temperature Control, Video noise reduction methods, Colour Detail Enhancer and built-in digital and analogue tuners. There is a simple to use on-screen menu with options to control various picture quality attributes. Picture-in-Picture, Auto Power off and Teletext are some of the other features that come along with this HD plasma TV. The black levels of the TV are accurate and deep and the picture performance is also good. While Toshiba 42WP46P would prove to be light on your pockets, it definitely does not compromise on performance and quality.
The plasma world will always have tough competitions, with the big brands always striving to reach the top. Pioneer PDP-428XD plasma TV, Samsung PS42A457 plasma TV, Panasonic TH-42PX80B plasma TV, Philips 42HF7444T plasma TV, LG 42PG3000 plasma TV and Toshiba 42WP46P plasma TV are some of the strong players, which are here to stay, perhaps for a long time.
LG 42PX5D Widescreen Plasma TV With HD Ready
September 23, 2008
Every model that is launched in to the market by LG is no doubt of a standard quality. The latest model introduced by this company is LG 42PX5D Plasma TV. This model will definitely outshine the existing ones with the advanced features packed in it. It comes with built-in Digital TV tuner and Freeview. With this facility you can tune in to different digital TV channels. The plasma screen measures 42 inches diagonally.
Digital TV
LG 42PX5D Plasma Television is a HD Ready TV that can accept and display high definition pictures that have signals of 720p and 1080i. This is also HDTV compatible meaning that it can receive HD signal and display it. The aspect ratio of this model is 16:9. You can comfortably watch programmes even from an angle of 160 degrees.
Picture
The brightness of this model plasma TV is 1000 cd/m2 and the colour depth is 107.0 million. The contrast ratio comes to 5000:1, which is the ratio of the brightest white and the darkest black. LG 42PX5D HD Ready Plasma TV features Picture-in-Picture and progressive scan. The resolution of 1024×768 produces brighter and sharper pictures. Higher the resolution, clearer will be the pictures.
Sound
Two speakers that come with this model produce stereo sound effect with the out power of 15W each. It is also designed with auto volume adjustment. Sub woofer is also included also along with the speakers. Various audio controls are balance, sound mode, treble and bass.
Power
While in use, LG 42PX5D High Definition Plasma TV consumes power of 450W. The power is internal and it requires voltage of AC 120/230 V and a frequency of 50/60 Hz.
Features
Other important features included are auto power off, XD Engine technology, 3:2 pull down compensation and parental channel lock. This TV features Teletext on Freeview, which is a broadcast service of news related to sports, weather, entertainment, financial services etc.
Dimensions and Other Features
LG 42PX5D Plasma TV measures 65.3cm (H) x 125.2cm (W) x 9.9cm (D). It comes with one year warranty. Wide viewing angle along with high pixel resolution provide a vibrant pictures with soothing colour effects.
Panasonic Viera TH46PZ81B Plasma TV
September 1, 2008
Panasonic Viera TH46PZ81B 46” Plasma TV is another full HD model from the house of Panasonic coming under the Viera Series. This plasma television has already acquired a covetous status in the UK market for its enhanced networking capabilities, dynamic image resolution and the added advantage of built-in Freesat reception. Dynamic moving picture resolution is realised by astute frame creation that in its turn reproduces flicker-free images that reduces eye-stress due to long time TV viewing. This aspect, supported by a 50Hz video signal input effectuates quality picture resolution in swift-motion scenes as in sports and fast action movies. Another stunner of a supporting device of this television called Real Black Drive System that is a novice in the sector, actively enhances its contrast features. On the whole, this television explicitly expresses any sort of images ranging from the brightest to the darker ones.
The screen size of this plasma television refers to 46 inches, diagonally. The image aspect ratio of this model’s screen is 16:9 that makes this television being called a widescreen television. The display panel of this model is G11 Progressive Plasma panel of Full-HD features, which is refined further by the inclusion of a natural filter. The screen resolution amounts to 1920 x 1080 pixels and the response time allowed is a mere 1ms. Contrast ratio of this television refers to a dynamic 30000:1 level. The screen of this television is quite augmented in every aspect that a built-in Freesat advantage comes as another shot in the arm for the user.This digital satellite service of the recent times realises high definition television programmes for free.
Panasonic Viera TH46PZ81B Widescreen Plasma TV offers a couple sound modes such as Specch and Music. V-Audio feature is availed in this system. Audio output in this television refers to 20 Watts in total, the denomination of which is, 10W x 2. A coup[le of full range speakers of 160 x 42 mm is embedded on the left and right sides of the device. In the connectivity part, three HDMI inputs stands tall, followed by composite video and S-Video iniputs. A PC input is also availed here along with a number of various audio inputs.
Other Significant Features
Dimensions: 1158 x 747 x 110 mm
Weight: 35 kg
Power Saving Mode
Child Lock
Off Timer
Pioneer Kuro PDP-LX6090 Plasma TV
August 29, 2008
Pioneer Kuro PDP-LX6090 HD Ready Plasma TV is indeed a stunner of a device with an exceptionally large screen that supports anything good from HD DVD to Blu-ray to games to Freeview with dynamic precision. This model is a bit slimmer than some of the smaller models of Pioneer that simply looks bulky. Moreover, anyone who knows something in this sector also knows that Pioneer is often called ‘The King of Black’ just for its conception of sublime darks in its displays. This aspect of it, is promptly complimented by an amazing contrast ratio. No wonder, there are enough admirers left for this model, even though it comes under an exorbitant price tag.
Though this plasma television has a massive screen as its pride pocession, it does not let loose any of its compact built for this. Say, the thickness of this television, in spite of this huge screen remains at just 93 cm. This screen that is of 60 inches in diagonal size, comes under the widescreen category with its native aspect ratio of 16:9. The image contrast ratio of this television is a colossal 100000:1 and it flaunts a full HD screen, which comes blessed by a resolution aspect of 1920 x 1080 pixels. HD formats availed here are 1080i, 720p and 1080p, where ‘i’ stands for interlaced and ‘p’ for progressive scan.A couple more features such as control of colour temperature and Picture in Picture feature also comes handy in this plasma television.
The sound aspects of this plasma television refers to stereo output mode predominantly, the total power of the output being 18 Watts. The audio enhancements provided here in this television are enthralling as well as numerous. The counting of these aspects can be started from a high-definition audio of SRS WOW, followed by various other SRS niceties such as SRS Definition, TruBass or Bass Boost, SRS Surround and SRS FOCUS or audio orientation.
Pioneer Kuro PDP-LX6090 Widescreen Plasma TV is supported by various tuners as well starting from a built-in Freeview tuner that brings a number of free television channels to the viewer. More tuners follow, such as a USB tuner and a composite tuner on the side of the television, a component connection and three RGB-scart connections on the rear, a VGA connection and above all, three more HDMI connections again on the rear side. HDCP is also allowed here and more this television is compatible with Sky High Definition stuff. A remote control of the infra-red type includes the package and finally, this plasma television weighs 50.8kg and consumes 510 Watts of power.
NEC PlasmaSync 42XR4 Plasma TV
August 25, 2008
NEC Plasma Sync 42XR4 Widescreen Plasma TV comes with a display screen of 42 inches in diagonal size. The dimensions of this plasma television refers to 1022 x 610 x 96 mm and this machine weighs around twenty-seven kilograms. The display screen of this television very much complies with widescreen standards with its 16:9 aspect ratio. The contrast ratio fortifying it is 3000:1 and the screen brightness, a mammoth 1200 cd/m2. The versatility of this screen is further substantiated by a horizontal viewing angle of 160 degrees. The screen resolution is also remarkable , explaining 1024 x 768 pixels. This makes the screen perfect for receiving even high definition television programmes.
The connection aspects of this plasma television refers to a couple of component slots that adorn the rear part of the device as well as a couple more of HDMI connection slots adorning the same area. Furthermore, this television not only supports HDCP connectivity but also is compatible with Sky High Definition connections. However, it definitely lacks something like an integrated tuner supporting Freeview or a dual TV tuner.
NEC Plasma Sync 42XR4 HD Plasma TV further, has strengthened its display with a few more smart features like a Picture in Picture aspect that allows multiple frames of pictures in a single frame, or a colour temperature controlling feature. This plasma television is accompanied by a striking remote control unit of the infra-red kind. In addition to this, a power cable, an insttruction manual and and batteries also include the total package.
On the whole, this plasma television obviously seems a decent performer though one can certainly not rate it home-friendly with confidence. The glitches in the connection sector as far as domesticity is concerned along with the high-standards set by some of its various competetors gravely tells on this model. However, this television is widely viewed as the best plasma television, NEC has ever produced.
