Panasonic NeoPDP VIERA TX-P42S20 (TXP42S20B) 42in Plasma TV with Freeview-HD

So first of all I will take you through the sockets on the rear of the TV.  You have got two HDMI sockets, two scart sockets.  You have also got one Component, which is the red/green/blue connection - Xbox 360s and some DVDs still use Component - they have got that on there as well.  You have also got Optical Out, so if you want to feed the signal for the audio digitally out of the TV you can do so.  You have also got Analogue Audio Out, which is the red and white connections.  And you have also got an Ethernet connection on the rear of the TV.

On the side of the set you have an additional HDMI, so you have got one more HDMI, making it three in total.  You have also got one composite socket, which is the yellow, red and white socket - Wii games consoles can use that - well that is on the side of the TV.  There is a headphone socket, SD card reader on the side of the set - so if you have got a digital still camera that takes SD card, you can feed that in the side of the TV and have your photographs displayed onscreen.  If that card also contains HD footage, yet again the TV is capable of reading HD information from the SD card.  And you have also got a physical On/Off switch on the side of the TV so if you want to turn the TV physically off rather than just switching it off with standby you can do so as well.

So, first of all let’s go through the specification now on the TV.  As I said, the specification is the same for all three models.  First of all, they are full HD.  So they will cope with all the three major formats of high definition - 720p, 1080i and 1080p resolution.  They are also plasma, so all three models are plasma TVs, not LCD.  So what you tend to find there with plasma is that you have a very good contrast ratio.  So you have got a contrast ratio on this range of 2 million : 1, giving you an extremely good deep black level. Because that black level is so deep, you will get great depth of field, a superb natural colour palette and good detail on dark scenes as well.  So full HD, 2 million : 1 contrast.

Also with it being a plasma, they react a lot quicker than LCD TVs.  So if you want a TV for, say, any fast movement - sport, gaming, anything like that - then this particular range have 600Hz scanning speed, meaning there are six hundred pictures a second making up your image to control fast movement extremely well.  So, full HD, 2 million : 1 contrast, 600Hz - extremely good spec.

You have also got now HD Freeview tuners built into them.  So you just plug this TV into your TV aerial and you have got a free high definition service.  You have got BBC HD, ITV HD and Channel 4 HD just from your TV aerial.

Now, not all areas are transmitted in high definition through your TV aerial.  You need to check with your local service network to make sure that you can pick up high definition from your local broadcasting network.  So on this TV at the moment, if we go through this, we have got on Channel 51 here we have got ITV HD, on channel 52, Channel 4 HD, and on channel 50, BBC HD.  So, three high definition channels there.  This is  just plugged into a standard aerial socket - and we have got a free HD service:  BBC HD, ITV HD and Channel 4 HD.  And there is more to come on that network service as well.

You have also got obviously all the standard Freeview channels in the set as well.  With it having Freeview built in, you have got a Guide system on the remote control.  If you press the Guide button it puts the TV Guide up on the screen for us.  At the moment we are on Channel 4 HD - it tells us we are actually on Deal or No Deal at the moment, and the next programme on Coach Trip.  And the rest of the programme content is going up on the side here.  If we go - we have got Up, Down, Right or Left on here; we can skip up on there to find out what is coming on later in the evening.  And if we go up from there we start going through the channels - channel 51, 50 and through the rest of the channels until we get back to standard BBC1 as well.  So, you have got on there, as I said, a free HD service just through your TV aerial. 

If we go through the actual Menu settings, on the TV remote control there is a button that says Menu.  If we just take the Guide system off there, and we just go to a channel.  So we press the Menu button on the TV; it puts the menu up onscreen.  We have got three menus there: Picture, Sound and Setup.  If we take the top one first of all in the Picture Menu, we just  press the OK button and then if we go Up, Down, Right or Left on the remote control, we can start working our way through the menus.

If we go to the top one first of all, it says Dynamic.  If we click to the right, we have got Normal, Cinema, True Cinema.  These are just preset modes from the manufacturer to a predetermined level for the contrast, colour and brightness.  You can still go into those settings and tweak that up to however you want it for the colour and sharpness.

And you have also got a C.A.T.S. system on here as well, which is an automated contrast adjustment.  This TV has basically got a photocell on the front of the set where it is constantly measuring the ambient light of the room and will adjust the contrast accordingly on the TV screen, to always keep it at optimum performance level.  So you can have the C.A.T.S. adjustment on there off or on.  And if you leave it on, the TV itself will constantly set itself up to make sure it is always giving you the optimum picture performance.

If we just come out of that Menu and come down into the Sound Menu, we have got, yet again, preset modes for Music or Speech.  And in those two modes, we have then got adjustments for base and treble.  But if we go into the third mode on there now we have got a User Mode which we have never had on the Panasonics previously.  But that now gives us access to an equaliser where we can adjust the base at this end and the treble at this end.  But then we have got a lot of mid-range adjustments in here, so we can bring a lot of things like vocals better.  And so, yet again, on this now we have now got a User Mode where we can get more access into the tone of your TV as well.

If we drop down from there, we have also got Surround Sound Off, Virtual Audio, where it throws the sound out at a wider angle for you.  And then we have got V Audio Surround, where it will attempt to throw the sound out and around you as well.  So, lots of adjustments to the sound.

What I would say is that if you want any further details on this, please give me a ring - my name is Chris.  You can get hold of me at the Bolton store on 01204 861 861.  Or you can contact our Leeds store - we have got a new store now open in Leeds, which is on 0113 244 3030.  Or just go to our website, which is www.soundandvision.co.uk - or just click the link at the side of the screen.

Thank you.