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A great 42" Panasonic Plasma TV
that wouldn't break your bank account!

The Panasonic TH-42PA20U/P

We take a closer look at the 42" TH-42PA20U/P, a Panasonic plasma TV that comes at just a fraction of what plasma monitors used to cost when first introduced a few year ago.

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An easy-to-follow e-book on how to design and build your Home Theater

by Duncan McClelland
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Review Date:
31^st October, 2005

An Affordable Panasonic Plasma TV

It is a fact that today's plasma display panels are coming out much cheaper and better than ever. This 42" Panasonic plasma Television is no exception.

The Panasonic's TH-42PA20U/P offers an unbelievable 4,000:1 contrast ratio compared to a typical maximum of 800:1 supported by most top-of-the-range large screen LCD displays.

This Panasonic plasma TV is also loaded with picture refinements such as a mach band effect enhancer and a gamma enhancement system.

And all this comes in a unit that takes no more that 4-inches in depth - perfect for wall mounting or table placement with the supplied pedestal.

The TH-42PA20U/P Panasonic plasma TV comes complete with built-in tuner, speakers, AI Picture and Sound, full-function Remote control, and a pedestal stand.

The TH-42PA20U/P is an EDTV - this means it's a step closer to high-definition or HDTV than standard TVs. When used with a progressive-scan DVD player (or 480p-output DTV set-top box) you'll get seamless, razor-sharp images from your favorite movies and concert videos--especially when you're using the display's DVI direct digital input.

The TH-42PA20U/P can display up to 16.7 million colors, which together with Panasonic's New Real Black drive system and an industry leading contrast ratio of 4000:1, further enhances image clarity and realism.

The set's gamma enhancement system imparts greater nuance to dark scenes and heightens image depth by increasing the number of gradation shades at low brightness levels (the unit is capable of rendering a total of 1,536 shades).

The gamma enhancement system employs nonlinear signal processing to reproduce images that help accommodate the high sensitivity of the human eye.

The monitor's anti-reflection screen coating helps minimize screen reflections so ambient room light doesn't interfere with your viewing.

Connections include everything from the DVI jack to dual component-video inputs to S-video, standard composite-video, and even a front-panel RGB input for your PC (the display accepts VGA, SVGA, and XGA).

There's a total of six stereo analog (left/right) RCA input jacks and a mini-jack (.125-inch) headphone output from the front panel for private listening. For hookup with other home theater equipment, the display offers a composite-video-based AV output.

A handy feature is the 3:2 pull down for watching progressive-scan movie programs in their native 24-frame format. This corrects a common distortion introduced when adjusting 24 frames-per-second movies to 30 fps video. The 3:2 pull down digitally corrects this distortion by removing the redundant information to display a film-frame-accurate picture.

TH-42PA20U/P Panasonic Plasma TV
Features Summary List:

Main Technical Specs

42" diagonal screen 16:9 ED plasma monitor

852 x 480 lines of resolution

Image brightness: 650 cd/m2 brightness

16.7 million available colors

Wide angle of view: 160 degrees horizontal and vertical

Highest contrast ratio in the industry, 4000:1

Less than 4" cabinet depth

Includes built-in two-tuner Picture-in-Picture with split screen capability

Super bright, razor-sharp picture

Enhanced Definition Television (EDTV) capable1

Ideal for mounting on the wall

Wide, 160-degree viewing angle (horizontally and vertically)

Motion adaptive 3-D Y/C digital comb filter

AI Picture and Sound

Include both front and rear A/V and S-Video inputs

Closed captioning

Multilingual menu in English, Spanish, and French

Parental control

Digital Visual Interface (DVI) with HDCP copy protection technology

Dimensions

25.9" (H) x 46" (W) x 3.9" (D)

Weight: 77.2 pounds

Others

Max. power consumption: 425 watts

Warranty: 1 year parts and labor

Comes with Speakers and Pedestal Stand, and remote

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Would You like to get the best out of your HDTV?

There is no better way to make the most out of your new HDTV then to invest in a set-up DVD.

A great calibration disc is the Avia II Home Theater Set-up DVD, an exceptional AV calibration tool for both the novice and the expert.

Another interesting calibration disc is the Digital Video Essentials HD, but this is more suitable for advanced users.

For more information, please check our Guide to HT Set-Up DVDs.

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