Best Buy Lcd HDTV Blog

GREAT TV!
I BOUGHT THE PZ-46-85U JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS. IT TOOK JUST 3 WORKING DAYS TO GET. THE FREE WHITE GLOVE DELIVERY WORKED GREAT. IT IS A GREAT SIZE FOR THE ROOM AND A GREAT PRICE FROM AMAZON. IT DOES NOT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT A BREAK IN PERIOD IN THE INFORMATION RECIEVED WITH THE TV, BUT CALLED PANASONIC AND WAS TOLD THERE IS A 100 HR BREAK IN. USE LOWER LIGHT SETTING AND REMOVE BLACK BARS WHEN POSSIBLE WITH REMOTE. SO FAR, LOVE THE TV. NO ISSUES A THIS TIME.

Expert gives reasons why this plasma was chosen over LCD
I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert in being able to pick and choose television displays. I run a Home Theater website, have gone to numerous consumer electronic shows, and have been very critical in the type of display I choose for myself, family and friends.

For the past few years I have owned a 1080p DLP display.

This year my brothers and I wanted to buy our Mother her very first flat panel display. It was a very difficult choice as to what we should pick. Her living room is surrounded by windows and for that reason, I felt that an LCD display would be the better choice. LCD screens do not reflect light in the manner that plasma does.

So, we went out and bought the Sony KDL-40V4100 40" LCD television (see my review on Amazon). Unfortunately, the display was defective out of the box and it had to be returned. I did have the opportunity to do a bit of viewing with the LCD and I was not particularly happy with what I saw. The LCD picture exhibited jagged motion and decreased quality when viewing from an angle. These are all problems inherent with LCD technology.

We knew we had to exchange the defective set, and made the choice to go plasma instead, despite knowing there were a few drawbacks with that technology.

It was my decision to go with Panasonic. Having attended consumer electronic shows year after year, I have had the opportunity to measure Panasonic plasma quality against other manufacturers. The best plasma displays come from Pioneer, Panasonic and Samsung. If you factor in price, Panasonic gives you best bang for the buck. Their plasma displays offer superior quality at a price that will not break your pocketbook.

We went with a 46" this time around, and picked up the TH46PZ85U.

Setup of the the display took the efforts of two people. Weighing in at about 82 pounds, it's nearly impossible for one person to assemble the stand, slide it into the bottom of the display and then place it on a stand or wall.

The display is very attractive with its black piano finish. Within a day we noticed that this baby is a dust magnet. It will be necessary to continually clean it in order for it to keep its sheen. A small cleaning cloth is included in the box.

The TH46PZ85U offers 3 HDMI inputs which is more than enough to hook up a cable box, DVD/Blu-ray player and whatever else you wish to add.

By far, plasma displays are the best choice for overall picture quality. They offer better color reproduction and saturation as well as deep blacks, which give the picture texture. LCD displays don't come quite as close. If this purchase was for me, I would have immediately picked a plasma. The big reason we decided not to pick plasma as our choice of display for our Mother, was the fact that plasma displays have to babied. You need to take careful steps in order to prevent any long-term damage.

For the first 100 hours of use you need to bring down the picture and brightness levels considerably. Put the display in CINEMA MODE with PICTURE and BRIGHTNESS at 50 or less. You also need to mix up your television watching not letting the display sit for hours on material with black bars on the top and bottom or sides. Doing this will prevent any possibility of "burn-in." After the initial 100 hour break-in you can bring up your picture levels again.

Television manufacturers claim that "burn-in" is no longer a problem with plasmas, but it does pay to stay on the side of caution. You can do a GOOGLE search to learn more about plasma "burn-in."

So, let me get to the meat of this review and talk about the picture quality of the TH46PZ85U.

In a word, the picture is REMARKABLE. We are breaking in the television at the moment so its settings are turned down below normal. Though I was not viewing the Panasonic in optimal calibrated settings, I was still impressed with the improved picture quality over LCD. The image was morefilm-like, with natural and relaxed colors. Though I was surprised by the quality of the black levels on the LCD display, they were noticeably better on this plasma. Looking at a picture on a plasma is very much looking at a deeply
detailed painting. I never got that feeling watching LCD.


Since we were not hooking the TH46PZ85U to a surround system, we relied on the built-in speakers which offered remarkably full audio. The advanced sound settings allows you to tweak the treble and bass levels, with an optional bass booster setting. Sound was quite good, though as I applied more bass the audio became distorted at louder levels.

Reflection on a plasma display can be a problem. I did find when watching the Panasonic at night that all lights in the living room needed to be off if we didn't want to catch a distracting reflection. During the day, sitting in a room surrounded by windows, we did get get lines on the television from sunlight creeping in through open blinds.
These are factors you should consider when picking plasma over LCD. The Panasonic display does have an anti-reflective screen which works fairly well for daytime viewing. Honestly, I suppose the reflections we saw could have been far worse. We were easily able to watch television during the day without being distracted.

Having the ability to view LCD and PLASMA in my home was a huge learning experience. I learned that LCD is perfect for those that don't want the hassle of having to baby their display, and having a hugely bright picture in their sunny room without the fear of reflection. The only downsides to LCD is its ability to handle fast moving motion and decreased quality at certain viewing angles.

If you want the very best quality that these type of flat panel displays offer, you want to go PLASMA. Hands down, they offer rich, natural colors with deep black levels. The only downsides are reflection and the fact that caution must be taken in the way you watch television.

The Panasonic TH46PZ85U exhibits picture quality that is nothing short of nirvana. You will be amazed by its ability to deliver uncompromising picture quality to your home.

Awesome!
I researched both plasma and lcd tvs. The picture quality on this Panasonic plasma tv is unmatched. I hooked it up in my living room and whether I am watching my local channels through an antenna or cable the quality is wonderful.

Great Picture
One of the best pictures I have ever seen, the blacks and colors were almost unreal, images were close to 3D.... unfortunitly I had to return the plasma due to window light reflection. Should have thought of that before ordering, exchanged it for a LCD 47" LG... no reflection but you can't compare to a plasma.

Great looking TV with amazing picture
I have waited about a month and a half after receiving the TV before reviewing it to get a good read on it's quality and features. To summarize, I am very pleased with it and would not hesitate to purchase again. The colors are rich and and the excellent contrast ratio on this model allows super-deep blacks and the whitest or whites. I have watched many blu-rays on it and have been overly satisfied with the picture.

If you are thinking about purchasing a plasma, nearly everyone will tell you that Panasonic is the way to go, and I can completely agree after comparing this TV with other brands I have seen. As for the plasma vs. lcd debate, that is much more of a personal decision. For the best picture quality, while ignoring other aspects such as size, price, power consumption, screen glare, and image retention, plasma seemed like the better choice to me, and without wanting to spend several thousand more on a Pioneer plasma, the Panasonic seemed like a great choice. Now, I am extremely happy I made that choice.

The only downside I have come across so far is that the screen can be fairly reflective if a strong light is on in the background. This model really shines in a darker room though. Image retention on it has not been a problem, as technology on plasma's have improved to the point where it really isn't much of an issue anymore. Regardless, I did use a break-in regime where I kept the contrast levels low and avoided any stagnant pictures for the first 100 hours. This also might be a concern for anyone planning on using the TV for heavy gaming, even though it does have a "game mode", which is designed to prevent image retention and burn in.

The TV itself is a nice piano black color and isn't nearly as heavy or thick as I expected it to be. Without reiterating the statistics of the TV, it has plenty of connections, including an SD card slot for pictures, and a PC connection.

The PC connection, an increased contrast ratio, and the C.A.T.S. system (adjusts the brightness and gradation to optimize contrast) are really the only differences between this model and the TH-46PZ80U model. For that reason, I would suggest also examining the price difference between the 2 models and decide how much more those features are worth to you.