42in Plasma Picture Sound Features Usability Value Not overwhelmingly inspiring, but just about the best performance you can get for the price ... Rating: 91%

Reviewed: 24 March 2010

  Value, black level ability, colour

  SD pictures a little disappointing

Design

Placed alongside the outgoing X10 Plasma series, you would be hard pressed to tell whether or not the X20 was the newer model. Its looks are neat enough but offer very little deviation from Panasonic's 2009 plasma range.

To be fair to Panasonic, this is their entry level plasma series and as such offers exceptional value for money. The ability to achieve such a low price, we would speculate, has depended to some degree on retaining the basic look and feel of the outgoing model.

What you do get from Panasonic, as always, is a reasonably high level of fit and finish; to a standard that you would not normally find from a budget screen.

Features

Although the TX-P42X20's feature list reflects the screen's rather Spartan appearance, there are a few surprises in store.

	Screen: 42in 16:9 Tuner: Digital Sound System: Nicam Resolution: 1,024 x 768 Contrast Ratio: 2,000,000:1 Other Features: 100Hz processing, V Real 5. Sockets: 3 HDMI (1 v1.4, 2 v1.3), 2 SCART (RGB), S-Video, Component Video, SD card slot.

 

While you won't find any of the bells and whistles we take for granted on higher end screens, look a little more closely and we come across a couple of improvements which are arguably far more important.

Firstly, Panasonic's core picture processing technology now come in the shape of V Real 5. More than any one single component of this screen, V Real 5 will have the greatest impact on the picture performance of this panel.

Secondly, the X20 Plasma series now take advantage of Panasonic's next generation G13 panels. Tough panel technology is just one of the new features of the latest evolution in Panasonic's flat panel technology.

There have been rumours of the integration of Pioneer screen technology into the design (via a technology sharing agreement); whether this is true or not, Panasonic's evolution of panel technology always seems to deliver improvements over the outgoing models.

Elsewhere, things are pretty much the same as the X10. There are just the three HDMI inputs along with 100Hz processing which doubles the PAL refresh rate via some complicated electronic algorithms.

As expected, the budget X20 series does not gain the benefit of a feature found on higher end screens, NeoPDP. The higher  brightness and lower running costs of NeoPDP technology will certainly be missed. Again, if you want features such as THX certification, built in Freesat or Freeview HD tuners, an Ethernet port for DLNA functionality you will have to look higher up the product range.

The X20 does however get an SD (which also accepts SDXC cards) card slot through which you can play JPEG still photos or AVCHD video files. The X20 also gets two extra preset picture modes, True Cinema and Photo, over and above the X10's Dynamic, Normal and Cinema modes.

It is worth noting that the X20 retains a rather unusual (1,024 x 768) screen resolution. Don't let this put you off however, as the use of a horizontally elongated plasma cell structure has been designed to improve the screen's colour balance.

Costing considerably less than the new feature rich G20 and higher panels, if the X20 can get close on pure picture quality it could provide a serious option for the budget buyer; lets find out ...

Performance

Things get off to a great start with a predictably good Black Level performance. That we expected this level of ability is testament not only to Plasma technology in general but Panasonic's refinement of this technology.

Areas of the picture which should be black are not just black, they are inky black, with no hint whatsoever of any greyness. What's more, the X20 offers a level of graduated detail across darker scenes that few TV's can match.

The X20 does in our opinion offers a black level performance which is better than the X10 but the improvement is only marginal. Perhaps we were expecting too much from the G13 screens, especially in light of the rumoured collaboration with Pioneer. The fact remains however that the X20 offers a level of performance in this respect that few budget TV's can match.

A good black level performance provides the perfect canvass for the reproduction of Colour. The X20 takes good advantage of this backdrop, with colours that are not perfect, ultimately lacking the vibrancy we see on the better LCD TV's, but with an accuracy that gives a level of realism to colour intensive scenes that belies its budget status.

While colours do look a little 'muted', the X20 has the accuracy to present tricky areas such as facial tones in a wholly realistic manner. The only qualification to this statement is that colour accuracy tends to deteriorate rather quickly with poorer quality broadcasts. While the 'Vivid Colour' option does increase vibrancy, this comes at the expense of accuracy and we preferred to leave it off.

Being Plasma based, the excellent Black Level ability and more than competent Colour performance can be enjoyed from any angle without any deterioration in picture quality.

The High Definition performance of The P42X20 is again, predictably good, although you won't enjoy the jaw dropping experience you get from Panasonic's Full HD (1920 x 1080) screens. Pictures are as sharp as you would expect, but you don't get that pin sharp realism and level of vibrant colour that high end screens can provide.

For a TV which costs nearly half of what you would expect to pay for high end Panasonic plasma, the HD pictures are more than satisfactory. While the P42X20 cannot give you the ultimate HD experience, the difference in quality compared to standard definition pictures will still bring a wide smile to your face.

Unusual for a Panasonic Plasma, we were not that enamored with the Standard Definition performance of this screen. It is certainly no worse than the outgoing X10 series but we were struggling to make a case for it being much better.

Standard Definition is a little too soft, even for those who prefer this traditional plasma trait. Ultimately, the black level performance is enough to compensate for the P42X20's SD shortcomings and once again we have to place this performance into the context of a remarkably low price.

Both Standard and High Definition pictures benefit from an excellent Motion Handling capability. While we did witness the odd 'judder' with sweeping pans, the smoothness of fast motion sequences leaves all but the best LCD screens looking like the poor relations.

Suffering like almost every other flat panel TV from that Achilles heal that is a poor Acoustic performance, the P42X20 is nevertheless one of the better performing screens in this respect.

While ultimately there is a lack of 'Bass', the P42X20 copes better than most flat screens with the more demanding soundtracks.

Conclusion

We hoped for a little bit more from the TX-P42X20. This should not detract from the fact that this is a very good screen and an excellent one for the price. To a greater or lesser degree it is an improvement on the outgoing X10 in every respect; it is just that those improvements are evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

  Value, black level ability, colour

  SD pictures a little disappointing