It’s a testament to the sheer size of Panasonic’s 2009 TV range that, despite testing what feels like dozens of the brand’s models over the past few months, we still managed to get our hands on a range today get that we haven’t dealt with before. This series is the G15 range, with two models: the 46-inch TX-P46G15 and the 42-inch TX-P42G15, which is now on my test bench.
Probably the most helpful way to start this review is to describe the key differences between the P42G15 and the stripped down Viera P42G10, which we looked at about a month ago.
One obvious difference is immediately apparent, as the P42G15’s desktop stand sports an attractive glossy silver finish, as opposed to the black of the P42G10. Otherwise, the TVs appear to be aesthetically identical, with glossy black bezels saved from monotony by a small arch and a splash of silvery white at the bottom edge. For my money, the P42G15’s silver stand definitely gives it a style edge over its cheaper sibling.
The P42G15 also outperforms the P42G10 in terms of connections, providing four HDMIs instead of three – one on the side and three on the back. In addition, the P42G15’s SD card slot can play MPEG2 and DivX files, as well as AVCHD and JPEG still images supported by the P42G10.
It also turns out that the LAN port hidden on the back of the P42G15 isn’t just there for future Freesat functionality like the P42G10’s corresponding socket is. Because the LAN socket of the P42G15 can also be used to access files stored on a connected, DLNA-capable PC or Panasonic’s online service VieraCast.
VieraCast, as discussed at length in our recent Panasonic P46Z1B review, is actually a pretty decent performance. Early demonstrations of the system had led me to expect precious little interesting British content, but actually the three main providers currently on offer – Eurosport, YouTube and Picasa – make for a fairly satisfactory package. The presentation is top notch too, and there’s always the potential – even the likelihood – that other service providers will show up on VieraCast at some point in the future.
Having covered the key differences between the P42G15 and P42G10, I can put the comparisons behind and remain isolated to just the P42G15.
If you’re not reading, you probably noticed I mentioned Freesat back there. As with all models in the top half of Panasonic’s range, the plasma-based P42G15 comes with a built-in Freesat tuner, including the ability to receive the digital satellite platform’s HD services. Panasonic is still one of only two brands to offer Freesat TVs so far – the other being LG. The TV also carries Freeview and analogue tuners and supports separate electronic program guides for its two digital broadcast providers.
Another potential key feature of the P42G15 is its 600Hz sub-field system, in which the TV calculates and inserts enough additional, new frames of image data to match the 200Hz systems now appearing on some LCD TVs. to blush with obvious inferiority. However, the reality is that all this talk about different Hz numbers needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, as once you get past 100Hz the different systems tend to operate in different ways and even to some extent achieve different goals.
The one thing we can certainly look forward to from the 600Hz system is significantly less judder on pans – particularly on HD cameras – than lower-Hz Panasonic screens.
Other key specs to know about the P42G15 are that it has Full HD resolution – still a rarity in the 42-inch plasma world – and enjoys one of those “infinite” dynamic contrast ratios, of which Panasonic likes to talk. Although just below the infinity logo used to advertise this fact, a slightly more prosaic – albeit still huge – odds of 2,000,000:1 is displayed.
Rounding out the P42G15’s rich feature set are a handful of helpful user tweaks in the on-screen menus, including a simple on/off color management system; an Eco mode that adjusts picture settings based on the lighting conditions in your room; a no-fuss noise reduction system; and last but not least, the option to toggle the set’s Intelligent Frame Creation technology on or off – the system that creates the extra image frames that lead to the 600Hz claims.
In fact, in evaluating the images of the P42G15, I came back to the P42G10 model I was referring to at the beginning of this review. Because as far as my eyes can tell, the pictures of P42G15 and P42G10 are peas from the same pod.
Of course, that’s not a bad thing considering the P42G10 received a 9 for image quality. And it’s pretty much as we’d expect, as the P42G15 uses one of Panasonic’s new NeoPDP plasma panels, rather than ‘just’ the latest version of Panasonic’s previous plasma technology.
What’s particularly striking, as with all Panasonic’s NeoPDP screens to date, is how bright the images can look compared to the brand’s non-NeoPDP designs. Using the set’s dynamic preset – with contrast curbed a little to tame the noise – gives you an image that looks almost as aggressively bright as a typical LCD screen.
It’s also worth noting that the NeoPDP panels allow you to sacrifice much of that new brightness in favor of greatly reduced power consumption if your room is fairly dark and/or you’re into green themes. However, I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve been too busy trying to get the thrill out of the extra brightness to really bother with the screen’s eco-potential. We’re sorry…
But what’s most important about the P42G15’s brightness is the way it achieves it without – at all – sacrificing the black level capabilities that have long been associated with Panasonic plasma TVs. This means your average dark movie scene can enjoy a truly spectacular level of dynamics, as bright whites and rich colors can sit side-by-side in the same frame as deep, rich blacks seen only on the best LED competitor or Pioneer’s last KURO plasma.
Again, I’d like to point out that since the P42G15 is a plasma screen, when viewed from the side it doesn’t drop in contrast nearly as much as the vast majority of LCD TVs.
The P42G15 also gets a lot out of its 600 Hz system. Whether you’re watching Wimbledon in HD or standard definition, or watching a Blu-ray or DVD action movie, the images combine excellent motion sharpness with much less judder than we normally see from Panasonic. The difference between the P42G15 and Panasonic’s 400Hz S10 models is also clear in this crucial respect.
I was initially surprised to see Panasonic’s latest TV ad campaign focusing so heavily on the motion clarity of its 600Hz sets, but while I believe there’s room for further improvement in terms of motion fluidity, there isn’t Doubt you have a much better chance of catching a Federer forehand on a Panasonic 600Hz plasma TV than on any regular LCD TV we can think of.
It’s also worth noting that the P42G15’s 600Hz engine does an impressive job with little or no unwanted side effects such as flickering or edge flicker. I was also impressed with the HD detail and texture the P42G15 can pull up from favorite Blu-rays, and the lack of noise in the set’s rescaled Standard Def sources.
However, once that standard def point has been reached, there are TVs that manage to make standard definition look a bit sharper. And it must also be said that the dynamic picture preset, which I love so much in HD, can make some standard definition colors look far too exaggerated, resulting in much more contrast reduction than is required in HD pictures. For this reason, I would strongly advise anyone buying a P42G15 to spend some time calibrating the TV’s settings using a simple setup aid such as the Digital Video Essentials HD Basics Blu-ray Disc.
Other negatives find a shade or two of green that looks a bit off-balance and unsubtle compared to other colors in the TV’s palette, and a little more color banding than some other Full HD TVs.
But the P42G15’s pictures, once well calibrated, are still significantly better than most 42-inch TVs. And as they’re accompanied by a mostly clear, clean, reasonably strong, and well-distributed soundstage that’s just a little bass shy of being truly impressive, the P42G15 no doubt adds even more ammunition to our belief that the NeoPDP Panasonic screens are better than the brand’s budget models.
“‘Verdict”‘
While it takes a bit of initial work to get the most out of the P42G15, we wish Panasonic had put a little more effort into its picture presets, but it’s still quite capable of being an excellent TV.
Given that its picture quality doesn’t seem to differ from that of the cheaper (by a couple hundred pounds or so) P42G10, I have to say that this might be the model that’s ahead of the P42G15 if you’re bothered not at the latter model’s additional HDMI and multimedia/online talents. But this is a personal decision to be made by yourself, and no reason for me to downgrade the set’s grades.
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Used as the main TV during the period
Tested over a week
Tested with industry calibrated tools, discs and real world use
Tested with broadcast content (HD/SD), video streams and demo discs
points in detail
functions 9
value 8
picture quality 9
draft 6
sound quality 8
characteristics
| size (inches) | 42 inches |
| display type | plasma |