Panasonic TH-42PWD7UY

Panasonic's 42-inch EDTV plasma, the TH-42PWD7UY, is part of the company's industrial line of flat-panel TVs, which means that it lacks the usual consumer features such as speakers and a built-in tuner. Think of it as the do-it-yourself plasma. The TH-42PWD7UY's native resolution of 852x480 makes it an EDTV, which means it can display HDTV sources but not in their full detail. If you're looking for a higher-resolution set, Panasonic offers several other industrial models, including the 42-inch TH-42PHD7UY, the 50-inch TH-50PHD7UY, and the 65-inch TH-65PHD7UY. The 37-inch, EDTV-resolution TH-37PWD7UY is also part of the lineup.

This is one of the least-expensive 42-inch plasmas on the market. In addition, although we haven't reviewed this particular model yet, previous Panasonic EDTVs have had excellent picture quality (see the TH-42PD25U/P, for example). While the TH-42PWD7UY lacks a varied input collection, it does have slots for extra input cards, such as HDMI, which can be purchased at Panasonic's Web site. With these extra input cards, the TH-42PWD7UY can be customized to your home-theater setup while remaining relatively inexpensive for a plasma TV. And although the design is minimalist, the all-picture look works well for those who want to use their own speaker systems. Optional matching speakers are also available.

This set is missing many features that come standard on other TVs. That's not a huge issue if you plan to integrate it into a system that already has a tuner (such as a cable or satellite box) or speakers (such as any home-theater audio system), but it might be if you want your set ready to go right out of the box. Also, the included remote is basic, so you'd probably want to get a good universal remote to control your A/V components.

Although we have not reviewed the TH-42PWD7UY yet, we have really liked Panasonic's previous EDTVs, as well as the company's recent industrial models, such as the excellent TH-42PHD7UY. However, if you'd rather avoid the hassle of installing your own connectivity cards and using separate components, you might want to consider more consumer-friendly models. We expect those comfortable with setting up their own home theaters to give the TH-42PWD7UY a serious look.

Source: cnet

Sony KLV-32M1

The Sony KLV-32M1 is a 32-inch, flat television. Compared to other flat TVs on the market, it is midpriced at around $2,455. This product has an LCD display, which is generally the best kind of flat-panel screen for viewing in brightly-lit rooms.

It has two tuners, which is somewhat more favorable than some similarly priced TVs. (Having two tuners comes in handy when you want to view two broadcasts at once, using PIP.) This unit can display images that are sharper and more realistic than standard definition television when hooked up to a high definition signal. The 3:2 pulldown feature of this set reduces artifacts that can occur when motion pictures are transferred to a digital format such as DVD.

A flat TV, suited for home entertainment. In general, a wide aspect TV such as this one is ideal for DVD movies recorded in the popular 16:9 format, as well as high definition programming.

Be sure to shop for an HDTV receiver if you want to watch digital programming. Since this TV supports progressive scan video, you probably will want to have a progressive scan DVD player connected to it. This will produce a relatively more "flicker-free" picture, compared to what is produced with conventional DVD players and TVs.

Source: cnet

Samsung's LN-R328W

Released in April 2005, is one of the newer generations LCD's from Samsung. Powered by a fair amount of cool electronics and algorithms, this particular set was a tough one for us to review -- because of all the acronyms and buzzwords thrown at us.

Some of the new technologies we saw in this series from Samsung, include:

"My Color Control": This is setting expands the traditional "3" color controls on TVs ( Red, Green and Blue) into six. You can now control six colors to get a much better picture -- Red, Pink, Blue, Green, Yellow and White.

Like all new Samsung sets, this set features DNIe (Digital Natural Image engine) which essentially enhances, motion color, contrast and detail.

Key technical specifications of this set include:

• HD-Grade 1366(H) x 768(V) Pixel Resolution
• 3,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio
• 500 cd/m² Brightness
• Samsung DNIe™
• 170°(H)/170°(V) Viewing Angle
• Fast 12ms Response time
• 3D Y/C Digital Comb Filter
• HDMI, 2 Component Video, S-Video, PC Inputs

The price point is average to slighly above for a new generation set released in '2005, but we do feel it represents good value for a consumer.

Source: dvlib