Fujitsu Plasmavision P42HTA51ES

The chaps at Fujitsu are old hands at the plasma game – so much so that many other manufacturers have traditionally built their plasma TVs around Fujitsu technology. As such, you’d expect the company to produce some very high-quality plasma products of their own. And, as it happens, you’d be right.

The P42HTA51ES has quite a stark, straightforward look to it. The metallic grey frame is fairly anonymous but pleasantly modern-looking and has the benefit of adding little to the screen’s dimensions – particularly if you decide not to attach the speakers and use your own homecinema surround setup instead.

As it happens, the P42HTA51ES has little in the way of its own sound processing other than tweaking the treble and bass of straightforward stereo audio. And if you do choose to use the unit’s own speakers, you’ll only be adding to the physical labour required to set the display up. In fact, both the speakers and the tabletop stand require a certain amount of assembly before you actually get to switching the set on.

However, when you do finally get to sit back and power up the P42HTA51ES, you’re unlikely to be disappointed. The Fujitsu panel definitely provides one of the best pictures in our test.

The built-in analogue-only TV tuner might not show off the screen to its best abilities, but plug in a DVD player or even a Freeview box into a Scart socket and you’ll soon see the screen in a better light. With HD material over HDMI or composite inputs the picture looks simply stunning, although we noted that the screen seems happier with 1080i resolution material over 720p. This is perhaps because the P42HTA51ES is technically an interlaced display, while most other plasmas are progressive. Even the onscreen menus are pleasant to look at. It may seem like a small point, but the simple yet sharp graphics and nicely animatedmenus areacut above, whichmakes it easier to twiddle the multitude of settings. The menus also contain some useful features, such as adjusting screen position and size. Best of all is Picture Memory, which allows you to store up to eight sets of user-programmed picture adjustments and call them up at will.

[via: activehome]