Panasonic VIERA TC-L42U30 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV
- IPS Panel
- 120Hz Motion Picture Pro 4
- VIERA Image Viewer
- Fine Black Panel
- Wide Viewing Angle
Panasonic Viera TC-L42U30 42″ LCD TV TC-L42U30 LCD Flat Panel TVs(March 2011)
Always ready for action. With 120Hz Motion Picture Pro 4, VIERA® U30 Series LCD HDTVs are great for viewing your favorite sports teams or action movies. You can also share your favorite digital photos on the big screen. Original Panasonic FeaturesVIERA Image ViewerEquipped with an SD card slot, VIERA makes it easy to view full-HD photos and motion images that you shot yourself. Simply insert the SD memory card into the slot, and you’re ready to view your photos and full-HD videos on the big screen. You can make your slide shows even more impressive by adding background music and attractive frames. With VIERA’s big screen and superb image quality, family and friends will love sharing your memories. VIERA LinkGames are much more fun when there’s no lag in operation. VIERA automatically chooses settings that provide the optimal image, so you get super-fast response and no delays. Even dark scenes with d
List Price: $ 799.95
Price: $ 799.95
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Comments
3 comments
Allen
June 24, 2011
Great Mid-Range HDTV!,
I wanted to purchase an tv that didn’t break the bank, but met my criteria of
40-42″, multiple HDMI input, PC input, 1080p, 120hz and this fit the bill. I stayed away from plasma because to me the LCD picture quality is much crisper and I stayed away from LED because for the same sized LCD I can get a bigger screen.
Note: The room that this tv resides in is 11′ by 15′ and it sits 8′ away from the couch. The size is just right for the room.
Initial Setup
Setup was very easy and I was up and running within minutes of taking the tv out of the box. I had to install the included stand and then set a couple of options and the date once the unit was powered on. The stand base is made out of plastic but is connected to the tv with a metal bracket. That said, when we first set the tv on the console it wobbled and I was concerned at first, but after a few days, I already forgot that it initially wobbled, so this was a non-issue. The unit itself is beautiful with a black plastic frame with a glossy finish. It should be noted that the tv monitor itself sits very low with the stand, once installed, there is a 1.5″ clearance from whatever the tv is sitting on and the bottom of the monitor itself, there is no way to adjust the height.
Remote Control
The remote control is standard, nothing fancy. I like the over-sized volume and channel buttons, very easy to find without looking at the remote.
Sound
Please keep in mind my room size above. The sound from the speakers are very good. Volume ranges from 0 to 100. When I want to immerse myself in a movie, I set the volume at 45, otherwise I set the volume between 25 and 30. Just don’t expect surround sound from them and you won’t be disappointed.
Presets
There are 5 presets in the Picture Menu: Standard, Cinema, Game, Custom and Vivid. I wasn’t a fan with the Standard, Game and Cinema presets. After playing around with the settings, I settled on a Custom preset I liked.
Picture Quality
I have my PS3 connected via HDMI and watching 1080p movies on this tv is stunning. I watched Pixar’s UP on blu-ray and the quality is surreal, it’s so life-like that it almost looks 3D, I noticed myself paying attention to little details in the movie that I never saw before. Even watching non-1080p video is great, 120hz just makes everything smooth. I also have my Roku connected via HDMI and streaming HD content is great, the only downside with HD is that when you watch non-HD content, it’s quite noticeable, but very much watchable on this tv.
Games
There is a Game preset and the tv states that this is optimized for gaming, however, I found that I preferred playing games on my Custom preset. I played FF XIII and Uncharted 2 and the quality is great. My guess is that the “optimized for gaming” is mainly for games FPS games, where every millisecond counts… but that’s just my guess.
Turning Off 120hz
A frequent complaint I’ve been reading regarding 120hz units is that it looks like a soap opera. I can confirm this initial impression, but you do get accustomed to it and I actually like it now. There is an Advanced picture option Motion Picture Pro 4 that can be set to Off, Weak or Strong. I like it, so I leave it on Strong.
Viera Tools
The remote control has a dedicated Viera Tools button and when pressed, it shows you 5 options: Viera Link, Slideshow, Viera Image Viewer, Game Mode and Eco. Here’s my thoughts on those options…
1. Viera Link: since I didn’t own any compatible products, I don’t have any feedback on this tool. I guess to me it’s useless.
2. Slideshow: the unit has an SD card slot, so you can load pictuers and run a slideshow. You can set the soundtrack of the slideshow to one of 5 music tracks built-in to the tv. Other slideshow options you can set are transition effect (11 types, including collage), photo effect (sepia and gray scale) and display interval. Display interval is the speed of the slideshow, it can be set to Fast, Normal, Slow, Very slow and Short. Setting this option to Short would transition the 9 MP photos I have on my SD card every 8 to 9 seconds, which seems like good performance for a tv.
3. Viera Image Viewer: this previews the photos in the SD card, which is pretty fast. You can sort by month, folder or date and then run the slide show based on the sort. Neat.
4. Game Mode: You can either choose Game or Standard. Selecting Game just sets the preset to Game. Unless it does something more then I’m not aware of it, then it seems useless.
5. Eco: You can set options for “No signal for 10 minutes” and “No activity for 3 hours”. Basically, you can set whether it stays on or turns off for those options.
Of the 5 tools above, it is the Slideshow that I found most…
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|Wesley C. Honeycutt “Wes”
June 24, 2011
Very happy!,
Had it for about a week now. Excellent TV…..exceeded my expectations! The HD feeds from the networks are blowin’ my mind! Beautiful color and black levels. I’m a newbie there so keep that in mind but it looks great and can really mesmerize me. Before this, I bought a 1080p vizio 22″ LED for my bedroom…..thought that was great and that the larger screen would not hold up in comparison….but it’s so much better!!! And great fast service by Amazon!
Pros: Beautiful colors
Deep Blacks
Motion Pro works well
Even light across screen
Energy saver!!!
Just the right size for up to 10ft. Viewing
Great viewing angle
And of course, Blu Ray looks beautiful
Cons: Optical audio out only.
Other thoughts:
Motion Pro 4 : I think it works well. You can set it to strong, weak or off. On the strong setting, yes, some moments in film look like video….it’s not that it’s not pleasing, it’s more like it’s distracting at first because I keep noticing it. I turned it to strong for the Amazing Race the other nite and it worked well with all the action and camera cuts. For general viewing, I’ve settled in on the weak setting which is perfect for me.
Power Consumption: I’ve found by using a watt meter that the backlight is the main variable in using more or less power. Power consumption can easily be tuned down to as little as 50 or 60 watts….and a setting that uses the advertised 80 watts looks relatively good…..however, my favorite setting with the deepest blacks has the backlight pumped up and uses about 135 watts. I can compromise at 80 or 100 watt setting and pump it up when watching a movie or fav show.
A.I. picture: Enriches black areas without affecting brightness of overall picture…..I think it works well and I leave it on…..does not seem to affect power consumption
C.A.T.S. adjusts for ambient light….doesn’t do much during the day but at night, it significantly reduces brightness and I don’t like it so I leave it off…..does save some energy.
ECO mode: In Viera tools….standard looks better….saving is less bright but saves energy.
There’s other settings to play with.
My custom settings for average viewing that uses about 100 watts:
Back Light 50
Contrast 85
Brightness 65
Color 40
Tint 0
Sharpness 50
A.I. On
C.A.T.S. Off
Motion Pro 4 set to weak
ENJOY!
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|Old Grizzle
June 24, 2011
Very pleased by both price and product quality.,
Having both sold and owned a multitude of electronic devices that included Sony, Panasonic and others too numerous to mention and I freely admit to being a Sony lover until this purchase. This set replaces a Sony rear projecting Sony flat screen that required a blub replacement, the cost of which was over 30 percent of what the new set cost me. After comparing the picture quality and features offered by various brands including LG, Sharp and Sony among them, I found Panasonic equaled or exceeded what the competition offered and till now I have no reason to regret my dissension to buy it.
That being said, I am very pleased with Amazon as a seller. Having been a retailer who considered service of prime importance, I hate Box Stores approach to merchandizing that relies on the Hard Sell by their employees and considers the obligation ceases once the item moves out the doorway and becomes the buyers responsibility should a problem surface. Not only did Amazon have my purchase delivered free to my living room in perfect condition, but also guaranteed a replacement should it be defective without the hassles one can expect when dealing with WalMart, Best Buy and others like them.
Would I recommend both the product and the seller? Yes!
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