Samsung HPT4254 42-Inch Plasma HDTV Reviews

Review by H. David Peirce for Samsung HPT4254 42-Inch Plasma HDTV
Rating:
This is brand new from Samsung. Two features enticed me to choose this over LCD:

* 15,000:1 contrast ratio—this is as high as you’ll currently get in a set that goes for around $1500

* Anti-glare technology

I’ve seen friends’ plasmas for years. They all had serious glare issues, greater than what were present in a tube tv. The family room in my new house has 20′ high ceilings and south-facing 20′ high windows. But I see no glare even with the blinds open!

I’m thrilled with the picture. HD looks stellar. DVDs look incredible on my up-converting player.

The sound isn’t exceptional, though it’s better than on my 4 year-old tube tv. I have surround sound, so that issue is overcome. The sound is good, though. My advice would be to not let that sway you from buying this. Many brick and mortar retailers have deals for getting a surround-sound system with a new flat-panel tv.

Television choices are hard these days. Rear projection DLT offers great price, but you’ve got to replace the bulbs and the viewing angle is limited. LCDs just might win out in the future, but I still notice slow response (latency) when watching action films or sports. I think plasma still produces the best picture.

Samsung’s HPT4254 looks to me to be the best value in plasma televisions.

Review by Jay Stocker for Samsung HPT4254 42-Inch Plasma HDTV
Rating:
We had two LCDs out of the box and hooked up at home. It’s a long story, but we ended up taking both of them back for different issues, one of which turned out to be a bad cable. CC was so great to take them back and we hadn’t considered a plasma because of the glare issue. Well, I started reading about this Samsung plasma and how that had implemented some sort of anti glare system. We went back and I realized how much more vivid the colors are on this TV than an LCD. Plus, I thought the picture on this new model was quite a bit better than any other plasma models on the floor. We got it home and running and after having the other two LCDs to compare with, this thing ROCKS!!!!! Even in our bright room, the glare is not a problem for us. There is definitely more glare than an LCD, but it is so much better. There is this blurry thing that happens with motion on an LCD. And, I had read about it, but people were saying it’s not so much of an issue anymore with recent models. I don’t buy that after experiencing both kinds of TVs, the plasma is so much more clear with fast motion, and there is so much more depth to the colors. I’m extremely happy.

The only issue I have is with the sound. It’s terrible. The sound was much better on the LCDs I had here at home. I have external speakers, so the sound quality is not important to me, but if you care even a little bit about the sound quality, I would consider buying even some low-end bookshelf speakers. Anything will sound better than the speakers built in to this thing. The speakers on my 5 year old 27″ tube TV were better. I still gave it 5 stars, even with this sound issue because if you’re in the market for this type of TV, you’ll likely have some sort of surround setup and the speakers won’t matter. Buy this TV for the picture and the price.

Go see for yourself…. the depth of color and clarity are unmatched in my opinion.

Review by rbhatta for Samsung HPT4254 42-Inch Plasma HDTV
Rating:
After considerable amount of research I decided to buy this TV, as most of the reviewers on Amazon has pointed out, This TV has the best picture your money can get PERIOD.

This TV might not have the latest frills and plethora of unwanted features which most other TVs in the market today, but given for the money you get the BEST Plasma TV in the market.

Buy with confidence, this TV is superb, Excellent Picture Quality, Lots of adjustments available for user preferences which most other TVs of this class needs to use Service mode adjustments to get perfect Color and contrast, But this TV right out of the box and factory settings gives you excellent Picture quality.

Given the fact that this is a PLASMA Panel, You must follow simple guidelines to make sure that you do not have BURN-in on your display.

1. DO NOT watch 4:3 aspect Ratio Material for extended period of time during the initial 150hrs of the Panel’s life

2. DO NOT play games or display stationary pictures with high contrast for initial 150hrs of the Plasma panel’s life.

3. Use the built-in Burn-in protection and correction methods to safeguard your PLASMA panel’s life.

4. Set the TV to HIGH Energy Saving Mode which reduces contrast and brightness and also save some money on electricity bill

PROS:

1. Excellent HD Picture Quality – Best in its class.

2. Built-in TV Tuners have excellent MultiPath rejection and detection for solid stable ATSC reception over the air. Works with Simple Rabbit ear antenna for Local HD channels

3. Beautifully designed fits any living room due to it’s Glossy Black finish

4. Plenty of inputs for all your AV equipments’ (3 HDMI and 2 Component + PC input)

5. Remembers each AV input’s user preference independently.

No CONS but just Annoyances:

1. Selecting Input sources can be a chore at times as you will have to cycle thru’ each input till you get your desired AV equipment, Samsung should have made a menu system to select the input source rather than using the same button repeatedly to select input source.

2. Sound Quality is good, but the volume is low for the size of the TV especially when you watch ATSC content which has 5.1 Surround Sound, This can however be circumvented with an external Home Theater Audio receiver (TV has Optical 5.1 Audio output)

3. Picture Quality for some Standard Definition Cable Channel can be grainy unless you tweak the Sharpness and other user settings, but you buy this TV for High Definition content so this is not a big issue.

4. Some HDMI inputs are not tweak-able they are fixed and does not have full user settings available in the menu system.

SAMSUNG has delivered an excellent product, I am sure you will enjoy your PLASMA TV for a long time. Buy with confidence!

Thanks for reading this review.

Review by Robert Crowe for Samsung HPT4254 42-Inch Plasma HDTV
Rating:
I intended to buy the newest Panasonic 42 inch plasma, but when I did a direct comparison of the pictures provided by the Panasonic and the Samsung, the Samsung was far superior re. brightness, contrast, and resolution. I bought the Samsung, and am extremely pleased. The shiny finish also looks great (much better than the dull finish on the Panasonic). For people buying their first plasmas, please note that the 10 watt speakers (which are common for all 42 inch plasmas) are barely adequate. This is not a criticism of the Samsung; all similar plasmas have 10 watt speakers. You will probably want to buy a surround system and receiver, so be prepared for the additional expenditure. Overall, this is the best plasma out there for the price.