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Panasonic Viera TH-46PZ8OU Plasma HDTV Review - Intro

By Richard Baguley
Published on September 08, 2008
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Intro	Tour & Design
Performance: Summary	Performance: Blacks & Whites
Performance: Color	Performance: Motion
Performance: Viewing Effects	Remote
Audio	Connectivity
Controls & Menus	Formats & Media
Power Consumption	Value & Comparisons
Conclusion	Ratings & Specs

The Panasonic TH-46PZ80U is a good example of the pluses and minuses of plasma displays. We were quite impressed by the viewing angle and reproduction of blacks. We were less happy with the poor brightness, and as you turn brightness up you lose color accuracy. There are a lot of other compromises in store if you read our review.

Section	The Good	The Bad
Tour & Design	Attractive glossy design will complement your decor.	On-TV controls are hiddne behind a panel.
Performance: Summary	Color accuracy is good at low brightness.	Turn the brightness up and you lose the color accuracy.
Performance: Blacks & Whites	Did well reproducing blacks.	Whites were lackluster and the display was dim.
Performance: Color	Clean uniform whites.	Loss of detail as colors peaked too soon.
Performance: Motion	Clean and smooth motion with good cinema support.	Not much.
Performance: Viewing Effects	Excellent viewing angle.	Glossy screen reflected a lot.
Remote	Simple with clear labeling.	Cannot be used as a universal remote.
Audio	Good sound quality for TV speakers.	Simulated surround sound is a joke.
Connectivity	An SD card slot for viewing photos.	Many of the ports are out of reach.
Controls & Menus	Simple with clear labeling and easy to learn.	Multiple pages are sometimes annoying.
Formats & Media	Support for all HD content types as well as 24p.	No video or streaming playback.
Power Consumption	Not much.	Very expensive to run even at low brightness levels.
Value & Comparisons	Good	Bad

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