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Introduction
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01.Tour & Design
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02.Blacks & Whites
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03.Color Accuracy
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04.Motion
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05.Viewing Effects
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06.Calibration
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07.Connectivity
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08.Audio & Menus
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09.Multimedia & Internet
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10.Power Consumption
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11.Vs. Panasonic TC-L42U25
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12.Vs. Sony KDL-40EX400
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13.Vs. Sharp LC-42SB48UT
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14.Conclusion
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15.Series Comparison
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16.Photo Gallery
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17.Ratings & Specs
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18.Comments
Panasonic Viera TC-L42U30
Previous: Page 3
Color AccuracyNext: Page 5
Viewing EffectsMotion
The Panasonic TC-L42U30 has good 3:2 pulldown, but disappointing motion performance and some resolution issues.
Motion Performance
The Panasonic TC-L42U30 seemed to perform fairly poorly in motion performance, with significant artifacting issues. The Panasonic TC-L42U30 displayed normal loss of detail with all advanced features disabled, which seemed to be corrected by the Motion Picture Pro 4 setting. It is worthy of mention, however, that you may find that this feature usually makes any film-based content that you watch look rather weird with the absence of motion blurring.
Though the Motion Picture Pro 4 setting seems to correct many of the problems with motion smoothness, false color trails and blurriness, it did not do so well in consistently preventing artifacting in moving pictures. We find this a bit puzzling because it’s performed fairly well in the past. Though it did a good job in limiting artifacting in photos and color charts, it made the picture even worse with line patterns than it was with the feature turned off (fairly bad), which understandably hurt its score. More on how we test motion performance.
3:2 Pulldown & 24fps (8.00)
The Panasonic TC-L42U30 showed only a minor hiccup in its 3:2 pulldown performance, which was corrected quickly by its automatic 3:2 setting. We recommend leaving this setting in the “auto” position for the best results. More on how we test 3:2 pulldown and 24fps.
Resolution Scaling (7.20)
The Panasonic TC-L42U30 has a native resolution of 1080p, but it is also capable of displaying content at other resolutions as well. Though it handled the task of rescaling well, the user is only able to eliminate overscan in the 1080i/p resolutions via an unlocked “HD size” setting in the advanced picture menu. More on how we test resolution scaling.
480p
While displaying 480p content, the TV lost 2% on each side to overscan.
720p
While displaying 780p content, the TV lost 2% on each side to overscan. The Panasonic TC-L42U30 also shows significant struggles with Moiré patterns.
1080i
While none of the screen resolution was lost to overscan, the Panasonic TC-L42U30 showed false coloration in many places where tightly-packed white and black lines were displayed. Legibility of print also dropped slightly.
| Other Models in the TC-LxxU30 Series | |
|---|---|
| For more information on other models in this series, check our Series Comparison Page. | |
 Panasonic Viera TC-L32U3 32 in. |
 Panasonic Viera TC-L37U3 37 in. |
Shop for the Panasonic TC-L42U30
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