Panasonic Viera TH-46PZ80U 46-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been shopping for an HDTV for a while now, waiting for the prices to fall and/or the features and tech to improve. I narrowed my current list to the Sharp 52 & 46" LCD (LC-52D64U/LC-46D64U), Panasonic 50" 720p plasma (PX series), Hitachi 50 720p plasma (P50S601), Samsung's 46" LCDs and 50" 720p plasmas and of coarse the Holy Grail - Pioneer Kuro 50" plasma even if only at 720p. I almost bought the Pioneer Kuro 5080 when I saw it on sale for $2400. It was a tough decision not to buy it and I still regret it to this day. Now I can not find the 5080 let alone for $2400. That was the one that got away about 4 weeks ago. So I kept on shopping.

I came across the Pannasonic TH-46PZ80U at ABC Warehouse and they were having a weekend only sale. These were just release to retail. I took the plunge after I saw the picture on the display model. To say it was gorgeous is an understatement and that was with less than optimal component signal in a bright showroom.

I got it home and set it up on my new TV stand, I adjusted the picture (eyeballed it for now) and connected the cable and PS3 via HDMI. Threw in the Blu-Ray of "Live Free or Die Hard" and was blown away with the picture quality. Made some minor picture tweaks to suit my tastes and sat down and let it all soak in. I do believe I heard angels singing as I basked in the beauty of 1080p. Blacks were deep and shadow detail was impressive. A review said there is a red push on the PZ85U series but I did not notice it on the PZ80U. There may have been but it suits my tastes if that's the case. I was afraid of glare being an issue with the plasma screen but I really did not notice it too much. It is there if you look for it but it wasn't distracting during the movie even though it was mid afternoon in my bright sunlit living room.

Since my living room gets a lot of ambient light, I was leaning towards LCD for this reason only. But the fact that the picture washes out on LCDs as you move off center really bothered me and I could not get over that issue. So I crossed off the LCDs. The Pioneer Kuro did have a slightly better picture overall as I viewed it in the showcased home theater setup @ BB. But it wasn't $1000 better than my Panny. On the PZ80U, sports was flawless on it. No motion blur at all. Not even the 120Hz LCDs can come close to plasmas here. I watch the Red Wings beat Pittsburgh in game 4 of the finals and was in heaven. Watching my beloved Wings in hi-def get a step closer to The Cup highlighted my weekend filled with Blu-Ray and HDTV glory. The PZ85U series has a higher contrast 30000:1 panel but as I compared the 2 side-by-side, I really could not tell the difference between them. Now, I could tell the difference between the PX and the PZ (720p vs. 1080p). 1080p is the way to go! Some will say that you won't be able to discern between 720p and 1080p resolution at 50" or under screen size. Bull!!! Maybe under 42" might be more accurate. But even I could tell on 42" at viewing distance. It was just on the Pioneer Kuro that it really did not matter as much - the picture was that good.

The Samsung plasmas in my pricerange had really good image quality and features as did the Hitachi but could not keep up with the Panasonic and Pioneer in the most important area - the picture. Just my opinion.

So now you know that the picture on the PZ80U is "all that". Connections-wise, it was a fairly standard package with 3 HDMI 1.3 (one front), 2 component and an SD card reader but no PC input. I like the looks of it but not as much as the thin bezels of the Sharp, Samsung, and Toshiba. The base does not adjust like the motorized one on the Hitachi but its not problem for me. The sound quality from the speakers are decent and will due until I get my surround system.

Overall, I'd recommend the Panasonic TH-46PZ80U to anyone looking for a 1080p plasma with excellent picture quality at a reasonable price.

Get it for: deep blacks, shadow detail, overall picture quality, high refresh rates

Pass on it for: non-adjustable base, power consumption (628w, are you kidding me?!?!)

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Product Description:
NEW SIZE! 46" Class (46.0 " Diagonal) Widescreen VIERA Plasma 1080p HDTV with New Anti-Reflective Filter, Deep Color Technology, Game Mode, Built-In SD Card Slot/GalleryPlayer® Ready to View, 3 HDMI Inputs and VIERA Link® HDAVI Control.

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