Panasonic TC-P42G25 Review: New Viera Class Plasma

While most manufacturers put all their efforts into LCD TVs, Panasonic is still investing heavily in plasma technology – and for good reason it seems. The new model delivers not only better picture than its predecessor but also a lot of new and innovative features. Panasonic’s 42-inch plasma P42G25 offers great picture at a reasonable price and throws features such as USB recording and networking.

The television is not very thin by today’s standards (just over 3 inches in depth), but we appreciate the new swivel table stand and that there are plenty of connections on the back and on the side of the TV. It is not difficult to navigate the menus, but unfortunately Panasonic has chosen to spread out the settings across separate menus.

Picture Quality
The black levels are good in the P45G25, but not perfect. With all the lights off, the black bars above a 2.35:1 movie are clearly visible. In terms of color reproduction, the Panasonic fares better. The colors look really nice; significantly better than in the past models from Panasonic. Another improvement is that reflections are much less disturbing in this generation.

High resolution video is reproduced with excellent sharpness and fine depth – it is a joy to play video games or watch sports on it, as it responds to fast movements very well. Even low-resolution material is reproduced very well. Standard definition television from an external receiver looks good with colors that hold together well.

Features

The Viera Cast button on the remote brings us into a menu with featured online content and various web services. YouTube works perfectly for example, and you can view your Picasa album or watch featured broadcasts. More services including Skype are allegedly in the pipeline and should show up soon in the service.

You can play movies, music and display photos from memory, via USB or over the network with the P42G25. A wireless dongle is available as an add-on, but using the wired connection the TV quickly hooks up to a media share. Unfortunately the file type support is somewhat lacking – it plays mpeg2 and DivX/Xvid files (*. avi files). Another very convenient feature is the ability to use a USB drive for TV recording and time shifting. This worked very smoothly with the memory stick we tested.

Conclusion

Overall, the Panasonic G25 series is certainly a worthwhile investment, even if it’s not groundbreaking in any way. The picture is first rate, so if you are looking for a modern plasma at a reasonable price, this one is definitely a good choice.

Panasonic TC-P42G25 Prices
	$851.95

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