SVA HD4208-UII 42-Inch EDTV-Ready Flat-Panel Plasma TV
Good and Bad
I've had this unit for almost 1 year now. I purchased this to have a second Plasma for the bedroom. I already have a HDTV Pioneer plasma in my den and I enjoy it so much that I could not resist the $1,800 price tag. I think SVA was the first to beat the $2000 price tag with the EDTV plasmas. So I jumped at it. The unit came with a castiron base and I needed my brother to come over to lift this on to a piece of furniture (135lbs) Now to performance: The Good. Picture is very bright! Speakers work great. If used for store displays, anamated cartoons this unit is fine. Now the Bad. The grey scaling is poor. If you are watching a movie with dark scenes (such as Van Helsing) you will see blue blacks, washed out details etc. I have found the best picture is with the color and contrast set to 30 and the brightness set between 55 and 70. This will give you the best picture available. With these settings I have found the picture acceptable, but I would reccomend you look at the latest Panasonic EDTV plasmas such as the 42PD25u. This unit is now rated for 60,000 hours (twice the length of most plasmas) and the grey scaling and detail is the best you can buy in a EDTV plasma. Check Amazon they have great deals.