Panasonic TH-42PWD8UK 42-Inch Plasma EDTV
Picture so good you'll forget about HD
I bought the TH-42PWD8UK after exhaustive research and dozens of showroom screenings.  To be blunt, these Panasonics have (both the HDs and EDs), by far, the best picture you can have in your home and I'm delirously happy with it.  There are a bunch of caveats and issues, though.  The flat screen TV decision cuts across a mess of issues:<br /><br />1) Plasma versus LCD.  LCDs look better in the average showroom because they have smaller pixels (finer grained picture) and brighter backlighting.  Plasma's hidden strength is their rich blacks and more vivid colors.  In real life you sit back 8 feet or so from the screen - so the pixel size issue disappears.  The brightness issue disappears in real life too - where I, like most folks, do most of my viewing in evening or night hours in a partially lit room.  Plasma's strengths in dense blacks and vivid colors equates to a greater image dynamics - more akin to film than regular television.  Once you start to spot it, LCDs look a bit washed out by comparison.  Plasma's vividness can be a dual edge sword.  Sometimes flesh tones can look too pink.  Panasonic gets this right - better than most other plasma screens.  Rear projection and front projector units can't compete for vivid picture or image contrast (not to mention angle of view - the big drawback of rear projection BTW).<br /><br />2) HDTV versus EDTV.  HD has higher resolution - but only HD broadcasts can take advantage of it.  All the rest of the content you throw at it (DVDs, regular TV broadcasts) must be upsampled.  (EDTVs have to upsample regular broadcasts too BTW).  Resampling can introduce artifacts (blocky shapes).  The quality of resampled images varies quite a bit among different manufacturers and is the reason why you shouldn't necessarily go cheap.  EDTV is designed to have the same resolution as DVD - and DVDs look amazing on the 42PWD8UK.  HDTVs can actually look inferior to EDTVs on DVDs and regular broadcasts because of the upsampling issue.  HD content looks pretty darned good on the 42PWD8UK too - even though it must be downsampled.  I spent a good long time looking at an HD demo on the HD and ED models of this monitor and found the difference surprising subtle.  I haven't regretted the decision so far.  Obviously the only major reason to go with HD is that you have HD channels on cable or satellite, and plan to go to blue-ray or HD DVD soon.  If these moves are not immenent for you - then don't pay extra for HD.  By the time HD fully penetrates, prices will have dropped a lot and it will be close to time for a new TV anyway.<br /><br />3) Consumer versus Commercial line.  The 42PWD8UK is from Panasonic's commercial line.  That's why it is sold without a stand, speakers, and without a tuner  (and has such a low price).  Stand or wall mount is your choice - but you must budget to buy one or the other.  I found a Panasonic brand stand for $185 and it's great.  Most folks have external cable or satellite boxes so the internal tuner you buy with the consumer line model is wasted money.  The fact that HDMI interface is a cost added option is a non-issue with EDTV - since you will not benefit from the higher resolution of that interface.  The 42PWD8UK comes with three inputs standard: BNC coax digital composite, Component Video (the three R-G-B cables), and computer SVGA.  Trust me - Component Video is good enough.  The inclusion of SVGA is awesome too - for those who have a computer in their home entertainment system.  As for speakers - a big screen like this screams out for a good surround receiver and 5.1 (or 6.1 or 7.1) channel audio speakers.  If you don't invest the extra $500-$1000 that a decent 5.1-7.1 audio setup will run you you are really cheating yourself.  Immersive audio is hugely important in home theater and will really augment the great picture you'll get with the 42PWD8UK.  Given that you own your own home theater audio setup - or will be derelict if you don't get one - the issue of the 42PWD8UK not including speakers is irrelevent.<br /><br />4) Panasonic versus the other guys.  Short and sweet - there's no better picture at anywhere near the price.  At the high end only Hitachi and Pioneer compete.  Interesting offerings like HP end up just being rebranded Panasonics.  Cheaper units like Philips (much as I normally like their stuff) look too pink on flesh tones and have inferior black detail.  Don't get a cheaper HDTV just because it's HD!  The resolution difference is negligible compared to overall image quality.  Image quality is where the 42PWD8UK rules - and isn't that really the bottom line here?D8UK not including speakers is irrelevent. <br /> <br />4) Panasonic versus the other guys.  Short and sweet - there's no better picture at anywhere near the price.  At the high end only Hitachi and Pioneer compete.  Interesting offerings like HP end up just being rebranded Panasonics.  Cheaper units like Philips (much as I normally like their stuff) look too pink on flesh tones and have inferior black detail.  Don't get a cheaper HDTV just because it's HD!  The resolution difference is negligible compared to overall image quality.  Image quality is where the 42PWD8UK rules - and isn't that really the bottom line here?