Panasonic TH-42PD50U 42-Inch Flat Panel EDTV Plasma TV
A great plasma TV value, awesome for watching DVDs
After doing a LOT of research on big-screen and HDTV television options, I settled on the Panasonic Plasma TH-42PD50U TV.  I'm very happy with it - a great value!!  The picture is very bright and has a depth and \\"real\\" feel that microprojection HDTVs can't match; nor can they match the viewing angles. It is a gigantic improvement from our 15-yr old JVC 20\\" TV. The Panasonic TH-42PD50U  works well in our living room with the pedestal stand. Daylight and window reflections are much less of a problem than with our old curved screen TV.  Before buying, I compared the Panasonic EDTV side-by-side with the Panasonic 42\\" plasma HDTV and other 42\\"HDTVs at a big box store near me.  The differences at a normal viewing distance of 8-10 ft with a HD signal were practically not distinguishable. For my budget that was not worth the $1000 price difference.  The main limiting factor in plasma screens of this size is the size of pixels - only a 50\\" or larger plasma HDTV can display all of the HD signal anyway.  <br /> <br /> <br />Viewing a DishNetwork SD digital signal at home, picture and color quality are very good, better than our old CRT TV.  The biggest disadvantage is that you have to stretch (justify) the picture to fill the 16:9 screen (Panasonic recommends this to avoid static bars and potential burn-in).  That distorts the image a little.  In a year or more I plan to go to HD programming, which will eliminate need for stretching and improve the picture quality.  Right now I don't think the limited HD DishNetwork programming available is worth it.  <br /> <br />The picture quality of DVD movies with our non-progressive JVC DVD player is outstanding.  Use at least component video cables.  VHS tapes through S-video cable look lousy by comparison; you will see all the flaws of the low-resolution analog picture on the large screen. <br /> <br />Before I bought the TV, I called Panasonic Customer Service and they gave me some suggestions to avoid burn-in (also in owner's manual).  Have not had any problems. With a little bit of caution, especially during first 100 hours of use, you can prevent it. <br /> <br />The remote is user-friendly and well-designed. I have found the performance of the built-in stereo speakers to be fine.  No, it is not surround sound, but very adequate and much better sound than our old MTS stereo CRT. <br />